Breaking News

Local Columns

Dems trashing American work ethic with spending bill

The humongous bill that Democrats in Washington, D.C. are assembling this week is a slap in the face to Americans who work, pay taxes and support their families. The bill demeans work ethic and glorifies government handouts. It sends a message that work and self-sufficiency are for suckers. Better to climb on Uncle Sam’s gravy train that will now provide cradle-to-grave benefits. The social spending bill will give monthly payments to almost all parents based on how many children they have, regardless if anyone in the family works. Democrats are also promising virtually free child ...

Divided by war, united by a song

Sometimes it is the strangest things that can take opposing sides with vastly different objectives and provide an unforeseen area of commonality. In this particular case it was a song. It became popular during one of our nation’s most divisive times, the Civil War, and gave each side something comforting in the midst of unimaginable pain and loss. It has been documented that its haunting words, which spoke of love and loss, could be heard within both Union and Confederate camps as they sang around their campfires at night. It quickly became one of our area’s claims to fame since it ...

The twilight’s last gleaming

“This is not about freedom or personal choice.” — President Joseph R. Biden, Sept. 9, 2021 It was scandalous and infuriating to hear President Joseph R. Biden argue last week that his so-called vaccine mandates somehow have nothing to do with freedom or personal choice. In saying that, he has rejected our history, our values and the Constitution he swore to uphold. He made his ignorant statement while outlining his plan to have the Department of Labor issue emergency regulations requiring every employer in America of 100 or more persons to compel all its employees to receive ...

Real solutions come from the people

In addition to pushing back against a Washington-centric tax-and-spend plan that would add trillions more onto our national debt, I spent the month of August connecting with the people who live and work in communities across Pennsylvania’s 12th District so that our team can best represent them in Congress. Their message was clear. Americans should define their government; the government should not define them. Unfortunately, Washington Democrats’ $3.5 trillion proposal to radically expand the scope of the federal government in almost every aspect of Americans’ lives would lead to ...

How necessary are hate crime laws?

Love and hate: the two most prevalent human emotions. Every human on the planet, save those afflicted with serious mental health issues, has experienced these feelings. They cannot be legislated and neither emotion is in itself considered to be a crime. It is what some people do with their hate that is the problem. The eruption of hate into criminal behavior resulted in passage of a federal hate crimes law back in 1968. It has been amended several times over the years to include crimes committed against someone based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, sexual orientation, ...

20 years later, are we better off?

When the hijacked planes hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that first 9/11, the Taliban were in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary for al-Qaida. Today, the Taliban are in control of Afghanistan and providing sanctuary to al-Qaida. What then did our longest war accomplish? The Afghan army and government we stood up and sustained for decades has collapsed. The U.S. military has withdrawn. U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghans who fought alongside us have been left behind. The triumphant Taliban of today are far stronger than were the Taliban ...