Opinion category, Page 674
Lori Falce: Washington, the reluctant president
George Washington did not want to be president. He was a good general, as his victories in the Revolutionary War proved. He was a keen businessman. He thought of himself primarily as a farmer. “While I realize the arduous nature of the task which is conferred on me and feel...
Laurels & lances: Locks, fights and hope
Laurel: To a place in the plan. Infrastructure development is always a popular touchstone with politicians, so it isn’t surprising when it gets brought up. It’s definitely nice to be remembered at budget time, however. And that’s what happened with President Trump’s recent budget proposal. The plan includes $6 billion...
Letter to the editor: Founders warned us about Donald Trump
Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and others founders warned us about a man like Donald Trump in power. Hamilton wrote to Washington in 1792: “When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper, possessed of considerable talents, having the advantage of military habits — despotic...
Letter to the editor: Trump & Constitution
Like many who opine in the Trib, letter- writer Al Duerig (“Trump tramples Constitution,” Feb. 12, TribLIVE) seems to allow his personal feelings toward President Trump to overrule his brain. 1) To the charge that Sen. Mitch McConnell refused President Obama’s 2016 nominee for the Supreme Court: That’s what elections are...
Zach Shamberg: Pa.’s seniors should be a priority
Earlier this month, in the lead-up to his annual budget address, Gov. Tom Wolf announced several new initiatives geared toward protecting Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable populations. In all, these initiatives represent more than $40 million in new spending to help those in need. That includes $1.4 million to enhance the state’s...
Editorial: Time for Nalani Johnson Rule
Time in a child’s life ticks by fast. A baby grows and changes every day. A week can be the difference between pants that fit and pants that don’t. And an hour can be the difference between life and death. On Tuesday, cellphones across the area blared as an Amber...
Letter to the editor: Trump, supporters combat conspiracy
I am what the media calls a “conspiracy theorist” — a derogatory term used to smear a critical thinker who questions the statements of known liars. Teddy Roosevelt stated in a 1913 autobiography that, “Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government …” And in the 1986 Iran/Contra hearings,...
Letter to the editor: Truth in headlines
I was saddened to see your Feb. 7 print headline “Trump takes aim at ‘scum’.” Quoting people in headlines is what the tabloids do to convey misinformation. Why not put the truth in the headline and then quote President Trump’s words in the body of the article? The article was...
Letter to the editor: Officials keep sticking it to electorate
Well, another local election has come to an end, and our elected officials who ran on the promise of not raising our taxes once again are ready to stick it to us (“Tax hike stands after Westmoreland commissioners stick with budget,” Jan. 22, TribLIVE). Actually, it seems they are going...
Pat Buchanan: A Democratic establishment in panic
From the day he entered the race, Joe Biden was the great hope of the Democratic establishment to spare them from the horrifying prospect of a 2020 race between The Donald and Bernie Sanders. Today, that same establishment wants Joe out of the race. Why has Biden suddenly become an...
Gary English: Tax-shifting schemes won’t provide property tax relief
On Feb. 3, Pennsylvania legislators and their followers held a rally on the Capitol rotunda steps that fits the current state of affairs of ignorance: “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it” and shall expound. For the past eight years, the Legislature and the Pennsylvania Taxpayers...
Editorial: What is the future of hemp industry?
Growing a new industry isn’t as simple as having an idea. It’s not even as simple as having a product. An industry is bigger than a business. It’s about suppliers and manufacturers and distributors. Even with enough supply and healthy demand, if any of the cogs in the middle break...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s con succeeds
Vladimir Putin must be rubbing his hands in glee. With the aid of GOP senators, his man in D.C. has succeeded in a masterful con. Better yet, Alan Dershowitz has argued that anyone running for office can do almost anything. No sense of ethics needed; laws are apparently mere suggestions....
Letter to the editor: Kids are brainwashed on climate change
Watching a news report about children protesting about so-called climate change gave me something to ponder. The young can lead us old nonbelievers by first scrapping their video games, computers, cellphones and other electronics that use energy in order to be manufactured, mostly from oil that injects carbon into the...
Letter to the editor: We should unite behind the president
I never thought of myself as a political person, and I certainly never thought that a TV reality show host would become our president. But I am pleased with how things turned out. The economy is good, people are working, wages are favorable, unemployment is low and terrorists are being...
Jonah Goldberg: Democrat-Republican role reversal
For most of my life the rule of thumb was that the GOP was the ideological party and the Democratic Party was the coalitional party. This always was an overgeneralization. Democrats had an ideological perspective, and Republicans had coalitional interests. But from the New Deal to around the end of...
Tom Purcell: Clark Bar reunites chocolate, peanut butter & Americans
Every time I bite into a Clark Bar, I become 10 years old again. Irish immigrant D.L. Clark created the legendary chocolate-coated peanut- butter-crunch confection in Pittsburgh in 1917. Individually wrapped Clark Bars were shipped to U.S. troops during World War I and became popular nationwide after the war. According to...
Editorial: School’s paper donation situation
Ask and ye shall receive. It’s a nice thought, but it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes, though, it does, like it did with Sto-Rox School District last week. On Friday, guidance counselor Katie Couch looked at the total lack of copy paper in the district and the months left in...
Letter to the editor: Criticism of Obama well deserved
Criticism of President Obama isn’t racist, just well-deserved. His signature accomplishment was a cleverly named tax that didn’t save Americans $2,500 a year as promised and didn’t allow everyone to keep their health care providers or even always retain preferred doctors. Worse yet, rather than maximize a historic chance to...
Letter to the editor: Making Trump a 1-term president
President Trump’s critics consider him to be crude, self-centered, pathologically dishonest and childishly vindictive. Of course he is, but for some reason nearly half of the country doesn’t care. And I don’t believe there is any way to make those folks care. So how do we make Trump a one-term...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 17
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Feb. 17....
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 17
Editorial cartoons for the week of Feb. 17....
Gary Smith: Character & convictions of Washington & Lincoln
In the aftermath of President Trump’s impeachment trial and in light of the scathing attacks on both Trump and potential Democratic candidates as the 2020 election approaches, the celebration of Presidents Day is a good time to rise above the current political recriminations and rancor by reviewing the character and...
S.E. Cupp: Never-Trumper’s message to Never-Sanders crowd
Tuesday night’s victory in New Hampshire gives Sen. Bernie Sanders unequivocal frontrunner status, and anyone trying to couch his win as less than significant is trying to sell you something likely named Buttigieg, Klobuchar or Bloomberg. This will terrify the members of the anti-Sanders wing of the Democratic Party —...
Editorial: Home prices up, inventory down
People love to see a great house. HGTV is popular for a reason. People want to see what other people’s houses look like, and what their houses could look like, and whether they should think about buying another house or remodeling the house they already have. That old adage is...
