Opinion category, Page 558
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Public ‘referees’ there to protect us
In Joyce Carol Oates’ 1985 New York Times essay “On Boxing,” she described the role of the referee as “our intermediary in the fight … our moral conscience.” The referee is there to make the tough calls, often stopping a fight before someone gets maimed or worse, all while the...
David Dausey: Keep holiday festivities smaller to prevent covid-19 from getting bigger
Americans need to change their behaviors in advance of the holidays unless they want a very grim start to the new year. If we don’t, cases of covid-19 could overwhelm the health care systems in many regions in the country and deaths will continue to escalate. Without significant changes to...
Ron Klink: When addressing drug prices, there’s a right way and a wrong way
In what may have been the last significant action of his presidency, President Trump recently issued two executive orders designed to lower prescription drug spending in Medicare. The first order would eliminate the current system of “rebates” for prescription drugs covered by Medicare Part D. The second order, dubbed the...
Letter to the editor: Electric cars should have meters
I agree that Volkswagens shouldn’t pay an additional road tax — as long as they aren’t used on public roads. Not necessarily a flat fee; I think they should have a separate electric meter, just as internal combustion cars pay for roads by the taxes on fuel usage. And electricity...
Letter to the editor: We need representatives who’ll look out for our interests
I read in disbelief the article “Western Pa. congressmen join rebuke of U.S. Attorney General William Barr” (Dec. 3, TribLIVE). Five Pennsylvania Republicans, including John Joyce and Guy Reschenthaler, expressed dismay because Barr is not supporting President Trump’s election fraud conspiracy. Certainly these Republicans know it has been reported that...
Editorial: Food banks filling holiday need
Certain reminders come to us every holiday season. Red kettles and ringing bells at shopping center doors urge us to drop in a few coins to help those in need. A box waits to collect toys for kids who won’t get any otherwise. And perhaps most ubiquitous is the food...
Letter to the editor: Trump lost because of Trump
Well, the Trump supporters brought out the crying towels! I have no doubt these were not used because of children taken from their parents at our southern border; nor were they used because of the nearly 300,000 American deaths from covid-19. They were used because of Trump’s loss to Joe...
John Stossel: Investment con
Want to make money and help the world, too? Wall Street says you can! If you invest in “socially responsible” funds, say big investment funds like BlackRock, Parnassus, TIAA-CREF, etc., then they’ll do good things for the world, and your retirement funds will grow. These funds obsess about what they...
Walter Williams: Costs must be weighed against benefits
Editor’s note: Walter Williams passed away Dec. 2. This is his final column. One of the first lessons in an economics class is every action has a cost. That is in stark contrast to lessons in the political arena, where politicians virtually ignore cost and talk about benefits and free...
Jonah Goldberg: Texas AG’s lawsuit is a shameful display of hypocrisy
I’m angry. I have been defending the Electoral College and the larger Madisonian vision behind it — often called “federalism” — for decades. As a pointed critic of the president, this put me in the awkward position of defending the legitimacy of his presidency — Donald Trump lost the popular...
Letter to the editor: Where were calls for togetherness during Trump’s term?
Regarding Joseph Sabino Mistick’s column “Now it’s time to come back together” (Nov. 15, TribLIVE): In the past four years, every word he has written about President Trump was dripping with hatred. He wouldn’t have given him a break if his life depended on it. Well, what do you know,...
Letter to the editor: Covid vaccine must be people’s vaccine
A safe, effective and accessible covid-19 vaccine can help bring an end to today’s economic and health crisis — so our families are safe, so we can get back to work and live our lives again. But only if everyone has access to it. Despite largely being funded by public...
Lori Falce: The point of giving is handing over your best
The box sat in the entry of the school like something someone had started to fill and then forgotten. It was big — about the size of a refrigerator but half as tall. Inside, it was scattered with various boxes, bags and cans. There were a few brightly colored rectangles...
Letter to the editor: Mueller investigation, impeachment not ‘hoaxes’
In her letter “Republicans don’t need to ‘get over it’ ” (Dec. 3, TribLIVE), Suzanne Wehrli calls the Mueller investigation and impeachment hoaxes, as do many President Trump supporters, who try to justify what Trump is doing now. It is disturbing to me to read this blatant untruth. The Mueller...
Paul Kengor: Truth and the 2020 presidential vote
“Where has the truth gone?” asks my Grove City College colleague Jim Thrasher. “Truth and reality, have they gone away? Most journalists in the media seem to ignore the facts and create and advance myths and fables. They have become propaganda machines.” And yet, notes Thrasher: “God-given truth has not...
Laurels & lances: Corks for a cause, bad behavior over masks
Laurel: To passing along good cheer. While working under pandemic restrictions this year, a lot of people have turned to hobbies and crafts. For 16-year-old Noah Long and his mom, Wendy, of West Deer, one outlet has been turning wine corks into Christmas tree ornaments. There’s so much about this...
Colin McNickle: The continuing case for regular property reassessments
The coronavirus pandemic should be teaching us many things about inappropriate government action. But it also should be teaching us about equally arbitrary and capricious government inaction, concludes a new analysis by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. As the Pittsburgh think tank reminds, the Allegheny County Board of Property...
Letter to the editor: Trump is not ‘dangerous’
President Obama called my president, Donald Trump, “dangerous.” Trump created so many jobs, the unemployment rate was at an all-time low for Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Dangerous. He got corporations to return to the United States, enabling more manufacturing jobs. What was it Obama said? Manufacturing jobs will never come...
Letter to the editor: Charge electric cars their fair share
Regarding the letter “We must oppose Pa. electric car fee bill” (Dec. 2, TribLIVE): Why not tax electric cars for using the road? If the next president kills the gas and oil industry, there will be no gas tax to fix the roads. Do you think the roads fix themselves?...
Letter to the editor: If Trump had focused on pandemic, he’d have won
It’s pretty pathetic to think that we are going through a horrible pandemic and all that our “leader” can talk about is an election he says was stolen, even though nearly all bipartisan election officials say it was all legit. Do you think the Democrats would have lost any of...
Editorial: Share your light at Hanukkah
Hanukkah is a holiday that celebrates a miracle. It begins as the sun sets Thursday. Eight candles of the hanukkiah, a special menorah or candle holder used just for the Festival of Lights, represent the eight nights that a single vessel of oil lasted when the Jewish people had to...
Letter to the editor: How can Catholics support Biden?
Regarding the Philadelphia Inquirer article “Biden’s faith makes history without fanfare” (Nov. 29): How can President-elect Joe Biden claim to be a faithful Catholic when he advocates and promotes abortion rights, even for late-term abortions? Biden has stated he would reverse the Mexico City policy, which requires nongovernmental organizations to...
Letter to the editor: Time to redd up Allegheny County’s air
I recently had a troubling conversation with some of my neighbors in the East End. They described a sulfur smell permeating their homes, giving them headaches, making their throats hurt and even affecting their pets. I knew Allegheny County has an air pollution problem, but it was nonetheless alarming to...
Catherine Rampell: The best way for Biden to save money later
There are two main arguments for Congress to provide generous, immediate fiscal relief. One is based on humanitarian concerns; the other, economic growth. President-elect Joe Biden should use both in his continuing efforts to sway penny-pinching lawmakers. On Friday, in response to a particularly “grim” jobs report, Biden made a...
Jonah Goldberg: Trumpism unlikely to be an enduring ideology
In the aftermath of President Trump’s 2016 victory, many of his supporters wanted to construct an ideological worldview that would, they hoped, not only supplant traditional conservatism but redefine American politics. As an intellectual project, it was pretty much a bust. For instance, Julius Krein started a journal, American Affairs,...
