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Congress needs to keep promise

When Americans are injured in combat, we have a responsibility to make sure they receive the benefits they earned through their service and sacrifice. For tens of thousands of veterans, we are falling short of that promise. Under current law, many veterans who were forced to retire from the military because of combat-related injuries must give up a portion of their military retirement pay in order to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Major Richard Star Act would change that. The bipartisan legislation would correct what DAV and other ...

At priciest big-city schools in America, parents still get no say

In 2020, as a public school parent, I fought to reopen New York City’s schools. I realized parents didn’t have a seat at the table, and we still have none today. Defending Education’s new state ranking on integrity in education now puts New York 35th of 51, behind Michigan and Pennsylvania, which tie at 33rd. I came to Brooklyn from the Soviet Union at age six and raised my two daughters in these public schools, so I know what this city promises, but fails to deliver. New York does not lack money. The city’s budget now works out to about $44,000 per student, the New York ...

Governor must give new scholarship program a sporting chance

Football season is here, but not just at Lincoln Financial Field. Friday night lights shine brightly on high school teams and crowds statewide. And let’s not forget the other beloved fall sports: cross country, volleyball, soccer, softball, and golf. But while kids stress about playing time or making it to state, parents on the sideline wrestle with an entirely different issue: the cost. An AP–Ipsos poll found that about two-thirds of parents with at least one kid playing sports spend up to $2,000 per year on equipment, fees, training, and travel. Some paid even more. This ...

Price squeeze leaves many worse off

Higher interest rates divide households. Savers holding cash or buying new bonds can earn more interest. Borrowers taking out new loans or carrying variable-rate debt pay more. Existing bondholders can suffer losses as inflation and yields rise, while stock-market gains cushion households with substantial portfolios. Those without financial assets have fewer buffers. These shifts favor savers and investors over households dependent on paychecks and borrowing. For households without substantial assets, relief requires both slower price growth and less expensive financing. That divide ...

Putting children first in custody law

A children’s rights, trauma-informed perspective reframes custody statutes as children’s rights instruments, not just sources of parental entitlements. Laws should emphasize: the child’s needs, especially for the very young, as well as their voice and participatory rights; the child’s schedule, especially the healthy dimensions of routine and stability; the need for statutes to integrate developmental science, including age-specific needs, attachment, and each child’s key milestones, transitions and individual needs; and the long-term trauma impacts of forced contact with ...

‘Free’ health care would be anything but

P.J. O’Rourke once famously wrote, “If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.” Pennsylvania House Democrats want to test that theory. Pennsylvania House Rep. Greg Scott introduced House Bill (HB) 2763, which would establish a state-run, single-payer health-care system in the commonwealth. He calls this “Medicare for All,” but what it really means is a fiscal and healthcare disaster for all Pennsylvanians. The bill is now under consideration in the House Insurance Committee. This bill is wrong for Pennsylvania for many ...