Featured Commentary category, Page 3
Joyce M. Davis: Iran’s martyrdom culture means this war could be America’s bloodiest yet
Few places on earth so revere martyrdom as Iran. I came to that conclusion during a visit to the country in 2002, not long after the Sept. 11 attack on the United States. In my book, “Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance and Despair in the Middle East,” I open the chapter on...
Robert T. Smith: Our planet’s doom is not so imminent
As the means of communicating its administration of the nation’s environmental laws to the public, on Feb. 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Final Rule in the Federal Register stating that the prior action by the EPA regarding the control of greenhouse gases, called the Endangerment Finding,...
Justin Callais and Clay Routledge: The economic common ground America isn’t talking about
These days, it can feel like Americans across the political divide cannot agree on much of anything. But there is encouraging news: When it comes to the economic foundations of human progress and flourishing, we are not as divided as we might think. Political polarization has become a defining feature...
Panini Chowdhury: Allegheny County needs regional approach to mobility
Every weekday morning, thousands of Pittsburghers board a bus to get to work or school. That bus is operated by Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT). It travels along a street paved and maintained by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility & Infrastructure. It often crosses a bridge maintained by the...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Crunching the numbers on the affordability crisis
The word that seems to concern many people today is “affordability.” Whether one is purchasing a home, buying food or paying doctors’ bills, everything seems more expensive. And the fact is, everything is more expensive. The consumer price index in December 2021 stood at 278. By December 2025, it had...
Cal Thomas: Trump fulfills his promise
If you wanted to look at it this way, President Trump is keeping his promise to end wars by taking out an Iranian regime that has made war on us and underwritten terrorism throughout the Middle East and the world since its 1979 revolution. In killing Iran’s top leadership, including...
Alfonso Serrano and Donald Heflin: Despite massive U.S. attack and death of ayatollah, regime change in Iran is unlikely
After the largest buildup of U.S. warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades, American and Israeli military forces launched a massive assault on Iran on Feb. 28 . President Donald Trump has called the attacks “major combat operations” and has urged regime change in Tehran. Iranian media reported...
Sarah Schiffling: Strait of Hormuz — if Iran conflict shuts world’s most important oil chokepoint, global economic chaos could follow
The reported sinking of several Iranian warships by U.S. missiles in the Gulf of Oman serves as a reminder of the maritime aspect of the conflict which began Saturday with a barrage of Israeli and American missiles targeting Iran. Two other vessels, believed to be tankers, have also been reported...
Nina Srinivasan Rathbun: Failure of U.S.‑Iran talks was all too predictable — but turning to military strikes creates dangerous unknowns
Three rounds of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran failed to persuade President Donald Trump that a solution to the two countries’ nuclear impasse lay in diplomacy, rather than military action. A perceived lack of progress in the last of those indirect negotiations on Feb. 26 was enough to...
Adam L. Buckalew: Corporate hospital monopolies driving Pa.’s health care crisis
Health care affordability has become an increasingly tough burden for Pennsylvania families. Behind this crisis lies a clear culprit: corporate hospital systems that maximize profits and leave patients footing the bill. These hospital systems have cornered the market, tripled their prices, and buried patients under confusing bills – all while...
Jessica E. Martínez: Worker insecurity raises safety threats
Across the country, people are skipping meals and falling behind on housing payments while layoffs, automation and diminishing labor protections deepen insecurity. The message many workers hear is simple: You are replaceable. In that climate, people take dangerous jobs and stay silent about hazards. They skip water breaks in extreme...
Llewellyn King: The danger of being inured to the status quo
We have all had the experience of staying a few days in a hotel — say on holiday — which becomes home. Quickly, it becomes familiar. Individuals adjust to change. People who come into money get used to being well-off, and people who lose everything get used to that. So,...
Trish Reilly: Why are Pennsylvanians paying higher electric bills?
A new report found that over the last five years, Pennsylvania has been ahead of the national average in electricity rate increases. But honestly, everyone paying an electric bill in the commonwealth is probably already aware of this. For those who like to look on the bright side, among states...
Ryan Dennis: How Trump could earn farmers’ support
Every morning over buckwheat pancakes and sausage, my father and grandfather would decide which fields to work that day and share an update about their cattle. Then, inevitably, the talk would move on to the low price of milk and the government’s part in it. “It’s all a game,” my...
Jim Nowlan: Our way of dying is evolving
Illinois recently joined 11 other states in enacting a law that allows physician-assisted suicide. I propose an additional tweak that would make dying more humane for those who might like to let go a bit prior to the six-month window of legality that seems to be the standard. The American...
Jim Welty: 10 years of U.S. LNG — why Pa. matters more than ever
Ten years ago, few would have predicted that the United States would become the world’s leading exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG). Today, this leadership is not only a reality, but central to global energy security and to the continued expansion of a truly global natural gas market. As energy...
Elan Justice Pavlinich: Shippingport data centers will be financial, health burdens on Beaver County residents
Southwestern Pennsylvania is set to become home to a fleet of massive data centers, seemingly whether residents want it or not. Three new ones just received approval to be built near the old Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport. Some proponents claim that this wave of construction projects will be...
Cal Thomas: Trump, insulter in chief
Each time one thinks President Trump has reached the lowest level possible in insulting his enemies, he finds new depths to plunge. Following a 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court, which included three conservative justices he appointed, the president called the justices “fools,” a “disgrace to the nation” and “unpatriotic.”...
Pawan Dhingra: How the 9/11 terrorist attacks shaped ICE’s immigration strategy
Stephen Miller’s January 2026 announcement to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers — telling them that they have “immunity to perform your duties” and that no “illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist” can stop them — may seem like an extreme statement outside the political mainstream. And when ICE...
Rich Harwood: As America turns 250, it’s time to begin again
I know many people are approaching America’s 250th anniversary with a sense of trepidation, even dread. Is there really anything to celebrate given the recent chaos and uncertainty we’ve been experiencing? Is productively reckoning with our history a possibility these days? And how hopeful will we allow ourselves to be...
Jason Lias: No politics, just love of country, at Olympics
There was something almost shocking about Jack Hughes after Team USA won Olympic gold. Not the overtime goal. Not the missing teeth. Not even beating a top-tier opponent — which in some circles counts as international diplomacy. Nope. The jaw-dropper was this: “I love the USA. I’m so proud to...
P. Daniel Patterson: After a 32-hour shift in Pittsburgh, I realized EMTs should be napping on the job
At 7 a.m., roughly an hour before the end of my shift as a paramedic in Pittsburgh, my colleague and I were dispatched to a patient who was violently vomiting and not alert. We arrived within 10 minutes, grabbed our gear and approached the front door. While walking up the...
J. Byron Fleck: Pitt must stop using students, taxpayers as piggy bank for athletics
For years, the University of Pittsburgh has quietly shifted a staggering financial burden onto the backs of its students, their families and Pennsylvania taxpayers. Now, thanks to Pitt’s filings with the commonwealth, the truth is finally undeniable: Pitt has been using tuition, mandatory student fees and state appropriations to cover...
Laura Washington: SNAP junk food bans punish poor families
Major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, courtesy of President Donald Trump and his GOP-controlled Congress, have arrived across the nation. The reforms to the food assistance program for the needy come via the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The law mandates that SNAP recipients ages 18 to...
Lynn Schmidt: Kentucky’s Paul and Massie stand firm on principle over party
Two congressional Republicans from the Bluegrass State are serving as a model of how members of Congress can act with conviction over political convenience. In an era when partisan loyalty often trumps individual conviction, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky stand out as lawmakers willing...
