Featured Commentary category, Page 68
Peter Morici: ‘Greedy’ corporations don’t make us feel poorer; it’s government spending and meddling in marketplace
U.S. wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, and this could become a big issue in the 2024 presidential election. Until the covid pandemic in 2020, President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and deregulation had boosted GDP growth well-above the rates accomplished by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Americans’ real...
Luke Conway: Reducing political polarization through disagreement
In case you hadn’t noticed, America is a bit of a mess right now. The country is as polarized as it has been for a long, long time. In most scientific studies of worldwide increases in polarization, the United States ranks at or near the top. Americans have taken note:...
Scott R. Hammond: Regressive firing squad move should shock us all
Last month, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a retrogressive bill that would allow the state’s death-row prisoners to be executed by firing squad. The bill’s proponents believe that a firing squad is a humane method to end a person’s life. Dr. Guillotine once said his procedure should be but a...
Cal Thomas: For Trump, character matters
Leaving aside all the sometimes legitimate and sometimes illegitimate responses from defenders of former President Donald Trump following his indictment by a New York grand jury, there is something that would have made all the difference for the 45th president had he focused on it as his top priority, rather...
Philip Wegmann: With assist from Manhattan DA, Trump once again enjoys united GOP support
Donald Trump again made history Thursday evening, this time by becoming the first former president of the United States to be indicted, stemming from charges related to illegal hush money payments made to a porn star in 2016. And yet even while in legal jeopardy, blindsided by an indictment he...
Dr. David Macpherson: ‘I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.’
It’s hard to write an opinion piece about artificial intelligence without sounding a little kooky. The line between reasonable thinking and paranoia is a little blurred, I fear. A few days ago, many schools in Pennsylvania and other states were hit by a robocall misinforming the listener that an active...
Zainab Balogun: Mammograms are essential, and so are self-exams
This past year I was fortunate to be chosen as an Albert Schweitzer fellow and was tasked with continuing an established project dedicated to improving the health literacy of underserved women at our city’s prominent free clinic. This project is aimed at not only educating women on the basic aspects...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Would a JetBlue and Spirit merger be all that bad for travelers?
JetBlue is seeking permission to merge with Spirit Airlines. The U.S. Department of Justice is working to block the purchase. Does this make sense for air travelers? JetBlue sells itself as an upscale low-cost airline, with 34 inches of seat pitch and no-cost amenities for which other airlines charge a...
Lucas Berenbrok, Janice L. Pringle and Joni Carroll: FDA approval of over-the-counter Narcan important step in combating opioid crisis
On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan for over-the-counter sale. Narcan is the 4-milligram nasal spray version of naloxone, a medication that can quickly counteract an opioid overdose. This means that Narcan will be available for purchase without a prescription at more than 60,000 pharmacies nationwide. For...
Dan DeBone: Addressing Pa.’s child-care crisis
Any family will tell you that balancing work and parenting is challenging in the best of times. With the parents of most young children in Pennsylvania working, child care is critical to supporting the commonwealth’s labor force and employers. When parents don’t get the child care they need, it diminishes...
Philip J. Lazarus: ‘Closure’ after a school shooting is a myth
Whenever a school shooting takes place, such as the one that claimed the lives of three adults and three children at a Christian school in Nashville March 27, school officials often arrange for grief counseling services to be made available for whoever needs them. But what exactly do those services...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Why has this year’s men’s basketball tournament been so mad?
The Final Four is set, with San Diego State (No. 5 seed out of the Mountain West), Florida Atlantic (No. 9 seed out of Conference USA), Connecticut (No. 4 seed out of the Big East) and Miami (No. 5 seed out of the Atlantic Coast Conference) ready to battle for...
David Magee: Fentanyl poisoning — coming to a middle school near you
The last six months have been brutal for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District in Texas. Nearly a dozen students have overdosed on fentanyl between September and March. Three of them died. If you’re thinking, Texas has a problem, the truth is far more sobering. America has a problem, and...
Rep. Jesse Topper: Now is the time for transformational change in Pa. education
“One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything’s fine today, that is our illusion.” As I view the educational landscape in Pennsylvania, this paradox, first articulated by Voltaire, is ever-present in my mind. Lawmakers, teachers, administrators, parents and communities are concerned about whether our education system is...
Yassir Yousif: Land bank helps turn a house into a home
Our home in Chalfant sits in a quiet, low-traffic neighborhood. It has plenty of space to raise a family. But it wasn’t always this way. In fact, it stood abandoned for over four years before our family moved here in 2022. Thanks to the help of the Tri-COG Land Bank,...
E.M. Liddick: You want a leader? This is what one looks like.
What do former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, Sen. John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego have in common? This feels like the start of a bad joke, one to which some readers might offer a punchline. But it’s not. The obvious: they’re men; they’re Democrats; and, although only...
Michael Reagan: President Biden leads America to defeat
Everyone in the national media is worrying about whether Donald Trump was going to be arrested in New York. Not me. In a radio interview with San Diego talk show host Mark Larson, I said I didn’t care what was going to happen to Trump. “What I’m really worried about,”...
Laura Packard: Despite attempts to kill it, Affordable Care Act turns 13 this year
Thirteen years ago March 24, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law. And five years ago, my oncologist told me my stage 4 cancer was in remission. As a small business owner, my health insurance is through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). So these two dates are inexorably linked...
Cassandra Jones Havard: Moral hazard — why it’s risky for the government to rescue banks
“Moral hazard” refers to the risks that someone or something becomes more inclined to take because they have reason to believe that an insurer will cover the costs of any damages. The concept describes financial recklessness. It has its roots in the advent of private insurance companies about 350 years...
Michael J. Lee: Secession is here — States, cities and the wealthy are already withdrawing from America
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, wants a “national divorce.” In her view, another Civil War is inevitable unless red and blue states form separate countries. She has plenty of company on the right, where a host of others — 52% of Trump voters, Donald Trump himself and...
Guy Ciarrocchi: GOP can target suburban swing voters and keep their base
In recent election cycles, the Philadelphia suburbs have been moving further into the Democratic column. To add to the challenge for Pennsylvania Republicans, more areas are resembling these communities as the state becomes more suburban. It’s a common trend in Rust Belt and East Coast states. Some analysts have argued...
Timothy J. Kunselman: ‘It’s political’ and other annoying words and phrases
The most recent word that annoys the heck out of me is “weaponization.” I first heard it used by Republicans railing against the Department of Justice and alleged use of the justice system to exact political punishment. “Weaponization” is right up there with “witch hunt” and “MAGA” and “red and...
Peter Morici: America’s most powerful weapon to beat China and Russia in Cold War 2.0 is free trade
The U.S. is in a new Cold War with China and something hotter with Russia. But America’s shift to protectionism and overreliance on implementing economic sanctions are foolish. After World War II, the U.S. created NATO and alliances in the Pacific, cultivated free trade among allies through the GATT, EU...
Rob Perkins: Allegheny County district attorney’s office needs an integrity unit
Our chief local prosecutor is the Allegheny County district attorney. Bucking a national trend, our DA has failed to establish a conviction integrity unit. It’s past time to create one. Mistakes happen in criminal trials. Just like they happen in any human endeavor. But the stakes are high in criminal...
Cal Thomas: Trump should follow LBJ’s example
If, as seems likely, Donald Trump is indicted by a New York grand jury for reportedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and if, as also seems likely, Trump is also indicted by a Georgia grand jury for trying to force election officials to overturn that state’s vote...
