Opinion category, Page 521
Editorial: 1 million covid cases, and a path forward
One million. It is the kind of number that we think we can understand because it is thrown about with such abandon. The price of a big house. A mere sliver of a school building project. The top prize on a really good lottery ticket. But it’s a huge number...
Letter to the editor: More guns means more shootings
As people are tiring of covid, the mass gatherings are resuming, and so are the mass shootings. No other country has this problem, and no other country is so saturated with guns. Coincidence? I hear all the gun advocates’ arguments and scoff, like guns don’t kill, people do. It’s as...
Letter to the editor: Democracy for all people, not just the powerful
In the 1800s the Republican Party championed the democratic principles of freedom, liberty, justice and equality for all. The Democratic Party stood for the wealthy and powerful, the plantation owners, the captains of industry. It was a tug of war between democracy and oligarchy. Today we are in that same...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Not yet ready to take down the pandemic table
I started to take down the pandemic table last week, but I just couldn’t finish the job. A year ago, in those first days of quarantine, I set up an 8-foot table in the middle of the garage and loaded it with things that our family and friends might need...
Elizabeth Stelle: Emergency powers amendment would restore transparency in Pa. government
For over a year, Gov. Tom Wolf has dismissed calls for transparency as he enforces restrictive emergency executive orders. His disaster declaration for covid-19 — renewed four times since last spring — has allowed him to exert a level of control like nothing our commonwealth has experienced in its 340-year...
Howard Dean: Biden must restore seniors’ access to essential medicines
On Jan. 19, Medicare officials announced a new payment model that could wreak havoc on the chronically ill. The proposed model — technically put forward by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation — affects Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit, which relies on private insurers to administer seniors’ drug...
Sounding off: George Orwell, Ray Bradbury warned us; thanking Trump; stimulus checks and election results
Have you seen and heard enough yet? I certainly have. I never thought that we would witness big tech silencing free speech or de-listing books whose subject they disagree with. A “woke” administration and Congress that appear more intent on advancing socialism and rewarding their friends than helping to make...
Letter to the editor: Did non-supporters return Trump’s stimulus checks?
From the tone of Cheryl Rossetti’s letter “Disagree with election results? Return stimulus checks.” (March 24, TribLIVE), I’m guessing she did not support President Trump. When she received the first two stimulus checks while Trump was president, did she follow her own advice and return those checks? To paraphrase her,...
Letter to the editor: Republican votes reason for vaccine shortage?
Regarding the article “Westmoreland receives fewer covid-19 vaccine doses than smaller counties; talks begin about regional health department” (Feb. 26, TribLIVE): It seems rather odd that since most voters in Southwest Pennsylvania voted Republican, except for Allegheny County (Little Philly), we are being left short on our allocations of vaccine....
Editorial: A third path to let abuse victims seek justice
Pennsylvania has been increasingly involved in the ugly issue of child sex abuse since the 2011 charges against retired Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky were unveiled. That prompted a number of reforms to the way reports were handled and clearances were issued. Multiple rounds of grand jury cases...
Letter to the editor: Westmoreland needs a health department
I ask myself, “Why are the residents of Westmoreland County less worthy than the residents of Allegheny, Erie, Bucks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties?” Why do Westmoreland County residents not have the benefit of a critically needed public health department? Allegheny County and Erie County both have had health departments...
Letter to the editor: There are good and bad people in journalism, politics
To John Newhouse, who wrote the letter “Politicians, media teaching how to hate” (March 17, TribLIVE): I honestly sympathize with your fate. I’m an 80-year-old mother and grandmother, and have been in your predicament at times myself. The only way, and the best way, to get out of your dilemma...
John Stossel: Union activists’ trespassing
Before dawn, dozens of union activists invaded a strawberry farm, shouting through bullhorns. This frightened workers and infuriated the farm’s owner, Mike Fahner, who thought that in America, owning property means you have a right to control access to that property — your home is your castle, and all that....
Mona Charen: Sidney Powell admits to her lies
The Big Lie is starting to unravel. One of Donald Trump’s disinformation stars, Sidney Powell, is backing down. But while we’re considering the matter of truth and lies, let’s recall when conservatives cared about truth (or seemed to). In the 1990s, Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchu was a phenomenon. Of Mayan...
Jonah Goldberg: For Democrats, filibuster is only malevolent when Republicans wield it
I get the idea of curses or bad karma. The house where a triple murder took place is going to sell for less than the one next door no matter how much you scrub the stains. I wouldn’t want to use Hannibal Lecter’s dishware no matter how much you cleaned...
Gisele Fetterman: It’s time for the Dreamers to be safe at home for good
We are at an important crossroads in this nation. We have faced immense, unprecedented challenges in this unimaginably difficult past year, but with a new administration in place and the end of covid-19 in sight, we also find ourselves with a tremendous opportunity to lay the foundation for a brighter...
Colin McNickle: Tolling some Pa. interstate bridges — a non-dire impact
Those in some quarters are predicting dire business, consumer and commuter behavior consequences should PennDOT toll nine interstate bridges across the state to pay for much-need repairs and maintenance. But an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy suggests the effects will be relatively minimal and likely the best...
David Sanko: Pa. needs another ‘shot in the arm’ with broadband access expansion
Pennsylvania, like many other states, has a digital divide that separates the haves from the have-nots. And at no other time has this divide seemed wider than in the last year when the covid-19 pandemic brought the demand for internet service into sharp focus. From students trying to do their...
Letter to the editor: Second doses for seniors should come first
Teachers should not be vaccinated until all of the elderly are. The virus can be fatal to the elderly. Most teachers are young. Although they are exposed more than most people, since they are younger they are most likely to survive. The elderly are most likely to die. Donald G....
Letter to the editor: Wolf, Cuomo and nursing home deaths
Looks like Gov. Tom Wolf may be in the same trouble as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo with the covid deaths in old folks’ homes. More than 50% of the covid deaths in Pennsylvania were in those homes, with Pennsylvania among the states with the highest percentage of deaths in...
Letter to the editor: Did Biden’s parents raise a fool?
My parents didn’t raise a total fool, but it looks as if President Biden’s parents may have created one. I was taught that when I had a job and wanted to better myself, I didn’t quit the job I was working before getting a better job. Biden promises better jobs,...
Letter to the editor: Good men must come to aid of our country
Fellow Americans: While this corrupt and tyrannical government is being protected by razor-wire fences, concrete barriers and the National Guard, the Congress, Senate and White House administration are passing unconstitutional and tyrannical laws and using our tax dollars to do it. We are paying for our own demise and descent...
Lori Falce: Is the filibuster really the problem?
Filibuster is a ridiculous word. It means “freebooter” or pirate in Dutch. While piracy might not seem like a word that has much to do with lawmaking, filibuster says otherwise. In English, it refers to a special kind of stand taken by one senator in the face of overwhelming opposition....
Letter to the editor: Vote for candidate who will better our community
With a special election in House District 59 approaching, voters should examine the purpose of politics when making their choice this spring (”Trump House creator Leslie Baum Rossi wins Republican nod as party’s candidate for open state House seat,” Feb. 20, TribLIVE). Politics should not be a game where fans...
Letter to the editor: Immigration reform will rebuild our economy
Immigrants are substantial contributors to Southwestern Pennsylvania’s success and are crucial to our ability to respond and rebuild from the pandemic. Today, over 70,000 undocumented immigrants, including 1,700 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, work in essential roles across the state. Even as undocumented immigrants contribute heavily to our...
