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Too many municipalities stretch funding

All of Pennsylvania has too many Municipalities. West Alexander sits on the westernmost edge of Washington County, a stone’s toss from the West Virginia line. A fair happens nearby, the town has an undeniable charm and it’s steeped in history — if you stroll around its cemeteries, you’ll find stones that have been there for two centuries. West Alexander had been a borough up until 2009, when financial woes led it to shed that status and join up with surrounding Donegal Township. Now, however, some residents have experienced buyer’s remorse and, 16 years later, would ...

It’s time for Harrisburg to just get the budget done

Gov. Josh Shapiro laid out a plan for cooperation in his budget address last Tuesday. Heading into his third budget negotiation, he outlined priorities that might be consensus builders between his Democratic Party and the Republicans on the other side. He talked about seniors. He talked about kids. He talked about building up the state more as a business leader. He talked about supporting firefighters and police officers. All of those are the kinds of baby-kissing, check-presenting opportunities politicians love for a photograph. But not all of the topics on his list were popular on ...

Tariffs tangle with U.S. Constitution

The taxing power in the federal government resides in the Congress. The Constitution states that Congress has the power to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts” of the federal government. Indeed, in order to emphasize the location of this power in the Congress, the Constitution also requires that all legislation “for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” So, if only Congress can impose taxes, how can the president impose tariffs? Here is the backstory. However one characterizes a tariff, since it consists of the ...

International aid hurts poor nations’ economies

It’s impossible to overstate the impact Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are having on American government – and the public’s knowledge about what’s really being done with our money. Nowhere is that more evident than the erupting scandal involving the United States Agency for International Development, which Musk and DOGE have exposed as little more than a front for funneling billions of American taxpayer dollars to absurd projects favored by Democrats and other leftists. The revelations of USAID’s profligacy and lack of accountability are coming so fast ...

PSU should be transparent in budget woes

Editor’s note: The Spotlight PA article referenced below was published in the Thursday, Feb. 6 edition of The Sentinel. Imagine what people of Johnstown would be thinking and feeling if the University of Pittsburgh were to arouse speculation that some of its branch campuses might be targeted for possible closing — and If the university were remaining tight-lipped about which campuses were in danger of being shuttered. It is reasonable to believe that community and businesses leaders would be mobilizing to meet with university leaders to try to ascertain as much information as ...

Communities could benefit from having social workers with police departments

In June 2020, at the height of the furor surrounding the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, a column on the website Medium was headlined, “We don’t need cops to become social workers.” That’s true. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with bringing social workers into police departments to work alongside police on the difficult issues and incidents they confront every day. And a growing number of communities are realizing the value of having social workers in their police departments. Peters Township is the latest. Its council is poised to hire its ...