Opinion category, Page 749
Letter to the editor: Stopping school shootings
The NRA called yesterday. It was my choice not to answer the phone; however, yesterday was different. I was listening to the news regarding the Colorado school shooting and firsthand accounts from students. I opted to answer the phone knowing it was the NRA. I asked how could they call...
George Will: Blaine paid steep price for bigotry, but children shouldn’t have to
WASHINGTON — Republican James G. Blaine (1830-1893) was a House speaker, senator and two-time secretary of State, but he is remembered, if at all, for this doggerel: “Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine/ the continental liar from the state of Maine.” His lasting legacy, however, is even more disreputable than his...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Joe Biden may be antidote for those sick of fighting
“I think if you look at Joe’s record, and you look at my record, I don’t think there’s much question about who’s more progressive,” Bernie Sanders recently said on ABC’s “This Week.” And, if that’s how America sees it, that could be a good thing for Joe Biden as he...
Antony Davies & James Harrigan: Peduto’s equity office more business as usual
Mayor Bill Peduto is rebranding the city’s Bureau of Neighborhood Empowerment. It will henceforth be known as the Office of Equity, and will be headed by a chief equity officer. This sounds all well and good, but raises a number of questions, not the least of which is what kinds...
G. Terry Madonna & Michael Young: Choices overwhelming for Pennsylvania voters
Government in Pennsylvania can seem underwhelming sometimes: The lack of a responsive Legislature comes to mind, as does a baffling irrational and inefficient tax system, an indifferently maintained highway system, and a structural framework better fitted to the 19th century than the 21st. But there is one arena where the...
David Hickton: Don’t nickel & dime Pennsylvania’s democracy
The front lines of today’s cyberwarfare battles are not just at Fort Meade. They are in Allegheny County’s Elections Division. And in Erie County. And Butler County. And Indiana County. And all across Pennsylvania. Our elections — and the integrity of your vote — are under threat from nation-state adversaries....
Sounding off: Not vaccinating has consequences
Many readers, politicians and media types do not understand that freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. Yes, we live in a country with many freedoms and the right to exercise those freedoms. But there are consequences, both good and bad, for exercising those freedoms. Colin Kaepernick exercised...
Editorial: Trickle-up voting can change government
The message is the same before every primary, and every general election. Get out and vote. It’s important. It’s how our system functions. We need to have voters participate in order to have representative government. The people who make the decisions have to be the ones who the voters have...
Letter to the editor: Remembering Tim Conway
I had the privilege and thrill of attending a “Carol Burnett Show” reunion show taping in Hollywood in August 2001. The whole cast was assembled, including the beloved Tim Conway, one of the great comedians of our day. My wife and I managed to be seated in the front row....
Letter to the editor: Thanks for helping Stamp Out Hunger
Stamp Out Hunger Westmoreland County Food Bank appreciates all the hard work by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) during the 27th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive held May 11 across the nation. We recognize that it is not easy for them to deliver mail and collect food...
Letter to the editor: With abortion outlawed, who will take care of the babies?
“Heartbeat ban” is an attempt to outlaw abortion. At least 15 states to date are trying to enact laws that ban abortion as early as six weeks of gestation or when a heartbeat can be heard. Most women don’t even know they are pregnant six weeks into a pregnancy. My...
Walter Williams: Fixing higher education in America
Richard Vedder’s new book, “Restoring the Promise,” published by the Independent Institute based in Oakland, Calif., is about the crisis in higher education. Vedder, distinguished professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University, summarizes the three major problems faced by America’s colleges and universities. First, our universities “are vastly too expensive,...
John Stossel: Sex ‘trafficking’ panic
When police charged New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft with soliciting prostitution, the press said the police rescued sex slaves. “They were women who were from China, who were forced into sex slavery,” said Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show.” We’re told this happens all the time. “Human trafficking is...
Letter to the editor: Murrysville-Export GOP not endorsing
If you received an envelope in your mailbox this month with “2019 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTER GUIDE — URGENT OPEN” in place of the return address — beware! This mailing from “Conservative Friends” is misleading voters into thinking it came from the Murrysville Export Republican Committee. The committee is not endorsing...
Editorial: Gov. Tom Wolf staff salary increases set tone, raise eyebrows
Everybody loves getting a raise. You might wait all year, have your review, get a gold star and be told, yes, you are valuable. You are worth another 3% in your paycheck. After Gov. Tom Wolf was re-elected, some of his staff got a taste of that experience. About a...
Letter to the editor: Hempfield voters will have say
Still stunned by outrageous property assessment challenges by the Hempfield Area School Board targeting individual homeowners, I thought that there is no better time to revisit the topic than now. Hempfield homeowners were set upon by bounty hunters (actually attorneys, but why argue semantics?) hired by a majority of the...
Letter to the editor: Donate to charity instead of politicians
I have a novel idea. Instead of donating to a politician, why don’t we donate that money to a charity? This way the politicians will be able to do their jobs instead of prostituting themselves for campaign donations. If we donate to charities, maybe cancer could be cured or the...
Letter to the editor: Will Westmoreland well testing lead to tax?
I suppose I should be encouraged that the county would be so concerned with the quality of my well that they will spend $250,000 in federal money to establish a “baseline” for private wells throughout the county (“Westmoreland County could be region’s first to get water wells tested by feds,”...
Donald Boudreaux: What if real wars were fought like trade wars?
Uncle Sam and Beijing are now waging a full-blown trade war against each other. But trade wars are very different than real wars — you know, the violent struggles in which belligerents on one side try to kill and maim belligerents on the other side, and often also to seize...
Letter to the editor: Doug Weimer lives by Scout Oath
The Boy Scout Oath and Law have been lived by over 2 million young people who have become Eagle Scouts since the founding of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Doug Weimer, running for Hempfield Township supervisor, became an Eagle Scout and continues to live by the principles of...
Lori Falce: What can Brown v. Board of Education do for you?
It’s a question that has been asked of many judicial nominees in recent years. “Is Brown v. the Board of Education settled law?” More surprising than the question is the lack of answer. Lately, what has always been a softball is being bounced on the fingertips like a hot potato....
Laurels & lances: Music, mistakes, reeling and ruling
Laurel: To a real disc jockey. The kind who remembers not just pushing buttons, but spinning vinyl. There will be one fewer of those on the air waves after July 31. That’s when WDVE’s Sean McDowell will retire. Good for him and his 40-plus years behind the microphone. Sad for...
Letter to the editor: Jon Wian will be an advocate
As a licensed title agent and the Westmoreland County treasurer, I am casting my vote for Jon Wian for Westmoreland County recorder of deeds. Wian’s long list of credentials gives voters the opportunity to have someone with industry knowledge leading one of the most used offices in the county. Wian...
Letter to the editor: Vaccine curiosity
I find it curious that every time there is an outbreak of flu, chicken pox or the latest — measles — there is an accompanying alarm and outcry for vaccination — not, interestingly enough, from the people who have not been vaccinated and are supposedly at great risk, but instead...
George Will: Ex-Im bank & the essence of socialism
WASHINGTON Briefly suspending their warnings about the rising tide of socialism, a large majority of Senate Republicans recently joined with almost all their Democratic colleagues in affirming the essence of socialism, which is government allocation of capital. The Senate’s revival of the Export-Import Bank is a redundant reminder that the...
