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Opinion

Your whereabouts are known, always

Opinion

“Big Brother is watching you” is no longer a fictional admonition. Everywhere you go, your location is recorded by phone technology, license plate readers, Uber and Lyft transactions, and cameras. Privacy? Forget about it. Your location history is in the hands of many tech companies. Can the police and other government agencies force tech companies to share that information about you? The U.S. Supreme Court took up that question. The decision could have widespread impact on your privacy. If your location history puts you within a 1-mile radius of a bank robbery with hundreds of ...

Fraud drives health care costs, profits

Opinion

Polls show Americans are angry — and rightly so — at accelerating medical bills. Meanwhile, the insurers and hospitals keep raking in record profits. UnitedHealthcare just reported jumbo profits so far in 2026, and in 2025 they recorded revenues of more than $400 billion. They are raking in profits from the $1.9 trillion in federal health care programs. Two of the largest “nonprofit” hospital chains, Kaiser Permanente and HCA Healthcare, recorded nearly $200 billion in assets at the end 2024. As Rep. Jason Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, put it: ...

Rigid public comment rules do more harm

Editorials

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Public comment periods are meant to let people talk to the government. Sometimes it’s about actions that are happening or decisions that are pending. Sometimes it’s about bringing problems to the government’s attention. A comment period is one mechanism municipalities, school boards and other agencies can use to make that process tick by with clockwork efficiency. It prescribes when a speaker can speak. It sets up the format. It establishes the time frame. It also moves the blame. It isn’t council’s fault you only get a few minutes to speak. It’s ...

Wildlife crossings save money, lives

Letters to the Editor

Every April, we celebrate Earth Month by reflecting on our stewardship of the natural world. Yet, for many Pennsylvanians, one of our most frequent interactions with nature is a terrifying one: the “deer in the headlights” moment. We all know that split-second panic when glowing eyes reflect from a darkened road, forcing a choice between a life-altering swerve or a collision costing thousands in repairs and medical bills. Beyond the $8 billion annual drain on our economy, these collisions highlight a deeper environmental issue. Our highways have unintentionally obstructed the ...

Congress fails at doing its job

Letters to the Editor

Dear members of Congress: I write today with heartfelt admiration for our esteemed members of Congress. It takes courage to hand over your constitutional powers to the Executive Branch with such enthusiasm. Why bother with Article 1 when you can simply outsource your job and still collect a paycheck? Inspirational. One must applaud Congress for recognizing that checks and balances are so ... old fashioned in a world filled with streaming services and self-driving cars, who has time for something as outdated as Legislative responsibility? The founders clearly did not anticipate how ...

Government program dependence wrong

Letters to the Editor

I am writing this in response to many of the articles generated regarding government program cutbacks and their disdain with that. I want to start by using the words: “work” and “balance.” I am a retired social worker and worked for 35 plus years at a local hospital and the community. I visited people in their homes and saw their children in schools and in the community as well. During that time frame, I worked with several populations of people. I do feel we have a responsibility to help vulnerable populations like veterans, the elderly, children, etc., with government ...