Featured Commentary category, Page 11
Cal Thomas: Flagging flag burners (again)
President Trump wants to penalize anyone who burns the American flag. After initially announcing his intent — apparently before being told the Supreme Court already has said burning the flag is protected under the free expression clause of the First Amendment — Trump said he wishes to criminalize such behavior...
Joel Burstein: Local business retention most underrated economic development strategy
When it comes to economic development, we all love the ribbon cuttings. Shovels in the ground, billion-dollar factories, gleaming new AI research hubs — they dominate the headlines and photo ops. But the most transformative growth doesn’t always come from what’s new. It comes from what we choose to keep....
Leslie Gromis Baker: Investing in adult literacy helps people help themselves
As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” That’s exactly what adult literacy programs do — they provide people with the tools and confidence to take control of their futures, giving...
Sean Trende: Restoring trust in the heart of Pa.’s political realignment
One of the defining features of late 20th and early 21st century American politics is the loss of faith in our institutions. A recent poll in U.S. News shows that 85% of Americans say “government officials and other community leaders care more about their own power and influence than what’s...
Jason “J.J.” Park: Three cheers for the (unappreciated) American worker
When doing entry-level, frontline jobs, I often felt (1) overworked and (2) underpaid. But if those few special customers appreciated me, life was still good. I connected to these empathic individuals who understood that doing a good job, all day long, day in and day out, was tough. But there...
Elisabeth Rosenthal: Health insurance price hikes should cause Americans alarm
Wary of inflation, Americans have been watching the prices of everyday items such as eggs and gasoline. A less-noticed expense should cause greater alarm: rising premiums for health insurance. They have been trending upward for years and are now rising faster than ever. Consider that, from 2000 to 2020, egg...
Paul O’Neill Jr. and Geoff Webster: Supporting Nippon, US Steel in a better, safer way
The Pittsburgh Futures Collaborative leaders have decades of experience in industry, health care, nonprofits and government creating learning systems to make “habitual excellence” results possible. As CEO of Alcoa, Paul O’Neill Sr. proved that the world’s best aluminum could be manufactured efficiently, at a lower cost, while treating employees well,...
Matt K. Lewis: Newsom’s knives-out memes show plausible strategy against Trump
Just when you thought it was safe to go back on TikTok, viral Gavin Newsom memes are taking over social media. There’s Newsom Photoshopped into a classic black-and-white Calvin Klein ad (faux ripped abs and all). Newsom on the cover of a pretend romance novel (Fabio “bodice ripper” vibes abound)....
Harper Brod: We were raised in the storm — why young people still don’t trust politics, but I do
We were raised in the middle of a political hurricane. Our childhoods came with breaking news alerts: lockdowns, impeachments, mass shootings, a pandemic and presidents tweeting threats in real time. We never saw the so-called “good old days.” We learned early that politics wasn’t some distant, dignified machine — it...
Audrey L. Tanksley: Katrina was bigger than a hurricane
When Hurricane Katrina touched down near New Orleans 20 years ago on Aug. 29, 2005, I was just beginning my journey as a first-year medical student. I remember watching the footage of families stranded on rooftops, hospitals submerged and the bodies of people and pets floating in the floodwaters. I...
Mary Ellen Klas: NIMBYs are coming for the data centers AI needs
The emerging political battle over data centers has a feature unfamiliar to present-day policymaking: The opponents are not divided along partisan lines. Instead, the conflict is between local communities and Big Tech developers, with elected officials caught in the middle. Politicians — from both parties — who have greenlit these...
Charlie Hunt: In a closely divided Congress, aging lawmakers are a problem for Democrats
The 2026 midterms are more than a year away, but some high-profile primary election battles in the Democratic Party are gaining national attention. Much of that attention is focused on the age of the candidates. Thanks to Texas’ proposed mid-decade redistricting, a showdown is looming between two Democrats serving in...
Mary Ellen Klas: Abolishing voting by mail will hurt Republicans more than help
If President Donald Trump were to issue an executive order to abolish mail-in voting, as he announced he would on social media Monday, it would almost certainly be unconstitutional. It would also be baffling — because eliminating vote-by-mail would probably hurt Republicans more than it would help them in next...
Mikhail Alexseev: Trump’s Russia and Ukraine summits show he can push for peace
By hosting an unprecedented short-notice summit with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and key European leaders last Monday, President Donald Trump significantly raised the prospects for ending Russia’s 3½-year-long war against Ukraine. The vibe at the opening was affable and positive. The participants genuinely looked determined to work out compromises that...
James Stavridis: 10 ways to force Putin back to the bargaining table
Vladimir Putin came to Alaska and got the red-carpet treatment, complete with a fighter-jet flyover and a warm presidential handshake. The state was an ironic location for a summit given Russia’s continuing seller’s remorse over having sold it to America in the mid-19th century. While expectations were low for a...
Dan DeBone: A once-in-a-generation opportunity for Westmoreland County
As many in our business community know, the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce recently released the long-awaited feasibility and economic impact study for a hotel and conference center in our region. The results are not just promising — they are transformational. This project stems from a clear message: The loss...
Sen. Devlin Robinson: Standing up for Pittsburgh transit — funding, safety and accountability
Public transit keeps Pittsburgh and Allegheny moving. It gets people to work, to school, to the doctor, and to see family and friends. It keeps our economy running and our neighborhoods connected. In fact, I know firsthand the need for a safe and reliable public transit system because this is...
Panini A. Chowdhury: Community benefits agreement — a path to faster, fairer development
Many of Pittsburgh’s biggest developments are taking far too long to move from vision to reality. The Lower Hill redevelopment, the Bakery Square expansion and the Esplanade riverfront development project are all examples of projects that could be transforming neighborhoods right now but are instead bogged down in prolonged review...
Gustavo Arellano: Can homegrown teens replace immigrant farm labor? In 1965, the U.S. tried
I sank into Randy Carter’s comfy couch, excited to see the Hollywood veteran’s magnum opus. Around the first floor of his Glendale home were framed photos and posters of films the 77-year-old had worked on during his career. “Apocalypse Now.” “The Godfather II.” “The Conversation.” What we were about to...
Idi Utuk: Medicaid is not a luxury, it’s a lifeline
Every time I chased stability to build a future, chronic illness pulled me back into a hospital bed. Sometimes it has been for days, sometimes weeks. My life with sickle cell disease is a relentless cycle of excruciating pain, nerve damage and blood transfusions. I’ve survived two kidney transplants, countless...
Matt K. Lewis: AI will be more disruptive than covid. Which party can seize the moment?
Democrats, bless their hearts, keep trying to figure out the magic formula to stop President Donald Trump. But here’s a cold splash of reality: If Trump’s popularity ever collapses, it will probably be because of something completely beyond their control. In 2020, it wasn’t some brilliant strategy that defeated Trump....
Cal Thomas: Did Trump get rolled in Alaska?
Promising severe consequences if Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine and then apparently reversing himself is what sends a signal of weakness, not only to Putin, but to the world. On Saturday, Trump posted this on Truth Social: “It was determined by all that the...
Matt Shorraw: Protecting our workers and communities after U.S. Steel Clairton explosion
When an explosion at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works tore through the quiet summer day last week, it affected every single town along the Monongahela River. For those of us who grew up here, a plant explosion isn’t just news — it’s something we feel in our bones. This was...
Lisa Jarvis: A jump in colon cancer cases could actually be hopeful
New data shows a rise in colon cancer among adults ages 45-49. That’s wonderful news. Celebrating an increase in cancer rates might seem counterintuitive, but it comes amid a push for more screening of adults in this age group. And the result is more tumors are being caught in the...
Counterpoint: Save the summer break
Who can forget George Gershwin’s memorable song “Summertime and the Living is Easy”? Summers meant picnics in the park, vacations, camping, lounging at the pool, jumping in the lake, and reading favorite books. That was then, this is now. Now, we have children attending academically focused summer programs or athletic...
