Opinion category, Page 445
Letter to the editor: Biden’s blunders
Dear Mr. President, I’d like to address a couple of blunders you made recently. First, the news about the U.S. and China working together to combat climate change. I seriously hope you don’t trust China to hold up its end of the bargain. If you do, I have a bridge...
Letter to the editor: Thanks to Doyle for supporting infrastructure bill
I want to thank U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, for his vote in support of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and support of President Biden’s economic recovery plans. As our community emerges stronger on the other side of the covid-19 pandemic, Southwestern Pennsylvania needs and deserves an...
Editorial: Westmoreland County needs to rein in spending
The Westmoreland County commissioners have a preliminary budget on the table. The proposed $365.5 million spending plan for 2022 does not raise property taxes above the 21.49 mills where they stand now. That can be a good thing. What isn’t? A disturbing trend of spending money the county isn’t making....
Letter to the editor: Fire department woes
In response to the unprincipled and disrespectful statements made by Hempfield supervisors and the Hempfield Fire Department chief in the article ”Hempfield officials working to improve response of West Point’s volunteer firefighters” (Nov. 4, TribLIVE): Nice attempt by them to look good in the community. We volunteers are told to...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Nov. 22
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Nov. 22....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Nov. 22
Editorial cartoons for the week of Nov. 22....
Mona Charen: Democrats, you have one job
Barring some act of God, the Democratic Party is going to get crushed in the midterms. The president’s party usually loses House seats in off-year elections. Since 1946, the average loss has been 25 seats — which is scary enough for a Democratic Party that currently holds a 221-213 seat...
Colin McNickle: Allegheny County demolition fee observations
Word that 100 blighted structures in Allegheny County will be demolished certainly is good news for the jurisdictions in which those properties are. But it also raises a critical question, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “Once the structures are demolished, what happens?” asks Eric Montarti,...
Letter to the editor: A year ago, everyone wanted vaccine; why is it so contentious now?
Thank you for the quote in the article “Big Bird backlash: Vax lands even Muppet in political flap” (Nov. 11, TribLIVE) that reminded me that one year ago, we were all hoping for a vaccine to stem the hospitalizations and deaths from covid. Now that it is available, how did...
Letter to the editor: Rep. Bob Brooks’ generosity
In response to David Camblin’s letter “Why didn’t Bob Brooks pay for parade permit?” (Nov. 16, TribLIVE): State Rep. Bob Brooks donates his entire House salary to charity in the 54th District and local area! Recipients of his donations include: • Firefighters ($16,000-plus per year) • Multiple Rotary events •...
Letter to the editor: On prescriptions, something is rotten
The only thing in Build Back Horrendously that is salutary is the gubmint being allowed to dicker with insurance and drug companies over the cost of medicine. I have Medicare and Security Blue, and the copay for one of my meds at my pharmacy this year went from 48 bucks...
Letter to the editor: Why our 2-party system works
There have been many negative postings in this forum bashing the two major political parties. I would like to challenge readers to look at the parties in a different light. Democrats are the dreamers. They push for ways to improve the American ideal. Republicans are the pragmatists. They hold dear...
Editorial: CDC and Pennsylvania covid numbers need to agree
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave a great grade to Pennsylvania last week. The agency’s vaccination map proclaimed that 95% of state residents had received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccination. Wow. That’s unbelievable. That’s the problem. It’s not true. Pennsylvania is not head and shoulders...
Letter to the editor: Bells can remind us to believe
When I grew up, we had just ended World War II, which had just ended the Great Depression. We were then fighting the Korean Conflict. My family had fought in those wars. I remember going to church every Sunday and holy day. The churches were full, standing room only on...
Letter to the editor: Stop arguing and educate our kids
It seems as if we have forgotten the most important aspect of attending school. We have become so concerned with school mask mandates that we have overlooked the quality of education our children are receiving. Somehow many parents have equated education with mask-wearing in schools. Our kids have fallen behind...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: The men who cleared Pittsburgh’s skies
When it was recently announced in Scotland that Pittsburgh will host the next big global energy and innovation conference in September 2022, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said “the Steel City” has shown how an “industrial-dependent economy can be transformed into a technology and innovation powerhouse.” There are still those...
Sounding off: Bring on the election investigations
Republicans “won” many seats in this election. Every row office in Westmoreland County is now in Republican hands, as is the governorship of Virginia. So I’m sure that they will do the responsible thing and investigate the obvious election fraud and conduct responsible audits of the voter rolls. After all,...
Ryan Shafik: Jake Corman runs for governor, Josh Shapiro rejoices
Dynastic career politician Jake Corman, president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania State Senate, is the latest Republican to toss his hat in the ring for governor of this great commonwealth. Given Corman’s insatiable ambition, his decision to enter the fray isn’t necessarily surprising. What is shocking is that someone with...
James Knights: We’re not learning — genocides on rise
On Veterans Day, I was asked to give a few remarks at an exhibition hosted by the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hill University in Greensburg. The focus of the exhibition was a collection of my father’s wartime photographs of the little-known German massacre of 1016, mostly...
Letter to the editor: Alternatives to Thanksgiving turkey
Last week, President Biden set infrastructure aside just long enough to pardon two turkeys. With more than 200 million turkeys killed in the U.S. each year, everyone can pardon their own turkey and instead try a plant-based roast this Thanksgiving. Turkeys are bred and raised in toxic fume-filled crowded sheds,...
Letter to the editor: High-end thievery by the .1%
We recently learned that President Trump has lost $70 million on the Trump International Hotel. In 2018, Deutsche Bank gave him a six-year deferral on payment of a $170 million loan for that same hotel. In 2017, the state of New York and the UK won a $630 million lawsuit...
Editorial: Big paychecks can be bad look amid health care struggles
In 2020, Highmark CEO David Holmberg saw his paycheck dip. This isn’t surprising. Plenty of people made less money in a year when the coronavirus pandemic turned everything — especially health care — upside down. There will probably be little sympathy for Holmberg, however, as his $325,000 loss still let...
Letter to the editor: Hypocritical government
We now live in the land of a hypocritical government, one that was dependent on our brave front-line workers a year ago to police our cities, put out fires and keep people alive. They were hailed as heroes. Now this czar running the country says to fire them if they...
John Stossel: Government makes you prove you’re needed
“Why does Louisiana have the right to stop me from doing what I love to do?” asks Ursula Newell-Davis in my new video. Newell-Davis has helped people. She’s a social worker who’s worked with kids with special needs for 20 years. She’s really good at it. Now she wants to...
S.E. Cupp: Cuomo still haunts and taunts New York
As I began my morning reading, I had to do a double-take at the Politico headline near the bottom of the home page: “He’s nuts and he’s got a vendetta:” While that easily could have described former President Donald Trump, or his one-time aide Steve Bannon, who surrendered to authorities...
