The dividends of ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’

January 12, 2026

One great irony is that deposed Venezuelan socialist despot Nicolas Maduro sits in jail in New York City, where a new socialist mayor, inaugurated a few days ago, extols the “warmth of collectivism” rather than the “frigidity of rugged individualism.” No warm, cuddly collectivist has ever nor will ever perform a mission like rugged American individualists just pulled off in Venezuela, surgically extracting their oppressive leader from the midst of his capital, without a single American casualty. In democratic elections held in Venezuela in 2024, Venezuelans said “no, ...

Finding purpose in the winter quiet

January 10, 2026

The lights are coming down. The trees that sparkled with life a week ago now sit at the curb, waiting for pickup. The calendar has turned, and with it comes a hush that feels both strange and familiar. After weeks of rushing between stores, gatherings, and obligations, the world seems to exhale. What comes next is something easy to overlook but deeply needed: the winter lull. January has a reputation for being dreary. The decorations are gone; the weather settles in, and daylight feels rationed. But beneath that stillness lies a season with purpose. It’s the pause between the pages, ...

Pennsylvania will again be in spotlight

January 9, 2026

There is something clarifying about opening a fresh calendar. The pages are clean, the boxes empty, the year ahead undefined. It invites planning even as experience reminds us that no year ever unfolds exactly as written. This will be another year when Pennsylvania finds itself under a political spotlight. Presidential elections do that when perennial swing-state status can tip the balance in the Electoral College. Two years later, that focus rarely fades — it simply shifts to the midterms. In the midterms, voters will decide control of Congress, Harrisburg and the governor’s ...

Deregulating broadband will save billions

January 8, 2026

Did economists underestimate the damage of the Biden regulatory barrage? One reason the U.S. economy is outperforming expectations may be that the Trump Administration’s deregulation is offsetting tariff harm. Consider how it has uncorked broadband investment and saved taxpayers billions by slashing the Biden team’s red tape. Congress appropriated $42 billion in the 2021 infrastructure bill for states to expand broadband to “unserved” and rural communities. The spending was unnecessary since satellite services like SpaceX’s Starlink and 5G fixed wireless services were rapidly ...

PSU trustees still aren’t talking enough in public

January 7, 2026

Penn State’s Board of Trustees deserves credit for spending more time in public discussion this year than it has in the recent past. After years in which outcomes often were treated as foregone conclusions, more conversation is a welcome change. But more is not the same as enough. The measure of a governing board is not whether discussion increases but whether it is robust, wide-ranging and focused on the decisions that matter most — because fiduciary duty needs more than transparency. It requires discussion. Penn State’s Board of Trustees has 39 members, including the ...

Two new year’s resolutions for state government

January 6, 2026

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, ...