Featured Commentary category

Dave Anderson: Democrats and Republicans should each support some independents

The Democratic Party sent a strong message to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the 2025 elections, but ironically one part of their overall strategy forward should be to support Independents in House and Senate races where the chances of victory for a Democratic candidate are low. Double...
John E. Jones III: A year of challenges to the US justice system

Dickinson College President John E. Jones III was appointed as a federal judge by President George W. Bush and spent 20 years on the bench after being confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in 2002. Jones spoke with The Conversation U.S. Senior Politics Editor Naomi Schalit about America’s legal landscape...
Kate Harper and Conor Lamb: New energy sources needed now to combat soaring prices

From the industrial revolution to the digital revolution, Pennsylvania has led the way in American energy production. But now it’s clear that the AI-fueled tech industry boom is poised to push our electrical grid to the brink. The question is: Will Pennsylvania keep its place as America’s energy leader? Or...
Zoey Mundorff: Conformity culture destroys our personal identity

Our resumes promise perfection. Our “For You” pages guide us. Our ultra-connected generation drowns in a sea of unoriginality as we chase trends to fit in. We sacrifice genuine self-expression for digital status, searching for individuality in a conformed society. When I traveled to Italy last spring, I mapped the...
Peter Roff: How to save the post office

The more things change at the U.S. Postal Service, the more they stay the same, unfortunately. The volume of mail moving through the system continues to drop, yet the size of the workforce, thanks to a bad decision by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to add full-time employees, has ballooned....
Matt Shorraw: Pa. must protect workers from extreme heat

Think about the last time the temperature approached 90 degrees, with oppressive humidity. Now imagine working under those conditions all day — maybe in a warehouse, on a farm, on a roof, inside a sweltering kitchen or factory, or delivering goods. Across Pennsylvania, many essential workers do this every summer,...
Bob Kustra: It’s time to rebuild the Republican Party, not rename it

President Donald Trump’s recent comments about renaming the Republican Party after him raises the question of whether this might be the spark that ignites a serious reconsideration of just what the Republican Party stands for and what the future holds for the party. Some will write off Trump’s ruminations about...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: Some Democrats showed promise in 2025 as future party leaders

Like most parties that lose presidential races, the Democrats have struggled through a difficult aftermath. But the handwringing over their lack of effective leadership failed to temper their strength at the polls. Exacerbating their difficulties has been the fact that neither of their two top congressional leaders — Sen. Chuck...
Letter to the editor: Book banning harms society

The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied an appeal to hear a case involving a Texas public library banning a collection of books from distribution to the public. According to USA Today, the titles involved controversial topics like slavery and LGBTQ+ issues. It was argued that “if a disappointed patron can’t...
Counterpoint: We need to cool our political tempers — and we can

Most Americans would be overjoyed if politicians and political activists would cool their rhetoric. Despite the claims of activists on both the left and right, all policy questions aren’t “life or death,” and those on the “other side” aren’t necessarily ignorant and evil. Although political conflict is inevitable, we each...
Point: The increase in polarization mirrors the growth of government

Politicians and policy experts like to talk about the “root causes” of crime, homelessness, poverty, rising prices and other problems. If they want to understand the root cause of political polarization, they might want to consider the whole picture and look in the mirror. In a book published 40 years...
Jesse Fairbanks, Kaelin Rapport and Isha Weerasinghe: Encampments criminalize the unhoused

In early September, officials in Utah announced a plan to build an encampment just outside Salt Lake City where up to 1,300 people experiencing homelessness would be forced to receive treatment for mental health challenges. Unhoused people who refuse to stay in this state-run facility could instead end up in...
Cal Thomas: The plan to save Congress for the GOP

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says she has a plan for keeping Congress in Republican hands in next year’s midterm elections. In an interview with the online show “The Mom View,” Wiles said she hasn’t informed the president about her plan but said it involves putting him on...
Bryan L. Kline: Religious freedom behind bars — the unfinished story of Kort Noel Eckman

The recent developments at the Westmoreland County Prison granting inmate Kort Noel Eckman limited access to kosher meals and allowing him to wear a yarmulke in court, while a welcome step forward, are but a partial remedy to a deeper, systemic failure. Eckman’s ordeal lays bare a troubling contradiction in...
Silvia Rodriguez Vega: Barney, Big Bird and immigrant children need you

Barney the purple dinosaur was my first English teacher. Through songs, make-believe and games, I learned how to greet people, ask kids if they wanted to play and talk about the weather, which turned out to be useful for conversation in the United States. I also learned about sharing, respecting...
Peter Morici: Fed should tap the brakes, not hit the gas

After cutting interest rates in September and October, the Federal Reserve should pause at its December meeting — the jobs market isn’t in crisis but inflation remains menacingly high. By the summer of 2023, the economy was at full employment but continued to grow robustly. From September 2023 to December...

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