Featured Commentary category, Page 16
Chad Kultgen: What I’ve learned from doing a podcast with my MAGA parents
My family used to be very close. We took vacations together. We never missed a birthday or a Christmas, even though it meant traveling from different states. And we talked on the phone often. But something happened during President Obama’s second term that changed our family drastically. I don’t think...
Rep. Dan Frankel: Don’t let corporate cannabis hijack legalization in Pa.
Last week, something unusual happened in Harrisburg. A Senate Republican committee chair brought up the cannabis legalization bill I introduced with Rep. Rick Krajewski — just to vote it down. It was all theater. No legalization bill will become law without a negotiation with HB 1200, the House-passed legislation. So...
Allison Mathis: Cyber charter reform is unfinished business
Cyber charter schools were created in 2002, and the law creating them had remained largely unchanged in the 22 years of its existence until Act 55 of 2024. Act 55 implemented several critical reforms related to accountability, transparency and ethics that advocates have been asking to see for years. Act...
Mark Z. Barabak: Is there a middle ground on immigration? This Republican thinks so.
Bob Worsley has solid conservative credentials. He’s anti abortion. A fiscal hawk and lifelong member of the Mormon Church. As an Arizona state senator, he won high marks from the National Rifle Association. These days, however, Worsley is an oddity, an exception, a Republican pushing back against the animating impulses...
Gary Pezzano: Stop gambling with the care Pa.’s older population deserves
As Pennsylvania’s baby boomer generation continues to age, the commonwealth’s system is failing to meet the growing demand for nursing home care, the LIFE program and other critical aging services. In fact, at a time when we should be expanding services, nursing homes are removing beds and scaling back services...
Joan Mills and William Reeves Ferran: Allegheny County power outages make case for solar and storage in public housing
When the Blawnox Apartments, home to over 80 senior citizens, abruptly went dark early last week amidst the torrential rain and fierce winds pummeling Allegheny County, building maintenance wasted no time in attempting to fire up the old diesel generator. When it finally sputtered to life — hours after the...
Kelley Shepherd: We are not the waste — a DSP’s plea to protect Medicaid
Since 2008, I’ve worked as a direct support professional (DSP). In this work, I’ve witnessed miracles — small ones, daily — that show what people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism (ID/A) can achieve when they’re given a fair chance and real support. I remember someone with a traumatic...
Brian C. Rittmeyer: Penn State branch campuses provide more than memories
There’s a beaver plushie on my nightstand, and a glass bottle of Coke from 1990 in my living room. What do these two unusual — and one, advisably undrinkable — things have in common? Penn State branch campuses. More importantly, for me, the memories attached to them. And now that...
Cal Thomas: Bad political theater in Newark
Political theater extends back to the Greeks. William Shakespeare wrote about politics in “Coriolanus” and other plays. A personal favorite of mine was “Fiorello!,” a 1959 musical about New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. What happened in Newark last week was political theater at its worst. New Jersey Democratic Reps....
Alisa E. Harris: State funding is reducing violence and supporting youth — we must keep it going
Pennsylvania is home to more YMCAs than any other state in the nation — more than 700,000 Pennsylvanians are members of their local YMCA, and an additional 180,000 people participate in YMCA programs each year. It is hard to overstate the positive impact a YMCA has on a community —...
Ed Beck: Independent vets locked out of Pa. primaries
Consider this situation. A Pennsylvanian devotes over three decades to military service, most of it in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Along the way, he earns multiple degrees and becomes a management consultant, a college professor and an entrepreneur. He’s played by the rules, served his country and contributed to...
Jeff Kupfer: Hydrogen future begins in Western Pa. — if we seize it
Western Pennsylvania helped build America’s energy backbone. Now, we stand at the edge of another turning point – one where the region can once again lead, this time by investing in clean hydrogen technologies that power the future and support our workers, manufacturers, or communities. Let’s be clear: This isn’t...
A.J. Bauer: NPR and PBS aren’t threats. They’re treasures.
When President Donald Trump signed an executive order cutting federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, he was right about one thing: We do live in a moment of media abundance. But his market-based notion of abundance fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of public broadcasting, which is...
Mark Gongloff: Pope Leo XIV might be the climate champion we need
In picking a new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the Vatican had a chance to honor the late Pope Francis’ legacy as the greenest pope in modern history. In choosing the American (and Peruvian) Cardinal Robert Prevost — henceforth known as Pope Leo XIV — his fellow cardinals...
Point: Deception and destruction — Musk and DOGE’s real goal
Waste, fraud and abuse. These are the seemingly magic words the world’s richest man incants to justify the chainsaw he’s taking to our government in the form of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, as Elon Musk steps back to a part-time role, the question remains: Were these words...
Counterpoint: DOGE’s swift but not-so-terrible sword
Critics swing between accusing the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of overreach and declaring it a failure at cutting government. Here are some reality checks: DOGE-like efforts are not new. George H.W. Bush’s Council on Competitiveness was created to ease regulatory burdens. Led by Vice President Dan Quayle,...
Stuart Fisk: Medical professionals respond to call for higher dose naloxone
While well-intentioned, Scott L. Bohn’s op-ed “Equipping first responders for the age of synthetic opioids” (April 28, TribLive) calling for expanded use of high dose and long-lasting opioid overdose reversal agents misstates the need for these products and ignores current research and best practices for reversing opioid overdoses. The consensus...
Matt Shorraw: Medicaid, CHIP, environmental justice must be legislative priorities
As budget negotiations continue in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania lawmakers are faced with a defining decision: Will they protect the health and dignity of millions, or allow devastating federal cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to take hold? This choice isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet —...
Greg Fulton: Remembering the Steelers’ ‘Tuskegee Airmen in cleats’
It’s 50 years ago when the Steelers had a string of years, 1975 to 1980, where most experts would say they had the best defense in the NFL, and some might assert the best in the game’s history. This defense, known as the Steel Curtain, was a major reason the...
Robert F. Powelson: Pittsburgh’s water woes — why slamming the door on private solutions is a bad idea
Pittsburgh, you have a problem. A water problem. And City Council is flirting with a permanent decision that could make it a whole lot worse by asking voters to ban any future partnerships with regulated, private water companies. This referendum is shortsighted and ignores the reality of the city’s crumbling...
Vincent Trometter: Trump needs Nippon Steel to win agenda
Vital toward reindustrializing the country, where our factory towns are revitalized, our ports are making new ships and the skylines of our cities grow higher, President Trump is seeking to correct President Joe Biden’s ill-sighted decision to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel. The idea has been in the...
Dan DeBone: Regional transit proposals warrant caution — and a seat at the table for Westmoreland County
In recent weeks, there has been growing conversation around potential legislation that would consolidate smaller, rural transit systems — such as our own Westmoreland County Transit Authority — into Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT). While no formal bill has been introduced, the concept alone is already drawing attention across Southwestern Pennsylvania....
Jason Richey: As conditions change, it’s time for administration to rethink the Nippon-U.S. Steel merger
The tallest building between New York and Chicago, the U.S. Steel Tower stands as a monument to Pittsburgh’s industrial past — and a reminder of what the future could be if our nation’s leaders step up for our manufacturing sector. Once the world’s largest steelmaker, U.S. Steel’s presence remains vital...
Cal Thomas: Faith and government
Last week, President Trump announced the establishment of a White House Faith Office. Its purpose, as described in a White House announcement, is to “… empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities.” Don’t they already have access to a higher power? There...
Sally C. Pipes: Insurers, bureaucrats shouldn’t deprive patients of lifesaving treatments
Imagine being told there’s a drug that might save your life — but your insurance won’t cover it for 18 months. That’s the reality for patients under a new policy from Independence Blue Cross, a Philadelphia-based insurer. The insurer announced earlier this year that it will delay coverage of therapies...
