Featured Commentary category, Page 120

Last week Rep. Nancy Pelosi warned President Donald Trump that if he declared an “emergency” to build a wall, “think what a president with different values can present… Why don’t you declare (the epidemic of gun violence in America) an emergency, Mr. President? I wish you would … . A...

Frederic Bastiat, a French economist and member of the French National Assembly, lived from 1801 to 1850. He had great admiration for our country, except for our two faults — slavery and tariffs. He said: “Look at the United States. There is no country in the world where the law...

WASHINGTON — The annual Munich Security Conference is usually a somnolent affair, a ritual renewal of vows between the United States and its European allies. This year was different. Germany’s outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, finally said what she thinks of President Trump. Without using Trump’s name, she described his “America...

Both of America’s great national parties are coalitions. But it is the Democratic Party that never ceases to celebrate diversity — racial, religious, ethnic, cultural — as its own and as America’s “greatest strength.” Understandably so, for the party is home to a multitude of minorities. It is the domain...

Using unequivocal language including “ineptness,” “negligence” and a “lack of training and expertise,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed 161 criminal charges this month against the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA). The filings laid out how the drinking water provider that serves over 300,000 Pittsburghers was criminally liable under...

Last year, nearly 50 of our neighbors fled Pennsylvania every day. They moved to growing states like Texas, Florida and North Carolina, seeking opportunity. Meanwhile, we literally can’t pay businesses enough to come here. Recall that Amazon rejected $5 billion in taxpayer-funded bribes and set up “HQ2” elsewhere. It’s time...

WASHINGTON — Persuading North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his nuclear weapons will be a long and grueling process that will require President Trump to make significant concessions — and even then, the effort may fail. That dose of caution from Trump’s special envoy to North Korea,...

If you are puzzled by the nationwide rape-kit testing backlog, Oklahoma provides maddening insight on the bureaucratic forces that create intolerable inertia — and injustice. An estimated 225,000 rape kits have gone unprocessed across the country; more than 7,200 have been neglected in Oklahoma. Last month, a woman who reported...

Finally, decades into a still-unresolved crisis, some Pennsylvania bishops are now agreeing to compensate victims of predator priests. But it seems that one responsible party is getting off scot-free: the Vatican. For four days later this month, bishops from around the world will meet to discuss the child sex abuse...

Gov. Tom Wolf has put Pennsylvania’s minimum wage front and center in the news again, as he tries to raise it to $12 an hour. This is music to the ears of people earning $7.25 an hour, but it won’t be a happy tune for everyone. Politicians would rather you...

I am very appreciative of Gov. Tom Wolf’s generous attention to Pennsylvania’s education needs during his tenure. His recent budget address gave additional credence to how he values education in the commonwealth. He is not alone. The 2019 Senate and House Education Committees are made up of lawmakers who are...

Ten states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Twenty-two other states, along with U.S. territories Puerto Rico and Guam, allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. Let’s examine some hidden issues about marijuana use. Before we start, permit me to state my values about medical...

In retrospect, it seems obvious that President Donald Trump would want to have his cake and eat it, too. That’s essentially what he’s doing by both signing a government funding bill that provides $1.375 billion for a barrier with Mexico and also declaring a national emergency to allocate other federal...

There must be a better way to keep kids interested in school than drugging them. Today, one in five school-age boys is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many are given drugs that are supposed to help them pay attention. “I was the rowdy kid, the bad kid,” says Cade...

If a foreign adversary announced to the world that it had a new arsenal of destructive nuclear weapons and threatened the imminent doom of the United States, what would we do? Push for a peace deal that would limit and hopefully end the atomic threat? Invest heavily in missile defense?...

On Feb. 14, 2018, 17 people tragically lost their lives in a brutal massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. I was in school when it happened and saw tweets from students in the school. It was terrifying. In the days following, I was inspired by the...

It’s immoral for stores to sell the National Enquirer. This has been true since long before the Florida-based supermarket tabloid began churning out poisonously and deliberately false propaganda during the 2016 presidential campaign season — “Hillary (Clinton): 6 months to live!”; “Bill (Clinton) caught in teen sex ring!”; “Hillary hitman...

I recall sitting in a health/science class in the early ’70s where the subject was caring for the heart. Topics included the typical instructions about height and weight , exercise, diet, heart-rate monitoring, blood pressure ranges, and overall health and wellness do’s and don’ts. The homework assignments involved tracking daily...

For many Americans, February is tax time — or at least the time they are reminded of their need to pay taxes, now that the forms are all in. That means millions of people are starting to sift through piles of paper hoping they won’t owe more than they can...

In response to Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy’s op-ed “Real culprit in Pittsburgh’s lead crisis” (Feb. 6, TribLIVE), we would like to state that we wholeheartedly agree with the author’s desire to put the interests and safety of the people of Pittsburgh first. We wish to set the record straight, however, regarding...

If the pollsters at CNN and CBS are correct, Donald Trump may have found the formula for winning a second term in 2020. His State of the Union address, say the two networks, met with the approval of 76 percent of all viewers — 97 percent of Republicans, 82 percent...

President Bill Clinton claimed at a forum in 1998 that his grandmother was “one-quarter Cherokee.” The assertion, from a politician with a not-always-sterling reputation for truthfulness, went unheralded. Clinton’s mother had earlier been described, in a 1992 article, as a “descendant of Irish farmers and Cherokee Indians.” The genealogical receipts...

WASHINGTON — Last week, no fewer than six committees of the House of Representatives were investigating potential grounds for impeaching President Donald Trump. They don’t use the word “impeachment.” Their instructions from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are to describe their work in narrower, less inflammatory terms. But the question is...

Crying “hate” is a lazy way to debate. But in the Beltway, where honest discussion and vigorous deliberation are desperately needed, the rhetorical sloth is so thick you need a Big Foot circular saw to cut it. Take Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who thrust a Liberian immigrant, Linda Clark,...

When it comes to awe-inspiring public lands, Pennsylvania’s is home to some of the nation’s best hidden gems. Millions of acres of federal, state and local public lands provide Pennsylvanians with a superior quality of life and enhance our economy. In fact, Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation economy is the fifth largest...