Featured Commentary category, Page 56
Michael Reagan: GOP can’t survive the Only Trumpers
Too bad Donald Trump won’t attend the second Republican presidential primary debate Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Library. His friends and enemies in the media will miss him and the high ratings he automatically generates, but he’s leading by a huge margin in the polls and he doesn’t need the...
Shauna Shames: Moms for Liberty could have serious impact on presidential race
Motherhood language and symbolism have been part of every U.S. social movement, from the American Revolution to Prohibition and the fight against drunken drivers. Half of Americans are women, most become mothers, and many are conservative. The U.S. is also a nation of organizing, so conservative moms — like all...
Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid: How local police could help prevent another Jan. 6-style insurrection
Some of the most prominent members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militant group that functions more like a street gang than a militia, have been sentenced to long terms in federal prison for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Experts...
Klaus W. Larres: Ransom or realism? A closer look at Biden’s prisoner swap deal with Iran.
Five American detainees have been released from imprisonment in Iran as the terms of the swap that set them free is drawing criticism. The Biden administration’s agreement with Iran for the swap could be seen as a simple business transaction to free five Iranians from imprisonment in the U.S. and...
Russell Zerbo: EPA/DOE money should be wisely spent on plugging wells
Pennsylvania has an opportunity to receive $33,695,097 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to plug small, conventionally drilled oil and gas wells with known owners. This federal funding could significantly reduce climate-changing methane pollution as well as smog-causing volatile organic compounds (VOC) and...
Jason Killmeyer and Erin Koper: Which way, Western Pa.?
Walking through downtown Pittsburgh, the words “Reduced Rates” above so many “For Lease” signs catch our attention. Our downtown feels worse, and it is worse. Shootings, public drug use and vagrancy have surged. But so do other parts of the city and county: West End. Banksville. Duquesne. McKeesport. We’re not...
William Enyart: Planned cut to VA funding for ambulances would harm our nation’s veterans
Unless stopped, the Department of Veterans Affairs is set to knock over a domino that might drastically harm veterans’ health care and then spread to the general community. In a cost-cutting measure on track to take effect early next year, the VA plans to sever a critical link between veterans...
Rich Fitzgerald: Pa. leaders and presidential hopefuls should commit to aiding America’s caregivers
Pennsylvanians have a long tradition of taking care of our neighbors, all the way back to our founding. Today we continue that tradition, especially when it comes to caring for those who can’t take care of themselves. A little over a million Pennsylvanians act as caregivers for their friends and...
Cal Thomas: British to be forced to drive electric
LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has rejected appeals from the Conservative Party to extend the deadline for requiring all new car sales in the UK to be electric by 2030. The Tories say the goal is impossible to meet. Government ministers, who have embraced the “climate change” faith...
Elizabeth Kryder-Reid: The importance of shining a light on hidden toxic histories
Indianapolis proudly claims Elvis’ last concert, Robert Kennedy’s speech in response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and the Indianapolis 500. There’s a 9/11 memorial, a Medal of Honor Memorial and a statue of former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. What few locals know, let alone tourists, is that the city...
Nathan Benefield: Pennsylvanians deserve truth on education spending
Pennsylvania’s Basic Education Funding Commission has begun holding hearings on how to remake the state’s public schools funding formula after a state court determined that the existing formula violates the state constitution. To make informed decisions, the commission, lawmakers, parents and voters need accurate information. Unfortunately, misinformation about public education...
Elwood Watson: The puppet of the House
Get your popcorn ready, because a gut-wrenching level of drama has gripped the House of Representatives! To quote Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, “The Republican Party is currently in a civil war.” Last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy slid over to a lectern and called for an impeachment inquiry into President...
Cal Thomas: Sex and the city, political edition
The Republican Party, the party that for years has styled itself as the party of “family values” and “traditional marriage” has lost all credibility on these issues. Not only do polls show a huge majority of Republicans supporting the thrice-married, serial adulterer Donald Trump, but now three Republican women have...
Commentary: How are Russians overall reacting to the war in Ukraine? With indifference.
“The special military operation in Ukraine unified Russian society. An absolute majority of Russians support the special military operation.” In September, this war propaganda trope will become a part of the official school curriculum in Russia. It will be among many other lies about the war in Ukraine that will...
Erwin Chemerinsky: When is it wrong to urge social media platforms to take down false information?
A recent decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit puts in jeopardy one of the few tools that exist to deal with false speech on the internet. The court ruled that the White House, the FBI, the surgeon general’s office and the...
Peter Kastor: Hunter Biden joins other presidential children who stained White House reputation
Hunter Biden, the surviving son of President Joe Biden, was indicted Sept. 14 on gun-related charges — facing a possible criminal trial while his father is campaigning for reelection. The charges relate to Hunter’s alleged lying about his drug use when he purchased a gun in 2018. And a conviction...
Cal Thomas: The ‘hypocrisy’ label has lost its power
There was a time in bygone America when calling someone a “hypocrite” or claiming they were guilty of hypocrisy was equivalent to branding them with a scarlet letter or the mark of Cain. Today, in an era of opinion polls, trendsetting and ever-shifting political winds, hypocrisy means little to nothing....
Natalie Florence and Heather Ross: Shelters can help homeless by providing quiet and privacy, not just a bunk and a meal
The city of Phoenix set heat records in summer 2023, with high temperatures that topped 110 degrees for 31 consecutive days and at least 54 days in total. In such conditions, providing basic services — including cool spaces — for people experiencing homelessness is lifesaving. In 2022, 420 people —...
Peter Morici: Cities should consider these concrete actions to house the homeless
Homeless villages under highway overpasses and tent camps in other public spaces create the appearance of a new epidemic, but historically, homelessness has been endemic to urban America. In the late 19th century, skid rows appeared in New York and other cities, where flop houses sheltered up to 75,000 people...
Brendon Slotterback: Making Forbes through Frick safe for all
In Pittsburgh, 2023 is on track to be the deadliest in recent memory for people walking in our city. In 2022, according to the City’s own data, 25 people died in car crashes within city boundaries. The transportation sector, including the cars and trucks we drive, is now the largest...
Rep. Mike Kelly: Here is the budget Congress is — and is not — actually debating
Picture this: A family of four earns $50,000 a year but spends $69,000 a year. This seems unsustainable, right? That’s because it is. Yet, the federal government does that every day — in the trillions of dollars — all with your money. This year, President Biden presented Congress with a...
Elwood Watson: Why should we care if a politician is unmarried?
It appears some Republican donors are really concerned that presidential candidate Tim Scott, South Carolina’s junior senator, is a 57-year-old bachelor — and whatever implications that may entail. Top party donors are raising concerns about the fact the conservative Black senator has never been married. and want some of their...
Emma Varvaloucas : Gen Z is dropping the college dream. It’s time for America to catch up.
For years, we have lamented the spike in college costs and accompanying student debt bloat while we teach high schoolers to covet admittance to a tiny sliver of prestigious universities — ones that refuse to enlarge incoming class sizes despite endowments the size of some small countries’ gross domestic product....
John A. Fliter and Betsy Wood: States weakening child labor restrictions 8 decades after government took kids out of workforce
A movement to weaken American child labor protections at the state level began in 2022. By June 2023, Arkansas, Iowa, New Jersey and New Hampshire had enacted this kind of legislation, and lawmakers in at least another eight states had introduced similar measures. The laws generally make it easier for...
Kathryn J. Edin, H. Luke Shaefer and Timothy J. Nelson: One overlooked way to fight opioid deaths? Give people something to do.
Across the country, communities are struggling to respond to the opioid crisis, some with broader access to medical strategies and more treatment programs. Yet the national overdose death rate continues to rise, with opioid deaths in 2022 remaining at an all-time high. There are, of course, many causes of addiction,...
