Opinion category, Page 374
Letter to the editor: Safety trumps privacy
Here is a thought. Whenever there is a mass shooting, authorities check the shooter’s social media accounts and find all kinds of red flags. Why not check social media accounts as part of the background check for red flags? Some may say this would be an invasion of privacy. Doesn’t...
Letter to the editor: Who knows what’s next for women, and others?
Congratulations, Republicans. You have successfully removed women’s rights to govern their own bodies. Well done, indeed. With that pesky task completed, we can’t wait to see what you do next. Women being employed, driving or even being allowed to leave the house on their own might lead them astray. Surely,...
Letter to the editor: Stop corporate gouging
In 2021, oil and gas companies made billions in record profits and decided to give that money to executives and shareholders rather than help consumers by stabilizing gas prices. Exxon Mobil announced $23 billion in earnings in 2021, its highest in seven years. It is expected to generate $41 billion...
Lori Falce: The cautionary tale of Supreme Court precedent
We like to think of the law as something resolute as stone, strong as a diamond, immutable as iron. The law is the law. If it is flexible, what is the point? The law has to provide us the framework for society to function, and it cannot do that if...
Letter to the editor: What the real science world says about climate models
In his op-ed “The mathematical truth about climate change” (June 21, TribLIVE), Richard Krauland questions the validity of climate modeling. After much tortured reasoning, Krauland summarizes his arguments as follows: “Every single mathematical calculation actually serves to compound the error factor in the final answer. … Every complex computer model,...
Letter to the editor: Bridge accountability
Concerning the very, very concerning article about the “investigation” results released about the Fern Hollow bridge collapse (“Fern Hollow Bridge inspection troubling but did not suggest imminent danger, experts say”): Will we taxpayers ever get any true accountability from any of our “employees”? This article, the accompanying photograph and especially...
Laurels & lances: Signing up and paying back
Laurel: To celebrating a different kind of commitment. Senior year of high school can mean a lot of attention on next steps for some kids. There are big productions made out of the athletes who accept scholarships to play their sports for marquee colleges. Then there are the brainiacs who...
Letter to the editor: County Democrats need some new moves
Someone once said that doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. They must have been a member of the Westmoreland County Democratic Committee. Recently, the local party elected another white, stay-at-home, upper-class woman to be its party chair. This makes...
Letter to the editor: Roe v. Wade ruling sends women back to the past
Roe v. Wade overturned equals a big goodbye for American women’s freedom. Soon they will have us wearing burkas and veils so we don’t tempt those conservative upstanding males. I am so totally miffed. I’m 72-plus, so I don’t need to make any choices for abortion, but that doesn’t mean...
Editorial: Lawmakers should put teeth in police database law
In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis ignited protests around the country, the state of Pennsylvania passed a law creating a database of law enforcement personnel records. The purpose was to prevent the shuffling of an officer with disciplinary problems...
Letter to the editor: Pa. needs reset in higher education funding
According to data from the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of in-state tuition in the United States is $9,349. In Pennsylvania, the average cost of in-state tuition is $27,400. The sooner we have consensus and recognize that the cost of in-state tuition in Pennsylvania is not normal, we can...
John Stossel: Pro-choice vs. pro-life
Now abortion law is up to states. Some will ban it, while most blue states will allow it in some form. Because libertarians want government out of our lives, people assume we are pro-choice. Some of us are. But like the rest of America, there are principled libertarians on both...
Peter Morici: Defending Taiwan starts with standing up to Putin
President Joe Biden’s recent statement that the United States would intervene militarily if China tried to take Taiwan by force was hardly a gaffe. The U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity has outlived its usefulness. Since President Richard Nixon went to China and put the two nations on the path to...
Jonah Goldberg: Overturning Roe also upended ‘three-legged stool’ of conservatism
In overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court delivered the right’s biggest single victory ever, and it may spell the end of the conservative movement as we’ve known it. It was Ronald Reagan who popularized the notion that the conservative movement rested on a fusionist “three-legged stool.” In theory, the...
Kenneth W. Gatten III: Dr. Oz’s misinformed oil and gas policies
As prices at the gas pump hit record highs, U.S. oil and gas policies are proving to be key issues heading into the November midterm elections. Recently, Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz railed against the Biden administration, lamenting that President Biden’s “failed energy policies have crippled us” and calling to...
Letter to the editor: Where have all the flowers gone?
Thinking of Pete Seeger and Peter, Paul and Mary’s popular song years ago. I have great memories of fun times being president of the Botanical Society of Westmoreland County for 14 years. One of these was planting hundreds of flowers every year with the Westmoreland Conservation District, Penn State Extension...
Letter to the editor: Abortion is distraction from bigger issues
I think the Democratic abortion issue is a distraction from the real issues of President Biden’s inflation and illegal alien invasion. Instead of the media hammering Biden with “you got a big defeat” with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, they went with his “it ain’t over” routine. This...
Letter to the editor: Youngwood construction
Personally witnessing and living through the seemingly endless reconstruction of Route 119 (Third and Fourth streets) in Youngwood, I have arrived at a couple conclusions: 1. There appears to be a lack of communication between PennDOT and the various contractors. Frequently, one will complete their underground work and restore the...
Letter to the editor: We can’t afford Freeport salaries
David Horchak’s letter “Six-figure salaries don’t belong in Freeport schools” (June 25, TribLIVE) hits the nail on the head. What is sad is that school districts as a whole spend most of their budgets on salaries that seem to go unchecked. Then you can always question, are you getting the...
Editorial: Allegheny County should set policy for pay increases
In 2019, a list of pay raises in the Pennsylvania governor’s office brought criticism. Gov. Tom Wolf handed out increases to some of his top staffers, ranging from 7.7% to 36%. It wasn’t that anyone questioned the work. People questioned the timing, which came just after the governor’s second inauguration,...
Letter to the editor: Examining church’s calculations on value of life
In the article “Some religious leaders laud abortion ruling, others say choice is needed in ‘morally responsible circumstances’ ,” Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik, at a news conference at the Little Sisters of the Poor site on Pittsburgh’s North Side, said, “We’re maintaining a consistent message that’s been part of our faith...
Letter to the editor: Election denier as governor would be bad for state
When I learned that Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler had accepted a call in which he was asked to overturn the 2020 Pennsylvania vote for President Biden, I assumed the worst about him. Upon the release of additional information pursuant to the Jan. 6 committee hearings, however, we...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: We can be a nation bound by the aspiration to simple values
Eighty-three years ago, Mr. Smith went to Washington. Last Tuesday, Lady Ruby did, too. Georgia election workers Ruby “Lady Ruby” Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye Moss — “Shaye” to her friends — appeared last week before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Like the title character in...
Eric Epstein: Electric fantasyland led to higher rates, higher taxes and more terminations
On Aug. 4, 2000, Republican Gov. Tom Ridge announced that electric competition would lead to job growth, economic expansion and decreased rates. According to Ridge, “Pennsylvania’s national leadership in electric competition continues to bring dramatic savings and economic benefits to Pennsylvanians.” The Department of Revenue rolled out the pompoms and...
Letter to the editor: Recalling some of Trump’s moves
Letter-writer Thomas Wagner (“Why the praise for Biden?” June 27, TribLIVE) seems to forget that when President Trump took office, he said the covid was like the flu and would go away. Then he got it and was flown to the hospital. Many of those who worked with Trump in...
