Opinion category, Page 707
Editorial: Pennsylvania delegation did its job
We don’t just give power to political parties. We vest that power in individuals for a reason. We elect lawyers with military backgrounds like Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters. We elect people who have been involved in government since before the Pirates last won a...
Letter to the editor: Not a member? Can’t vote.
If you are not a member of a club, you have no right to vote in its internal elections — i.e., primaries. However, if you are forced to pay for those primaries, you do have a right to vote in them. If the members of one party don’t want people...
Letter to the editor: Strange way to treat God’s creatures
It is a very peculiar use of religion to bless a pack of dogs who are egged on by humans rushing on horses, chasing a fox to utter exhaustion and then watching them tear it apart (“Fox hunting returns to Ligonier Township this weekend.”) If it is a female, its...
Letter to the editor: Trump no messiah; proud to be Democrat
Regarding D.A. Scandrol’s letter “Trump as messiah”: Donald J. Trump should not be interpreted as a messiah. To infer that Trump might be the messiah is an affront to Jews and Christians. Scandrol’s interpretation of Christ’s life on earth as Trump’s life in the political arena is profane and contemptuous....
Letter to the editor: Assault sentence sets bad precedent
Regarding the article “Greensburg man sentenced to 4- 8 years in prison for assaulting 7-year-old”: Regardless if there is a plea agreement or not, 4-8 years in prison and seven years of probation for multiple counts of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old is reaching an all-time low. This sets standards for...
Donald Boudreaux: Does free trade further fuel Beijing’s tyranny?
There’s no shortage of arguments offered up for preventing citizens of a liberal democracy, such as the United States, from trading freely with the subjects of an authoritarian state, such as China. Many of these arguments reflect merely an ignorance of Econ 101. It isn’t true, for example, that low-wage...
Laurels & lances: World Series, sirens, singers
Laurel: To having a long memory. Can you cast yours back far enough to recall when the Pittsburgh Pirates were more than a perennial paperweight for Major League Baseball? This year marks 40 long, long years since the Bucs took Pittsburgh to the big dance and brought home the title...
Lori Falce: Women with 4 jobs exist, O’Reilly
Bill O’Reilly doesn’t think working four jobs is a thing people do. While live-tweeting during the Democratic presidential debate on Tuesday, the former Fox News host dismissed a statement from candidate and former congressman Beto O’Rourke. “Beto says he met a woman working FOUR jobs. And raising a special needs...
Letter to the editor: Hunters will adapt to opening-day change
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has changed the starting day of buck season from the first Monday after Thanksgiving to the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. As a new hunter, I agree with this change. I go to school, and this change will allow me to start hunting on a weekend. It...
Letter to the editor: Thanks to Logan, Weimer for fighting reassessment
Nothing destroys communities faster than ridiculous tax schemes. A big thank-you to Hempfield Township Supervisors Tom Logan and Doug Weimer for continuing to fight the Hempfield Area School District’s predatory property tax reassessment program. Hempfield residents need fear the current school board’s lawyers, as new potential business owners have started...
Letter to the editor: What church would venerate Trump?
I’m not a religious man, but I do believe in God. After reading D.A. Scandrol’s letter “Trump as messiah” (Sept. 20, TribLIVE), I wonder which church or religion would venerate a lying adulterer as its messiah. As for President Trump making America great, it’s only for rich white people. Minorities...
George Will: Progressives too willing to cut constitutional corners
WASHINGTON — Presidential aspirant Beto O’Rourke, thrashing about in an attempt to be noticed, says tax exemptions should be denied to churches and other institutions that oppose same-sex marriage. O’Rourke’s suggestion, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan to tax the “excessive” exercise of a First Amendment right, and the NBA’s...
Colin McNickle: Auction those Pittsburgh property holdings
The City of Pittsburgh should expedite the sale of city-owned property by injecting the marketplace into the process, says a new white paper by the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. “Property could move more rapidly from the city to the general public though an auction,” says Eric Montarti, research director....
Editorial: DEP needs to address hemp smell
New industries will always have growing pains. It shouldn’t be surprising that growing hemp should be experiencing hiccups. After all, growing hemp is something that hasn’t really happened — legally, at least — in Pennsylvania for decades. The namesake of Hempfield Township and Hempfield Area School District may have once...
Letter to the editor: We should care what Trump says, does
I’m glad I’m old. I don’t think we are getting any real economic numbers or truth from President Trump’s administration. Who cares if Trump is making money from his presidency? I don’t care if Trump sells secrets to Russia. Who cares if the very rich and Trump get all the...
Letter to the editor: Kertes will work hard for Westmoreland
I had the privilege of working with Sean Kertes, a candidate for Westmoreland County commissioner, when he was chief deputy in the county treasurer’s office. This young man is wise beyond his years. He was always fair and always had a listening ear. I had to stop working due to...
Letter to the editor: Media’s bias is dangerous
The Democrats have focused on impeaching President Trump with an obsession that seems manic. First collusion, then obstruction of justice. When Robert Mueller’s report did not support their allegations, it made them even more manic. Now we have a telephone call leading to an impeachment inquiry. There is something even...
G. Terry Madonna & Michael Young: Five impeachment myths that matter
Media coverage of possible presidential impeachment dominates the news today as few issues in recent memory. Yet, the constitutional framework that controls impeachment (scattered throughout Articles I, II and III), is little understood by even normally informed Americans. An ancient practice derived from English common law, impeachment was incorporated into...
Pat Buchanan: Is impeachment now inevitable?
“There go the people. I must follow them, for I am their leader,” is a remark attributed to a French politician during the turbulent times of 1848. Joe Biden’s declaration last Wednesday that President Trump should be impeached is in that tradition. Joe is scrambling to get out in front...
Editorial: Enrollment decline a competition problem
Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities need more students. According to a census taken on the 15th day of class at the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools, total enrollment dropped 2.6% from 2018 to 2019. That’s a continuation of a trend. In 2010, there were 119,513 students. Today the number...
Letter to the editor: Trump is no messiah
D.A. Scandrol’s letter “Trump as messiah” (Sept. 20, TribLIVE) disturbed me greatly. How can any human being with an IQ greater than 25 compare Donald Trump to Jesus Christ? Scandrol tries to make a compelling case, but maybe he should be a writer of fiction. Then it wouldn’t matter if...
Letter to the editor: Freeport park beautiful again
I took a ride around Freeport Community Park in June. The last time I did that, many years ago, I was shocked and very sad at what I saw. The once beautiful park was overgrown with weeds; the tennis and basketball courts were in terrible condition. The stonework lining the...
Robert B. Reich: Trump’s foreign policy serves only Trump
The most xenophobic and isolationist American president in modern history has been selling America to foreign powers for his personal benefit. Donald Trump says he withdrew American troops from the Syrian-Turkish border — leaving our Kurdish allies to be slaughtered and opening the way for a resurgent ISIS — because...
Tom Purcell: Bullies are online, but so is help for them & their victims
My sister Kris kicked the tar out of Frankie Leper. It happened in 1972 after Leper, a notorious neighborhood bully, busted up my handmade go-kart, then shoved me into the mud. Sure, Leper was a big kid. But as he stood over me, taunting me, Kris tackled him and pounded...
Jonah Goldberg: Senate GOP’s no-win scenario
In response to news reports Oct. 6 that at least one additional administration whistleblower has come forward to say what he or she knows about President Trump’s Ukrainian schemes, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted, “I’ve seen this movie before — with Brett Kavanaugh. More and more doesn’t mean better...
