Featured Commentary category, Page 70
Yassir Yousif: Land bank helps turn a house into a home
Our home in Chalfant sits in a quiet, low-traffic neighborhood. It has plenty of space to raise a family. But it wasn’t always this way. In fact, it stood abandoned for over four years before our family moved here in 2022. Thanks to the help of the Tri-COG Land Bank,...
E.M. Liddick: You want a leader? This is what one looks like.
What do former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, Sen. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego have in common? This feels like the start of a bad joke, one to which some readers might offer a punchline. But it’s not. The obvious: they’re men; they’re Democrats; and, although only...
Michael Reagan: President Biden leads America to defeat
Everyone in the national media is worrying about whether Donald Trump was going to be arrested in New York. Not me. In a radio interview with San Diego talk show host Mark Larson, I said I didn’t care what was going to happen to Trump. “What I’m really worried about,”...
Laura Packard: Despite attempts to kill it, Affordable Care Act turns 13 this year
Thirteen years ago March 24, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. And five years ago, my oncologist told me my stage 4 cancer was in remission. As a small business owner, my health insurance is through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). So these two dates are inexorably linked...
Cassandra Jones Havard: Moral hazard — why it’s risky for the government to rescue banks
“Moral hazard” refers to the risks that someone or something becomes more inclined to take because they have reason to believe that an insurer will cover the costs of any damages. The concept describes financial recklessness. It has its roots in the advent of private insurance companies about 350 years...
Michael J. Lee: Secession is here — States, cities and the wealthy are already withdrawing from America
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, wants a “national divorce.” In her view, another Civil War is inevitable unless red and blue states form separate countries. She has plenty of company on the right, where a host of others — 52% of Trump voters, Donald Trump himself and...
Guy Ciarrocchi: GOP can target suburban swing voters and keep their base
In recent election cycles, the Philadelphia suburbs have been moving further into the Democratic column. To add to the challenge for Pennsylvania Republicans, more areas are resembling these communities as the state becomes more suburban. It’s a common trend in Rust Belt and East Coast states. Some analysts have argued...
Timothy J. Kunselman: ‘It’s political’ and other annoying words and phrases
The most recent word that annoys the heck out of me is “weaponization.” I first heard it used by Republicans railing against the Department of Justice and alleged use of the justice system to exact political punishment. “Weaponization” is right up there with “witch hunt” and “MAGA” and “red and...
Peter Morici: America’s most powerful weapon to beat China and Russia in Cold War 2.0 is free trade
The U.S. is in a new Cold War with China and something hotter with Russia. But America’s shift to protectionism and overreliance on implementing economic sanctions are foolish. After World War II, the U.S. created NATO and alliances in the Pacific, cultivated free trade among allies through the GATT, EU...
Rob Perkins: Allegheny County district attorney’s office needs an integrity unit
Our chief local prosecutor is the Allegheny County district attorney. Bucking a national trend, our DA has failed to establish a conviction integrity unit. It’s past time to create one. Mistakes happen in criminal trials. Just like they happen in any human endeavor. But the stakes are high in criminal...
Cal Thomas: Trump should follow LBJ’s example
If, as seems likely, Donald Trump is indicted by a New York grand jury for reportedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and if, as also seems likely, Trump is also indicted by a Georgia grand jury for trying to force election officials to overturn that state’s vote...
Elwood Watson : Not ‘woke’ enough to understand its meaning
You have to be “woke” to understand it, I guess. Last week, conservative activist and author Bethany Mandel went viral for her screeching response on defining the term woke, which has become the catch-all phrase on the right for everything wrong with our country. During the March 14 edition of...
Pat Garofalo: Ending health care systems’ abuse of nonprofit status
A court recently ruled that the health care system Tower Health did not meet the mandated requirements to receive tax exemptions on four of its properties in Pennsylvania, in part because it was too focused on profit despite its status as a nonprofit institution. “This decision is validation that our...
Jeff Kotula: Unleashing Pa.’s energy resources will grow economy
As the first quarter of 2023 comes to an end, the economy remains a prime concern for many Americans. It has been difficult to ignore the effects of inflation on everyday essentials, and market results have reflected this uncertainty. While the current unemployment rate is at a near 50-year low...
Ryan Costello: Pharmacy benefit managers help keep drug costs down
These days, it seems it is always political campaign season. That is true on the presidential level, with several candidates already seeking the Republican nomination. Here in Pennsylvania, we will also be electing a U.S. senator (Bob Casey’s seat) and a full state and federal House delegation next year. As...
Christopher Decker: Inflation is proving particularly stubborn
The Federal Reserve is facing a rather sticky problem. Despite its best efforts over the past year, inflation is stubbornly refusing to head south with any urgency to a target of 2%. Rather, the inflation report released on March 14, 2023, shows consumer prices rose 0.4% in February, meaning the...
Heidi Zinzow: 54% of firearm deaths in the US are from suicide — and easy access to a gun is a key risk factor
More than half — 54% — of all firearm deaths in the United States in 2021 were attributable to suicide, according to February 2023 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide deaths involving firearms — the most common means of suicide in the U.S. — have increased...
David Galluch: Coming soon — the Shapiro energy tax
In a sleight of hand worthy of a card shark, Gov. Josh Shapiro quietly acted to raise home heating and electricity costs for Pennsylvania families. It’s officially termed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. It should be called the “Shapiro Energy Tax.” Little noticed until recently, the governor tucked...
Jim Pieffer: Federal staffing mandates would hurt Pa. nursing home care for seniors
There has been an undeniable nursing home workforce crisis in recent years. While many have moved on from the pandemic, the stress and anxiety continue in nursing homes as employees work hard to protect those most vulnerable to covid-19. Though well-intentioned, a proposed federal staffing requirement by the Centers for...
Sofia Sunseri: Give abuse survivors their justice
From the time I was 5 years old until I reached puberty, I survived repeated sexual abuse. Like far too many others, there was no justice. The legal system failed me and protected the abuser. I repeatedly and profoundly suffered abuse throughout my life while being held to normal expectations...
Vidhura S. Tennekoon: The U.S. banking crisis isn’t over yet
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank failed with enormous speed — so quickly that they could be textbook cases of classic bank runs, in which too many depositors withdraw their funds from a bank at the same time. The failures at SVB and Signature were two of the three...
Robert Smith: Waters of the United States
We are once again locked in a debate regarding the proper role of the federal government to regulate what is termed waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. On Dec. 30, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the...
Raymond Tonkin: Pa. should retain death penalty for murder of police
In the early hours of Sept. 13, 2014, my phone rang. I answered. On the other end of the phone was a dispatcher informing me that the Pennsylvania State Police were requesting me because two state troopers had been shot outside the Blooming Grove Barracks. I quickly dressed and headed...
Ross Nicotero: PRT’s hiring and retention is crisis that must be addressed now
Several weeks ago, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) launched a public input process to overhaul the downtown bus network. This is the first portion of a system-wide transit network redesign, to ostensibly make our bus routes faster, more understandable and more effective in serving our riders’ needs. As transit workers, we’re...
Christopher Baxter: Secrecy is too often the norm in Pa. state and local governments
Our state and local governments exist to serve our communities. We pay our taxes each year, and in return, we the taxpayers have a right to know what our government is doing, how it’s spending our money and whether we’re getting the services we deserve. But there are fewer and...
