Opinion category, Page 545
Colin McNickle: Port Authority challenges increase
Concrete steps must be taken to reduce the Port Authority’s costs but also to find a better dedicated funding stream for the mass-transit agency, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “Whatever the Legislature comes up with, the egregiously high costs at the Port Authority of Allegheny...
Earl Fowlkes: To save lives, clinical trials need diversity
I’ve spent my career fighting for vulnerable patients, especially people of color. So I was ecstatic to hear about a new initiative from dozens of biotech companies. These firms pledged to enroll more people of color in “clinical trials” — years-long tests that show whether experimental drugs are safe and...
Letter to the editor: Hypocrisy on Capitol riots
The recent news has been all about the riots and break-ins at the Capitol Jan. 6. I feel bad that people died because of major problems in this country between the two political parties. But there is a lot of hypocrisy going around. Democrats are in favor of bills that...
Letter to the editor: Let’s put an end to the Trump bashing
Will we not be happy or get satisfaction until we nail Donald Trump to the cross or burn him at the stake? We preach as per Joe Biden that we should practice civility, unity, equality and fairness, so can we just once and for all let this go? If you...
Lori Falce: Purple is the color of the year
Every year, Pantone — a 70-year-old company in New Jersey that has built its business on the matching and mixing of colors — pulls out its crystal ball and makes a prediction for the coming 12 months. The company looks at the trends, analyzes the horizon and announces the Color...
Letter to the editor: Condemning Reschenthaler
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler often uses the term “condemning” when referring to liberal Democrats. Now I am condemning Reschenthaler for his refusal to accept the results of the November presidential election and serving as an enabler for former President Trump to deny his loss. Reschenthaler and seven of his fellow Republican...
Letter to the editor: Biden could ‘promote life’ as president
Richard Patton’s premise in his letter “As president, Biden must support Roe v. Wade” is a laughable rationalization. He said that “practicing Catholic” Joe Biden will have presidential power to halt federal capital punishment but is powerless to address abortion and “undo Roe v. Wade.” A “practicing Catholic” president who...
Paul Kengor: Freedom to be ripped off by sports gambling
My previous column focused on the mass public rip-off scheme known as the state lottery, particularly the audacity of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania every Christmas bearing false gifts of lottery tickets. Every holiday season, Harrisburg officials assume the role of anti-Santa, duping gullible citizens with dubious promises of riches they’ll...
Laurels & lances: Eating, excellence, elections
Laurel: To a tasteful event. Restaurants have had a rough year. Those that have survived the last 11 months have done so with tenacity and hard work that has to be commended. And that makes this year’s Greensburg Restaurant Week probably the most important ever. Nineteen different eateries are participating...
Signe Espinoza: Reflecting on 48 years of Roe v. Wade
There is no doubt Roe v. Wade is a landmark Supreme Court case, due to its historical and legal significance, but I find it difficult to celebrate its anniversary, even as someone who has accessed abortion and who fights to protect and expand access to safe, legal abortion every day....
Robert Sroufe: Pa. can reap financial, health benefits from RGGI
In Pennsylvania, we see more extreme weather, more deaths from heat and respiratory ailments like asthma, and a disruption to agriculture, all attributable to climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and oil contribute substantially to climate change in Pennsylvania and across the globe....
Letter to the editor: Gang of eight’s loyalty to Trump
Eight Republican members of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives signed a letter (Dec. 31) and subsequently voted (Jan. 7) to object to Pennsylvania’s certification of electors. They accuse the governor, secretary of state, Pennsylvania Supreme Court and attorney general as accomplices in “unlawful actions.” Prove it. They can’t. Their remedy would...
Letter to the editor: Fix voting laws to restore confidence
The continuing problems created by our archaic voting laws must be fixed throughout our country so we can restore confidence in our elections. Universal mail-in balloting with no requirement for signature verification, no time limits, legalized ballot harvesting, etc., must be fixed, and it can be. I am against any...
Editorial: Raising expectations for covid vaccinations but not delivering
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health unveiled a website to help move along the covid-19 vaccination process. Click on the link, and you go to a state page with a quiz that poses a few questions to determine if you meet the criteria to get the vaccine now. Are...
Letter to the editor: Cruz’s actions were proper
Calls linking Sen. Ted Cruz to the Capitol rioting are astonishing (Joseph Sabino Mistick’s “Never forget actions of Washington traitors,” Jan. 8, TribLIVE). Why? He committed the heinous crime of advocating for a commission to investigate alleged voting irregularities in the 2020 elections. Before getting out the digital pitchforks and...
Letter to the editor: Election was about good vs. evil
The 2020 election was about good vs. evil. In this regard, why would God permit evil to prevail? It wasn’t his choice; it was ours. When they said let’s take prayer out of schools, we said OK. When they said let’s remove God from the public square, we said OK....
Jonah Goldberg: Giuliani’s descent from America’s mayor to Trump’s dark knight
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” Harvey Dent, the heroic district attorney of Gotham, proclaims in “The Dark Knight.” The fatalistic idea being that one can only do so much good in the world before you start balancing out the scales...
Andrew Swensen: Faith in one another should be our 2021 story
We are hardwired for story. It is our nature to weave the experiences of life into narrative, both as individuals and societies, and this storytelling nature is as intrinsic to our species as purring is to cats and singing to birds. Here we wrestle with the deepest questions of humanity,...
Letter to the editor: Thankful for kindness to veteran
On Veterans Day my husband, a Korean War vet, and I went to IHOP for lunch. As we were following the hostess to our seat, my husband began talking to a man who was dining alone. After finishing our meal, I asked our server for our bill. She told me...
Letter to the editor: End of our economic exuberance
This letter is in two parts. The first is allegorical, the second factual. The first part is a parody on the current Democratic assemblage compared to an NFL team. The Washington Fumblers are misfits and scrubs led by a former assistant coach who served under a head coach who never...
Editorial: The American experiment succeeds
America is often described as a great experiment in democracy. We have now spent 233 years operating under the auspices of the U.S. Constitution. The experiment has been under way for long enough that it is less trial and error and more pattern and tradition. In 1796, we wondered if...
Letter to the editor: A coup de grace for hatred
Am I naive to think that the harrowing violence in Washington on Jan. 6 by a mob, one that President-elect Biden correctly characterized as “domestic terrorists,” was the grand finale of agitations to overturn the elections? Or, trusting a more skeptical sense, should I fear that at least some of...
Pat Buchanan: Now, the left owns it all
That mob that split off from the Donald Trump rally of Jan. 6 to invade the Capitol has proven a godsend to the left. The death of a Capitol cop has enabled the left — which spent the summer after George Floyd’s death trashing “racist cops” and shouting, “Defund the...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: What Trump was not was enough for them
To the Republican Party: As the Trump administration stumbles through its final hours, it seems a proper time to offer a summation of the era just passed. Ordinarily, this calls for analytical heavy lifting. One seeks to reconcile a mosaic of accomplishments, failures and compromises into a single coherent portrait....
Letter to the editor: Trump enablers unfit to serve country
To Rep. Guy Reschenthaler: I hope you were happy watching the events transpiring in Washington Jan. 6. I hope you are proud of the uncivilized behavior displayed by President Trump and his supporters. While I hold Trump responsible for the deplorable actions of his supporters, responsibility falls equally on the...
