Featured Commentary category, Page 60
John Tamny: The term limits movement is alive and politically potent
The power of incumbency in politics used to be near absolute at the congressional level. Once elected, the job was, in a sense, yours for life. That was true until 1994. It was then that House Speaker Tom Foley was put out to the political pasture. This was earthshaking news...
Point: Do presidential debates still matter?
What nominee would bet on the proposition that the presidential debates don’t matter and then choose not to prepare? Jimmy Carter’s desultory prep in 1980, combined with Ronald Reagan’s reassuring and masterful performance — “There you go again” — arguably turned a close election into a landslide that reshaped American...
Counterpoint: Rethinking the significance of presidential debates
Televised presidential debates during the general election are viewed as the ultimate candidate showcase. They give voters the opportunity to watch competing worldviews and policy positions clash on America’s most significant political stage. Viewers get to test their assumptions about the candidates in real time. Voters want to know how...
Frank Larkin: Support our Pa. troops and veterans
Pennsylvania ranks in the top 10 for military veterans, meaning that the multifaceted and unique challenges that face these men and women are especially present in the Keystone State. Most glaring is the understood yet still lingering tragedy that the suicide rate among veterans is significantly higher than the civilian...
Erika Strassburger and Josh Joswick: Better oversight of U.S. pipelines needed
An estimated 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines crisscross the U.S. When these pipelines leak, harmful pollutants are released that threaten our communities’ safety, exacerbate the climate crisis, and result in the loss and waste of a taxable public resource. And, as is often the case when it comes...
Elwood Watson: Lizzo and the peril of celebrity culture
Voracious popular culture connoisseur that I am, I have been avidly following the drama surrounding pop icon Lizzo. As an academic who teaches race, gender and sexuality studies, for me, the story has all the intersectional elements that make for a riveting story. Over the past couple of weeks, the...
Cal Thomas: Arms or money for hostages — what’s the difference?
The Biden administration is transferring $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in South Korea to an account in Qatar, which Iran will be able to access, in what appears to be an attempt to get Iran to release five imprisoned Americans. National Security Communications Coordinator John Kirby offered this twisted...
Chris Soriano: Ban ‘skill games’ that threaten public safety and Pa.’s gaming integrity
In my role at PENN Entertainment, I am charged with ensuring our company meets the appropriately high standards required to earn and retain a gaming license in every jurisdiction in which we operate. At our four properties across the commonwealth, we aren’t simply running casinos — we are providing an...
E.J. Antoni: Default by another name — why U.S. debt deserved a downgrade
Trust is always harder to build than to destroy, and that’s true for financial markets, too. The U.S. has borrowed tens of trillions of dollars and promised to pay it back, but investors have become increasingly skeptical. On Aug. 1, U.S. debt received a downgrade, meaning the Treasury appears less...
Timothy J. Kunselman: Our division, extremism are costing us
I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees this — that we keep making the same mistakes, over and over again. Ours is a country in which many amazing and good things have taken place and which continue to happen. A pandemic strikes and a vaccine is developed in...
Solomon D. Stevens: Finding a path to healthy conflict
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, the new chairman of the National Governors Association, is promoting the idea of “healthy conflict.” Cox has become concerned about the growing problem of toxic arguments in society. As The Washington Post reports, Cox wants people to learn how to “disagree better.” We should all try...
Ethan Brown: New EPA tailpipe standards call electric vehicle promises into question
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ambitious tailpipe emissions standards may be partly canceled out by emissions earlier in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, said panelists at a RealClearEnergy webinar last Wednesday. On April 12, the EPA unveiled new vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act that would mandate...
Peter Roff: Reform the FDA before it kills us
The human capacity for processing information is limited. People running for office who recognize this and adapt their campaign messages accordingly usually do better than those who don’t. It’s not that the voters are dumb; far from it. In the years since the end of World War II, the federal...
Cal Thomas: Service members deserved better in Afghanistan
One of the advantages to a change in majority in one or both houses of Congress is that the public gets to see what the other party won’t address or has been covering up. Such was the case last week when Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., held a forum in Escondido,...
Sheldon H. Jacobson: Blockbuster trade shines bright light on what’s wrong with the NHL salary cap
The Pittsburgh Penguins orchestrated the highest profile trade of the off-season by snatching Erik Karlsson, the 2023 Norris Trophy winner, from the San Jose Sharks. The hope is that with their group of talented but aging stars, Pittsburgh has one last opportunity to compete for a Stanley Cup before their...
Christine Flowers: It’s hard to believe I agree with Kamala Harris about something
Conservatives are often hesitant to criticize other conservatives. Florida issued its guidelines for teaching history last month, including a set of standards that covered the issue of slavery in grades 6-8. It’s likely that what happened next would have been a big yawn for most folks, until Vice President Kamala...
Lawrence W. Reed: Andrew Mellon, hero of the 1920s
Editor’s note: The following op-ed, which first appeared in The American Spectator, is excerpted from a speech delivered by the author at Grove City College’s Institute for Faith & Freedom on June 6. Of the nearly 80 people since Alexander Hamilton to hold the office of secretary of the Treasury...
Trudy Rubin: Lessons from a military funeral in Ukraine
TORKIV, Ukraine — At the entrance to the village cemetery, where they buried Vasyl Pushkar, stands a tall, gray stone marker. The stone is engraved with an Orthodox cross and the words ” Holodomor, 1932-33,” a memorial to the 4 million or more Ukrainian peasants who were starved to death...
Zachary Barber: As climate change becomes harder to ignore, new EPA proposal gives hope
The threat posed by climate change has never been more apparent. Across the country, record-breaking heat waves have battered the southwest, while ocean water temperatures in Florida have soared past 100 degrees. The smoky haze of wildfire smoke exposed Pittsburghers to unsafe levels of soot pollution. Our region measured its...
Elwood Watson: Men and mental health
The issue of men and mental health often remains a silent crisis in our society. The reasons for this vary, though many experts attribute it to the growing number of pressures placed on men in contemporary life. Rapid transformations ranging from work, family and personal life have taken their toll...
Peter Morici: Strict curbs on artificial intelligence would hurt striking writers and actors
Hollywood actors and writers are striking an industry in crisis. The dilemmas all face are a dress rehearsal for how Americans will cope with the growing gig economy and artificial intelligence. Covid-19 disrupted industries in similar ways as wars and financial crises by accelerating adjustments to new technologies and consumer...
David Vatz: Squirrel Hill needs more homes
July 31 was an important day for the Irish Center development project in Squirrel Hill, where a developer is trying to build 162 new condos on the former Irish Center site on Forward Avenue. As a member of the board of the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition (SHUC), I was one...
Bruce Antkowiak: Reflections on the trial of Robert Bowers
Among the many stories that have filled the news in recent weeks, many seem little more than echoes of pointless political bickering and posturing, requiring little substantive thought or reflection. But the case of Robert Bowers is very different. It demands our attention. As the jury has now reached its...
Colin McNickle: Darkness without dawn for Pittsburgh’s office vacancy rate?
The website writingexplained.org reminds that it was English theologian Thomas Fuller who coined the phrase “It’s always darkest before the dawn” in 1650. “The idea behind this is related to the literal of dawn,” the website notes. “Dawn (emphasis in the original) begins when the first light begins to show...
Anita Prizio: Pennsylvanians deserve bold climate action — and accountability
We don’t need to imagine a future where climate change is devastating our communities — we’re living it right now. Deadly storms in Western Pennsylvania. Hotter and hotter summers. One-in-100-years floods arriving with regularity in Allegheny County. We all deserve to live in a safe climate where our children can...
