Editorials from around Pennsylvania

Editorials from around Pennsylvania

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RISING TOGETHER: PITTSBURGH CAN’T LEAVE ITS BLACK CITIZENS BEHIND, March 5

Pittsburghers have a friendly competition with Cleveland and jokingly call that city “the mistake on the lake.” However, it’s no joke that Cleveland wins the competition on one important measure - the vitality of its African-American community.

This was one of many troubling facts in an examination of the African-American experience in Pittsburgh which the Post-Gazette published last Sunday and Monday. Reporters Gary Rotstein and Tim Grant described several trends affecting the black community here.

One trend is that many African-American professionals do not feel comfortable here, and they lack a cohesive peer group. In some cases they choose to leave for cities that have a larger black middle class, such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. According to a USA Today analysis of census data, Pittsburgh is experiencing a net loss of 614 African-Americans each year.

A second trend is that blacks who live here often face barriers in joining the professional class; few have become business owners or leaders in their fields of work. Subtle types of discrimination seem to characterize African-American life in Pittsburgh.

One striking disparity is found in the data about household income. In 2015, in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, blacks had a median household income of $26,330. For whites, the figure was more than double that amount, $57,187. This difference has an impact on local businesses and the regional economy.

Data about home ownership also paint a story that reflects poorly on Pittsburgh. Fifty percent of African-Americans in Washington, D.C., own their homes, and 46 percent of black Atlantans are homeowners. By contrast, only 33 percent of blacks in the Pittsburgh metro area own their homes. The poverty rate for African-Americans here is higher than the rate for the other cities.

Sterling Stone, a 38-year-old Braddock native now living in the nation’s capital, described Pittsburgh as a city with too much “closed mindedness.” He enjoys the diversity of the population in Washington, where at any time he can meet someone from another part of the U.S. or from another country.

Blacks represent only 8 percent of our region’s population, compared to 20 percent in the Cleveland metro area. How can Pittsburgh get to a critical mass of African-American residents so that the minority community will grow stronger and wealthier? In a world where people move freely from city to city, there is no easy answer.

Local government has several initiatives in place to assist immigrants to our city from foreign countries. In 2015, Mayor Bill Peduto announced his Welcoming Pittsburgh program, which is primarily directed to immigrants. Allegheny County government has issued the Community Blueprint, a plan for helping newcomers from other countries thrive here.

We agree that immigrants are important in helping to stem the tide of population loss in the region. However, an equal effort is needed to support the African-American community and prevent outmigration. We urge local governments, universities, and nonprofits such as Vibrant Pittsburgh to focus resources and attention on this issue.

Everyone who cares about the future of Pittsburgh, regardless of race, can work to address the disparities that our report described.

- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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TRUMP’S CALLING OBAMA ’SICK’ ISN’T HOW YOU HEAL A NATION, March 6

Many Americans are getting nervous about what is happening in Washington. Never have they seen a sitting president refer to his predecessor as “a bad (or sick) guy.” If attacking former President Barack Obama is President Trump’s idea of how to unite the country after a divisive election, this nation can’t help but worry about its future.

Trump defamed Obama’s character Saturday in yet another one of his pre-dawn tweet explosions in which he accused the man he replaced of spying on him during the presidential campaign. “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ’wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory,” Trump tweeted at 6:35 a.m.

Less than two hours later, he was tweeting that Arnold Schwarzenegger was “fired” as host of The Apprentice, the TV show Trump created 13 years ago, because of “pathetic ratings.” Trump’s pivot from one of the most serious allegations made in the history of the republic to the fate of a rather trivial television program isn’t just confounding, it’s scary.

The president offered no evidence for his allegation that Obama bugged Trump Tower. The apparent source for the charge was a recent article on the Breitbart website that repeated an unsubstantiated claim by right-wing radio host Mark Levin that the Obama administration received authorization to spy on the Trump campaign. That assertion has been vehemently denied by both FBI Director James Comey and James Clapper, who was director of national intelligence under Obama.

It’s no simple feat to do what Trump has alleged. Two laws determine when the government may use wiretaps. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 applies to gathering information related to the conduct of foreign powers. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 applies to criminal investigations. In either case, a court order is required before surveillance is allowed.

Is Trump suggesting that Obama broke the law and didn’t get a court order to bug Trump Tower? Otherwise he, as president, could have obtained from the Justice Department all he needed to base his allegation on evidence. Comey and Clapper say no such evidence exists, which suggests Trump may be trying to distract from calls for an investigation into his election campaign’s contact with Russian officials.

Has America elected a president who would slime his predecessor to divert attention from allegations about his own conduct? The truth will come out. Trump will likely get his wish that Congress investigate his charges. Both the House and Senate intelligence panels may include his allegations in probes of his Russian ties. They may even ask for his tax returns.

- The Philadelphia Inquirer

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ONLINE GAMBLING WON’T CURE PENNSYLVANIA’S BUDGET HANGOVER, March 5

Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf have a $3 billion riddle to solve.

That’s the structural budget deficit that comes back to haunt the state when the previous year’s revenue projections fail to keep up with spending. It’s happening again.

Last year the GOP-controlled Legislature and the Democratic governor managed to pass an “on-time” budget that still required a post-deadline search for new revenue.

Remember?

The cigarette tax jumped by $1 a pack. Taxes on smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes went up, too. Digital downloads are now subject to the sales tax. Lottery players now have to pay state income tax on winnings. A plan was hatched to allow slot machines in airports and racetracks. Along the way, beer-selling laws were liberalized; supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants were allowed buy licenses to sell wine.

And yet, many valuable budget ideas were left on the table:

—Pension reform, the most worrisome future cost-driver.

—A tax on natural gas drilling.

—Selling off the state-controlled liquor system.

It’s unlikely any of those changes will find their way into the 2017-18 state budget, so legislators are warming up to the one big cash cow still out there — online gambling, which would be operated by the state’s casinos. Other ideas under consideration are interactive lottery games online, and bringing sports fantasy leagues under the aegis of the casinos.

Allowing people to play table games and slots on their cellphones and PCs may seem like a natural extension of legalized betting, but it’s no way to balance a budget. It’s likely to feed gambling addiction, force more people into financial straits and contribute to gambling-related crime, as Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli has argued.

Clearly, Pennsylvania is looking to follow New Jersey’s lead in legalizing online gambling. Many poker websites are hoping the two states would join together, possibly with Delaware, to create a regional “supermarket” for online betting.

A recent study commissioned by two gambling industry groups, Play Pennsylvania and Online Poker Report, predicts that legalized online gambling could bring Pennsylvania $126 million in licensing fees immediately, and then $426 million in revenue over five years, based on a 20 percent tax rate. While New Jersey’s experience with online gambling was paltry in the first year, revenues have grown from $122 million in 2014 to almost $200 million last year, according to the report.

Not all casino owners in Pennsylvania are on board. Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, is leading the opposition.

Before Pennsylvania legislators opt for another gambling expansion — many see it as a “risk-free” political move compared to raising taxes, privatizing liquor or tackling pensions — they should take a closer look at whom they’re putting at risk. It’s not just problem gamblers, it’s all taxpayers. Their government is being increasingly funded by “sin taxes” that promise a quick payday — sure to be followed by the flattening of the gambling market as other states join in, and the social costs of encouraging people to make bad choices.

- The (Easton) Express-Times

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CONGRESS NEEDS TO FOLLOW TRUMP’S LEAD ON REPLACING OBAMACARE, March 4

Implacable critics of President Donald Trump dismissed his Tuesday speech to Congress as full of platitudes and short on substance. One can only wonder whether they dozed off during much of the address.

Trump offered a variety of policy prescriptions during the presentation. One of them involves the critical issue of what to do about Obamacare.

Conservatives in Congress reportedly had been divided over the crucial question of what to do about massive subsidies necessary to ensure millions of Americans have health insurance acceptable to the government.

In two ways, that affects as many as 28 million people. More than 16 million are those who were added to the Medicaid rolls by Obamacare. Another 12 million or so receive subsidies for private insurance coverage.

On Tuesday, Trump made his position clear:?”We should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded health savings accounts, but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the government.”

With the devil always in the details, lawmakers still have to work out a plan that really helps Americans with health insurance, but at the least possible cost to taxpayers and those who can afford coverage on their own or through their employers.

But Trump has offered a design, if not a blueprint, for repealing the wreck that is Obamacare and replacing it with something better. Political realities dictate that Congress go along with the president’s outline for reform.

- The (Lewiston) Sentinel

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CLEAN WATER WORTH COST, March 4

All state spending justly is under heavy scrutiny due to the government’s $3 billion accumulated deficit and the Legislature’s reluctance to increase revenue through anything other than gambling.

But legislators must be aware, as budget negotiations begin, that spending is not the only issue. The already has fallen behind in some of its responsibilities to the public due to budget reductions. One of the most important areas is high-quality water, which is guaranteed to Pennsylvanians by the state constitution.

Despite the constitutional requirement to protect water quality, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that Pennsylvania has not adequately enforced the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agency blamed inadequate staffing at the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Gov. Tom Wolf wants to borrow $15 million in each of the next three fiscal years to help fund local water quality projects, including erosion control and buffers between streams and farms to diminish fertilizer runoff.

The governor also would bolster the successful Growing Greener program by borrowing $52 million in each of the next three years for projects including stream clean-ups, mine land reclamation and local water treatment.

Improving water quality might seem expensive, but it’s a bargain compared with major pollution problems, as demonstrated by the multi-billion-dollar lead contamination case in Flint, Michigan. Lawmakers should agree to the funding needed to protect drinking water, which also would put them in compliance with their obligations under the state constitution.

- The (Hazleton) Standard-Speaker

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