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Two new year’s resolutions for state government

The year 2026 is upon us, and our state lawmakers and state officials should offer Pennsylvanians two resolutions — to reform our state’s government in ways that encourage rather than punish development and job creation, and to reduce state spending. Our region’s own lawmakers have respectable records of understanding both points. Unfortunately many others in Harrisburg fail to recognize the imperative nature of ensuring that working-age Pennsylvanians have plentiful opportunities to work, live and build lives. Many of the same politicians in Harrisburg — and unfortunately, ...

It’s time to take political pay raises off autopilot

Wouldn’t it be great if your income automatically increased based on the cost of living? Higher food, gas or electricity prices would sting less. Rent increases might still hurt, but not nearly as much if paychecks rose alongside them. That is the reality for some in Pennsylvania. State lawmakers and other elected officials see their salaries rise annually based on the Consumer Price Index. So do those elected in Westmoreland County. But Westmoreland officials might not see that continue. TribLive has been pushing for years to take elected officials’ pay raises off ...

Socialism vs. Capitalism: A closer look

People criticize capitalism. A recent Axios-Generation poll says, “College students prefer socialism to capitalism.” Why? Because they believe absurd myths. Like the claim that the Soviet Union “wasn’t real socialism.” Socialism guru Noam Chomsky tells students that. He says the Soviet Union “was about as remote from socialism as you could imagine.” Give me a break. The Soviets made private business illegal. If that’s not socialism, I’m not sure what is. “Socialism means abolishing private property and ... replacing it with some form of collective ...

Ignoring vehicle recalls might results in real tragedy

About 12 million vehicles were recalled from 2015 through 2024 for safety defects that could result in air bags not deploying. The recalls were well-publicized. In fact, many vehicle owners, upon learning about a recall, were unhappy about the fact that a trip to the service department outside of routine maintenance would be necessary. Still, most owners were satisfied that service department visit could someday prevent a catastrophic situation for them and also for passengers, if their vehicles were involved in a crash. It made sense to schedule the service as soon as possible. But ...

Tying one on — with a scarf, that is

I am a scarf person, but I am married to a non-scarf person. Conversely, my husband is a hat person, and I am not a hat person. He says scarves are itchy and make him look like he has no chin. I say hats ruin my hair and make my head look like Charlie Brown’s. So whenever it gets cold out, he tells me to put on a hat, I tell him to put on a scarf, and we both ignore each other. It’s truly amazing we’ve stayed married for as long as we have. We’d been going through this routine for many, many years, and then, suddenly, one day my husband had a major wardrobe ...

The common faith of Elise Stefanik and Erika Kirk

Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican candidate running to unseat New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced she is pulling out of the race and will not seek reelection for her congressional seat, in which she is now serving her sixth term. It’s been a rough couple years for Stefanik. After President Donald Trump’s reelection, she was named to be the new U.S. ambassador to the U.N. However, this never happened because she returned to the House to alleviate the thin Republican majority to get the One Big Beautiful Bill passed. Last month she announced her bid for the ...