Opinion category, Page 139
Letter to the editor: Project 2025 and Agenda 2030
There has been recent talk of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as a means to slander President Trump. But I haven’t seen any talk of the United Nations’ far-left Agenda 2030 and implementation by President Biden and his “squad.” Agenda 2030 was created in 2015 by the UN and...
Letter to the editor: Vote to continue American progress
Since the time of our country’s founding we have been a progressive people. We threw off the yoke of British colonialism and established a nation “of and by the people.” This was radical thought in the 18th century. This November I believe we will be challenged to continue America’s progress...
Letter to the editor: Support Biden’s plan to correct Supreme Court
The majority of Americans do not approve of the actions of this Supreme Court, which has been bought and paid for by the Federalist Society. For decades the Federalist Society has groomed, indoctrinated and bribed lawyers and law schools with their millionaires’ and billionaires’ money. They see our government working...
Laurels & lances: Summer celebrations
Laurel: To the celebration of the summer. The event of the season is upon us — the opening of the 70th Westmoreland Fair. Maybe you come to the fair to show off the produce from your garden. Maybe you have a child entering livestock in the 4-H and FFA events....
Letter to the editor: Harris is no moderate
We now know the Democrats’ presidential candidate, after they pushed the sitting president, and the only candidate to receive any primary votes, out of the race. Do we really know her? The Kamala Harris campaign, with the help of the mainstream media, is trying to rewrite history and rebrand her...
Paul Kengor: Picking Shapiro could have been key for Harris
Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was a shock. The wide consensus was that she would pick Shapiro, especially with her announcement coming in Philadelphia. Everyone was stunned by the unknown Walz, including Donald Trump, who said he was “thrilled,” and rightly so....
Lori Falce: The American prisoner in Russia who desperately wants to be freed
On Wednesday, The New Yorker published a story about Ilya Yashin. “The Russian Prisoner Who Didn’t Want to be Freed,” it was titled. Yashin was part of the complex, multinational prisoner exchange that moved 26 people on Aug. 1, including Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva. He is...
Alyssa Cholodofsky: Reducing food waste key to reversing climate change. Can our outdated food systems catch up?
It’s a cruel summer: Surging temperatures are spiking climate anxieties, and food insecurity concerns remain urgent. In Pennsylvania, nearly 1.7 million people are food-insecure, and 2024 has seen the state’s highest SNAP enrollment ever. At the intersection of these crises is the daunting challenge of food waste: In the U.S.,...
Letter to the editor: Trump in a league of his own
Policywise, Donald Trump follows the standard Republican line: take away environmental protections and lower taxes for the rich (trickle down economics theory). In his rude and crude manners, puerile name calling and in playing to the worst prejudices of a frighteningly large cohort of middle Americans, he is in a...
Letter to the editor: Different coverage for Trump
Wow, a multipage article on using Sen. John Fetterman’s comment out of context (“’Cheap fake’ video clip posted online misstates Fetterman’s pick to win Pennsylvania,” Aug. 8, TribLive)! President Biden, Vice President Harris and many Democrats continually take President Trump’s comments out of context. I don’t remember seeing anything in...
Editorial: Should Pittsburgh voters decide to cut business ties with Israel?
The United States is a representative government rather than a direct democracy. Usually. There are times when we take the issues directly to the people rather than placing them in front of elected officials. It is called a referendum. Instead of picking the people who will make the decisions, we...
Letter to the editor: Tone-deaf plan for Downtown Pittsburgh
News that the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is seeking $5 million in Allegheny Regional Asset District funding to redevelop Pittsburgh’s Eighth Street block into a large lawn for festivals, performances and water play highlights a dismal understanding of Downtown’s security and economic positions. When unveiled as part of a larger Allegheny...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump turned politics into reality TV. Now Harris is the show to watch
Never has the GOP been more unified, and Donald Trump deserves all the credit. The issue uniting pundits, editorial boards, virtually all Republican politicians, GOP consultants, MAGA warriors and rallygoers: the need for Trump to lay aside personal gripes and grievances and to stick to the issues and attack Vice...
Rep. Dan Frankel: Pittsburgh BDS efforts won’t bring peace
Local activists made a mad dash effort this month to get enough support for a Pittsburgh ballot referendum that would punish local entities for any ties with Israel. Volunteers with clipboards could be found at dance parties and outside of local bars, seeking signatures from a population young enough that...
Justin Fox: Harris didn’t fail her border task. But did she succeed?
In March 2021, two months after she and President Joe Biden took office, Vice President Kamala Harris was assigned the task of addressing the “root causes” of illegal immigration from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, aka the Northern Triangle. This is the job that some...
Letter to the editor: Send Jeannette’s K9 officer to Tarentum
Tarentum needs a police dog for their K9 unit. Jeannette has one that they no longer use or want. What’s the dilemma? Francine Romeo New Kensington...
Letter to the editor: Don’t hide scrutiny of Walz’s military career
Regarding the article “With national spotlight comes intense scrutiny of Walz’s military career” (Aug. 9): Really. You put it in the Sports/Business Section B, Page 5? Why not “hide” it at the end on B8? With major questions about the Democratic Party’s vice presidential candidate and his previous assertions of...
Letter to the editor: Hate-filled letters by law enforcement alarming
Protect and serve? Editor, editor, editor … it’s terrifying to read letters that you publish, but it’s surprising to see how much racism and bigotry pervade this little area. More surprising is what happens when I look up the authors of these letters, particularly “Not going to take it anymore”...
Editorial: Education is a responsibility, not a political game
The Department of Education accounts for 4% of federal spending. That’s less than Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, the Treasury, Defense and Veterans Affairs. The 2024 federal education budget is about $79 billion. There are more than 54 million school-age children in the United States, according to the...
Letter to the editor: We don’t need perfection in a leader
The letter “Why do evangelicals support un-Christian Trump?” (Aug. 6, TribLive) really got me thinking: Am I voting for a person who I want to run the country, to keep me and my family safe, to keep the economy running such that I can afford to feed my family without...
Will Freeman: Maduro’s landslide defeat hasn’t dislodged him. Is there still hope for Venezuela?
The Latin American left has a decision to make about Venezuela: Oppose Nicolás Maduro’s totalitarian bid to remain in power indefinitely or enable it. Efforts to constrain Maduro may not succeed. But giving in to him will destabilize neighboring countries — with consequences for the United States — undermine the...
Kathryn Anne Edwards: America’s fertility policy gap is bad economics
Even if you didn’t care about or respect women’s choices when it comes to having children, the “childless cat ladies” comments from Donald Trump running mate J.D. Vance still are deeply problematic because they suggest a misunderstanding of a vital policy issue: fertility. In its most basic form, economists care...
Letter to the editor: Harris should work on inflation now
I just saw that Vice President Kamala Harris intends to work on reducing inflation as soon as she takes office as president. Just a thought — why don’t she and President Biden work on it now? In my opinion, they are the ones who caused the rise in inflation. Lou...
Letter to the editor: Doesn’t Trump care, or does he think we’re stupid?
Why does Donald Trump respond to issues the way he does … seemingly without thinking about the facts or those who might be affected? Or does he just not care? Is he continuing with the guidance his dad provided on how to “attack”? Does he lack compassion or understanding or...
Letter to the editor: Pa. must make a plan for methane
One important but overlooked cause of climate change is methane emissions. In Pennsylvania, oil and gas companies release over 1.1 million tons of methane every year. This contributes significantly to the state’s global warming pollution, as methane has 86 times the heating potential as carbon dioxide does within 20 years....
