Featured Commentary category, Page 55
Matthew Yglesias: The federal deficit matters now more than ever
A decade ago, the U.S. was deep into a misguided elite-driven freakout about the federal budget deficit. Back then, inflation was low, interest rates were low, and unemployment was high. In other words: There was no urgent reason to have a debate about ways to reduce federal borrowing. Now the...
Matt Mackowiak: Steel industry consolidation threatens American workers and our security
The average American may spend little time thinking about the domestic steel industry, but despite its low profile it remains vital to the American economy (especially in manufacturing) and to our national security. According to BDO, “annual (steel) production was approximately 1.25 million tons in 1880, 10 million tons in...
Cal Thomas: What a Palestinian state would look like
On “60 Minutes” last Sunday, President Biden said he thinks it would be a “mistake … for Israel to occupy … Gaza again.” He also conceded that eliminating Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon “is a necessary requirement.” At the same time, the president said, “There needs to be a path...
Bruce Ledewitz: Does God want his children to kill each other?
The struggle between Israel and the Palestinians is a religious struggle. That is why compromise is so difficult and peace so elusive. Israel and Hamas are not equivalent. Hamas sent its forces into Israel specifically to kill and kidnap as many civilians as possible. That is barbarism, not warfare. In...
Jonah Goldberg: Israel and Ukraine? Americans should remember it’s the same war on two fronts
In normal times domestic political fights over foreign policy breakdown more or less along a conventional left-right divide. These are not normal times. The right is largely united around the need to support Israel in its war with Hamas, but increasingly divided about backing Ukraine in its war with Russia....
Elwood Watson: The pull of racism in America
More than a century ago in 1900, Black intellectual extraordinaire W.E.B. Du Bois stated the problem of the 20th century would be the problem of the color line. He was right on target. This prophetic message remains relevant today in the 21st century. If the past several years have taught...
John M. Crisp: We’ve always known how to create good public schools
Let’s talk about school choice. But first consider this old saw: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” President Ronald Reagan popularized this expression in 1986. I first heard it at a graduation ceremony in the late 1980s,...
Bobby Ghosh: No, Palestinians can’t just leave Gaza
Why don’t they just leave? As Israel’s furious retaliation for last weekend’s Hamas attack devastates large swaths of the Gaza strip, killing hundreds and maiming thousands of Palestinians, it is not unreasonable to wonder why the 2.3 million civilians living in the tiny enclave don’t flee to safer ground. The...
Lisa Jarvis: Breast cancer screening guidelines should evolve with science
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as I was reminded over the weekend when a server offered me a special rose-colored cocktail to benefit a local cancer ward. I didn’t need that (delicious) beverage to be reminded that breast cancer is still the most common cancer among women. But it...
Jonathan Wolfson: Licensing reform could solve rural physician shortages
Think the federal government’s plan to add extra residency slots for health professional shortage areas will alleviate the growing rural physician shortage? Think again. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published research showing that of the 400 newly federally funded residency slots, a mere 20 residents spend more...
Steven Kratz: Pa. manufacturing starts with chemistry, sustainability
Every October, manufacturers throughout the Pittsburgh region and beyond, including our Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council (PCIC) members, celebrate National Manufacturing Month and the positive contributions manufacturing has on our society. The economic impacts are significant. According to the American Chemistry Council, the chemical and plastics industries inject over $14 billion,...
Colin Kohlhaas: Today’s white working-class young men who turn to racist violence are part of a long, sad American history
In recent years, the United States has seen a surge of white supremacist mass shootings against racial minorities. While not always the case, mass shooters tend to be young white men. Some journalists and researchers have argued that class and ideals of white masculinity are partly to blame. This argument...
Peter Morici: Biden gets no credit for the improved U.S. economy — but that won’t cost him votes
The U.S. economy and voter polls have been delivering both good and bad news to Joe Biden, but Republicans have more to worry about than what voters think of the U.S. president. U.S. inflation has moderated and jobs growth is generally robust. Voters feel better about the economy, but don’t...
David J. Marmins: Kiski School deserves support
I graduated from the Kiski School in 1987, so I am a contemporary of David Conrad, who wrote an eloquent op-ed lamenting the decision of our alma mater to begin accepting girls next year (“What The Kiski School has lost,” Oct. 9, TribLIVE). David went so far as to speak...
Jonah Goldberg: Who’s to blame for Hamas attack on Israel — debate already off the rails
Within hours of the slaughter in Israel, the question of Israel’s “massive intelligence failure” — as many have called it — came to dominate a lot of the media coverage and conversation. On one level, this is entirely defensible. Israeli officials acknowledge the obvious fact that it was, with the...
Stephen Herzenberg: Pa. must invest in career-related learning for high school students
This week, the state’s Basic Education Funding Commission (BEFC) will meet in Pittsburgh to gather testimony from educators and education advocates on the state of public education in Pennsylvania. Considering the Commonwealth Court’s ruling this year declaring the state’s funding of public education to be unconstitutional, the BEFC is tasked...
Dov Waxman: Hamas assault echoes 1973 Arab-Israeli war — a shock attack and questions of political, intelligence culpability
The parallels were striking — and surely not coincidental. Exactly 50 years and a day after being taken completely off guard by a coordinated military attack by its neighbors — Egypt and Syria — Israel was again caught by surprise. Early on Oct. 7, Hamas militants invaded southern Israel by...
Elwood Watson: History in the House
Oct. 3, 2023, will go down in American history as the first time a speaker of the House was expelled from Congress by his own peers. Kevin McCarthy, a man consumed of blind personal ambition and self-interest, was shown the exit door by his congressional colleagues. Eight Republicans — Andy...
Aaron Pilkington: The Israel-Hamas war — no matter who loses, Iran wins
There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas. In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel...
David Conrad: What The Kiski School has lost
If you’ve heard the word Kiski, it’s usually followed by the word “Area,” or if you’re lucky enough to have spent some time in a kayak or a canoe, perhaps you know it as the lovely river that starts in Saltsburg where the Conemaugh and the Loyalhanna join to run...
Commentary: Food inflation is a hardship outside the Fed’s control
It’s nearly impossible to have a conversation about inflation without mentioning food prices. And no wonder, as they are up 24% since the start of the pandemic and account for one-sixth of the increase in consumer prices overall. After the recent monetary policy meeting, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said...
Bradford Fitch: What really are ‘special interests’ in Washington — and how they influence Congress
It’s no secret that Congress is not held in high esteem by the American people. Much of the blame for dysfunction in Washington, and our system of government, is directed at so-called “special interest groups.” About 70% of Americans polled in a national survey said that “Congress works for the...
Michael Reagan: House Republicans need to grow up
OK, my fellow Republicans, you got rid of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Eight of you joined with every Democrat in the House of Representatives — the only part of the federal government we control — to vote McCarthy out, 216-210. In the process you threw the House into chaos, killed any...
Kim Cross: How Polly Klaas’ kidnapping and murder 30 years ago changed crime and punishment in America
When 12-year-old Polly Klaas was kidnapped by a stranger from her Northern California home on Oct. 1, 1993, the efforts to find her drew worldwide attention. When Polly’s body was found 64 nights after her abduction, the outpouring of grief in her hometown and beyond was overwhelming. Why had Polly’s...
Harry Litman: Here’s the real reason Trump didn’t try to move the Georgia prosecution to federal court
What should we make of Donald Trump’s surprising recent decision not to try moving Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against him to federal court? Most observers, including me, had anticipated that Trump would attempt to get the case out of the Georgia court, and not simply because it’s...
