Featured Commentary category, Page 10

It came as a surprise that President Joe Biden unconditionally pardoned his son Hunter, a convicted felon, after repeatedly vowing that he would not. For the past few months, each time Biden or his press secretary was asked whether a pardon was in the cards, they both emphatically said no....

For most Americans, this election has brought exhaustion, divisiveness and, for many, fear and deep pain. After the election, Tom Nichols wrote in The Atlantic: “Americans must stay engaged and make their voices heard at every turn.” And Liz Cheney tweeted, “Citizens across this country … must now be the...

New York Times columnist David Brooks, who is about as close to a conservative as that liberal newspaper publishes, wrote something last week that gets to the heart of why Democrats, especially, but also some Republicans, fear a second Trump administration. After extolling what he believes to be the personal...

Personal assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and generative artificial intelligence tools now appearing at work can amuse, streamline tasks and leverage productivity by gathering and organizing information, drafting documents and performing time-consuming tasks. But they can’t yet duplicate the prescience or situational awareness humans possess by virtue of our rearing,...

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is proud of its designation as “America’s First Superhighway.” Our system opened in 1940, and, over the past 85 years, its groundbreaking innovation reinvigorated communities across the state and served as a model for the nation’s Interstate Highway System. Our core mission — to ensure safe, uninterrupted...

I read your editorial “Are there any guarantees with Nippon Steel?” (Nov. 23, TribLive). As a steelworker, I wanted to share my perspective. I started my career at U.S. Steel in 1977, had to leave the company for four years because of the horrible downturn in the industry in the...

President-elect Donald Trump has been bypassing FBI background investigations for his cabinet appointees in favor of screening by private companies. The reasons? The normal process can be slow. And it can reveal embarrassing personal information. Of course, it can! But those are not reasons to scrap an important safeguard to...

You may have encountered the term “bird flu” increasingly online and in the media. It refers to a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A, classified as H5N1. Wild birds carry and transmit this flu, though most do not get sick from it. However, it has been detected in birds and...

Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo has joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in opposition to fluoride in the water supply. Ladapo cites controversial studies that claim the additive poses a risk to developing brains. I shall resist the temptation to draw a link between such studies and our politicians. The...

Between all the talk of fiscal commissions and efficiency agencies, it seems like the question of the day is how to make the U.S. government operate more proficiently. There is no shortage of ideas on what should be cut and by how much. Before any actions are taken, officials should...

One of the first orders of business in 2025 for Congress and the incoming administration will be the extension of President Donald Trump’s signature 2017 tax law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), most of whose individual provisions are set to expire late next year. There’s one problem: America’s...

Allegheny County residents are living through an ongoing housing crisis. Western Pennsylvania has some of the oldest housing stock in the nation and decades of disinvestment, and the climate crisis is driving increased costs for homeowners and renters through increased utility bills. Many of our homes lack insulation, are badly...

As the Southeastern Public Transportation Association (SEPTA) recently announced a potential fare increase due to a lack of state funding, it is hard to ignore the familiar pattern that has plagued Pennsylvania’s public transportation system for years: short-term solutions, funding crises and finger-pointing. This time, the frustration comes after the...

Young families with children are a shrinking part of the U.S. population in many areas. The decline is especially pronounced in major urban centers, including Boston, San Francisco, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Seattle, Philadelphia, San Jose and Washington, D.C. During the covid-19 pandemic shutdown, many families with...

Do you enjoy fruits and vegetables? Assuming the answer is yes, come next year who do you think will harvest the oranges, almonds, lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes and the other 300-plus crops grown in California? Who will work in the state’s dairies, meat plants, and food processing factories, most located in...

Thanksgiving was never an important holiday for me. Gathering the family from near and far for a celebratory meal wasn’t unusual; our family was composed of Italians and a small sprinkling of Irish. Growing up, we always gathered around different tables at different houses, broke out the biscotti and anisette...

For most kids, Grandma and Grandpa’s house is their favorite place to visit. Filled with toys and endless affection, treats and hugs. For ordinary people, Thanksgiving is a particularly special time to spend with family. That wasn’t my childhood. Don’t worry — this isn’t a sob story. My grandparents were...

President-elect Donald Trump’s economic legacy may well depend on whether he prefers the comparative form of an adjective. Specifically, does he believe it is hard to make a living in the U.S. — or harder than it used to be? It is not an insignificant distinction. The central conceit of...

President-elect Donald Trump will wield what he calls an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” handed to him by voters to help him reach his goals. There is no doubt on the part of Democrats that he will ram his agenda down their throats while all three branches of government have swung...

I’m a progressive Californian, a Black man, and I did not vote for Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris this year or Donald Trump. I voted for Claudia De La Cruz, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for president. The decision was easy. With two exceptions over the past four decades...

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Nov. 21, 2024, for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and one leading Hamas official. Those named in the action are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by the Palestinian...

An estimated 18 million Americans are invested in cryptocurrency, according to the Federal Reserve. And the United States just elected a pro-­crypto president. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have become a trendy digital asset. Supporters claim crypto subverts capitalism because it bypasses traditional bankers. Crypto can offer quick riches along with...

The usual rule of thumb is that stories sell; data doesn’t. But new research suggests that’s not necessarily true. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that numbers are dull and uninspiring, numbers dominate our decisions — on what to buy, whom to hire and where to donate money. A paper published...

Do reporters have more rights under the First Amendment than ordinary Americans? Should they? The answer to both questions is “no.” Unfortunately, a bill passed by the House of Representatives and is sitting in the Senate wants to change that. The PRESS Act would allow the media to operate outside...

Like it or not, the Constitution’s First Amendment gives the media special protection in the American republic. That amendment says, “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom … of the press.” With one of the recent presidential candidates unconstitutionally threatening to shut down media outlets or take away...