Commentary

How the government can steal your stuff: 6 questions about civil asset forfeiture answered | Opinion

BY: - July 28, 2019

The federal government confiscated assets worth a total of about US$28 billion during the decade ending in 2016, Justice Department data indicate.

While you weren’t looking Trump declared war on the poor with food stamps cuts | John L. Micek

BY: - July 26, 2019

In Pennsylvania, 1.75 million million of the state's 13 million people are on food stamps, according to data compiled by the state Department of Human Services, which administers the program.

A Bucks County Dem makes the case against Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. Is she right? | Friday Morning Coffee

BY: - July 26, 2019

He's been voting the district like crazy. Will it be enough?

SCOTUS gerrymandering decision a reminder that reformers can’t rely on courts to solve their problems | Opinion

BY: - July 26, 2019

Each state is different. Reform seekers in each state will have to pursue their reforms through the legislature or state constitution. There is no relief to be had in a federal court.

Dead Law Walking?| Sister Helen Prejean sounds off on capital punishment in Pa. | Thursday Morning Coffee

BY: - July 25, 2019

The poorest, the most marginalized, and the most vulnerable are too often sentenced to death,' the nun and activist says.

Investors, consumers and workers are changing capitalism for the better by demanding companies behave more responsibly | Opinion

BY: - July 25, 2019

A new kind of capitalism seems to be emerging, one in which companies value communities, the environment and workers just as much as profits.

A tuition freeze was a good first step. Pa’s state-owned universities still have big problems to fix | Opinion

BY: - July 25, 2019

State system officials, along with Gov. Tom Wolf and the Legislature, should be working together to find some workable solutions which will lower tuition rates while providing quality college educations for our young people. However, they're all going their separate ways with their own agendas.

Pa. ranks 45th in the nation in per-capita public health spending, report | Wednesday Morning Coffee

BY: - July 24, 2019

Try as it might, Pennsylvania still can't seem to get out of its own way.

We can’t let Trump be America’s final chapter | Opinion

BY: - July 24, 2019

[*This piece has been updated] By William H. Schneider President Donald Trump’s ascendancy plus the Republican Party’s moral and intellectual bankruptcy has set the stage for America’s final plunge into chaos, violence, and utter devastation of our “Great American Experiment.” It’s a given (as it is with virtually all autocrats) that regardless of 2020 election […]

Lawmakers put schools and businesses in a bind with medical marijuana. They need to fix it | Opinion

BY: - July 24, 2019

The Legislature needs to put an end to this reefer madness by offering solutions to the unintended consequences they created.

Why does the U.S. sentence people to hundreds of years in prison? | Opinion

BY: - July 23, 2019

The US is unique in its criminal punishment policies – as the recent sentencing of neo-Nazi James Fields Jr. demonstrates.