Opinion category, Page 394
Letter to the editor: Questions for Pa. Republican candidates
No matter what side of the coin you’re on, I think every Pennsylvania citizen wants to know the following from all our governor and Senate candidates: Do you support Donald Trump as the leader of the Republican Party? Do you believe that he is still the legally elected president and...
Lori Falce: Why don’t we call Americans oligarchs?
When talking about Russia’s politics, espionage, criminal activities and, of course, the war in Ukraine, one word pops up with regularity. Oligarchs. The way in which it is used, and the authority that it conveys, makes it sound like oligarchs are an official position within the country. They might well...
Letter to the editor: Comparing Biden and Reagan
We have: High inflation. Russia is the evil empire. A president that wants to increase government spending. Efforts to raise taxes. Republicans rejoice! The 1980s have returned, and Ronald Reagan is president! Inflation is the highest since the ’80s. After one tax cut, Reagan raised taxes at least eight times....
Letter to the editor: Student loan forgiveness is a destructive policy
I went to college so I could get a job that would provide an adequate standard of living and enable me to pay my bills. Today’s culture has apparently hoodwinked a huge number of people into attending college to pursue unmarketable majors, and worse, amass outlandish student debt they can’t...
Paul Kengor: Remembering Orrin Hatch, a Pittsburgh native son
Orrin Hatch died last week at age 88. In the political world, Hatch was a big deal. He became the longest-serving Republican senator ever, representing Utah from 1977 until 2019. Hatch was a prominent longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In sensational hearings for Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork,...
Laurels and lances: Puppies, birds, Chance
Laurel: To a natural treatment. College is stressful all the time, but heading into finals? That’s when things get really tense. Mental health on university campuses has been a growing problem for years. The University of Pittsburgh and Penn State have worked to increase access to support for students at...
Cal Thomas: Ignorance and apathy
There’s an old joke about a fictitious poll taker who asked people what they thought about ignorance and apathy when it comes to politics and elections. One respondent said, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” I thought of that joke after seeing a recent YouGov poll. It shows a...
Stephen Mills: Don’t tell us it’s too late to get justice
Take it from me, the aftershocks of child sexual abuse last a lifetime. I’m 66, and the sexual violence I experienced at age 13 — a near-death experience, really — can still grip my body and mind when I least expect it. I thought I’d be released when my abuser...
Letter to the editor: Dangerous road situation in Allegheny Township
A suggestion to whomever is in charge of the Route 356 upgrade in Allegheny Township: Please consider installing a temporary portable traffic light and overhead lighting system so drivers can see more clearly at the intersection of White Cloud Road and Route 356 near Brown Road, before someone is seriously...
Editorial: Property tax reform is long overdue
Pennsylvania property owners need better friends in Harrisburg. On Tuesday, the state House of Representatives passed a bill with the kind of overwhelming majority that is usually only seen for naming bridges after fallen soldiers. A legislative body that tends to vote along party lines on almost everything threw those...
Letter to the editor: Where’s proof of racial bias at Hutchinson Elementary?
Brandi Slider, an assistant college professor of elementary education, contends that Greensburg-Salem’s Hutchinson Elementary School’s record of 70% suspensions of nonwhites reveals racial bias because the school’s student population is only 24% nonwhite (“Group seeks racial equality at Greensburg Salem, decries school director’s Facebook post,” April 17, TribLIVE). Really? Anybody...
Letter to the editor: Housing authority committed to residents’ well-being
A thank you, letter-writer Eileen Krynock (“Residents not to blame for poor housing conditions”), goes to you and all the leaders and members of Voice of Westmoreland. Your compassion and care for those in need is unbelievable. I have attended Westmoreland County commissioners meetings and have listened to members of...
John Stossel: Wikipedia bias
I love Wikipedia. I donated thousands of dollars to the Wikimedia Foundation. Before Wikipedia, all we had were printed encyclopedias — out of date by the time we bought them. Then libertarian Jimmy Wales came up with a web-based, crowd-sourced encyclopedia. Crowd-sourced? A Britannica editor called Wikipedia “a public restroom.”...
Kyle Sammin: Pa. governor race GOP’s race to lose — but they can lose it
As Democrats raise money and work together to support prospective gubernatorial nominee Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the GOP remains at war with itself. Competition is the point of a primary: letting voters choose the best standard-bearer for November. This year, however, Republicans suffer from an excess of choice. Nine candidates...
Letter to the editor: Thankful for firefighters’ caring
I would like to thank Bradenville fire Chief Mark Piantine and all of the volunteer firefighters from Bradenville, Latrobe, Youngstown, Whitney, Lloydsville, Ligonier Hose Company 1, Pleasant Unity, Derry, Dry Ridge and Crabtree. You were so compassionate and caring to me and for my home during the fire at Spring...
Letter to the editor: CORES group should focus on real issues
The article about the Communities Organizing for Racial Equality in the Schools (CORES) caught my attention because of my recent interest in school board meetings in my home district (“Group seeks racial equality at Greensburg Salem, decries school director’s Facebook post,” April 16, TribLIVE). Although I am not a resident...
Editorial: Existing resources easily available for ballot drop-off
In 2020, dropping off a ballot for no-excuse absentee voting was pretty easy. In Allegheny County, there were drop boxes in satellite locations of the elections office weeks before the election date. You could fill out your ballot and hand it over Downtown at the elections office in the County...
Letter to the editor: Republican disinformation
“For Russian diplomats, disinformation is part of the job” was a front-page headline April 20. It explained how Russia uses propaganda to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. I see a straight line between the Kremlin tactics and the GOP. As Leonard Pitts Jr. stated, “The Republican Party is a clear...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Democrats should challenge Republicans to climb
She was just trying to defend herself. It seems a Republican “colleague” had slimed Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in one of those ad hominem, free-of-facts, detached-from-reality, what-the-heck-are-you-even-talking-about attacks that unfortunately have become a staple of that party. Specifically, Lana Theis, also a Michigan lawmaker, sent out a fundraising email...
David Hardy: Pa.’s students need a lifeline
The Pennsylvania House has been abuzz with anticipation of a vote on the Lifeline Scholarship Program, or House Bill 2169 (Reps. Clint Owlett and Martina White). Lifeline Scholarships would help children stuck in the lowest-performing schools in our commonwealth. HB 2169 empowers parents with restricted-use scholarship funding for a school...
Mario Oliverio: What are you running for?
My first thought just as the starter signal sounded last year for the Ohio River Trail Council 10K was not “I hope I set a personal record” or “I’m so glad to be raising money for a good cause” (sorry, ORTC), but rather — “Wait a second, am I really...
Tay Waltenbaugh: All of us must step up for the most vulnerable
Mental health challenges have always been with us, but the covid-19 pandemic has pushed Pennsylvanians, and our state’s mental health safety net, to the breaking point. Without meaningful and sustained support from our state lawmakers, many of our most vulnerable residents will confront unacceptable consequences. As the Tribune-Review’s reporting has...
Jonah Goldberg: The right-wing mob gets its pound of Mouse flesh from Disney — or does it?
“Freedom is awaking from its coma today because of a huge, huge, huge Supreme Court decision — huge,” Rush Limbaugh declared in 2010. “I cannot tell you how big this is.” What, pray tell, had roused freedom from its slumber? The Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision,...
Letter to the editor: How can anyone still support Biden?
I find it hard to believe how anyone can still support our so-called president after his many serious mistakes and blunders. His sloppy pullout of Afghanistan and the southern border are just two of the many blunders we have witnessed. It seems he is leading us down the wrong road....
Letter to the editor: Simple fix could repair Hempfield road damage
This year and last year, some utility company made a full road cut across Donohue Road at Roseytown Road near 84 Lumber. Both of these road cuts were about 2 feet wide and the asphalt settled down, leaving a very significant bump and sharp road edge, which caused cars to...
