Opinion category, Page 303
Letter to the editor: $3.6 million too much for homeless shelter
An open letter to Westmoreland County Commissioners Doug Chew, Sean Kertes and Gina Cerilli Thrasher: Last week you approved a $3.6 million plan for construction of a new homeless shelter with 12 beds. Is this right? $300,000 a bed? Even a third of that cost is outrageous. Then it needs...
Editorial: Pittsburgh’s bridge report needs to create urgent timeline
When Pittsburgh makes a bridge a priority, exactly what does that mean? In December, Mayor Ed Gainey released a comprehensive bridge report that assessed the spans that cross the city’s rivers, roads and valleys. The $1.5 million report was commissioned after the collapse of the poorly rated Fern Hollow Bridge...
Letter to the editor: Trump, Biden make for poor presidential choices
Both the Democratic and Republican parties are presently in a quandary regarding the 2024 president election. The Democrats are saddled with an 80-year-old President Biden, who I believe is mentally and physically feeble. In addition, Kamala Harris has bombed as vice president. No would-be challenger could defeat Biden in the...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Biden steps forward into the fight
I don’t have the wildest idea what the ultimate impact of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech will be. I don’t know if the public will be more persuaded that things are going OK or if they will think that we are on the wrong path. I can’t...
Chris Talgo: This Valentine’s Day, show some love for America
Although the last few years have been difficult for most Americans, there still is much to love about the country President Abraham Lincoln called “the last best hope of Earth” and President Ronald Reagan labeled “the shining city on a hill.” So, with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, here...
Patrice Onwuka: ‘Only in America,’ not ‘Once Upon a Time’
I love America because only in America can a poor “guy off the boat” speaking with a thick Croatian accent rise to become one of the most successful businessmen and recognizable TV personalities today, “Shark Tank’s” Robert Herjavec. Only in America can an aspiring female screenwriter from communist Russia (Ayn...
Letter to the editor: Take care of us first
How many borders of other countries does the United States defend? I’m sure none of us really know. We have defended the border of South Korea from North Korea forever, and at what cost? We have already spent $113 billion defending Ukraine’s border with Russia. What about our borders? Don’t...
Sounding off: On gun violence, Bushy Run, Ukraine, pope’s call on homosexuality, Trump
We must address our gun violence problem Our region has a gun violence problem that threatens to undo all progress we’ve made on equity and economic development. Public safety is a just expectation from every person. Our day-to-day existence is shaken to its core without the feeling of safety. Tragically,...
Letter to the editor: We need someone like Trump to speak the truth
A recent letter-writer described an independent as “a liberal embarrassed by his or her party’s policies” (“Trump, like Reagan, was a great president,” Jan. 23, TribLIVE). I have been an independent for years, but I am not a liberal! I changed because, to my shock, there are a few good...
Editorial: Government and media need to serve the people
The relationship between government and journalism frequently focuses on the adversarial. This is because there is a three-legged stool of public information. The government has the information, the people need the information, and journalists are the conduit for the exchange of that information. The adversarial nature comes about because, sometimes,...
Letter to the editor: ‘Free markets’ must have rules
It is noticeable that many of the Trib’s opinion pieces are written by the Commonwealth Foundation and Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. I consider these two organizations to have extreme right-wing conservative and libertarian beliefs. To me their objectives are no taxes, no regulations and privatize everything, and they worship...
Gary Franks: Black History Month surprise — are Reps. White and Franks cousins?
I did not realize that Rep. George White, R-N.C., the last Black member of Congress in the 19th century, was very likely my cousin. It is my Black History Month surprise. White and I have had a common mission. In his last speech on the House floor which was titled...
Hank Kalet: Adjuncts are the gig workers of higher education
Today’s word is “adjunctification.” Adjunctification is the process by which the gig economy is imposed on America’s colleges and universities and turns formerly tenured professors and instructors into contingent workers. Adjuncts are the part-time component of this, earning a fraction of what full-time faculty earn and having few of the...
S.E. Cupp: Biden plays the nice guy with rowdy, rude House
If you tuned in to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, Joe Biden’s third as president, it felt at times like we were watching the shouting matches typical of the United Kingdom’s Parliament more than it did a speech to the United States Congress. The unrulier members of the...
Peter Morici: Powell shouldn’t let up in the fight against inflation
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, through the FOMC statement and press conference remarks this month, made clear we’ve made progress fighting inflation, but it’s far too early to quit. Financial markets are proving skeptical — forward contracts anticipate the Fed will increase interest rates a bit further, then start cutting...
Colin McNickle: New steps to retiring Turnpike Commission debt
Immediate steps must be taken to begin reducing the legislatively spawned multibillion-dollar debt of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “The state Legislature created this mess and should take steps to remedy the situation,” says Frank Gamrat, executive director of the...
Letter to the editor: Is Gov. Ron DeSantis afraid of learning?
In 1671, Gov. William Berkeley of Virginia wrote, “I thank God there are no free schools or printing, for learning has brought disobedience … .” It appears that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis feels the same way. Suzie Morris Stewart...
Letter to the editor: GOP and ‘fixing’ Social Security
The writer of the letter “Republicans not nihilists” (Feb. 2, TribLIVE), states that “The only fact is Social Security is broken and needs to be reformed. It’s the Republicans who want to fix it.” Below is listed a brief history of past Republican proposed fixes to Social Security programs: 1935:...
Lori Falce: Politics, tribalism and cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles
This is one of those times when it’s really hard to practice what I preach. Politically, I am all about middle ground and doing what’s in the common good. When it comes to sports, I am the radical fringe that doesn’t just want to win. I want to wage war...
Letter to the editor: Ideas to continue Bushy Run reenactments
Here’s some free advice for the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society: Don’t cancel the battlefield reenactment (“Pa. agency explains why it enacted new ‘no force-on-force rule’ for Bushy Run, other sites,” Feb. 6, TribLIVE). Replace the Native American side of the battle with sound effects. There are many local universities...
Laurels & lances: Big save, big shame
Laurel: To co-workers you can count on. The people you work alongside can be just like family. That means they can be a confidante, a best friend or the person who bugs you more than anything. But sometimes they can also be real lifesavers. For Alexis Simon, a Penn-Trafford special...
Letter to the editor: Stop funding Israeli violence
Clearly the U.S. media inadequately covers the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and pretends that it is a clash of comparable violence. There has been unrelenting violence against Palestinians since the displacement and ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands (over 750,000) of Palestinians during the 1948 creation of the state of Israel. Since...
Sen. Ryan Aument: How the Grinch stole the power grid
As a holiday cold snap gripped Pennsylvania in December, energy officials warned of rolling blackouts and called on families to turn down their thermostats and turn off the decorations. Truly, this was a Christmas gift with batteries not included. How did the power grid become so feeble that your Christmas...
Cal Thomas: Biden and Sanders, a fading star vs. a rising star
We’ve heard it all before. In fact, a recording of last year’s State of the Union could have been replayed, saving President Biden a trip to Capitol Hill. Numbers can be selectively used to hide reality and advance one’s political agenda. Both parties do this, but Democrats and their media...
Letter to the editor: Pope’s call on homosexuality a welcome step forward
There are currently over 65 countries throughout the world in which homosexual relations are classified as a criminal offense; indeed, in several countries, a person can be executed for being gay. Pope Francis’ historic call for the global decriminalization of homosexuality is a historic step forward for LGBTQ individuals, their...
