Featured Commentary category, Page 36
Jeff Coleman: Trust elections and good neighbors
It was 1986 when a presidential election first captured my imagination — the contest between incumbent Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and challenger Corazon Aquino. As an 11-year-old American living in the Philippines, for me it was the ultimate master class in democracy. Marcos risked his dictatorship by declaring a snap...
Philip Klinkner: Picking vs. electing candidates
Now that Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the nominee, it will ultimately be up to Democratic National Convention delegates to formally select a new nominee for their party. This will mark the first time in over 50...
Bruce A. Antkowiak: Federalism and separation of powers — a double security?
Two cases, both involving former President Trump, have captured headlines recently and, like everything else connected with the upcoming presidential election, stirred virulent emotions on all sides. In one case, the Supreme Court afforded the Office of the President immunity from prosecution in certain circumstances and, in the second case,...
Steven Hill: Soaring grocery prices are not acts of God
Since the pandemic, going to the grocery store has become a jarring experience. On a recent visit, I packed my purchased items into my tote bag and then gawked at the receipt in disbelief. I’m not alone. Griping about the high cost of groceries has become a national pastime. It’s...
John R. Kasich and G. William Hoagland : Lawmakers 5 decades ago passed a big budget fix. It made a difference (for them)
Fifty years ago, Congress tried to rein in deficits and fix the budget process — or, perhaps, lawmakers were mostly just trying to wrest back some spending power from the White House. If the goal was fiscal responsibility, the results have been mixed at best. But if the goal was...
Patricia Lopez: Republicans’ war on divorce is just Christian nationalism in disguise
No-fault divorce is an option available in all 50 states. But it might not be for long if Donald Trump wins a second term, further emboldening a surging Christian nationalist movement that has divorce reform in its sights. Already, several GOP-led states, including Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana, are moving...
Counterpoint: Assassination attempt will not be the end of leftist violence
Details are still emerging about the attempt to kill Donald Trump — about the shooter and how it was possible, and also what it says about America. The first is obvious: Political violence has no place in America. No matter our politics, Americans should never resort to violence to settle...
Point: Right-wing politicos must relinquish their violent rhetoric
Sadly, political violence is as old as politics itself, around the globe and, yes, in the United States. However, the last decade has seen a marked increase, especially in the United States. Rhetorically, one might argue — and those on the political right will — that heated words and actions...
Tom Pike: Water suppliers must make frackers accountable
With much of Westmoreland County having suddenly entered a “flash drought,” vegetable gardens are drying up in the withering heat. Although this flash drought is unlikely to deepen into a long-term crisis, let’s take it as a reminder that we are only ever a bad month or two away from...
Rachel Langan: Fully funded public education must include cyber charters
When a parent says that a public school isn’t what it used to be, the implication is usually bad. But for Brenda Jesky, a Latrobe mother of three, that’s not the case. Her daughter Maddy — who has high-functioning autism — struggled with learning in both public and private traditional...
M. Thomas Davis: Determination, experience, wisdom — Joe Biden has it, Donald Trump does not
Winston Churchill once noted that, “There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.” It is among the many immediate misfortunes that the old Prime Minister is not around to give former president Trump a badly needed lesson in foreign policy. Fortunately, President...
Claudine Schneider and Susan Molinari: Violence against women takes center stage at the Republican National Convention
Violence against women, like all violence, is never acceptable. While both political parties have “said” we have to bring down the temperature in political discourse, evidently such empty pledges fall short when it comes to the GOP and women. The GOP is not only refusing to rebuke violence, but elevating...
Conor Lamb and Kate Harper: Western Pa. ready to lead hydrogen energy revolution
Western Pennsylvania has abundant natural resources and now it has the opportunity to be at the leading edge of a technological innovation that can change our communities, our economy and the world — all for the better. That’s what we have with the advent of hydrogen as a viable low-carbon...
Sam Rosenberg: The Secret Service failed
There has been no shortage of political and cultural commentary related to the attempted assassination that occurred in Western Pennsylvania on Saturday night, so I will avoid that sort of commentary here. What I would like to focus on instead is related to security, and what I see as a...
Anita Prizio and Erika Strassburger: Pa. stands to gain from methane reduction funding
The recent announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy regarding $850 million in federal funding for methane reduction projects marks a significant opportunity for Pennsylvania’s economy and environment. This investment, part of President Biden’s ambitious climate agenda, not only aims to cut methane emissions from oil and...
Dennis Aftergut and Austin Sarat: The American tragedy of the Trump assassination attempt
Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was a crime against the entire country and against democracy itself. Every American should be grateful that it failed, and that Trump has survived it. Let’s say it plainly. It is an abomination that he was wounded as he campaigned for a...
Helen Ubiñas: There’s only 1 right response to the Trump shooting
I was boarding a plane from Los Angeles back home to Philadelphia when the news hit that former President Donald Trump had been injured during a rally in Butler County. The details were sketchy, but the responses online and on the plane were already wild — and entirely predictable. This...
Gaurav Singal and Anupam B. Jena: It’s not just hype. AI could revolutionize diagnosis in medicine
The history of medical diagnosis is a march through painstaking observation. Ancient Egyptian physicians first diagnosed urinary tract infections by observing patterns in patients’ urine. To diagnose diseases of the heart and lungs, medieval doctors added core elements of the physical examination: pulse, palpation and percussion. The 20th century saw...
Jennie Sweet-Cushman: Worried about saving democracy? Staying the course isn’t the answer.
What do The New York Times Editorial Board, George Clooney and (as of last count) 10 congressional Democrats, two out of three Democrats, and famed political strategist James Carville have in common with a professor of political science (namely, me)? We all have such grave concerns about President Joe Biden’s...
Counterpoint: The economy, threats to democracy are top issues
Recent polls show that the economy is still chosen by more voters than any other issue as the most important issue in this election. A Washington Post/Schar School survey shows this to be true also for the swing voters in the swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and...
Point: Military readiness is a crucial election issue
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, a critical issue remains largely unaddressed: the alarming deficiencies in the U.S. military. Political debates about the extent of our engagement in foreign conflicts — whether in support of Ukraine, Israel or the defense of Taiwan — assume the United States has the necessary...
Kari Xander: Pittsburgh must do better for its nurses
Pennsylvania is heading toward the worst nursing shortfall in the entire nation and will soon have over 20,000 empty positions. Here in Pittsburgh, our enormous health systems have the financial resources to lead the way in solving this crisis. Instead, the health care industry has done the exact opposite and...
Mark Z. Barabak: It’s not just the White House. Biden could also cost Democrats control of Congress
As if Democrats don’t have enough to keep them up nights, here’s something beyond frightful visions of a Trump victory: a Republican trifecta in Washington. Joe Biden’s calamitous debate performance and the burgeoning concerns about his age and acuity aren’t just undercutting his chances at a second term. They’re also...
Peter Morici: Whatever the inflation reports say, the Fed has no business lowering rates now
Anticipating the Federal Reserve’s moves is tough because the U.S. central bank has not effectively articulated the challenges it faces. Monetary policy features famously long lags that change from one business cycle to another. Much depends on structural changes in government finances and the private economy, external shocks that instigate...
Leonard Greene: First lady Jill Biden getting unnecessary abuse after Joe’s debate flop
Her loving students might call her Dr. B., but one cynical columnist has gone so far as to deride her as “America’s most famous community college teacher.” Jill Biden can’t win. If she talks her husband into staying the course after his widely panned debate performance, she’s a power-hungry puppet...
