Featured Commentary category, Page 6

Many speakers at Sept. 11 anniversary events at the Flight 93 National Memorial over the years have urged those gathered to live in a manner worthy of the sacrifices made there. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Gordon Felt, brother of Flight 93 passenger Edward Felt, said: “The path we...

The Trump administration believes — correctly — the existing prescription drug supply chain endangers our national security. China, a military adversary under a communist regime, plays a key role in 90% of generic antibiotics and 8% of all active pharmaceutical ingredients consumed by Americans. According to The Brookings Institution, 3.5%...

The 2026 midterm elections should be the American people’s next best opportunity to issue a verdict on the direction of the country. In a functioning democracy, the outcome would offer a clear signal: Do most voters want change or to stay the course? But in reality, we won’t get a...

President Donald Trump’s second term is barreling ahead with the political momentum typical of a first term — and it shows no outward signs of dissipating. Having lost reelection in 2020 but declined to retire from campaigning, Trump has been the central, all- consuming figure in American politics for a decade....

Vaccine policy in the U.S. is rapidly dividing into two opposing camps: state leaders who are prioritizing access to shots, and those who are taking increasingly aggressive steps to undermine confidence in them. That piecemeal policy approach, enabled by federal health leadership that appears to question the value of, and...

On paper, these are good times for the U.S. economy. The latest GDP numbers show growth was at 3.3% in the second quarter. Business investment is up. The unemployment rate remains low, and the inflation rate is reasonable. Still, underneath it all lies a nagging question: If the economy is...

A recent lawsuit against OpenAI over the suicide of a teenager makes for difficult reading. The wrongful-death complaint filed in state court in San Francisco describes how Adam Raines, aged 16, started using ChatGPT in September 2024 to help with his homework. By April 2025, he was using the app...

We are witnessing an unprecedented drop in social trust in America. This lack of trust is directed toward other people and the government. Social trust began to decline in the United States in the mid-1970s, after Watergate, and it has gotten significantly worse in the last decade. The Pew Research...

What exactly does ‘all men are created equal’ mean in the Declaration of Independence? I used to think the answer was obvious; it was self-evident. But it’s not, at least not in today’s political context. MAGA Republicans and Democrats have a very different take on the meaning of this phrase...

As part of the Trump administration’s many moves toward tackling the United States’ “immigrant crisis,” the DOJ recently announced a prioritization of denaturalization procedures, a move that some migrant support organizations recognize as setting a dangerous precedent. But that’s not all. The Trump administration has also requested over $175 billion,...

At last week’s Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis, chairman Ken Martin avoided a showdown over competing policy proposals on the troubled and increasingly divisive U.S.-Israel relationship. But neither Martin nor the party’s congressional leaders are likely to prevent continued collisions in Congress and some Democratic primary splits reflecting divisions...

For five years, I dodged every bullet. I don’t know how I managed to beat covid-19 for so long, even as family, friends and colleagues got hit with the coronavirus. Although I took precautions from the beginning, with masking and vaccinations, I was also out in public a lot for...

Pittsburgh’s failure to grow has directly contributed to the simmering fascism that has exposed its face under President Trump’s second term. With cuts to lifesaving research and foreign aid, militarization of ICE, the National Guard being deployed in our own cities, and raids at work sites, it has never been...

Pittsburgh may have had more attention from our political leaders than any other region of the United States in the last four years. There are good reasons for that — there may be no region that better illustrates the changes taking place in our country’s economy, culture and politics. Pittsburgh...

According to a Newsweek article, a “study has highlighted the speed at which U.S. cities along the East Coast are sinking as sea levels continue to rise … . This subsidence is largely a result of climate change.” The point of the article is to proselytize once again for the...

As Pittsburgh plans for 2050, our goal in the comprehensive planning process is clear: build a city where everyone belongs. That means welcoming new neighbors while ensuring the people who have built our communities can afford to stay, grow and thrive. The housing policy debate now before City Council isn’t...

In response to state Sen. Devlin Robinson’s op-ed “Standing up for Pittsburgh transit — funding, safety and accountability” (Aug. 24, TribLive), we want to share our hard work in the House to get mass transit funded. In the last two years, the House has passed five bills to fund our...

It was a mass shooting at a children’s Mass. Last Wednesday was the first all-school Mass for the first week of classes at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. Maybe the little ones prayed for the school year and the adventure ahead. Third grade. Fifth grade. The best year yet. Maybe...

As an older millennial, my high school and college summers were defined largely by the jobs I held. Not many of today’s teens can say the same. Once a rite of passage, teen jobs are now endangered: Just 35% of 16- to 19-year-olds worked last summer, down from 54% in...

This Labor Day, union officials will deliver speeches and march in parades, claiming to be champions of the little guy. But for too many public employees in Pennsylvania, there’s not much to celebrate when it comes to union representation. Certainly not for Mindy McFetridge, a PennDOT equipment operator in Venango...

The Labor Day parade is a beloved tradition in Pittsburgh, a celebration and recognition of the union workers who forge the steel in our skyscrapers, mine the coal that powers our factories, teach our children and care for our seniors. In my home, we always made a special point to...

Unless the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress act quickly, millions of working Americans could lose access to health insurance at the end of this year. Among the most affected will be small businesses and middle-income earners — many of whom, ironically, live in congressional districts that vote Republican. An...

Read enough headlines about artificial intelligence and you can be excused for thinking that we’re headed for a dystopian future ruled by AI-powered robot overlords. Mass unemployment, including people being forced to train their robot replacements to get that last paycheck, seems to be a common theme in the latest...

What will be the effect of artificial intelligence on labor in the United States? The current government’s agenda for labor will undoubtedly have an influence here. Last year, President Donald Trump praised Elon Musk lavishly for telling his workers he would fire them if they went on strike. “You’re the...

In 1874, during the brief era of Reconstruction, white people staged a racist uprising in New Orleans. Angered by the presence of African Americans in law enforcement and other government posts, members of the Crescent City White League stormed the local customs house and killed 11 police officers. Two years...