Featured Commentary category, Page 87
James Stavridis: Climate change is a military problem for the U.S.
The U.S. military has its hands full at the moment with a vicious war in Ukraine and U.S.-China tensions over issues from human rights to sovereignty over the South China Sea. But it cannot delay taking action to address climate change, the most persistent strategic threat we face. As a...
Claire Leavitt: How a public hearing is different from an investigation — and what that means for the Jan. 6 committee
Today, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol holds the first of several public hearings. The committee aims to lay out the results of months of investigative work into the involvement of President Donald Trump and his political allies in the 2021...
Sally Pipes: A look under the hood of ‘Medicare for All’
“Medicare for All” is back. For the fifth time in the last decade-plus, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced legislation that would launch a government takeover of the U.S. health insurance system. “Health care is a human right, not a privilege,” he insisted from the Senate floor May 12. But...
Joshua Windham and Daryl James: Fight for right to work from home
Travelers shop online for short-term vacation rentals. They browse listings, compare rates and make inquiries on sites like Airbnb — sometimes from thousands of miles away. Nobody needs a brick-and-mortar office to close a deal. Sally Ladd, who managed five short-term rental properties in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, worked remotely without...
Peter Morici: Draft decision banning abortion shouldn’t cheer conservatives or originalists
Much of what has been said about Justice Samuel Alito’s draft majority decision striking down the constitutional guarantee for abortion is simply false. Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett did not lie during their confirmation hearings. They stated Roe (1973) and Casey (1992) — which established a...
Mike Butler: Pittsburgh International Airport model for how to ease emissions
If anyone wonders what the airport of the future might look like, the Pittsburgh International Airport is a great example. For that, we must applaud the imaginative Allegheny County Airport Authority. It is taking two related paths to showcase how Pennsylvania’s second-largest airport can protect the environment while also raising...
Dr. Andrew Smolar: Guns shouldn’t be in teachers’ arsenal
Mrs. Bird didn’t speak a word of English in our first day of seventh-grade French. It’s one thing to sign up for a language that celebrates pastries and bicycle races, but it’s another thing to feel totally lost. Such was my plight for the first week of French. But I...
Kate Centellas: Decades after Winnetka school shooting, the trauma remains
When I glanced at my phone and saw the notification of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, my hands started to shake and I turned my phone off for a few hours. I was one of many children impacted by a school shooting when I was the age of the...
Gene Barr: Turning Pa. around means meaningful tax reform
The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said states are the “laboratories of democracy.” That still being the case, policymakers in Harrisburg would do well to note how the current state of affairs is being scored by governors of other states — and, in turn, chart a new...
Kathi Boyle: GOP agenda dangerous for area seniors
Republicans are finally being honest about what they intend to do: raise taxes on lower- and middle-income Americans and sunset federal programs like Medicare and Social Security after five years. The GOP plan not only threatens my financial security, but the health and security of all Americans. It is cruel....
Geralyn Ritter: Balancing needs and risks in pain management
Recently, the CDC published proposed new clinical practice guidelines for the prescribing of opioids. These update the agency’s 2016 guidelines intended to address the crisis of addiction and overdoses. Unfortunately, the 2016 guidelines also caused many physicians to throw well-managed pain patients off their medications, and a significant number of...
SpearIt: Shootings proclaim war on terror is dead
In the years following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States embarked on an all-scale effort to combat terrorism. However, the primary focus of those efforts was Muslims, both at home and abroad. Ignored in the process were threats posed by domestic militias and white supremacy groups. Rather...
TiffanyAnn Goodson: How can pro-lifers vote against feeding babies?
My 8-month-old daughter, Jayde, was born with a growth restriction. She weighs just 13 pounds — no more than a 3-month-old. She sees a pediatric nutritionist and eats a specialized formula that provides 30 calories per ounce in hopes of getting her on the elusive growth curve. Jayde was crawling...
Stacey Hannem and Christopher Schneider: Combating the politicization of sexual misconduct
In October of 2016, a Washington Post headline referred to the presidential race as the “rape election.” The numerous sexual misconduct allegations against a presidential candidate, and the ubiquity of discussions of sexual violence in the context of that election were unprecedented. However, the election of Donald J. Trump, and...
Veronique de Rugy: Corporations’ ‘woke’ signaling won’t override profit motive
Many people on the Right fear “woke capitalism” and the idea that corporate executives will bend to pressure to advance a vision of the world that replaces their values with progressive ones. To those who are worried, I say, be grateful for the profit motive. To the progressives pushing for...
Greg Fulton: Little black book a testament to Marine’s courage
In the top right hand drawer of my desk sits a small, worn, black book. At first glance it looks like a notebook or a daytimer from many years ago. On closer inspection, though, one can see that it is a pocket version of the New Testament. It may appear...
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers: I still have hope
As I sit on my porch, the crisp morning breeze wafts over the rose bush, enabling me to take in the sweet smell of the blossoms. The sun shines on me, warming up the air. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Right? Wrong. The beauty is a mask over...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: Is this the end of the Bush family dynasty?
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s victory in Tuesday’s Texas Republican primary was more than another signal of former President Trump’s primacy within the GOP. It probably ended the seven-decade run of one of America’s greatest political families, the four-generation Bush dynasty. Paxton’s resounding defeat of Land Commissioner George P. Bush’s effort...
Sheldon Jacobson and Janet Jokela: What impact will graduation season have on covid-19 cases?
College and high school graduation season has begun. With masking on the decline and new covid-19 cases on the rise, a perfect storm is brewing for the new omicron variant (labeled BA2.12.1) to anchor itself across the nation as everyone prepares for summer travel and vacationing. The good news is...
Mark Roth: Health care lessons from the military
The inescapable pain and death of war have also produced many of the medical breakthroughs that have enhanced our health in peacetime. The Civil War created advances in surgical techniques. World Wars I and II led to the development of prosthetics and the widespread use of antibiotics. And the Vietnam...
Kellie Lynch: Heard/Depp trial opportunity to discuss intimate partner violence
Strip away the celebrity intrigue and media frenzy, and the high-profile court battle between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard involves issues painfully familiar to many women and men across America. The civil defamation case, which is due to conclude May 27, centered around discussion of intimate partner violence. IPV...
Stephanie Catarino Wissman: Natural gas fundamental to bringing manufacturing back to Pa.
Not long ago, the U.S. was reliant on unstable regimes for natural gas and oil. Now, the U.S. is the largest producer of natural gas and oil in the world thanks in large part to the shale revolution and expansion of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. This homegrown energy now...
William Haupt III: Independents are seldom independent by choice
“Perhaps instead of voter ID laws, the USA might want to try voter IQ laws.” — Angela Hatfield While American politics continues to play out like a roller derby grudge match between Democrats and Republicans, off camera more and more voters are choosing not to affiliate with either party as...
Viewpoint 2: Cronyism makes baby formula shortage worse
Bad policy makes people vulnerable, and the current baby formula shortage is just the latest example. The immediate cause of the shortage was contamination in a Michigan factory, which might not resume production until June. But the underlying cause is a slew of bad policies that make the market less...
Viewpoint 1: The infant formula crisis and our inequitable food system
No child should ever go hungry in the richest nation in the world. And yet, in recent days, panicked parents and caretakers who rely on infant formula for their loved ones’ health and nutritional needs are contending with the skyrocketing prices of baby formula and a severe shortage in grocery...
