Opinion category, Page 729
Jonah Goldberg: Unity can be worse than partisanship
I want to put in a good word for partisanship. This might sound strange to some readers. I’ve written a lot about our problem with tribalism, including hyper-partisanship and political polarization. It was a major theme of my cheerily titled book “Suicide of the West.” So I’m happy to concede...
Tom Purcell: Elderly scams on the rise
A phone scammer made a mistake when he called my mother. The young male caller pretended to be her grandson. He said he’d been arrested for fishing on an Indian reservation — unaware he was breaking the law — and needed bail money so a judge wouldn’t throw him in...
Editorial: We all live in drug neighborhoods
A drug buy is the kind of thing that could happen anywhere. It doesn’t have to be a crack house. Money doesn’t just change hands in dark alleys and abandoned warehouses. There isn’t just one kind of neighborhood where people have drug problems. The July 23 shooting at Northland Center...
Letter to the editor: Immigrants are a valuable resource
Today’s immigrants to the United States come for the same reason that your and my ancestors did. They want to work and enjoy freedom from fear and oppression. They work and pay taxes. They start new businesses at a far greater rate than native born Americans. (Half again greater, according...
Letter to the editor: ‘Medicare for all’ is political folly
I am over 65, and Medicare is my primary medical insurance provider. Approximately one year ago, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (Stage 2). My chosen medical team from a large regional medical care provider put together a comprehensive program of care. The full retail cost of my treatment to...
Letter to the editor: Not all aides work just for paycheck
I work part time as a home health aide. Yes, there are aides that use the job as an easy paycheck. There are also employees like me who go above and beyond. For instance last year, a new client of mine was in the emergency room and my shift was...
Editorial cartoons for the week of July 29
Editorial cartoons for the week of July 29....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of July 29
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of July 29....
S.E. Cupp: Republican Party owns all of Trump, not just parts they like
When we talk about people or a party being on the wrong side of history, it usually requires some hindsight, a position of informed advantage to see clearly missteps that were less clear at the time of events. Not so now, with today’s modern Republican Party and its utter cowardice...
Mitchel Nickols: Making decisions as we age
My childhood pastor in Aliquippa, the late Rev. Asa W. Roberts Sr., used to often say at funerals, “The only way not to get old is to die young.” Both he and his father lived into their 90s. The same is true for my mother-in-law, Magnolia Combs of Brackenridge, who...
Letter to the editor: Role of trees, forests in Western Pa. flooding
Regarding Bob Bauder’s article “What’s causing Route 28 to flood? PennDOT might have found the reason”: I would urge your readers to consider the role that deforestation and poor forest management plays in flooding and landslide events locally. Our steep terrain is stabilized by tree roots, and rainwater is captured...
Letter to the editor: Children are pawns in border crisis
For months our president has been warning of the mass exodus to our southern border. He used the word “invasion” and the liberals took it literally. Invasion can mean “an unwelcome intrusion into another’s domain,” like my home has been invaded by termites. The Democrats turned it into a political...
Letter to the editor: Irish, Italians & proud Americans
“Micks” and “dagos” were ethnic slurs, but my father was proud to be called a mick and so am I. The Irish and Italians built this country with their labor. They dug coal in mines to fuel our country to greatness, and built and worked the railroads that expanded commerce....
Letter to the editor: Shame on Megan Rapinoe
It was with great pride that I watched the U.S. women’s soccer team defeat England’s team for the world championship. And then we saw the team’s captain, Megan Rapinoe, shame herself and her team by refusing an invitation to visit the White House to receive our president’s congratulations on behalf...
William Gamble: Black police recruiting requires resources
“Black arrests up, police recruits down” (July 20, TribLIVE) was one of the most positive editorials I have seen to address crime in black communities, if understood and taken in the right light. For the past 30 years I have been working with local police departments and local officials conducting...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: The Frank Costanza campaign strategy
“Serenity now!” That was Frank Costanza’s mantra in a 1997 episode of “Seinfeld.” Frank, who learned the anger management device from self-help tapes, used the phrase anytime he felt that life had gone off the rails and his blood pressure was rising. Instead of softly repeating “serenity now,” Frank shouted...
Sean Brady: Trump is right about Chinese IP theft
Between a professor of economics at a prestigious university and President Trump, who should you trust to choose his words carefully, check his sources and quote reliable figures? The answer might surprise you. Case in point: George Mason University Professor Donald Boudreaux’s recent op-ed “Chinese IP ‘theft’ doesn’t justify Trump’s...
Editorial: Nobody puts Facebook in a corner
How do you punish a company that is bigger than a country? How do you control an industry that evolves at light speed? Can you? The Federal Trade Commission tried last week. Facebook was hit with a $5 billion fine on Wednesday. That’s a huge number. As individuals, it’s hard...
Sounding off: Alternatives to accruing college debt
I understand that the op-ed “Plan would slash higher-education costs” is all about debt. It is not about paying off debt, merely getting out from under debt at the expense of someone. Me, I’m a taxpayer. If you owe the government at whatever level and you don’t pay, I do....
Letter to the editor: Politicians’ oath is to Constitution
Will we make it to 2021? OK … many people support President Trump, but this has now moved in a very scary direction. I beg of everyone to reject the idea that citizens — especially elected citizens — should leave the country if they don’t agree with things our country/current...
Letter to the editor: American dream needs borders
There’s no American dream without a border. It marks the beginning of differences between what’s inside the boundary and what’s outside. Some of those differences are opportunities, some are the laws designed to protect the people within. Without laws, a person’s assets might easily be exploited or stolen by others....
Cal Thomas: End immigration to mend it
For safety reasons, fire marshals control the number of people who can occupy a building at any one time. We’ve seen what happens when crowds get too large and a fire breaks out, causing panic and often death. So why not control the crowd illegally entering America? We control water...
Letter to the editor: Turnpike Commission’s math is off
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission approved a 6% toll hike (“Turnpike commission hikes tolls for 12th straight year — and will until 2044,” July 16, TribLIVE). However, the increase from $1.40 to $1.50 is 7.1%, and the increase from $2.30 to $2.50 is 8.7%. So this is really almost an average...
Walter Williams: Solution to high-crime rates rests with black people
Let’s think about priorities. Say that you live in one of the dangerous high-crime and poor-schooling neighborhoods of cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit or St. Louis. Which is most important to you: doing something about public safety and raising the quality of education or, as most black politicians do, focusing...
John Stossel: The negatives of raising minimum wage
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign was disrupted by campaign workers demanding the same $15 per hour Sanders demands government force all employers to pay. It serves him right. Years ago, the activist group ACORN faced the same problem. After fighting for a higher minimum wage, they tried to convince a...
