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Vaccination still your best shot at healthy flu season

Winter is upon us, and for many Americans, that means company parties, get-togethers with friends and of course, gathering with extended family. These festivities are joyous. But they also inherently expose us to infectious seasonal illnesses like influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19. As vaccination rates decline nationally, that risk is greater this year than any in recent memory. That’s why, now more than ever, Americans must make informed choices to keep themselves and their families healthy. For decades, annual vaccines have been our first and best line ...

Outrage of the century

There have been many outrages in the last century, but in that list would have to be the cost of medical care. Both political parties blame each other, and there is plenty of fault to go around. Every once in a while, there are band-aid solutions such as getting a particular drug company to lower the prices on some important pharmaceutical. Other times, the government simply picks up the tab, and consumers ultimately pay in higher taxes and higher prices. What is missing in the medical healthcare field is full disclosure about pricing and costs. In my time on Pennsylvania’s Patient ...

Government unions put politics before workers

This year’s contentious New Jersey gubernatorial race dominated national headlines. Although Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli were the headliners, another candidate tells a much more fascinating and revealing story that reveals a troubling national trend with organized labor. On June 10, Sean Spiller, who had received only 11% of the primary vote, ended his long-shot campaign, finishing fifth place. His term as president of the New Jersey Education Association also ended shortly after his primary loss. Though his candidacy never gained traction, Mr. Spiller managed to siphon $48 ...

State’s special needs students need school choice

Shannon Mitchell will never forget the first words from her nonverbal eight-year-old daughter, Brianna. “Hi, mama,” Briana said after getting off the bus on her first day at her new school. “I love you.” Before this precious moment, Brianna languished at her Philadelphia district school for several years. Brianna — who was diagnosed with autism when she was 2 years old — needed extra support and resources, such as speech therapy. But her school couldn’t provide these much-needed services. Instead, her teacher often resorted to sending her to the back of the classroom to ...

The quiet engine behind youth’s malaise

For years, pointing out the obvious was considered impolite: America’s biggest, most distortionary transfer of wealth does not flow from elites to the working class. Nor does it show up as corporate welfare. It flows from the relatively young and poor to the relatively old and wealthy. It’s the defining injustice of our fiscal regime, the largest driver of our government debt and the quiet engine behind the malaise of Millennials and Gen Z. More than a decade ago, Nick Gillespie and I wrote a piece in Reason arguing that Social Security and Medicare had together become the great ...

Community and cooperation during the holidays

There is a clear truth about our politics and our broader society today: It feels more divided than at any point in recent memory. Scroll through social media or turn on the television, and we see disagreement hardened into distrust. Differences of opinion have become reasons, at their worst, to hurt one another, and in everyday life, to walk away in anger and resentment rather than work together. For many Pennsylvanians, that division isn’t abstract; it shows up at kitchen tables, school board meetings, and community events where conversations once felt easier. The holiday season, ...