Opinion category, Page 348
Letter to the editor: What if Fetterman wins and resigns?
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s health is important to consider in this election, especially since this seat could determine the majority in the U.S. Senate. Why would someone continue to run for an office where the heavy workload is not forgiving to recovery from a stroke? The only reason I can...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 19
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Sept. 19....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 19
Editorial cartoons for the week of Sept. 19....
Margaret Zylka House: Running in her shoes
The past few weeks have been hard for the running community, a community of over 60 million Americans, as we bear the heartbreaking loss of Eliza Fletcher, who was abducted and killed while on an early-morning run in Memphis. I began running more than 30 years ago in the sixth...
Letter to the editor: Amendments should be few and far between
When it comes to voting on amendments to the state Constitution, I usually cringe and become nervous. The Constitution is supposed to be a guide or set of rules to run the state government. Changes to it should be few and infrequent. The federal Constitution has 27 amendments, and the...
Editorial: Fix medical marijuana loopholes before growing to recreational use
Pennsylvania has a marijuana problem. The state legalized weed for medical use in 2016. Dispensaries started opening their doors two years later, with the government picking up a 5% tax on sales. That translates to millions in revenue for the public coffers. Dispensaries were barely opened when the discussion of...
Letter to the editor: Is abortion just the beginning?
“Jesus never once said anything about abortion.” This was said by Joe Scarborough on MSNBC. And Jesus never said Joe was a jerk, but … . To me that seems to be an incredible comment. Can anyone imagine that the son of God, creator of all living things, would even...
Letter to the editor: Get informed and make a plan to vote
Sept. 20 is National Voter Registration Day. The newly formed League of Women Voters of Westmoreland County (LWVWC), a nonpartisan organization, urges you to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. The right to vote is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and federal laws. The right to vote is what gives...
Letter to the editor: Do parents really want government to provide for everything?
Regarding the editorial “School breakfast will help hunger, but lunch would be better” (Sept. 13, TribLIVE): Let’s just jump to the final step like the 1930s in Germany or China or Russia. Just send your kids to the government (for everything) and they can get three meals a day (plus...
Letter to the editor: It’s always political
Isn’t it laughable when a politician claims that an action of the other party is “political”? “It’s a political witch hunt!” It’s all political. It always has been. But right now, the proverbial needle is pointing to party over country and a power grab by the few over democracy. The...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Four present threats to the republic
It’s a well-known story, but it bears repeating from time to time. As Ben Franklin was leaving Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1787 after the delegates had finished writing our nation’s Constitution, he passed through the crowd that had gathered on the steps hoping to learn what kind of government...
Sounding off: Jan. 6, Trump, our economy, second chances, Kasich, Biden’s failures, Norwin housewives
Clarifying Jan. 6 ‘hypocrisy’ The writer of the letter “Jan. 6 hypocrisy” (Sept. 1, TribLIVE) accuses the Jan. 6 committee of hypocrisy and the media of spewing propaganda. His points: • “President Trump told supporters to ‘go to … the Capitol’ (but) at no time did he call for violence...
Counterpoint: Let’s cut the military budget, just don’t call it ‘defund’
There is an excellent argument that the “defund” trope has become so politicized that it now gets in the way of, rather than advances, policy advocacy of any stripe. But that doesn’t mean we should reflexively dismiss the underlying idea that government funds should be shifted away from wasteful or...
Point: We should reform, not defund, necessary institutions
Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. While Newton was describing this phenomenon in relation to physics, the basic principle also applies to society in general. For instance, after the death of George Floyd in 2020, many municipalities...
Letter to the editor: CMU professor’s words sad and classless
Regarding the article “Twitter removes CMU professor’s tweet wishing ‘excruciating pain’ for Queen Elizabeth II” (Sept. 8, TribLIVE): We live in such a graceless age. A human being with a family died. One would hope that when this person, who instructs our youth, dies and her supporters and their families...
Letter to the editor: If not ‘extremists,’ what are MAGA Republicans?
Carolyn Thomson’s letter “MAGA Republicans not extremists” (Sept. 8, TribLIVE) implores readers not to portray MAGA Republicans as “extremists,” “terrorists” or “neo-fascists.” I find this hard to do given 1,000 or so MAGA Republicans stormed the Capitol in the hope of overturning a free and fair election, but OK —...
Editorial: Hallam’s Airbnb ban shows struggle between safety and freedom
The problem with checks and balances is sometimes they don’t just check other people. Sometimes, they check us, too. It isn’t just dramatic irony. It’s an illustration of equity. The head of the Internal Revenue Services should be just as likely to be audited as anyone who turns in a...
Letter to the editor: Violence comes from Democrats, too
In an awkward lack of self-awareness, the Trib co-dependently enables “Westmoreland Democrat election concerns” regarding a vandalized yard sign of all things (“Westmoreland Democrats say concerns abound as November election nears,” Sept. 8, TribLIVE). I don’t condone the vandalism, but I’ll pass on the fainting couch routine over Democrats’ feeling...
Gary Franks: Is Biden just a rubber stamp?
Who’s a threat to democracy? President Joe Biden is a rubber stamp for the Democrat-controlled Congress. He has never vetoed a bill presented to him by Congress. Thus, as far as policy, legislation and the direction of the country are concerned, the de facto presidents are Senate Majority Leader Chuck...
S.E. Cupp: Pity the poor, wounded MAGA Republicans
Over the past week, it’s safe to say we’ve all shed a tear or two, maybe even said a prayer, and quietly reflected on the tremendous loss the world collectively experienced last week. For many that’s because of the historic and solemn events unfolding in the United Kingdom. But I’m...
Peter Morici: Biden’s green energy subsidies will boost inflation, distort investment
Democrats can head into the midterms touting the CHIPS Act and new green-energy and health-care legislation, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, but these forays into industrial policy will likely stoke inflation and distort capital investment. As passed, the IRA should increase revenue and reduce Medicare drug spending by $767 billion...
Colin McNickle: PRT must economize or see funding cut
Should Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) not soon make serious cost-containment efforts, state legislators who hold the purse strings should consider pulling those strings tighter to force the issue, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “The renamed PRT must focus intently on the factors it can control...
Letter to the editor: Recognizing POW/MIA sacrifices
Sept. 16 is National POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Recognition Day. The Department of Defense lists 81,477 military service members still missing and unaccounted for from our nation’s wars during the past 100 years. Today, take time to recognize the sacrifices these individuals and their families made for the...
Letter to the editor: With school choice, legislators put children first
Regarding the letter “Representatives don’t represent us” (Sept. 6, TribLIVE): Many op-eds and letters criticize legislative leaders for not pursuing what is being deceptively called “reform” of charter schools. School boards are elected by the local public to provide the vehicle for education from a legal and business model standpoint...
Lori Falce: The unreachable cure for cancer
There might be no better way to get people on your side than to say you want to cure cancer. Cancer is an ugly, predatory beast that stalks its victims without regard for age or class or worthiness. It attacks the good and the evil dispassionately. In 2019, the most...
