Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Danielle Henry
“Last weekend, Pittsburghers pillaged their nearest Giant Eagle, stashing bread and toilet paper to prepare for Winter Storm Fern. Unsurprisingly, the City of Pittsburgh was not as diligently fortified as its private residents. After Fern deposited just shy of a foot of snow over the city, nearly 40 percent of the city plows broke down. … Surely, after Allegheny County’s 36 percent increase in property taxes in 2025, residents could expect safe commutes into town days after a snow storm. … What did the city resort to in order to resolve its gross incompetence? On Tuesday, January 26, Mayor Corey O’Connor declared a state of emergency. This state of emergency was required to emancipate the government from the shackles of its own bureaucracy to permit itself to hire ‘contractors.’ ‘Contractors’ are what the government calls private citizens who can do their job better than it can.” (02/24/26)