Opinion category, Page 619
Dr. Robert Cicco: What 13 words could cost Pa. in covid-19 fight
Legislation is often verbose and unclear, sometimes leaving unintended loopholes that can be exploited by special interests. But other times the language is chillingly spare and ruthlessly direct. Like many states across the country that were taking up the charge to “Cover All Kids” and extend health care coverage to...
Letter to the editor: Restrictions on bars, restaurants are unfair
My mind is in knots trying to figure out the logic of county and state officials imposing restrictions on a single industry because of the actions of (by their own admission) a few bad actors. This most recent crippling of the hospitality industry — which will most likely be the...
Letter to the editor: Mask mandate is not a law
Regarding the article (“Hempfield resident confronts maskless county controller at commissioners meeting,” July 16, TribLIVE): Michael Pardus stated “it’s a law.” Well, sir, the wearing of face coverings is not law; the state Senate and House never passed a law requiring face coverings. Yes, it is a mandate from the...
Letter to the editor: We need to raze and replace our educational system
We have reached the culmination of our modern, sophisticated and exorbitant education system as epitomized in the current urban rioting and statue demolition. The students involved excel in the modern version of the “3 Rs” — rioting, razing and revolting (as an aside, I find the entire Democratic Party and...
Letter to the editor: Look at the range of science on face masks
Do we dare question the authority of those governors who demand their subjects wear masks? What does the science report? The British Medical Journal in April 2015 reported rates of infection of health care workers wearing cloth masks were 97%, compared to rates of 49% in those wearing medical masks....
Paul Kengor: It’s time to thank the cops
We’ve been in the grip of a pandemic that has prompted many people to view our health care professionals as heroes. Unfortunately, we’ve also been in the grip of another sickness since the George Floyd tragedy that has prompted too many people to view our police officers as villains. “As...
Laurels & lances: Answers, inspection, education, cruelty
Laurel: To listening to grief. When Marquis Jaylen Brown fell to his death from the 15th floor of Duquesne University’s Brottier Hall in 2018, it left questions about why and how — and it created a hole in the heart of his mother, Dannielle Brown. On July 4, she began...
Lori Falce: Coin shortage is circulation problem
You might be hearing about a coin shortage. Businesses that often depend on cash — or specifically on the little discs of zinc and nickel and copper that form those smallest molecules of our currency system — have reported trouble getting enough to keep going as usual. Quarters keep the...
Jeff Coleman: A conservative’s case for paid family leave
It may not be the end of covid-19, but in the words of Winston Churchill, we may be seeing “the end of the beginning.” Even at this stage, we’ve watched trillions spent to help families keep their heads above water as the unemployment rates seem stuck in the double-digit range....
Greg Keeley: The accidental Manchurian candidate
I pulled the lever for Donald Trump in 2016. As a former GOP Senate staffer, combat veteran and immigrant, when faced with two impossibly unpalatable candidates, I chose party. It was a mistake. Like many who serve or have served this country in the military, intelligence and national security communities,...
Letter to the editor: DEP must limit toxic air pollution
Aiming to fulfill its “mission … to protect the people, to ensure their safety, to make their lives better” (“Grand jury report on fracking indicts the state,” July 7, TribLIVE), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is considering a proposed rule to limit toxic air pollution (volatile organic compounds, VOCs)...
Letter to the editor: Trump not making America great
Many letter-writers who voice their contempt for President Trump are labeled by Trump supporters as Kool-Aid-drinking CNN followers. I’d much rather drink Kool-Aid than bleach. I do watch CNN and have much more regard for its anchors than for Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Rush Limbaugh. I try to get...
Letter to the editor: Wolf’s directive hurting nonprofit clubs
The latest directive from Gov. Tom Wolf is very disheartening to our membership. Our club followed the previous guidelines and requirements and were in the process of providing some sort of normalcy for our members to have social interaction in a safe way. I believe that nonprofit clubs should be...
Letter to the editor: BLM, antifa treasonous radicals
We, the American people, are having war waged upon us by groups that are intent on replacing capitalism with communism while the American news media downplays and even quietly encourages the treasonous actions of these groups. In 2015 Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors said that she and her...
Editorial: Does FirstEnergy have too much power?
Utility bills are the kind of thing that can feel a little like extortion. You can’t just tell your water company you have found another option and to please dig up their pipes. Sewer service isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can shop around for and find the best...
Jonah Goldberg: Trump’s questioning of Biden’s mental acuity is risky
President Trump’s interview with Chris Wallace, which aired on “Fox News Sunday,” was remarkable in more ways than there is room to recount here. But let’s start with what should be the lead story: The president of the United States told Wallace that the mental competence test he recently took...
Letter to the editor: Reduce size of Pa. Legislature
I agree with Helen Sitler’s letter “Now is the time to reduce Pa. Legislature” (June 4, TribLIVE). There are way too many legislators, and their pensions and salaries are extreme, plus all the help they get to do their jobs. Reducing the Legislature can’t be done with an occasional letter...
Letter to the editor: Trump has accomplished much
The headline on Joanne Garing’s letter “Reschenthaler’s Trump view out of touch” was aimed at Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, but the letter was a rant against President Trump. This president has done all the things his predecessor announced would be impossible. As for the number of people working, of course it...
Letter to the editor: Pa. should join RGGI, work toward cleaner future
We all love to complain about Pennsylvania weather, and unfortunately, it could get worse. Pennsylvania already feels the effects of climate change through heat waves, increasingly severe storms and flooding. Pennsylvania contributes large amounts of fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere, leading to the worsening of these natural events. The...
Letter to the editor: What I learned during covid-19
1. The world slowed down, so did pollution, stress and crime. 2. There really is “no place like home.” We weren’t stuck at home, we were safe at home. 3. I could spend hours just talking to my wife every evening across the kitchen table. 4. You really can lose...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s incompetent covid-19 response
How the President Trump-named “Chinese virus” became the “Trump Virus,” bringing the most powerful country in the world to its knees: After a single case of coronavirus in China became a pandemic and reached our shores in January, we had a federal response I believe was incompetent. Trump and his...
Pat Buchanan: Rising diversity is Joe Biden’s worry, too
Is her racial diversity America’s greatest strength? So we are told. Yet even before America becomes a majority-minority nation, 25 years from now, recent changes in the composition of the country are going to impact both parties in 2020. According to Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, between 2010 and 2020,...
Editorial: Diversion is good step toward criminal justice reform
On Monday, Pittsburgh announced a pilot program that would work to keep people out of the criminal justice system. As a pilot program, it’s starting small, just on the North Side. The idea is a “public health-focused, pre-arrest diversion program,” something that would address issues of substance abuse or behavioral...
Mark Hendrickson: Why has 3% economic growth been so elusive?
Here is an economic riddle that has been puzzling many people: Why has economic growth in the United States remained below 3% for so long? The growth of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) going all the way back to 1790 has averaged less than 3% in only three decades: the...
Letter to the editor: People ignoring coronavirus dangers
Amazing, the stupidity of the general population. Even though words of caution were presented when states eased restrictions and allowed some businesses to reopen, too many threw caution to the wind. Personal desires for a drink or dining out have contributed to the resurgence of covid-19 on a nationwide level....
