No American should assume ‘it can’t happen here’
For decades, Americans watched authoritarian governments abroad crack down on peaceful protests, and we told ourselves that it could not happen here. We saw our country as a beacon of democracy, protected by our rights to free speech and assembly. But we now see such crackdowns on American soil – backed by a presidential directive. […]
Time for course correction
The belief that Republicans are better stewards of the economy is a persistent fallacy. Beyond available historical data, which is compelling, the economic realities under the current administration and the Republican-controlled Congress prove otherwise. Recent economic policies, and most specifically protectionist tariffs that function as a regressive consumption tax, have combined with rising geopolitical instability […]
Support for Bilger
I was happy to see The Daily Item’s coverage of U.S. House candidate Ray Bilger’s talk at the Union County Public Library last Thursday. Bilger grew up in central Pennsylvania and is moderate, straight-talking and down-to-earth. He also has an impressive background in the military and national security and speaks seven languages. He is traveling […]
How we vote matters
At our founding, we were not a perfect country. Our constitution was not a perfect document, but it and its writers were profoundly ahead of their time and set the foundation of the country we have become. We have made progress toward becoming a more perfect union, but we still have some distance to go […]
Candidate interested in us
Interacting with candidates for elected positions can be seen as daunting and uncomfortable. These are individuals with staff who might hover over the candidate and manage their time and comments. Candidates might have numerous talking points, prepared responses, and lack genuine interpersonal skills. Not so for Ray Bilger, candidate for U.S. Congress for Pennsylvania’s 15th […]
Permanent standard time should be the standard
If you are like me, you dread having to change your clocks twice each year (especially the VCR). In fact, fewer than one in five Americans favor our current system of switching to daylight savings time (DST). Last week the US House of Representatives passed HR 139, the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025. This legislation […]
Guns by mail
GrabAGun is an online firearms retailer that bills itself as “the Amazon of Guns,” and seeks to dominate the firearms retail space. Donald Trump Jr. owns 311,433 shares in the company. GrabAGun and Trump Jr. are uniquely positioned to profit massively from a federal rule change proposed by the Trump administration to allow firearms sales […]
Steadfast allies
The world feels entirely upside down, as if we’ve slipped through Alice’s looking glass. We are entangled in a de facto war, yet a do-nothing Congress refuses to act. While the vice president claims nuclear negotiations with Iran are “going well,” the president contradicts this the very next day, calling Iran’s leadership “scum” and declaring […]
Smoke gets in your eyes
Smoke gets in your eyes. And your hair. And your clothes. And your lungs. Last week, Pennsylvania was placed under statewide Code Red and then Code Purple (“very unhealthy”) air-quality alerts as smoke from enormous wildfires in Canada and Minnesota drifted south and settled over a wide swath of the eastern United States. It is […]
Authentic checks and balances
If someone had told me that the federal official now overseeing special education believed students with disabilities “will never hold a job or pay taxes,” I would have assumed they were mistaken. Sadly, this is a reality. Secretary Kennedy’s appointment by the current president is more than just an error in judgment; it is a […]