Featured Commentary category, Page 14
James Fogarty: Getting to more inclusive and supportive schools for our kids in Pittsburgh
As we look to the future of our city, we all have a responsibility to ask, “how are the children”? Data from 2023-24 shows challenges in our schools: • Few complete post-secondary education: 343 out of 1,614 Pittsburgh Public Schools freshmen in 2014 finished college or trade school by 2024....
Commentary: How postsecondary opportunities for students are changing for the better
Americans are losing faith in higher education. Nearly half of adults believe a college degree is less important to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago, and only a quarter believe a four-year degree is a very important part of getting a job that pays well. The...
LZ Granderson: Vance is right to call out warped partisan representation
Believe it or not, Vice President JD Vance has said a number of things over the years that I agree with. For example, when he suggested “the American people will not tolerate another endless war” with regards to sending aid to Ukraine, I felt seen. When Vance told podcaster Theo...
Joanne Kilgour: Allegheny County’s $1 million must jumpstart a bigger housing fix
When it comes to local government, every dollar counts. Smart investments are essential to make precious public resources go further and improve as many lives as possible. The goal is always finding ways to stretch taxpayer dollars while delivering better services and stronger communities. But now, a new budget challenge...
Jamil Bey: Reimagining public safety through planning and evidence-based innovation
For too long, public safety in American cities has been shaped more by tradition, politics and perception than by evidence and innovation. Policing practices often evolved from institutional culture and community expectations — frequently without a strong foundation in research or data. As a result, the science of safety has...
Mary Ellen Klas: The DOJ’s push to collect your data is a fishing expedition
With his approval rating sinking lower and lower, and facing the prospect of losing control of the House to Democrats, President Donald Trump is engaged in an unprecedented attempt to manipulate the midterm elections. He’s now got Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice embarking on another insidious...
James Stavridis: Moving nuclear subs isn’t something you announce on social media
Two political leaders have exchanged barbs recently underlining the powerful nuclear arsenals of their respective nations. It was not just a pointless demonstration of bravado — it also showed that careless words and vague military threats can move the world closer to a disastrous conflict. The first to lash out...
Point: Coal needs to be part of America’s energy future
There is no disputing it: Coal isn’t disappearing. Despite reports of coal’s demise, global coal use hit a record in 2024. Since the turn of the century, coal demand has doubled. The world needs a new political discourse on coal. This is not a fuel that is going to be...
Counterpoint: America needs affordable energy — coal doesn’t fit the bill
For a decade now, coal has been on the way out. The industry’s future was considered mainly dead and buried — until the Trump administration decided to pull out every stop to dig it out of the grave. And this wasn’t caused by any “Green New Deal” boogeyman stuff: The...
Cal Thomas: Why fixate on 2028?
August is usually downtime in Washington. Congress is in recess, the heat and humidity contribute to the desire to escape town for cooler weather, the president is normally somewhere else, and cable news is focused on shark attacks. Not this August. Cable news, especially, along with some newspapers, seem to...
Jason Jedlinski: At WQED, we’re fighting for the long haul
Joseph Sabino Mistick’s column “Local radio stations show how to fight back in tough times” (Aug. 2, TribLive) raises a critical issue: how public media organizations respond to the unprecedented elimination of federal funding. We welcome healthy debate about the future of public broadcasting and believe it’s important to set...
Adrian Wooldridge: What if the U.S. isn’t the world’s most innovative country?
One of the barriers to understanding the world is our fixation on sports thinking: Who is winning and who is catching up? This has long been true of politics — we focus obsessively on the race for the White House while ignoring the debt mountain that may bring the whole...
Bill Dudley: The Fed’s under siege. It’ll be just fine.
In the media, the U.S. Federal Reserve is under siege. President Donald Trump constantly threatens to fire Chair Jerome Powell. Others hurl criticism in hopes of becoming Powell’s successor. Two Fed governors opposed last week’s decision to hold interest rates steady, the first multiple dissent since 1993. Don’t be fooled...
Rich Harwood: It’s time for a new American agenda
America is once again gripped by multiple political and societal crises. Most days in our local communities and in our wider public lives it can feel like we’re living through dizzying confusion, chaos and division. Acrimonious partisanship only deepens in Washington, D.C., and our state capitols. Renewed calls for a...
Ira Helfand: After 80 years, nuclear threat remains grave
As we approach the 80th anniversary of the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this month, on Aug. 6 and 9, respectively, the danger of nuclear war is great and growing. So far this year, five of the nine nations that possess nuclear weapons have been engaged in active military...
Patrick McLaughlin: There’s hope for pruning federal regulations. Some state experiments are paying off
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes $100 million for the Office of Management and Budget “to pay expenses associated with improving regulatory processes and analyzing and reviewing rules.” Following the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, this small investment won’t make many headlines — but it should. If...
Anita Chabria: Kamala Harris hints at a 2028 re-run, raising the question: Can a woman win?
Kamala Harris does not want to be governor of California, which has a whole lot of contenders (and some voters) doing a happy dance this week. But with her announcement Wednesday that she is bowing out of a race she never officially entered, Harris has ignited a flurry of speculation...
Aaron French: Is ChatGPT making us stupid?
Back in 2008, The Atlantic sparked controversy with a provocative cover story: Is Google Making Us Stupid? In that 4,000-word essay, later expanded into a book, author Nicholas Carr suggested the answer was yes, arguing that technology such as search engines were worsening Americans’ ability to think deeply and retain...
Shannon Gibson: US government may be abandoning global climate fight, but new leaders are filling void — including China
When President Donald Trump announced in early 2025 he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement for the second time, it triggered fears that the move would undermine global efforts to slow climate change and diminish America’s global influence. A big question hung in the air: Who would step...
Patrick Parenteau: Revoking EPA’s endangerment finding could have unintended consequences
Most of the United States’ major climate regulations are underpinned by one important document: It’s called the endangerment finding, and it concludes that greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to human health and welfare. The Trump administration is trying to eliminate it. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on...
Matt K. Lewis: Cane sugar Coke? Bringing back the Redskins? Trump’s little gripes serve a larger purpose
With the Jeffrey Epstein controversy still dogging him, President Donald Trump has embraced his favorite distraction: the culture wars. It began when he announced that Coca-Cola was switching to cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Coke responded with a statement that basically boiled down to: “Wait, what?” — before...
Cal Thomas: Hey, Democrats, autopsies are for the dead
It’s being described by the media as an “autopsy,” an examination by Democrats as to why they lost the last presidential election and a congressional majority. According to The New York Times, the autopsy will not include Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second term, or Kamala Harris’ poor performance...
LZ Granderson: Malcolm-Jamal Warner carried a heavy load for Black America
There were three television characters who really mattered to me as a kid: Michael, Leroy and Theo. In elementary school, “Good Times” was the television show that most closely resembled my family. And seeing reruns of Ralph David Carter’s portrayal of a precocious young boy learning what it means to...
Panini A. Chowdhury: The government that governs best is the one closest to home
The One Big Beautiful Bill championed by President Trump is more than just a legislation — it’s a mirror. And the reflection staring back at us reveals a troubling cruel, ugly vision of the country we’ve collectively enabled. Whether through ballots cast or silence kept, we’ve allowed policies to take...
Commentary: Medical schools are falling behind in the age of generative AI
While colleges across the nation are adapting their curricula to harness the power of generative AI, U.S. medical schools remain dangerously behind. Most students entering medicine today will graduate without ever being trained to use GenAI tools effectively. That must change. To prepare tomorrow’s doctors — and protect tomorrow’s patients...
