Opinion category, Page 511
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ racist foundations
I felt compelled to correct the record about racist Republicans with some facts. The Constitution’s “Three-fifths Clause” was created because the Southern states wanted their slaves — who were considered property — to be counted as residents in order to increase the South’s representation in Congress. That large population would...
Letter to the editor: Politicians divide and conquer
Ask yourself, who benefits from division? In a recent appearance on TNT, prior to a Final Four match-up, Charles Barkley commented that, “Politicians divide Black, white, rich and poor Americans.” Barkley also stated, “ I think most white people and Black people are great people.” He added his belief that...
Letter to the editor: We all have right to our opinions
Letter-writer Al Scovern (“Loyalty to Trump has gotten Allegheny Valley nowhere,” April 8, TribLIVE) traveled from Maine to visit his hometown Tarentum and felt he had to comment as to how we are a bunch of nut cases and degenerates because he saw President Trump signs and flags, and told...
Letter to the editor: National voting system would work
The solution to the voter rights issue is right before our eyes. Instead of each state hashing out its personal biased voting rights situations, we should adopt a basic national system of voting. All we have to do is to copy what our fellow North American neighbors already have in...
Letter to the editor: Immigrant speaks up
Immigration is one of the most urgent problems in our country today. The reason for this urgency is the crisis the Biden Administration has created on our Southern border. As an immigrant, I have strong feelings regarding this situation. I came to this country as a high school exchange student...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: We don’t always need to pick sides
Since the earliest days of warfare and politics, “divide and conquer” has been used by military and political leaders to achieve and hang on to power. Julius Caesar famously used it in Gaul, and Niccolo Machiavelli endorsed it in “The Art of War” as good counsel for despots. At its...
Sounding off: Combine vaccine passport, voter ID
As I read about the perpetual political wars over the concerns of having a vaccine passport, my solution (to please both Democrats and Republicans) is to just print the vaccine passport on one side and the voter ID on the other side. Simple, everyone is happy and the country is...
Rich Askey: For schools, a light at the end of the tunnel
Finally, we can see light at the end of the dark tunnel that we’ve been walking through for the past year. With covid-19 vaccinations expanding, educators, parents, and students can look forward to a return to normalcy in our schools, where students will be able to come back to their...
Letter to the editor: Money spent for hotels for immigrants disturbing
The Biden administration’s decision to spend $86 million to put “illegal aliens” up in hotels is disturbing to a huge number of people. How much money is being spent for homeless veterans of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, let alone the immense group of veterans who...
Editorial: The price of voting is worth every penny, but who pays it?
Funding and flexibility: That is what Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald would like when it comes to elections. On Tuesday, Fitzgerald testified before the Pennsylvania Senate’s Special Committee on Election Integrity and Reform via Zoom, along with officials from Philadelphia. It was a glimpse into how the state’s two largest...
Letter to the editor: Tell Biden to push for ‘price on carbon’
A recent Associated Press article reported that the business community is urging President Biden to double down on establishing ambitious, but achievable, goals for reducing fossil-fuel emissions. You can help by contacting the White House to join the push. The best next step to reduce emissions is to “put a...
Letter to the editor: Ensuring all can vote in Westmoreland
Westmoreland County must continue its commitment to ensure that voters can vote safely and securely. The 2020 election showed us that dropboxes, six of which were placed throughout the county, are a safe and secure way for voters to submit their mail-in ballots. Nationally, changes made to improve voter access...
John Stossel: Go green, go nuclear
On Thursday, Earth Day, politicians and activists shouted more about “the climate crisis.” I don’t think it’s a crisis. Covid-19, malaria, exploding debt, millions of poor children dying from diarrhea — those are genuine crises. But global warming may become a real problem, so it’s particularly absurd that Earth Day’s...
Mona Charen: Covid-19’s silver linings
As of this week, more than 40% of Americans have received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine and 26% are fully vaccinated. Though it wasn’t planned this way, more normal human life is returning just as the redbuds, azaleas, magnolias and tulips are performing their gorgeous annual affirmation...
Christine Sarteschi: Ideas to prevent mass shootings
Mass shootings are a serious public health problem. According to studies and experts in the field, prevention strategies remain elusive. One innovative area of study that has the potential to generate rich ideas for prevention is the directed study of thwarted, foiled or near-miss mass homicide plots. There is a...
Jonah Goldberg: Inability to make distinctions has led to toxic discourse
Nothing is more vital to serious thinking than the ability to make distinctions between superficially similar things. The gas pedal and the brake pedal look awfully similar, but if you can’t distinguish between them, good luck getting out of the driveway safely. Distinctions don’t just matter among similar-but-different things. They’re...
Letter to the editor: We need Trump back in office
Now that the best president the United States has ever seen is gone and the Democratic Party has gotten their way, do you really understand just what you got? I believe we now are under the control of a mindless puppet being controlled by a corrupt communist party hell-bent on...
Letter to the editor: Too much news causing unrest
When I was a kid, Bill Burns did the news on KDKA-TV, next a guy in a gas station outfit did the weather and then someone did the sports. One half-hour, boom. Now we have cable news 24/7, mostly national and international. Local news is the shortest. Cable news reports...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s ‘Motel 6’ immigration policy
After reading Matt Smith’s letter “Immigration reform will rebuild our economy” (March 26, TribLIVE), I now know the effects of listening to “Nice Guy” President Biden without proper protection. You see, as soon as I see Biden’s lips move, I immediately set my brain to “Dumb” and his prattle has...
Lori Falce: Trial and verdict not same as justice
For me, every issue I write about is a crime scene. Every argument is the give and take of prosecution and defense. After 30 years of murders, sexual assaults, theft and fraud, the way I process information is a lot like a courtroom. A crime reporter frames the mechanics of...
Letter to the editor: Doug Chew does speak for some constituents
Thanks to Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew for addressing issues concerning the 2020 election fiasco. His testimony before the Senate was based on his many discussions with constituents and his hands-on involvement in the election process. To those criticizing Chew, just because you have a different opinion doesn’t make his...
Letter to the editor: Chew should seek constituents’ opinions first
I was appalled by the article “Westmoreland commissioner says county voters want end to no-excuse mail-in ballots, another disputes that” (March 23, TribLIVE). Mr. Chew, you do not have permission to speak for me concerning mail-in ballots or any other issue involving my rights and responsibilities as a U.S. citizen....
Laurels & lances: Infrastructure, taxes, court
Laurel: To building bridges. And roads and sidewalks and more. On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority gave the go-ahead for $48 million in multimodal transportation projects. Among them are $4.6 million in projects in Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland counties. These are not giant bypasses or miles of asphalt poured...
Reps. Jessica Benham and Melissa Shusterman: Pa. Rescue Plan tackles long-term care for most vulnerable
The covid-19 pandemic has revealed so many inequities in our country — from socio-economic to racial, medical conditions and age. These inequities existed long before the pandemic but have been laid bare over the past year in such a way that we can no longer refuse to address them. Our...
Scott Bricker and Laura Chu Wiens: Biden’s jobs plan can help us move better
The Biden administration’s bold American Jobs Plan aims to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into public transit and transportation infrastructure. The plan has the potential to massively improve everyday Americans’ ability to get around safely, in addition to creating jobs, growing a sustainable economy and moving toward climate goals...
