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Whiskey, presidential pardons and history

It was 1874 that our beloved Pennsylvania farmers protested unfair taxation. They echoed the sentiment of the founders who rebelled against the British Empire over the question of unfair taxation. In 1791, two years after the Constitution was ratified and the United States came into existence, Congress had approved a federal tax on spirits and stills. The farmers in Western Pennsylvania were the new frontier. The distilling of whiskey was one method of converting grain into liquor which was then much easier to transport across the Appalachian Mountains in order to reach the Atlantic ...

Time for governor to ditch corporate welfare, cut red tape

For two years, Gov. Josh Shapiro has talked about the need for government to “move at the speed of business.” Though rhetoric is plentiful in Harrisburg, the governor has taken real action to address regulatory reform. Thus far, the Shapiro administration has inventoried all of Pennsylvania’s 2,400 plus permits, sped up processing times for occupational licenses, and — just this week — introduced a new “fast track” permitting program for selected projects. However, Shapiro has also pursued destructive policies, like borrowing hundreds of millions for PA SITES, a program ...

Count your economic blessings

Although consumer sentiment, as measured by the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, remains much lower than it was before the pandemic, it is finally on an upward trajectory. And while some groups – such as lower-income and younger renter households – are still reeling from the highest inflation in more than four decades, most Americans are financially better off than they were a year ago and wealthier than before the pandemic. The U.S. economy continues to outperform expectations, earning its place as the envy of the world. There’s much to be thankful for this holiday ...

How the Republican Party should change Washington

With their recent victories, President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans received a new mandate to act. But what does this mandate entail? Hints from the campaign trail provide insight on what this new administration must tackle first. By reining in executive authority, extending tax relief, cutting federal spending, and slashing red tape, the Trump administration and Congress can usher in a new era of economic prosperity and fiscal responsibility. Too much power Reduce executive authority. Pundits and partisans frequently suggested this could be our “last ...

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

Back in the 1980s, the last time that Congress was able to agree on changes to Social Security, U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) coined a pivotal axiom about consensus building: You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own set of facts. That principle has long since been abandoned in the discussion about Social Security as politicians, regardless of party, are happy to lose fact check after fact check as their claims get more absurd by the day. Moynihan was right, every debate must have a framework of fact on which consensus can be built. Social Security reform ...

Understanding voters, not tone-deaf narratives

I would like to address and possibly rebut a column recently published in the Sun-Gazette. In the aftermath of a heated election, a familiar narrative, espoused even here in this very paper, has taken hold: Trump won because voters were misled, duped by a stream of misinformation about the Biden administration. This view, though comforting to those seeking justification for a surprising outcome, misses the complexity of voter motivations—particularly those of Independent voters. It’s time to look beyond these simplistic explanations and appreciate the nuanced choices that tens of ...