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The paradox of war and peace

To the casual reader, it will sound like an oxymoron to say that one feels safer and more secure in Israel than in most other places in the world, including many locations within the United States. How could that be so? Every day the leaders of Iran and their allies in the terrorist world decry the existence of Israel and threaten total “annihilation” at the push of a button. In the meantime, Israel must fight for its existence in Gaza and in Lebanon, both territories occupied by anti-western operatives. Yet, whether walking the streets of Ramla (a mixed Arab Jewish community), ...

A convicted felon running for dictator

Is Joe Biden’s candidacy salvageable after the June 28 debate? That is the question. During the recent Trump/Biden debate, Joe Biden needed to convince undecideds about whether he was too old to be president. He failed abysmally and probably irrecoverably. He not only lost the undecideds, he also lost the confidence of many Democrats who are saying they now think he cannot win re-election. With so many undecideds now thinking he should not be president and so many Democrats who think he cannot win in November, it is much harder the day after the debate than the day before to see ...

Will anyone save Social Security?

According to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), about one in five residents of Iowa collect retirement benefits from Social Security from which the state generates more than $11 billion in revenue. Without question, the program is vital to Iowa as a whole. In a less abstract sense, these residents refer to people who are your neighbors, or maybe even family members or friends. So, the questions about the long-term stability of the program should be a top priority of every member of Congress, and yet few appear to have a substantive interest in this vital ...

Pennsylvania’s state government encounters budgetary deja vu

Pennsylvania’s budget battle feels oddly familiar – like we’ve been here before. Our sense of déjà vu is valid: The 2024–25 fiscal battle looks strikingly like last year’s. Last year, Pennsylvania lawmakers finished the budget nearly six months after the fiscal year began July 1. Once again, they will likely miss this deadline. And at center stage, yet again, is the Lifeline Scholarship initiative, or the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) Scholarship Program. This program would offer scholarship accounts to low-income students attending Pennsylvania’s worst ...

The gaslighting of American voters

In 1944 the film Gaslight came out. In it Charles Boyer chides Ingrid Bergman with lies to drive her mad. The term “gaslighting” has recently become popular and it is very appropriate for what is happening in our country right now. Just like in the movie, we are being told that what we have seen with our own eyes and know in our minds isn’t true. On January 6, 2021 we watched in real time as a mob stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, DC while Congress was counting the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election which would make Joe Biden the 46th President. ...

Small businesses vs. ‘golden goose’

In a June 13 opinion piece published on PennLive, former Gov. Ed Rendell suggests “skill games” should be taxed at the same rate as slot machines. His diatribe echoes the false, misleading rhetoric on skill games being pushed by the Pennsylvania casino industry. These arguments ignore both the facts and the law, displaying either ignorance or lack of effort in understanding what skill games are, as defined by Pennsylvania Courts. As the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 706, legislation to tax and regulate skill games, I will give the governor the benefit of the doubt and premise my ...