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Featured Commentary category, Page 113

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Pat Buchanan: Is it jaw-jaw or war with Iran?
“Jaw-jaw is better than war-war,” is attributed, wrongly, say some historians, to Winston Churchill. Still, the words lately came to mind. While the first week in December ended with a hopeful U.S.-Iranian prisoner exchange that was hailed by President Trump — “Thank you to Iran for a very fair negotiation....
Colin McNickle: Negative job growth dogs Greater Pittsburgh
There has been lots of happy talk about Greater Pittsburgh’s supposed economic “resilience,” if not an outright “renaissance.” But the latest jobs report belies that notion and yet again exposes the many elephants in the room that continue to retard growth, concludes an analysis by scholars at the Allegheny Institute...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump defenders continue to push Ukraine conspiracy theories
Contrary to heated rhetoric from Democrats, most Republicans understand that Russia was responsible for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s server in 2016 and other efforts to sow mischief in the electoral process. They’ll even admit it when pressed. The problem is they want everyone to believe that Ukraine...
Garret Mathews: Newspapers haven for people with Asperger’s
What’s the fallout from the radical downturn in the influence of newspapers? To be sure, a less informed populace. More stories generated from press releases. Fewer in-depth articles. Less enterprise coverage of local and regional news. I think there’s something else. Nothing ground-shaking. Nothing insidious. Just sad. In 2016, I...
S.E. Cupp: Is impeachment over, or is it just beginning?
As Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against President Trump this past Tuesday, — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — I heard the country breathe an audible sigh of relief. Our long, national nightmare is finally over. Anxieties over would-they or wouldn’t-they, the constant public opinion polling updates,...
Nancy Koester: The currency of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman has yet to appear on the $20 bill or any federal note. But the hero of the Underground Railroad has newly minted cultural currency of her own. The star of the biopic “Harriet,” Cynthia Erivo, was just nominated for a Golden Globe. And there’s a new biography: “She...
Walter Williams: Morality of free markets
Richard Ebeling, professor of economics at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and my longtime friend and colleague, has written an important article, “Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace,” appearing in the American Institute for Economic Research. Its importance and timeliness is enhanced by so many of...
John Stossel: The forgotten federal debt
Congress and the media obsess endlessly over whether President Trump should be impeached. Both ignore $23 trillion of bigger problems. That’s how deep in debt the federal government is now, and because they keep spending much more than they could ever hope to collect in taxes, that number will only...
Peter Morici: U.K. elections could be beginning of end for EU
In Thursday’s elections, Boris Johnson has a decent shot at winning a workable majority in Parliament to pull the U.K. out of the European Union. This could be a turning point for Europe — rather than enabling consolidation of the continental bloc, Brexit will provide the contrast that blows it...
Pat Buchanan: Democrats’ diversity — only in the back of the bus
The “Our diversity is our strength!” Party is starting to look rather monochromatic in its upper echelons these days. The four leading candidates for its presidential nomination — Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — are all white. The six candidates who have qualified for the Dec....
Colin McNickle: Port Authority’s (still) costly bus service
The latest available cost numbers are in for the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s bus service. They remain wholly unflattering. And that should raise new concerns as the mass-transit agency embarks on its highly touted Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public...
Jonah Goldberg: Nostalgia is the ace up Biden’s sleeve
I like the word malarkey, consarn it. It’s the bee’s knees. Sure, the youngsters might say, “OK, Boomer” on hearing Joe Biden utter the word, but if you think he’s all wet for using it, you can take your phonus bolonus and tell it to Sweeney. Biden has never really...
Michael Butler: Gas & solar together benefit Pittsburgh Airport
The decision to marry solar energy and natural gas to power the Pittsburgh Internationl Airport with a self-contained “microgrid” is the rarest kind of union: one where the partners together create something bigger than the sum of the individuals. Too often, natural gas and renewable energy like solar are presented...
S.E. Cupp: What unites Trump & Bloomberg
Tell me if this sounds like someone you know: Brash New York businessman with a history of scattered political affiliations and controversial ideas jumps into crowded primary, spending his own money on long-shot presidential bid. Of course, that accurately described Donald Trump in 2015. But in 2019, it also fits...
John Warren: One nation under God?
“I had no idea how critical religion is to the functioning of democracy.” So said a Marxist economist from China conversing with Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. This Chinese communist supposed that American democracy has worked because “most Americans, most of the time, follow the rules, not just because they are...
Paul Schemel: Statute of limitations ‘window’ wrong path for past abuse cases
The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that next year the annual dues for Scouts will increase by 80%. According to the Boy Scouts, the reason for the increase is the growing cost of legal settlements relating to old claims of child sexual abuse by Scout leaders who served decades...
Tony Crisci: Every Bottle Back aims to keep empties out of waterways
Pittsburgh is the hub of economic activity for Western Pennsylvania. The abundance of natural resources offers opportunities for jobs, manufacturing and growth. But with these opportunities comes the obligation to protect and preserve our environment for future generations. Beverage companies are part of the story of economic growth and the...
John Stossel: Hollywood socialism
Hollywood is now obsessing about increasing ethnic and gender diversity. Good. There’s been nasty racial and gender discrimination in the movie business. Unfortunately, Hollywood has no interest in one type of diversity: diversity of thought. In most every movie, capitalism is evil. Greedy miners want to kill nature-loving aliens in...
Walter Williams: Fraud in higher education
This year’s education scandal saw parents shelling out megabucks to gain college admittance for their children. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 50 people with participating in a scheme to get their children into colleges by cheating on entrance exams or bribing coaches and administrators. As disgusting as this grossly...
Donald Boudreaux: What does decline in labor-force participation mean?
Imagine that overnight every American’s wealth doubles. From Jeff Bezos to the poorest indigent, imagine that each American today can afford to consume twice as many goods and services as that person could afford to consume yesterday. Making accurate specific predictions about what changes in people’s behavior we’d observe is...
Dr. Arvind Venkat: Patient-centric approach to ending surprise medical billing
Congress now has several options on the table when it comes to ending surprise medical billing, an issue that has for too long hit vulnerable patients and their families with high, unexpected costs. However, not all of these solutions are made equally. In fact, some could make things substantially worse,...
Colin McNickle: New day ahead for Westmoreland transit
The new year will bring a major change in how the Westmoreland County Transit Authority (WCTA) operates. Instead of contracting out the operation of buses it owns, as it has for the past four decades, the authority will operate the mass transit agency itself, a la the Port Authority of...
Pat Buchanan: Let the people decide Trump’s fate
Was there linkage between the withholding of U.S. military aid and the U.S. demand for a Ukrainian state investigation of the Bidens? “Was there a quid pro quo?” This question has bedeviled Washington for months now. “The answer is yes,” said U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland in sworn...
Mark DeSantis: The importance of getting political appointments right
Upon taking office, President George Washington promised to hire people “as shall be the best qualified.” We are struggling to meet that standard and with serious consequences. Today, the federal government is the world’s most powerful and complex bureaucracy within the world’s largest economy and includes, among other things, armed...
Lauren Mishoe: Federal plans would deprive patients of top-tier drugs
Diabetes is an epidemic in Pennsylvania. About one in 10 local adults lives with the disease. And the burden is growing: Roughly 3.5 million state residents are “pre-diabetic,” meaning their blood glucose levels put them at severe risk of developing diabetes later in life. The majority of these folks —...


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