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Rare break from quietly expensive law

Since March, America has been running an accidental experiment and glimpsing what the country might look like without one of its dumbest statutes. The results are in, and they embarrass a century’s worth of U.S. lawmakers and defenders. The statute is the Jones Act, passed in 1920 to rebuild and protect the U.S. merchant marine fleet after World War I disrupted American shipping capabilities. It requires that any vessel moving cargo between two American ports must be built in an American shipyard, be American-owned and be at least three-quarters American-crewed. Miss any one of these ...

Was Orwell’s Animal Farm fiction?

I was very young when my sister gave me George Orwell’s Animal Farm to read. The book was about animals on a farm who were mistreated by the mean, nasty, and cruel farmer. They revolted. The animals got rid of the farmer and put the pigs in charge. Well, as it turned out, the pigs were worse overlords than the farmer had ever been. When I read Animal Farm, I had no idea that it was a parody of the Russian Revolution. I knew there was something strange about the book and the theme, but it took my fifth grade teacher to explain to me what I had read and its meaning. Following my ...

The illusion of Marcellus Shale gas’ economic benefits

In a recent story titled, “Marcellus Shale Coalition President Assesses State of Gas Industry”, The Sun-Gazette reported that, “While the MSC is based in Pittsburgh its ties and economic benefits for the county and its operators are unquestionable.” Actually, the economic benefits Lycoming County derives from the shale gas industry aren’t just questionable, they are at best meager and may not even offset the damage the industry does done to quality of life in the county. The only measure by which Lycoming County is prospering since the start of the shale gas boom is that ...

Which states are leading on wage growth?

Newly released data shows that two out of the top three states for average hourly wage growth in the nation are in our region. This is good news for consumers when considering regional purchasing power. Montana came in with the second-highest increase in the country, just behind Kentucky. In 2024, the Treasure State had an average wage of $27.96, and in 2025, that number rose to $29.27. Its top private sector industries include health care, retail trade, and construction. Companies are continuing to make the move from states with high regulatory burdens to states like Montana that ...

Changing my mind about the filibuster

It’s not often you hear someone in D.C. admit they were wrong, let alone horribly wrong — and the entire Democratic Party was, including me. When Democrats had the presidency and a majority in both chambers, they were frustrated with the 60-vote threshold needed to advance legislation. Senate Democrats attempted to end the filibuster to push through President Joe Biden’s agenda — an effort I fully supported during my 2022 campaign. Halfway through my first term, I now recognize how important the filibuster is and the state our country would be in without it. I thought ...

How Pittsburgh became the early alarm bell for the DSA’s rise

PITTSBURGH -- The rise of the Democratic left in Pittsburgh did not happen overnight. It was built over years through patient organizing, disciplined recruiting and a clear-eyed focus on the races that mattered most: low-turnout primaries where entrenched power was vulnerable. Mik Pappas’ 2017 race for Pennsylvania’s 31st Magisterial District judge offered an early hint that the local Democratic establishment was losing its grip on some of the contests it had once taken for granted. He was underfunded, openly aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and not expected to ...