Opinion category, Page 36
Adrian Wooldridge: What if the U.S. isn’t the world’s most innovative country?
One of the barriers to understanding the world is our fixation on sports thinking: Who is winning and who is catching up? This has long been true of politics — we focus obsessively on the race for the White House while ignoring the debt mountain that may bring the whole...
Letter to the editor: Hazardous dump — enough is enough
After 50 years of living in the shadows of currently the only Resource Conservation Recovery Act subtitle C hazardous waste dump in Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County deserves better. This Yukon area waste dump has been a source of environmental pollution since 1963. For decades, local residents have lamented horrific health problems....
Editorial: Pittsburgh needs more police
Problems exist nationwide in recruiting and retention of police. There are almost 18,000 police agencies in the United States, and many have been seeing their ranks thin since 2019. The International Association of Chiefs of Police surveyed departments in 2024 and found, on average, departments operating at about 91% capacity....
Letter to the editor: Congress must lower drug prices for Americans
I applaud the executive order President Trump signed in May aimed at balancing the scales for the cost of prescription medications here vs. what others pay abroad. As the executive order points out, “The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population and yet funds around three quarters...
Jonah Goldberg: Kamala Harris won’t cure what ails the Democratic Party
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, was the last commander in chief born a British subject and the first member of the Whig Party to win the White House. He delivered the longest inaugural address in history, nearly two hours, and had the shortest presidency, being...
Bill Dudley: The Fed’s under siege. It’ll be just fine.
In the media, the U.S. Federal Reserve is under siege. President Donald Trump constantly threatens to fire Chair Jerome Powell. Others hurl criticism in hopes of becoming Powell’s successor. Two Fed governors opposed last week’s decision to hold interest rates steady, the first multiple dissent since 1993. Don’t be fooled...
Letter to the editor: We need leaders who stand for something
An appeal to our elected officials: What do you believe? I don’t want to hear what your party leaders told you to say. They have no power over you except what you decide to give them. You have a choice. I want to know what you stand for. We, your...
Rich Harwood: It’s time for a new American agenda
America is once again gripped by multiple political and societal crises. Most days in our local communities and in our wider public lives it can feel like we’re living through dizzying confusion, chaos and division. Acrimonious partisanship only deepens in Washington, D.C., and our state capitols. Renewed calls for a...
Letter to the editor: God’s plan for Trump
Maybe those heel spurs that got Donald Trump out of the draft on five or six occasions are causing his feet to swell up. His daddy can’t help him this time. I’m sure God has a plan for him, just like he has for everyone else. This is one problem...
Editorial: Denning’s plea acknowledges responsibility for Pennsylvania crimes
On Monday, a man in a dark blue prison jumpsuit stepped out of a Westmoreland County Sheriff’s van at the courthouse. His wrists were circled in handcuffs and bound to a chain around his waist. His ankles were similarly shackled. He looked like what he is: a criminal. He looked...
Letter to the editor: What the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ means for average family
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly tried to put a positive spin on Trump’s Reconciliation Bill in his op-ed “One Big Beautiful Bill a gamechanger for Western Pa.” (July 5, TribLive). I think Americans know this bill will take revenue from the average American and redistribute it upwards. There is no trickle...
Ira Helfand: After 80 years, nuclear threat remains grave
As we approach the 80th anniversary of the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this month, on Aug. 6 and 9, respectively, the danger of nuclear war is great and growing. So far this year, five of the nine nations that possess nuclear weapons have been engaged in active military...
Patrick McLaughlin: There’s hope for pruning federal regulations. Some state experiments are paying off
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes $100 million for the Office of Management and Budget “to pay expenses associated with improving regulatory processes and analyzing and reviewing rules.” Following the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, this small investment won’t make many headlines — but it should. If...
Letter to the editor: Pirates need to work hard to right the ship
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Pirates fans must have had a big hangover after watching what happened July 31. Captain Hook sent four crew members to walk the plank but got nothing in return (future prospects don’t count when you need help now). It’s time the captain...
Letter to the editor: Did God protect Trump? How about Hitler?
On July 13, 2024, then presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist, afterward stated, “God miraculously spared the president’s life. … His presidency and his life are the fruits of divine providence.” On...
Editorial: Would Harrisburg pass a budget if Pennsylvania leaders stopped getting paid?
When will Pennsylvanians get fed up? The Pennsylvania General Assembly is among the highest-paid legislatures in the country. The lowest is New Hampshire, where a lawmaker pulls in just $100. The highest paid? Neighboring New York at $142,000. But the Keystone State is close to the top, with a salary...
Letter to the editor: Who cares about Jeffrey Epstein?
With all the chaos, crises and tragedy that has occurred recently, who really cares about Jeffrey Epstein? He’s deceased; let it go. As President Donald Trump recently said, “if it’s not one thing, it’s another.” Rep. Summer Lee demanded this all be released with the names of participants. Has government...
Anita Chabria: Kamala Harris hints at a 2028 re-run, raising the question: Can a woman win?
Kamala Harris does not want to be governor of California, which has a whole lot of contenders (and some voters) doing a happy dance this week. But with her announcement Wednesday that she is bowing out of a race she never officially entered, Harris has ignited a flurry of speculation...
Colin McNickle: The job growth question of AI
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) could hold significant potential for the economies of Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh area, which have lagged well behind in job gains in fast-growing metro areas and Right-to-Work states, says a researcher at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “However, predictions of job growth resulting...
Letter to the editor: Comparing Biden, Trump on free speech
Recently we learned that CBS (owned by Paramount) would be ending its long-running “Late Night” TV show, currently hosted by the nauseatingly predictable Stephen Colbert. The network’s decision was also predictable, as the show lost 40 million bucks last year. Overall, late-night talk shows have been losing viewers for the...
Editorial: A pox on ‘personalized’ airline pricing at Delta or elsewhere
Delta Air Lines says it is rolling out “personalized fares,” which sounds benign and even sweet but is precisely the opposite. What is really going on is the massive airline is phasing in artificial intelligence-powered ticket pricing that may offer you a different fare for a particular trip than your...
Letter to the editor: Lies and conspiracy theories now the norm?
Maybe it’s because we’ve been lied to by government officials so often over the years that we now accept lies as normal behavior. From U-2 spy planes, Vietnam, Watergate, “Read my lips,” “I never had sex,” weapons of mass destruction and stolen elections, we have been lied to again and...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 4
Editorial cartoons for the week of Aug. 4....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 4
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Aug. 4....
Letter to the editor: Drug savings should go to patients
National Health Center Week, Aug. 3-9, is a timely reminder of the essential role community health centers (CHCs) play across Pennsylvania. More than 400 CHCs in the commonwealth serve more than 1 million patients annually, many of them low-income, uninsured or living in medically underserved communities. An important tool CHCs...
