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The mystery of farmers and Trump

What makes the devotion of farmers to Trump so remarkable is that even though Trump’s first term tariffs on imported goods devastated farmers financially nationwide, the margin of victory among American farmers in 2024 was higher than it was in 2016. China retaliated to Trump’s tariffs with tariffs of its own on American products including soybeans, pork, corn, wheat, and dairy. Foreign buyers bought agricultural products elsewhere. Soybean sales alone dropped by $3B in 2017. Many farmers experienced inadequate profit margins. Many others fell heavily into debt. And now that he is ...

Don’t punish cyber charters

Pennsylvania cyber charter schools are under attack for – of all things – not wastefully spending taxpayer money. The Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General recently audited a sample of cyber charter schools. After examining five of the state’s 14 cyber charter schools, the auditor general released its findings. Opponents of cyber charters repeatedly point to their operating surplus of $365 million, claiming these schools hoard public dollars. As lawmakers prepare to negotiate the 2025–26 state budget, calls to defund cyber charters have reached a fevered pitch. But ...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court and GOP cannot be complacent

HARRISBURG -- Central Pennsylvania state Sen. Greg Rothman, the newly elected state Republican Party chairman, will face his first big challenge this year with the control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on the ballot. Rothman, who won the party chairmanship with overwhelming support in a 248-120 vote last month, will look to fill three state Supreme Court seats with three Democratic justices up for retention elections. The judicial elections are for 10-year terms. On the ballot is a yes-or-no for a position that has an oversized impact on the average person. Despite their power, ...

The mood among Israelis is defiant

The mood in Israel can only be described as defiant. As I write this, a mother and her two children, babies really, were supposed to be returned in their black coffins together with a fourth, an 84 year old grandpa. As it turned out, the terrorist group did not return the mother originally with her children but rather included a Palestinian woman. Finally, the terrorist did return Ms. Bibas. Hamas coffins on a stage in front of propaganda posters and stood around the boxes dressed in black with their faces masked. Such monstrous displays are barely condemned by most of the world. They ...

Rest in peace, United States of America

Donald Trump is killing America. I don’t mean it’s accidental or even manslaughter. I’m talking premeditated, cold blooded murder! The man who had six bankruptcies (Washington Post 9/26/16), he who couldn’t even run a casino successfully is now doing the same thing to our country. He warned us that his second term would be retribution. Just as he is trying to prosecute his political enemies, he is punishing the American people for voting him out in 2020. What better way to do that than to destroy the country. We had the audacity to reject him, so now we must pay the ...

The iceberg ahead: Pennsylvania’s looming power crisis

Nearly a year has passed since Gov. Josh Shapiro first announced a “new era” of leadership in energy with a program he claimed would create 15,000 jobs, save energy customers $664 million and generate $11.4 billion in investments in “clean, reliable energy resources.” He’s traveled the state making promises of lowering utility costs while touting questionable agreements and feel-good programs that are nothing more than a band-aid for a broken bone. Time and time again, the governor fails to address, or recognize, the root cause of the price increases all Pennsylvanians are ...