Featured Commentary category, Page 105
Michael Brevda: Holding nursing homes accountable
SavaSeniorCare LLC, a skilled nursing facility corporation with facilities in Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay more than $11 million (in addition to further penalties, should certain contingencies occur) to resolve allegations that the entity violated the False Claims Act by billing Medicare for services fraudulently. The complaint against Sava made...
Rep. Natalie Mihalek: Restoring our education system after covid-19
As a mom and a state representative, education is always on my mind. It pains me to see how children have been suffering throughout the covid-19 pandemic — especially when it comes to lost learning opportunities. While schools in my area have reopened, across Pennsylvania, many children haven’t been in...
Earl Baker: A new energy revolution in Pa.
In a momentous milestone for Pennsylvania, the Revolution Pipeline is now online. Over the past decade, energy has provided the Keystone State and surrounding Appalachian region an abundance of natural resources, jobs and economic growth. Revolution, a 40.5-mile pipeline, is just another example of the importance of infrastructure to the...
Gordon Tomb: ‘Green’ medicine is snake oil, likely to sicken Pa.
“Green” energy proposals are no economic therapeutic for Pennsylvania. They’re snake oil miracle cures that ignore the realities of physics — and people’s needs. In January, the Political Economy Research Institute “reimagined” Pennsylvania in a 135-page document that proposed spending billions of dollars on so-called renewable energy to restore the...
Jim Snell: Hacking is just one threat to Colonial Pipeline
The hacking of the Colonial Pipeline showed Americans the vulnerability of our energy supply, and how much we depend on it to power our economy. Stretching from Texas to New York, Colonial transports 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supply, carrying gasoline, heating oil, diesel and jet fuel. The pipeline...
Cynthia Fisher: Hospital price disclosures reinforce importance of price transparency
The Biden administration has begun enforcing the hospital price transparency rule that took effect at the beginning of the year. Recent research published in Health Affairs finds that only about one-third of large hospitals are complying with the order. The rule requires hospitals to post their real prices, including their...
Alexandra Wilkes: Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness about how mental health impacts our overall wellness. It’s a time to shine a spotlight on available resources, educate the public, and advocate for policies that focus on the needs of people with mental illness and their families. Most...
Lou Barletta: Why I’m running for Pa. governor
Thirty-seven years ago, my wife Mary Grace and I started our pavement marking business with $29.95 and a dream to build something for our family, and five years later it was the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania. Along the way we had setbacks, as any business owners will face,...
David Kennedy: Gov. Wolf, you owe Pennsylvania law enforcement an apology
Pennsylvania State Police troopers go to work every day protecting the people of this commonwealth, understanding that we could lose our lives to save others. We accept that risk — and our families are forced to live with it. They lie in bed listening for the Velcro rip of our...
Mark Schweiker: It’s time for America to put 9/11 mastermind on trial
Two decades ago, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was plotting the terrorist attacks that would murder thousands of Americans on Sept. 11, 2001. Terrorist cells were inside our country. America had no idea what was to come when they boarded airplanes that morning. These terrorists would become possibly the most hated criminals...
Sen. Sharif Street: Wolf exercised his constitutional powers to save lives
On May 18 Pennsylvanians will have the opportunity to select ballot measures during the primary election, two of which fundamentally alter the governor’s executive powers and ability to respond to emergencies. In March 2020, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a covid-19 disaster declaration to provide increased support for the state’s response...
Sen. Jake Corman, Rep. Bryan Cutler, Sen. Kim Ward and Rep. Kerry Benninghoff: Covid response proves government works better together
After 14 months of dealing with a once-in-a-century pandemic, the strengths and weaknesses of state government’s emergency response is coming into clearer focus. With more Pennsylvanians getting vaccinated and infection rates plummeting, our job now is to review the lessons learned during this crisis so future emergencies can be managed...
Gary Scott Smith: Biden’s faith shapes his politics
President Joe Biden’s omission of the word God from his National Day of Prayer proclamation May 6 has evoked a firestorm of protest. Christian Broadcasting Network commentator David Brody, evangelist Franklin Graham, Catholic League president Bill Donohue, Fox News and other politically conservative media outlets criticized Biden’s failure to mention...
Tom Norquist: What we need right now is play
Each day for the last 365-plus days, most of us have woken up and read the latest expert-recommended tips about what we need to do to stay healthy and achieve happiness in what, for many, has been an incredibly grim year. We’ve learned, for example, that mask wearing and social...
Reps. Guy Reschenthaler and Mike Kelly: Parnell is the leader Pa. needs in Senate
In just over 100 days, the Biden administration and the Democrat-run House and Senate have put America on a path to ruin. From devastating policies leading to nationwide gas shortages, failing to reopen schools, an escalating crisis at the border, dramatically rising crime nationwide, and Big Tech and corporate America...
Diane Wynn: Excellence should be attainable for all students
As a mother of two children with learning challenges, I have long known the disparities plaguing our education system. The reasons why some children succeed in their education, and others do not, are varied and widespread. It is no surprise that socio-economic factors such as employment and race can be...
John Ebeid: Employers can work to close gender STEM gap in America
The life sciences industry has always played a key, if underappreciated, role in the American economy. After all, without STEM workers, the country would not be well on the way to finally beating back this deadly virus. While the pandemic has certainly brought a renewed appreciation for the crucial work...
Kevin Mooney: Voters can restore checks and balances in Pa.
On May 18, Pennsylvania voters will have the opportunity to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling that has enabled the governor to repeatedly extend emergency declarations without legislative input. Under current law, a governor’s emergency declarations can last up to 90 days, and can be renewed unilaterally for additional 90-day...
Mark Hendrickson: Washington’s bipartisan fiscal folly
For years, I have been sounding the alarm about chronic federal deficit spending — practiced by both Republicans and Democrats — steering our country into a fiscal abyss. I feel like a broken record as I periodically chronicle the folly of it all. The process has taken on a sense...
Kevin Kearns: Biden’s ‘Made in America’ must be mined in America
In his recent address to Congress, President Biden appears to have transformed himself into a champion of the “Made in America” cause. As he explained it, his jobs plan — which encompasses everything from rebuilding roads and bridges to accelerating the green energy revolution — will be guided by a...
Kiki Peppard: M is for May, Mom and maternal profiling
Years ago, my testimony at a Pennsylvania Labor and Industry Committee public hearing began with two simple questions. I asked everyone in the room to please raise their hand if they had a mother (alive or deceased). Of course, everyone raised their hands. My second question was, if we all...
Scott Hudson: State must update Pa.’s electric choice program
Pennsylvania consumers have had the option of choosing their electric service provider for last 25 years, since enactment of the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act of 1996. And by every measure, the state’s electric choice program has been a success, driving down prices and giving consumers more convenience...
Linda Kerns: Judges should be faithful to Constitution
Pennsylvanians elect judges in odd years. More accurately, a small percentage of Pennsylvanians participate in these “off year” elections so that even though we have over 8 million registered voters, only about a million voters (12% ) weigh in on who should take the bench. That should worry those who...
Rep. Ryan Warner: Answering the call for first responders
A few weeks ago, wildfires took out hundreds of acres of land in two areas of Ohiopyle State Park. For approximately 12 hours and initially facing dry and windy conditions, 74 crews from departments in Westmoreland and Fayette counties fought and ultimately extinguished the fires. No lives were lost, and...
Dr. Denise Johnson: Say ‘Yes!’ to organ and tissue donation
We have all learned a lot since the start of the pandemic. One of the lessons that has resonated with me the most is the importance of community — of our relationships and responsibility to one another. It’s easy especially during a global pandemic to think that as individuals, we...
