Featured Commentary category, Page 63
Gary Franks: False abortion claims are being used for political gain
Recently we marked the first anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization landmark decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, which I applaud. The Supreme Court ordered a return of the power to regulate all aspects of abortions to individual states. Thus, electing more Democrats or Republicans to Congress...
Colin McNickle: The lose-lose situation of a $15 Pa. minimum wage
The Law of Unintended Consequences will come back to haunt Pennsylvania businesses, their workers and the commonwealth’s economy should the state nearly double the mandatory minimum wage by 2026, concludes an exhaustive analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “If the Pennsylvania Legislature enacts, and the governor signs, a...
Peter Morici: Biden’s protectionism driving emerging economies into China’s hands
America and its Western allies face a new era of geopolitical tensions with a coalescing alliance of autocratic states — China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and perhaps Saudi Arabia. It’s become fashionable to warn about the dangers of a new Cold War. But competing with China for influence among emerging...
Mickey Dutrow: Solar a budget solution for Pa. schools
Next year, Pennsylvania school districts will be staring down a financial cliff as the historic covid-19 pandemic funding ends. The stakes are even higher now since the state Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly must find ways to pay for public education. When compounded with crumbling infrastructure, increasing mental...
Jonah Goldberg: Wagner Group’s coup attempt may be over, but it shows a real crack in Putin’s power
Like many people, I was glued to the news for much of Saturday, watching what seemed, at least for a moment, to be the first stages of a coup d’état — and it still might be. The only thing we know for certain is that if this is the beginning...
Elwood Watson: Quoting Hitler an example of the shift on the right
Last week, an Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit organization that advocates for “parental rights” in education, ended up apologizing and condemning Adolf Hitler after previously using a quote from the racist and antisemitic Nazi leader in its newsletter. “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place...
Featured Commentary: Supreme Court has not committed to a major innovation in transparency it started during the pandemic
When the Supreme Court began livestreaming audio of oral arguments in May 2020, it was because the covid-19 pandemic prevented the justices from convening in person. But since then, even as pandemic-era restrictions eased, the Supreme Court has continued livestreaming, uninterrupted. The Supreme Court initially approved the practice on a...
James Horncastle: What the Wagner Group revolt in Russia could mean for the war in Ukraine
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, staged a revolt against Russia after claiming the Russian army deliberately attacked his forces. Prigozhin demanded justice — and that took the form of an armed insurrection. Before Prigozhin reportedly backed down after negotiations with the leader of Belarus, the Wagner Group...
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler: I will never abandon Marc Fogel
Over the past five years, I’ve worked to solve a multitude of issues facing American citizens overseas. In 2020, my office helped secure the African evacuation of Andrew Mewbourn, a Hempfield Township teacher suffering from a severe eye ailment. In 2021, I fought to hold President Biden accountable for his...
Darlene Leslie: In drought, water should be for people, not profit
The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has issued a drought watch, acknowledging what those of us with gardens have known for months: We are well short of the rainfall we’d normally expect by this time of year. According to the National Weather Service, we’ve received only 13.6” inches of rain when we...
Cal Thomas: On Hunter Biden, whom to believe?
It is an unfortunate truism of politics that partisans tend to believe the worst about members of the opposite party and no amount of facts — if, indeed, facts can be agreed upon — move people from their entrenched positions. Largely, I think, it’s all about gaining or keeping power...
Peter Rutland: Wagner’s mutiny punctured Putin’s ‘strongman’ image and exposed cracks in his rule
Less than 24 hours after the mutiny began, it was over. As the rebelling Wagner column bore down on Moscow, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal under which Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to drop criminal charges against the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and allow him to seek asylum...
Sen. Katie Muth and Alison L. Steele: Train derailments bode poorly for public health amid planned petro and hydrogen hubs
The recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, spewed toxic chemicals into surrounding neighborhoods. Since pollution knows no borders, this polluted air was carried to communities in Pennsylvania as well. Similar train derailments have occurred in other states since that time. Tightening lax standards on the transportation of hazardous chemicals...
Abraham Jacob Bonowitz: Pittsburgh synagogue shooter should not be executed
Recently, the shooter in the 2018 hate-fueled antisemitic Pittsburgh synagogue attack was convicted. Now there will be a trial to decide if we eventually make him world famous again by executing him many years from now, or instead simply forget his name and throw away the key. Six days earlier,...
William Haupt III: Millennials moving to the center and right
One of the most puzzling and questionable enigmas of modern American political parties is the Democrats have had majorities that controlled Congress much longer than Republicans have. At one time, Democrats controlled the House for 36 consecutive years and 56 of the past 60 years. It’s also hard to believe...
Rep. Mike Schlossberg: Investments in mental health care would be big step for Pa.
One in 5 Americans actively suffers from some sort of mental illness. Is that person you, or someone you love? I’ve been a state representative for over a decade and suffered from depression and anxiety my whole life. As someone who lives with mental illness, I wish I had known...
Samuel L. Boyd: Tree of life powerful image in Jewish tradition
After weeks of wrenching testimony, jurors delivered a guilty verdict June 16 for the gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 — the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The next phase of the trial will focus on sentencing, and whether Robert Bowers should face the...
Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders: AI could shore up democracy — here’s one way
It’s become fashionable to think of artificial intelligence as an inherently dehumanizing technology, a ruthless force of automation that has unleashed legions of virtual skilled laborers in faceless form. But what if AI turns out to be the one tool able to identify what makes your ideas special, recognizing your...
Christian Appy: ‘Courage is contagious’ — Daniel Ellsberg’s decision to release the Pentagon Papers didn’t happen in a vacuum
In 1971, when Daniel Ellsberg arrived at a federal court in Boston, a journalist asked if he was concerned about the prospect of going to prison for leaking a 7,000-page top-secret history of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg responded with a question of his own: “Wouldn’t you go to prison to...
Minerva Canto: Are book bans unconstitutional? They are certainly political.
In Missouri, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” about the Holocaust faced possible removal from schools for at least the third time over its depiction of a female character in a bathtub. In South Carolina, an Advanced Placement teacher has been forced to abandon her lesson about systemic racism using...
Matthew Yglesias: America can fix its highways much faster, if it wants
The collapse of a section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, smack dab in the middle of the densest region of the U.S., is an obvious disaster for the nation’s transportation network. But the demolition work, which began within hours, is already ahead of schedule, the repair work will be expedited,...
Cal Thomas: China’s economy and America’s opportunity
Many have tried not buying items made in China, but it is a near impossibility. Everything from prescription drugs to you name it seems to originate in a country whose regime is proving to be America’s greatest adversary and growing enemy. Which is why now may be the ideal time...
Peter Morici: Biden is vulnerable in 2024, but Republicans offer too little in response
From a legislative perspective, Joe Biden is the most successful president since Ronald Reagan, but he faces skeptical voters in his bid for reelection. The American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure Act, Chips and Science Act and green energy, electric vehicle and other industrial policy initiatives embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act...
Ron Klink: Biden must put American workers first and fight corruption overseas
As President Biden hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House this week, Modi will become the third world leader to be honored with an official state visit by our president. As India implements economic reforms and emerges as a global economic power, the Biden administration must do...
Joyce M. Davis: Pa. highway collapse shows how vulnerable our roads are
Traffic has been severed in both directions on one of America’s busiest and most economically important thoroughfares. It will be months before I-95 is back to normal in the Philadelphia area, after a truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline crashed into a wall and burst into flames June 12....
