Opinion category, Page 171
Letter to the editor: We must pay down our debt
Save America and make it great again? Most people don’t have a clue. Nobody, no politician, is willing to do it. To save America, we need a 25% flat tax to pay down our national debt. Does anyone believe Donald Trump would raise taxes on himself? For the good of...
Letter to the editor: Our hero veterans deserve real buglers
Given the recent articles about honoring our heroes by playing Taps, I feel compelled to set the record straight. The photos accompanying these articles depict “buglers” holding instruments, suggesting they are playing Taps. However, these individuals are holding bugles with visible digital playback devices in the bell, and they are...
Letter to the editor: How much is enough for Allegheny Valley?
In a time of great economic hardship, the Allegheny Valley School Board intends to pass a budget with an unnecessary tax increase (“Proposed budget would raise taxes 2.65% in Allegheny Valley School District,” May 24, TribLive). The board seems to be blind to realities facing taxpayers today. The district has...
Editorial: Pride is a colorful celebration of acceptance
A rainbow is just a trick of the light. There isn’t really a ribbon of color stretched across the sky. It’s just the way the sun falls through a mist of water suspended in the air after precipitation. The water acts like a cut-glass crystal, slicing through the light to...
Lorraine Ali: The jury has spoken. What happens next will be a great test of American democracy
The verdict is in. Former President Donald Trump was found guilty Thursday of all 34 felony counts against him in the New York hush money case in connection with falsifying records around a payment made to silence porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Now the real test...
Dan DeBone: Reforming NOL provisions crucial for Pa.’s economic future
As Pennsylvania’s budget discussions and negotiations continue, there is an urgent issue that needs immediate attention: the state’s outdated and restrictive net operating loss (NOL) carryforward provisions. For too long, Pennsylvania has lagged behind the rest of the country in providing a fair and supportive tax environment for businesses, particularly...
Letter to the editor: Worrisome things about dictators
To me, the worrisome thing isn’t that one man is planning to trash our laws and become a dictator. The worrisome thing is how many people are on board with this. I guess they think those laws would just get in the way, and the dictator will do what they...
Letter to the editor: Curbing methane will help clean our air
The end of the school year means students will be getting their report cards. Unfortunately, Allegheny County already received a failing grade in the 2024 American Lung Association State of the Air report. Despite decades of progress, one in three Pennsylvanians live in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or...
Editorial: MLB finally embraces all of the major leagues, including the Black ones
Who holds Major League Baseball’s record for the highest batting average in a single season? It’s not Ted Williams, with his .406 average in 1941, the last time anyone topped .400. It’s not Ty Cobb, with his stunning .420 average in 1911, or even Nap Lajoie, whose .426 average in...
Letter to the editor: McCormick not fit to be our senator
Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate David McCormick is failing spectacularly at trying to connect with Pennsylvanians, and now he’s taken a step too far by pretending he grew up on a family farm. Not only does he live in a rented home in Connecticut, but now it has come out that...
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 3
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 3....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 3
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 3....
Dennis Kelleher and Lisa Gilbert: Push to legalize gambling on US elections is dangerous
Free and fair elections, the foundation of our democracy, face an unprecedented array of threats as the next one approaches. While some of these threats are well-known, others go largely unnoticed, with potentially serious consequences. Among the latter is a dangerous attempt to persuade one of our financial regulators to...
Letter to the editor: Diocese makes bad decision on pastor’s resignation
I don’t believe the decision made by the Diocese of Greensburg concerning requesting the immediate resignation of Father John Moineau was a very well thought out plan (“Greensburg Diocese asks county detectives to probe failure of worker background checks,” May 28, TribLive). It has not only hurt our beloved shepherd...
Letter to the editor: Stop blaming acts of God
Don’t we think it’s about time we stop blaming things on acts of God? Especially when science and nature are involved. After all, our Lord gave us all the right, just, fair and wonderful things that come with science and nature. Please, stop blaming our Lord for things that thoughtless...
Editorial: Does Penn State worship too much at its football altar?
Penn State is a football school. There’s no denying that. The university may excel in other sports and other areas, but football is the foundation upon which its national brand is built. That can be a good thing. Plenty of schools have leaned into it. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio...
Letter to the editor: Law should be in Pirates Hall of Fame
How can the Pittsburgh Pirates screw up their team’s Hall of Fame selections three years in a row? In 2022, they named 19 players and omitted three important living members of the 1960 World Champion team. I’m talking about Elroy Face, Dick Groat and Vernon Law. They even included players...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Faith in our justice system after Trump verdict
The trial of Donald Trump was both extraordinary and ordinary at the same time. Never before has a former president of the United States been charged, tried and convicted of crimes. But, once charged, Trump was treated like everybody else. With apologies for this lawyer’s view — without the passion...
Steven Hill: Do high housing costs threaten the American dream?
Homeownership has long been a cornerstone of the American dream. I have 12 nieces and nephews, and as they reach young adulthood and try to establish their careers, they are daunted by the soaring cost of homeownership in a way their parents and grandparents never were. In 1960, about 68...
Max Hastings: Why we commemorate D-Day, 80 years later
The former Western allies will shortly begin commemorating the 80th anniversary of their greatest World War II achievement, the June 6 landings in Normandy, forever famed as D-Day. The pomp and circumstance of the grand events to be attended by President Joe Biden and other national leaders are entirely justified...
Commentary: Does it matter that Donald Trump just became a convicted criminal? Of course it does
It’s of course true that come Nov. 5, the nation’s voters could well decide to shrug off the historic guilty verdict that a Manhattan jury rendered against Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon. And that is the conclusion many have already reached about the seismic event that just took place in...
Letter to the editor: Kudos to Pine-Richland orchestra, director
Laurels to the Pine-Richland theatrical orchestra on being awarded the 2024 Gene Kelly Award for best student orchestra. On such a joyous occasion, it’s with a heavy heart we say goodbye to Brian Scott, who is retiring this year. The music department is a better place due to his guidance...
Letter to the editor: Judge Trump by the company he keeps
In 1986, while working in Munich, I visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, where 200,000 Jews, political prisoners, the mentally and physically disabled, and homosexuals were murdered by Nazis. In 1992, while working in Prague, I was taken by Czech colleagues to another manifestation of Make Das Vaterland Great Again...
Editorial: When will U.S. say yes or no to U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel merger?
The world seems fine with Japan’s largest steel company acquiring the grandfather of steel production in America. In December, Tokyo-based Nippon Steel made a $14.9 billion offer to merge with U.S. Steel. In April, U.S. Steel stockholders approved the proposal by an overwhelming 99% of shares represented. And yet a...
Letter to the editor: Don’t vote for tax increases
Much local outrage resulted as raging inflation and depleting reserves triggered the Westmoreland County tax increase that averaged $120 annually per household. In November, we can vote for or against significantly larger tax increases. President Biden has promised to allow the Trump tax cuts to expire while also increasing other...
