Opinion category, Page 242
Gary Franks: First GOP debate goes to DeSantis and Haley — surprises for 3rd and 4th place
Republican candidates for president, tell us your plan for America’s future. How will you attack President Joe Biden or any other Democrat, and how will you win in 2024? Do this, and Republican primary voters will reciprocate by handing you the nomination. Former President Donald Trump is leading largely because...
Carl Kurlander: The WGA/SAG strike and 4 lessons from a steel town for the modern-day labor movement
With Labor Day approaching and the writers and actors strike continuing into the fall, I thought this might be a good time for a historical perspective on the modern-day labor movement. I write as someone whose oldest membership outside of the AAA is the Writers Guild of America (member of...
Letter to the editor: Why so much firepower in Garfield?
By the Tribune-Review’s account, thousands of rounds were expended to get Garfield resident William Hardison to surrender (“Garfield shooter’s instability, extreme ideology likely contributed to violent confrontation,” Aug. 25, TribLIVE). Luckily, no policemen or residents were killed/injured, but the damage to the residents’ peace of mind and their homes is...
Lori Falce: Hey, Big Pharma, negotiation isn’t tyranny
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America really doesn’t back away from its reputation. Do you want to call the coterie of companies it represents Big Pharma? Fine. The trade group that lobbies for those companies leans into the name using its cheeky initials — PhRMA. The organization is so forthright...
Laurels & lances: Burned out and deadlocked
Laurel: To a fresh start. Elizabeth Forward High School ended the 2022-23 school year on a sad note with the auditorium, band and chorus rooms out of commission following a February fire. Those spaces are always full of activity in the final months of a school year as students bustle...
Letter to the editor: America’s war on carbon
Americans are constantly harangued about carbon emissions. We’re strongly encouraged to convert to electric cars, and accept restrictions on home heating and cooking systems. Industry has spent enormous sums to reduce its carbon footprint. Electric utilities are rapidly adding wind and solar power systems, and are phasing out coal. Upon...
Paul Kengor: When Democrats challenge presidential elections
As Donald Trump strolled into Georgia for a mugshot for alleged misdeeds in challenging the 2020 election, I was walking through the nation’s capital, where I was struck by this Washington Times headline: “Democrats deny wrongdoing with stolen elections claims.” Those claims weren’t from Trump supporters, but from Democrats, and...
Colin McNickle: Pa. must start living within its means
The influx of pandemic-spawned federal stimulus money boosted Pennsylvania general fund revenues in fiscal 2021 and 2022. But it also led to even more government spending, reminds a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. And that’s likely not sustainable. “(T)he state will not be receiving any more pandemic...
Peter Morici: How a third-party candidate with a sound economic program could win
A third-party candidate could win the presidency if the major parties offer voters a Biden-Trump rematch. In the 1992 presidential election, Ross Perot managed only 19% of the vote. But the independent candidate was leading in a June Gallup poll shortly before he dropped out only to reenter the race...
Letter to the editor: Will it be ‘rinse and repeat’ for Steelers?
Yinzer nation is already booking Super Bowl tickets, but it’s time to take off the rose-colored glasses. Guts and team doctors will be the deciders. Elder statesman Cam Heyward, one-footed Ogunjobi, one-footed Holcomb at linebacker. Do we have a podiatrist? T.J. Watt, you say? I say broken glass. Conditioning matters,...
Letter to the editor: On books, whose beliefs matter more?
When I read the article “ ‘It’s a small number of people who are very loud’: Local libraries grapple with book challenges, bans” (Aug. 22, TribLIVE), I was somewhat taken back by the headline and further by the story. The story described how the number of people who had issues,...
Editorial: Reining in commissioner pay raises is worth discussing
How much of a raise did you get last year? According to international insurance and brokerage company WTW, the U.S. average was about 4.2%. That was higher than the 3.1% and 3% of the previous two years. All together, the three years come in at 10.3%. Unless you are an...
Letter to the editor: Corporate greed causes inflation
According to U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, fully 54% of our current inflation is actually the result of corporate price-gouging of the American consumer. This corporate greed started in 1982 when the Reagan administration made stock buybacks legal, then Republican administrations allowed an unprecedented number of corporate mergers resulting in virtual...
Jonah Goldberg: China’s faltering economy is a result of state-directed planning. Now comes the global fallout
“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man,” scoffed then-presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2019. Two years later, now-President Biden declared: “The Chinese are eating our lunch. They’re eating our lunch, economically. They’re investing hundreds of billions of dollars in research and development. … We got to compete.”...
John Tamny: Savers and financiers are economy’s lifeblood, so treat them well
In his memoirs about the remarkable rise of The Home Depot, the great Bernie Marcus oh-so-thankfully went against the grain of seemingly all modern thought in writing that “bankers put their careers on the line, and for that we protect them.” Amen. Bankers, investment bankers, VCs and other financial intermediaries...
Bruce Cooper and Mark Reynolds: Climate action has brought major investment, jobs to Pa. Lawmakers should strive for more
One year after a major climate bill was passed, Pennsylvania is flourishing thanks to an influx of clean energy investment and jobs. When the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law last August, it unleashed a stream of clean energy projects, with Gov. Josh Shapiro quickly taking the initiative...
Letter to the editor: Trump, Biden actions on deceased soldiers telling
A curled forefinger, doddery and speckled with beach sand, slyly hoists a Chinese-diamond-studded shirt cuff, languid eyes drooping wristward to gauge the precise Rolex tide — er, that is, “time,” the precise Rolex time — as American- flag-cloaked coffins are carried with white gloves from a military transport plane. On Aug....
Letter to the editor: Trump is no hero
The writer of the letter “Sticking with Trump” (Aug. 23, TribLIVE) has found a very odd way to try make Donald Trump look like some sort of hero. Unfortunately, he decides to choose a critique from a non-MAGA. His first attempt is to show Trump refusing to utilize his power...
Letter to the editor: Seeking financial answers in Norwin
In my letter “Fiscal responsibility in Norwin” (July 14, TribLIVE), I mentioned that the Norwin School District’s treasurer’s reports were not being reported monthly as required by law. It is especially important to note that this is paramount in June, when the district’s annual proposed budget is on the agenda....
Editorial: Is house arrest fair if the house was built with fraudulent funds?
A criminal court sentence should not be something you negotiate like buying a house. It should absolutely not be like buying a multimillion-dollar house that is squarely in the middle of the case in question. But the motion filed by the defense in a federal fraud case seems a little...
Letter to the editor: God is the answer
I believe the world is round. I cannot prove it, but I believe it. I believe that I need oxygen to sustain life. Not “air” but oxygen. Not that I can separate it. But my body does. I can’t prove that either, but I believe it. I believe that a...
Letter to the editor: Two sets of laws?
OK, America, it’s time to wake up and see what is taking place in this great country. Everyone talks about favoritism, discrimination and pride for certain people. The big thing now in the news is with former President Donald Trump. According to what we know, the classified documents that President...
Ron Klink: Congress cracks down on shady PBM middlemen — and not a moment too soon
Congress is considering more than half a dozen bills that’d curb the power of pharmacy benefit managers. The increased, bipartisan scrutiny of these rapacious drug supply chain middlemen is welcome. In fact, it’s overdue. For years, they’ve been inflating pharmaceutical prices and bilking patients while providing little value to the...
Nancy S. Jecker: There’s no age limit for politicians — as people live longer, should that change?
President Joe Biden was “fine,” according to White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt, after tripping over a sandbag at a U.S. Air Force graduation ceremony on June 1. But his fall was caught on live camera — and people on social media speculated about what was behind it. Biden, approaching...
Letter to the editor: Trump is not a leader
Enough already! Contrary to popular belief (MAGAs), Donald Trump is not the second coming. I think he is the biggest narcissist the world has ever seen. We were all thinking in 2016, “Maybe a businessman would be an ideal president.” But we chose the wrong one. This guy, known as...
