Opinion category, Page 755
Eric Dean: Compulsory licensing could kill research, construction jobs
Across the country, scientists are developing roughly 4,000 experimental drugs. They’re developing these potential breakthroughs in laboratories meticulously constructed by union tradesmen and women. These labs are the best in the world, thanks in no small part to these skilled craft workers. My organization, North America’s Building Trades Unions, spends...
Terry O’Sullivan & Stephen Sandherr: Immigration fix & Pennsylvania’s construction crisis
While Congress has long signaled that a legislative fix for a group of immigrants could come soon, it can’t be soon enough for the thousands of affected Pennsylvanians and the industries in which they work. Currently more than 5,000 immigrants with Temporary Protected Status reside and work in Pennsylvania, and...
Jonah Goldberg: Democratic leadership can’t find its backbone on impeachment
“Do you think this is impeachable?” Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press,” asked Rep. Jerrold Nadler about the findings in the report by special counsel Robert Mueller. The congressman from New York replied, “Yeah, I do. I do think this, if proven, if proven … some of this would...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Look to Ukraine to survive two more years of Trump
When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that Donald Trump is “just not worth” the trouble and division that would be caused by an attempt to impeach him, she was doing more than just throwing shade at Trump. There are good governmental reasons to avoid the national ordeal of...
Lynn Banaszak: The Girls Scouts leadership pipeline
I fondly remember the afternoons with my Girl Scout troop in our elementary school cafeteria, laughing, learning and growing. I earned many badges, but more importantly, I gained a sense of accomplishment, explored different perspectives about the world, developed a commitment to community and forged lasting friendships. I count those...
Editorial: Prison voting is Sanders’ slippery slope
The slope’s not that slippery, Bernie. Both the federal and Pennsylvania governments are making admirable progress in criminal justice reform. They are finding new ways to structure sentences. They’re changing mandatory minimums. They’re giving people who have served their sentences Clean Slate laws that make it easier to not just...
Sounding off: College isn’t for all students
I would like to thank Tom Davidson for his article “Pittsburgh region has thousands of job opportunities, Builders Guild says”. Although I am a retired educator, I have always felt that college is not the answer for everyone. I believe the problem is that parents do not agree with this...
Letter to the editor: Skilled trades ‘blue-collar college’
Kudos to Tom Purcell for acknowledging the skilled trades in his column ‘Trading up’: Daughters, sons can build careers debt-free”. High school guidance counselors need to recognize the “other college”: Labor unions are the other option for obtaining the American Dream, without going into debt. Research shows that not only...
Letter to the editor: Irwin drivers, not residents, the worst
Regarding the article “Irwin-area drivers are Pennsylvania’s worst, survey finds” (April 12, TribLIVE): It is Irwin drivers, not necessarily Irwin residents, who are the state’s worst drivers, according to this survey. The Irwin exit from the turnpike is awful. Drivers have a yield sign, and they do not yield. After...
Letter to the editor: Thanks to all who Race for Grace
On April 6, 2,094 runners and walkers were treated to gorgeous spring weather at the 12th annual Race For Grace. As 450 volunteers ensured this spectacular event operated as a well-oiled machine, hundreds of spectators and supporters enjoyed a day of activities for all ages. Norwin High School was packed...
Walter Williams: Brett Kavanaugh & George Mason University snowflakes
George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School hired Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh to co-teach a summer course called Creation of the Constitution. The course will be held 3,668 miles away, in Runnymede, England, where the Magna Carta was sealed 800 years ago. Some GMU students and faculty have...
John Stossel: Our green dreams need better resources
The Green New Deal’s goal is to move America to zero carbon emissions in 10 years. “That’s a goal you could only imagine possible if you have no idea how energy is produced,” James Meigs, former editor of Popular Mechanics magazine, says. “Renewable is so inconsistent,” he adds. “You can’t...
Editorial: Gas tax covers police for areas that won’t
Pennsylvanians pay 57.6 cents per gallon in gas tax, the highest in the country. With prices ranging from $2.94 to $3.15, that means about 18% to 20% of what we pay at the pump isn’t paying for what goes into the tank. It goes to Harrisburg, where it’s supposed to...
Letter to the editor: Hate in America is sad
Does anyone else look around and think that Make America Great Again is more like Make America Hate Again? Does it seem like somebody against somebody and nobody standing with nobody? Isn’t it exhausting and sad? Think how lucky babies are when they are born. They don’t hate, and they...
Letter to the editor: Middle-class happiness
Bernie Sanders and his ilk apparently can’t believe that middle-class people are satisfied with a modest life; a job to provide a modest dwelling to own and enjoy; being able to pay necessary bills; eating as well as they desire; accessible health care; a little left over for fun and...
Letter to the editor: Cable-bill woes
I agree with letter-writer Mary Ann Buffer (”Let’s cancel cable,” March 5, TribLIVE). Two years ago, I bundled my phone, TV and internet with Comcast and was told it would cost $122 per month. I have never been billed, or paid, only $122 per month. My first monthly bill was...
Lori Falce: Give 2020 election an NFL Draft makeover
All over America, people are doing their research and looking at needs versus wants and paying attention to trends and a final goal and assessing the pool of potential that could get the job done. And unfortunately almost none of that has to do with the 2020 presidential election. Nope,...
Laurels & lances: Voting, truth and rebuilding
Laurel: To party being less important than community. The Murrysville-Export Republican and Democratic clubs have worked together this year to garner 85 signatures necessary on a petition filed in Westmoreland Common Pleas Court seeking an order to redraw the Sardis and Newlonsburg precincts. The community hopes splitting each of those...
Nancy French: Romney wasn’t Christian enough for some Republicans. Somehow, Trump still is.
When Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, ran for president in the 2008 GOP primary, many evangelical Christian voters were reluctant - putting it mildly - to support him, because of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One of Romney’s opponents, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, exploited...
Letter to the editor: We’ll have Trump for 4 more years
The Democratic Party has no one who can match President Trump. The man has done more as president than any other president except Ronald Reagan. Joe Biden is a big joke. How was he ever elected to Congress? Do we need people like Maxine Waters and Biden? Over the years...
Letter to the editor: Government should manage water runoff
Regarding the articles “Storm water strategies to be shared in Latrobe” (April 11, TribLIVE) and “Public hearing scheduled to discuss flood plan for Westmoreland County” (April 14, TribLIVE), about controlling rainwater runoff: It doesn’t matter what local paper I read, the suggestions from experts from various organizations are all the...
Letter to the editor: Perplexed by Congress, more
As I read and hear the news, I find several items to be perplexing. Can anyone help? Instead of passing legislation to address important issues, Congress is passing nonbinding “resolutions.” Why are they wasting time and money on resolutions and not legislating? There is a lot of opposition to a...
Paul Kengor: Dr. Thomas Starzl and the burden of genius
Last week, I joined a packed auditorium in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center for the debut of a fascinating new documentary, “Burden of Genius.” The subject is Dr. Thomas Starzl, pioneer of organ transplantation, who pursued that revolution in medicine at Presbyterian University Hospital and Children’s Hospital, which were connected together...
George Will: Politicians have no qualms about borrowing from the future
WASHINGTON Pursed lips and clucked tongues signaled disapproval among the wise and responsible when, at a recent televised event, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the “democratic socialist” from Vermont, did not plausibly explain how he would pay for “Medicare for All.” The remarkable thing, however, is the quaint expectation that any political...
S.E. Cupp: Bernie Sanders’ secret: He’s a political insider
There’s good news and bad news for Bernie Sanders. The bad news is, 2020 is proving to be a lot more work than 2016 was. He’s no longer just a protest candidate who can dodge the demands of running for president in favor of vague promises and canned speeches. The...
