national-politics

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his first budget address to a joint session of the state House and Senate on March 7, 2023 (Photo by Amanda Mustard for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star).

Gov. Shapiro to deliver keynote at New Hampshire Democrats’ convention

BY: - August 22, 2023

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will be the keynote speaker at a Democratic Party Convention next month — in New Hampshire. “With a key race for governor and its position as a crucial swing state in the presidential race, New Hampshire is set to play a major role in the 2024 general election,” the New Hampshire […]

COMMENTARY
Aerial view of the train derailment wreckage in East Palestine. (Screenshot from NTSB B-roll recorded Feb. 5, 2023)

A bank crashes. A train derails. And you wonder why we need government regulation? | Ray Landis

BY: - April 9, 2023

Everyone says they don't need the government -- until they really need the government.

Black borrowers hold a disproportionate share of student loan debt, and many likely were recipients of Pell Grants.

As Supreme Court considers student loan forgiveness, states may expand their programs

BY: - March 14, 2023

At least two dozen bills are moving through state legislatures this spring.

COMMENTARY
The U.S. Capitol. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

How Republicans normalized George Santos | Dick Polman

BY: - January 9, 2023

It’s also a mystery how the guy managed to pump $700,000 into his own campaign.

How Pa. Rep. Scott Perry’s tweets explain the chaos in the U.S. House | Friday Morning Coffee

BY: - January 6, 2023

Still wondering what the anti-McCarthy hardliners want? There's a tweet for that.

Workers with SEIU Local 105 rally in support of a federal minimum wage hike outside Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper’s Denver office on March 2, 2021. (Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)

Child poverty rates highest in states that haven’t raised minimum wage

BY: - December 25, 2022

Of the 20 states that have failed to raise the minimum wage above the federal $7.25 an hour standard, 16 have more than 12% of their children living in poverty, according to a States Newsroom analysis of wage and poverty data. Anti-poverty advocates say that’s a sign that there’s an urgent need for lawmakers to […]

Biden administration plays long game for agriculture and trade

BY: - August 19, 2022

'Costs on my farm are up by about 325 percent,” Lance Lillibridge, of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, said. 'It’s getting to be unbearable.'

COMMENTARY

What’s behind McConnell’s support for coal miners’ pension bailout? Political self-preservation, most likely | Mark O’Keefe

BY: - November 27, 2019

The Senate's top Republican is up for re-election in 2020 and faces a stiff Democratic challenge.

When a state attorney general picks a national fight: What’s the end game? | Analysis

BY: - November 12, 2019

Attorneys general are stepping up, particularly on consumer issues where the federal government has largely stepped away.

COMMENTARY

Ag Secretary Perdue to small farmers: Stop whining, your demise is inevitable | Opinion

BY: - October 4, 2019

The Trump White House's contempt for rural Americans, who helped them win the White House in 2016, could not be more on display.

COMMENTARY

If Trump is so concerned about Baltimore, there’s much he can do to fix it himself | Opinion

BY: - August 27, 2019

Trump's Charm City critique missed some of Baltimore's most pressing problems. And the White House, not Congress, can fix them.

COMMENTARY

On impeachment: Will Democrats put country over party? | Dick Polman

BY: - April 29, 2019

It's pretty clear we can't count on Republicans to do the right thing. Democrats need to step up.