Opinion category, Page 211
Philippe Lazzarini: We must prevent humanitarian aid from being used as an instrument of war
AMMAN, Jordan Every hour of every day of the last two months, aid agencies have pleaded for deliveries of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip. We have been placed in the intolerable position of requesting permission to do lifesaving work. Last week, I wrote to the president of the United...
Counterpoint: Balanced economic growth provides the best route for ‘fixing’ Social Security
The Social Security program is projected to face a funding shortfall in just over a decade. To be clear, this is not as big a nightmare as is often described. Even if we hit this date and Congress did nothing, the program would still be paying more than 80% of...
Point: Social Security can’t grow its way out of trouble
In just 10 years, Social Security will be insolvent. Some politicians think we can ignore the problem or grow our way out of it — but that’s a recipe for disaster. Without action, the law calls for an immediate 23% across-the-board benefit cut upon insolvency. That’s a $17,400 cut for...
Letter to the editor: Fighting the ideological book banning battle
The writer of the letter “Protect children from adult material” (Dec. 11, TribLive) makes vague claims that “adult material” is somehow being made available in public school. Yet he conveniently fails to list even a single title of the supposedly offending material. Instead, he chooses to hide his ineptly constructed...
Sounding off: Gun safety, book bans, Israel, university ‘leftists’ among week’s topics
What is Lisa Baker doing about gun safety? An open letter to Sen. Lisa Baker, chair of the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee: Regarding gun safety legislation now pending before your committee, you are quoted in the Tribune-Review saying, “I said we would invite proposals from anyone that represented something of...
Letter to the editor: We must continue aid to Ukraine, Israel
I can’t believe it’s happening! Aid to Ukraine and Israel is being held up by Republicans in the House of Representatives who object to aiding our allies fighting Russian aggression and Hamas terrorism. I did not think I would see the day when so many Americans, especially Republicans, would side...
Editorial: Commissioners should take action to protect holiday displays
The tree outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse is 23 feet tall. It is covered with bright lights and red bows. Nearby stands a blue and white menorah in a silvery frame. These aren’t unusual for the season. Symbols of Christmas and Hanukkah are everywhere. But these types of holiday displays...
Letter to the editor: We must continue to support Israel
On Oct. 7, Israel was brutally attacked by the terrorist organization Hamas, which is the governing body in Gaza, elected and supported by the Palestinian residents of Gaza. Hamas massacred over 1,200 innocent civilians, including over 30 American citizens, women, children and infants. They committed mass rape and torture, burned...
Gary Franks: Attention Iowa and New Hampshire voters — polls say Haley beats Biden by 17 points!
Former President Donald Trump has a big lead over other Republicans fighting for the nomination, but he finishes a distant second to former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley in a theoretical head-to-head matchup against President Joe Biden. The liberal media is quick to cherry-pick what they want...
Renee Y. Hsia: Same hospital, same injury, same child, same day — why did one ER visit cost thousands more?
The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that the annual cost of family health insurance jumped to nearly $24,000 this year, the greatest increase in a decade. While insurance executives and employers may cite a plethora of reasons, one of the chief culprits is lack of oversight over the Wild West...
Letter to the editor: Will Pittsburgh’s food ban go further?
Regarding the article “Pittsburgh considers banning fur sales, horse-drawn carriage rides, foie gras” (Dec. 6, TribLIVE): Restaurateurs better hope Pittsburgh City Council member Bruce Kraus does not look a chicken or cow in the eye. Gerald Schiller Penn Hills...
Letter to the editor: University double standards
Last week’s congressional hearing into the evil antisemitism that exists in our country’s elite universities has shown the blatant double standard there. Pro-Hamas demonstrations and anti-Israel protests are permitted at these schools, allowing Jewish students to be threatened and harassed, and nothing is done by the so-called leaders to protect...
Lori Falce: The cost of Christmas presents and respect
I am thinking a lot about my holiday budget right now. My son’s gift pile will look smaller than it has in Christmases past. That’s not necessarily because the amount I have set aside for presents has gotten smaller but because the individual cost of his gifts has gone up...
Laurels & lances: Tips, trips and last-minute gifts
Laurel: To a show of gratitude. Some people leave the bare minimum for a tip. Some people will do 20%, maybe 25%. Some don’t give a dime. But, on Saturday, Kayla Webster got a whole lot more while serving a party of eight a lineup of gingerbread pancakes and eggs...
Letter to the editor: What is Lisa Baker doing about gun safety?
An open letter to Sen. Lisa Baker, chair of the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee: Regarding gun safety legislation now pending before your committee, you are quoted in the Tribune-Review saying, “I said we would invite proposals from anyone that represented something of a consensus on approaches deemed constitutional, enforceable and...
Harry Litman: Hunter Biden isn’t being accused of any new wrongdoing. So why was he just indicted again?
It’s not necessarily sinister for a prosecutor to go from offering an attractive plea deal to a defendant to throwing the book at him. Plenty of defendants have seen that happen after they turn down a plea bargain or authorities turn up new evidence. But the reasons for the dramatic...
Mike Dunleavy and Jackson Morris: Legislators should come to table for Pa.’s energy future
Pennsylvania has long been an energy leader and is poised to lead in the transition to a booming clean energy economy. Our natural resources, strong economic base and skilled workforce have powered our growth and supported generations of Pennsylvanians. We now find ourselves at a critical moment where forward thinking...
Fighting fentanyl trafficking in Pa.
The statistics are alarming, and each and every case is extremely tragic. There are many ripple effects of the country’s ongoing opioid epidemic and the availability of fentanyl and other substances, such as Xylazine and Nitazene, which are extremely dangerous and potentially fatal. Because substances like Xylazine do not respond...
Letter to the editor: Inflation and Social Security COLA
Regarding the letter “The Obama-Trump-Biden numbers” (Dec. 2, TribLive): I want to address inflation. It is a fact that the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients is tied to cost of living (inflation). The COLA happens in January of each year, which is based upon the previous...
Letter to the editor: Free enterprise is history
Miffed. Vexed. How come no one talks about the economist Milton Friedman? The short, balding, portly Nobel Prize winner is a seriously unpopular subject these days. Milton was a proponent of unregulated free market economics. It’s nutty by today’s need for safety and accountability and all that adult-level stuff. But...
Editorial: Addressing discrimination in Pennsylvania scholarship program is necessary
Does Pennsylvania’s Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit give parents and students more freedom to access the kind of high-quality education available from the state’s private schools? Or does it discriminate against kids from different religions, kids with disabilities or those who may be LGBTQ+? Education Voters of Pennsylvania is a nonprofit...
Letter to the editor: University leftists
The insanity of the far left was on display for all to see as the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified in Congress regarding whether it was against their schools’ codes of conduct to call for the genocide of Jews. None of the three could bring themselves to state...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s ‘Day One’ dictator comment is a sad symptom of populist politics
Everyone knows that politics involves more truth-stretching than most professions. As the line (often misattributed to Mark Twain) goes, “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.” It’s also a well-established truism that populist politicians lie even more than conventional politicians. This is in part because...
Rob Perkins: Our indigent defense system is (still) broken. Here’s why that matters.
Our criminal justice system is adversarial by design. Prosecuting attorneys work on one side of the aisle, and defense attorneys on the other. Defense lawyers play a critical role, as they serve as a check and balance on the near-limitless power of the prosecutor. About a year ago, I wrote...
Letter to the editor: Biden is out of control
President Biden has proven to me that he wants to make our choices for us and that he will punish anyone with other ideas. Don’t want an electric vehicle? He is trying to stop fossil fuels, stop production of non-electric cars and parts, give tax breaks to buy electric cars...
