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Keep investing in rural Pennsylvania

Our small towns and rural communities are the backbone of Pennsylvania in many ways, but politicians in Washington are putting them at risk. Right now, Congress is considering deep cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP, vital lifelines that keep hospitals open and food on the table for thousands of families right here in Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District. It’s essential for us in District 15 to understand how these programs enrich North-Central Pennsylvania and reclaim the wealth Washington has been extracting for years. We know firsthand the challenges rural communities ...

The shores of Tripoli 2.0

Everyone knows the phrase “to the shores of Tripoli” from the Marine Corps Hymn. What might not be known is that in the 18th century North African pirates had preyed on European ships for decades, either capturing them, or extorting fees for their safe passage which the pusillanimous Europeans quietly paid. In contrast, the new United States in its first international action sent in the Marines, and the Marines quickly quelled the pirates. Of course the solution to piracy is always the same: neutralize the pirates or, in more forthright language, take them out. And so now, after ...

Foreign disinformation

The Trump administration has just shut down the Department of State office that monitors foreign disinformation campaigns. Cutting the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI) hub leaves the State Department, and therefore us as a nation, without any office or part of the budget focused specifically on countering disinformation threats to our country, according to The Guardian (April 17). Secretary of State Marco Rubio applauded this move to wipe out our protection, accusing the office of “censoring the voices of Americans they were supposed to be ...

Losing faith in Washington

I recently attended Dan Meuser’s phone town hall. He really wanted to let us know how bad the people holding us back are, how great his cause is, and how much he’s fighting to make our lives better… but none of it felt genuine. I left the town hall thinking that Meuser is as fake of a politician as they come. There were some interesting questions asked, but I never felt like any of them ever got meaningful answers. Questions about the stock market, economy, and government overreach were ignored or waived off. Instead, all I heard from him the entire town hall were the same ...

Undue process

We hear a lot of demands for due process in reference to the deportation of illegal aliens these days. These complaints are especially loud from the left, but have also come from those who think they are just upholding the Constitution. The problem with this claim is that there is no “due process” required for deportation. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution does indeed say, “No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;”, but that does not apply here. If you look at this amendment, you will see that it is only saying that a ...

A Democrat defends tariffs

Free trade didn’t work for the American middle class, manufacturing was sold to the lowest bidder, and the American middle class saw stagnation in wages while the corporations saw year over year gains. I agree with my Republican neighbors that we can’t continue to allow the United States to fall behind in manufacturing. Tariffs are a great tool that can be used with other tools to create a dynamic plan to bring high paying jobs back to this country. However, like any tool, they can be used wrong. Tariffs are a hammer, and sometimes you need to drive a nail; but when you’re ...