Opinion category, Page 756
Editorial: Westmoreland sheriff’s office raid shows problems
There is a problem in the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office. For the second time, authorities have conducted a raid on the agency. It happened Wednesday morning when state police investigators swooped in, collected documents, questioned people and left two hours later. “It’s not about me this time,” Sheriff Jonathan Held...
Letter to the editor: Farm workers & citizenship
The article “Pennsylvania congressman aims to expand immigrant worker program to dairy farms” (March 19, TribLIVE), which describes the bill to extend H-2A agricultural guest-worker visas to year-round jobs on dairy farms, does not discuss the downsides of the proposal nor a reasonable alternative. The H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker...
Letter to the editor: Clint Hurdle should go
Regarding the headline “Bullpen blows it again as Pirates lose to Nationals” (April 13, TribLIVE): It’s not the bullpen. It’s Clint Hurdle’s handling of the pitching staff. In at least four of the Bucs’ last six losses, Hurdle pulled the starting pitcher who was pitching great and had the lead....
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ Medicare for all
Democrats are using semantics again. They have a new name for national health care: Medicare for all. Eleanor Roosevelt wanted national health care, but her husband had trouble getting his other programs passed by Congress, so the subject was dropped. President Clinton’s national health care system proposal made “War and...
Pat Buchanan: Is Bernie stealing Trump’s ‘no more wars’ issue?
“The president has said that he does not want to see this country involved in endless wars … I agree with that,” Bernie Sanders told the Fox News audience at his April 15 town hall meeting in Bethlehem, Pa. Then, turning and staring straight into the camera, Bernie added: “Mr....
Jonah Goldberg: Mueller report offers little in black and white
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but we live in a time when everything is supposed to be black and white. The weird, incestuous relationship between the media and the political parties incentivizes combatants to take positions on the 1-yard lines, if not in the end zones. But what if — and...
Editorial: Murrysville needs more polling places
If you want people to vote, you can’t make it a challenge. In two Murrysville precincts, there are just too many voters to make showing up at the polls an easy proposition. Newlonsburg has 3,454 registered voters. Sardis has 3,498. That’s almost 7,000 voters — nearly half of Murrysville’s overall...
Letter to the editor: Democrats, do your jobs
I cannot take it any longer! Why, when we have such huge issues at the border of our country, are the Democrats only interested in tax returns? What do tax returns have to do with the proper running of our country, other than digging for more dirt on President Trump?...
Letter to the editor: Praise for Roger Eckels
It has been a great pleasure to watch Mt. Pleasant District Judge Roger Eckels’ service as a judge and advocate (“Veteran Mt. Pleasant District Judge Roger Eckels retires,” March 29, TribLIVE). Eckels always was willing to step forward when needed to volunteer or help in the community. He participated in...
Letter to the editor: Bill Peduto & illegal immigrants
In response to a proposal to relocate illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities, Mayor Bill Peduto has said Pittsburgh would welcome several hundred (“Peduto: Sending immigrant detainees to Pittsburgh not a punishment,” April 12, TribLIVE). Come on, Bill, you can do better than several hundred. You offered a huge pile of...
Michael Hiltzik: Surprise! Social Security has gotten healthier
The crux of the conservative attack on Social Security in recent years has been the claim that the program is on an unbroken path to insolvency. Monday’s release of the Social Security trustees’ annual report knocks a pillar out from under that campaign, for it shows that the program actually...
Tom Purcell: ‘Trading up’: Daughters, sons can build careers debt-free
This Thursday is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, the one day every year when young people can learn — in person — about the work world of their parents or mentor. This year, more young people are showing interest in the trades — with good reason. According...
Editorial: Casey’s call for DNC debate makes electoral sense
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, is right. The Democratic Party should hold one of what promises to be a plethora of primary debates in Pennsylvania. The Keystone State will undoubtedly be a keystone in the 2020 presidential election. It usually is. Americans have gone to the polls to pick a...
Letter to the editor: How will we pay for freebies?
Ready to go on a date 50 years ago, I would ask my father for $5. He would reply, “Go out to the back yard and pick it off the trees.” I of course would respond, “Dad, there’s no money on the trees.” Which naturally brings us to the famous...
Letter to the editor: Put whole milk in schools
Getting whole milk back in our schools cannot be considered a political issue. We must get whole milk back in our schools for our children’s’ sake. It’s important that their bodies and their developing brains have real whole milk. The good news is that U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Howard,...
Letter to the editor: Expose fracking dangers
Recent reporting reveals Attorney General Josh Shapiro investigating the shale industry for “environmental crimes” committed by the oil and gas industry in Washington County and other areas. Residents have long complained of fracking causing water and air pollution, illness and dead animals. And such complaints have long gone unanswered by...
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 22
Editorial cartoons for the week of April 22....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of April 22
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of April 22....
Patricia Murphy: Trump’s warning you: The socialists are coming!
Meet “socialist,” the hardest-working word in politics in 2019. The single word has helped upstart Democrats attract young and social-curious potential voters, given the paddles of life to desperate-for-a-cause conservatives, and led President Trump to an early and effective way to frame the re-election battle he wants to have with...
Letter to the editor: Bill Peduto, Pittsburgh officials should be charged
I must heartily disagree with your editorial “Prosecuting Peduto for gun ban is wrong move” that said Pittsburgh politicians should not be charged criminally in their ploy to win votes by passing an illegal ordinance. I saw several of the egotists state they were aware it would be against both...
Letter to the editor: Donald Trump as prince
As the Christian world celebrates the resurrection of the Prince of Peace, our country is in the grip of a different kind of prince. This prince has waged war against anything Obama, United Nations, NATO, Muslims, immigrants, environment and the rule of law. He has slashed vehicle fuel efficiency regulations;...
Letter to the editor: McCain military hero, political nothing
As a proud veteran of the Korean War and former Republican for many years, I find remarks by letter-writer Joe Palumbo (“Where’s outrage over Trump’s McCain comments?”) typical of Democrats who still can’t accept that Trump won. Can you imagine what our country would be like had John McCain or...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump’s bullying threatens international relationships
A “war of all against all” is how English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes described the natural state that society would be reduced to without the modulating force of government. Hobbes believed that a lack of authority would lead every man to believe that he “has a right to every thing,”...
Cal Thomas: Congress & consequences of sanctuary cities
In the category of Mad magazine’s “scenes we’d like to see” comes President Trump’s threat to transport migrants to cities and states that have declared themselves sanctuaries. Apparently he thinks such a move would force Democrats in Congress who represent these places to vote to fund the wall along our...
Mark Reynolds & Hilary Schenker: Earth Day call to action on climate
As Americans observe Earth Day today, let’s take a moment to reflect on the power of the grassroots movement behind that first celebration in 1970, which led to dramatic changes that improved the quality of our lives through cleaner air and water. Shocked by the massive oil spill that fouled...
