Opinion category, Page 366
Letter to the editor: Law has not been applied evenly
During a recent news conference Attorney General Merrick Garland talked about “applying the law evenly.” Perhaps he is suffering from Biden syndrome. Does he not remember that Hillary Clinton destroyed thousands of emails she was told to retain? Does he not remember the emails between Lisa Paige and Peter Strzok?...
Rev. Jesse Jackson: Right to register and vote is not a partisan issue
The right to vote, Dr. Martin Luther King taught in his famous “Give Us the Ballot” address, is one of the “highest mandates of our democratic tradition.” Democracy is founded on the right of citizens to decide via popular, free and fair elections who should represent them. Across the world,...
Gary Franks: Republicans don’t need a ‘Hail Mary pass’ to win the Senate
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, if you cannot win a majority in the U.S. Senate in 2022 with a “hurricane style” wind at your back, the problem rests with the person you see in the mirror. A recent NBC poll reported 74% of Americans feel that the nation is heading...
Colin McNickle: Cutting Pa.’s Corporate Net Income Tax a good start
News that Pennsylvania’s onerous Corporate Net Income Tax (CNIT) will be cut by five percentage points over the next nine years is welcome and long overdue. But the questions writ large are whether the commonwealth can sustain the phasedown, from 9.99% to 4.99%, reduce other business taxes, and enact legislation...
Letter to the editor: Media biased against Republican candidates
In “Doug Mastriano brings gubernatorial campaign to Westmoreland County” (Aug. 12, TribLIVE), the reporter grumbles at the Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate’s refusal to make himself available for interviews. This is part of a growing nationwide boycott among some in the GOP in response to biased coverage by left-leaning news organizations. With...
Letter to the editor: Let’s stop fighting and work together on climate change
Your article, “Biden signs massive climate and health care legislation” (Aug. 16, TribLIVE), was good to see. I cannot stress enough how much investing in Pennsylvania’s future is aligned with fighting climate change. As someone working with businesses and educating future decision-makers, I know how important all efforts to reduce...
Lori Falce: The broken pact of veterans’ health care
I’m thinking a lot about my uncle right now. His funeral is this weekend. I am collecting memories from family members and friends. I am compiling them into the story of a man who wasn’t rich or famous but had the kind of life built on hard work and commitment...
Letter to the editor: Biden keeps taking our money
Hey America, how are ya feeling today? How’s your pocketbook doing? If you say good, I think you’re lying. I’m wondering how people on fixed incomes who voted for Joe Biden are feeling. Every day, he and his administration dream up more ways to take your money. First it was...
Letter to the editor: GOP’s double standards
The hypocrisy of the GOP is astonishing. They talked about Hillary Clinton’s emails ad nauseum. Chants of “lock her up” are still echoed at rallies. The emails discussed innocuous matters already available in the public domain. In other words, the emails contained information that was classified, but the public knew...
Laurels & lances: Back to school, birds and buildings
Laurel: To that time of year. School started this week for many students throughout the region. For others, that first bell is just days away. College students are back in their dorms and heading back to class in universities from Pittsburgh to Greensburg and everywhere else. This could be when...
Todd Carney: Assessing Pa.’s unusual Senate campaign
The Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race has unconventional candidates on both sides. Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz is a Turkish-born television doctor with a history of supporting liberal causes and sketchy health programs. The Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, is close to 7 feet tall and frequently wears a hoodie....
Letter to the editor: When will our leaders address border drug crisis?
It is wonderful that the drug manufacturers will pay $26 billion for a national settlement as a result of the opioid epidemic, but in my opinion, this money will do nothing to combat addiction. When will we address the real cause of this epidemic? I’m sure these addicts are not...
Letter to the editor: Politicians shouldn’t engineer community makeup
I must disagree with letter-writer Dr. Marti Haykin’s logic (“Vote to make Pa. more welcoming,” Aug. 21, TribLIVE). In a free society, people choose where they want to live for various reasons. No one has forced anyone to move in or out of Westmoreland County, and thankfully we’re not planning...
Editorial: Push for Marc Fogel’s release unites right and left
For months, the issue of WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release from captivity in Russia has eclipsed the cases of others. Her fame has garnered her more attention than the case of Paul Whelan, an American held for espionage. It has definitely attracted more attention than the case of Marc Fogel,...
Letter to the editor: ‘Election integrity’ is just voter suppression
Pennsylvania Rep. Eric Nelson’s piece “Pennsylvania is Exhibit A for why election integrity matters” (Aug. 11, TribLIVE) repackages voter suppression as ‘election integrity’ in a coordinated Republican disinformation campaign. See the same talking points from Sen. Kim Ward (“A step toward election integrity in Pa.,” July 24, TribLIVE) Coincidence? Nelson...
Jonah Goldberg: A GOP that can’t grow with Trump, but also can’t grow without him
Well, I was wrong again. For much of the summer, I’d been writing that Donald Trump’s hold on the GOP was shrinking. I thought I was right at the time. But the times changed. Right now, his hold appears to be growing. That’s at least in part because it is...
Garry Pezzano: Let’s continue to support long-term care in Pa.
Thanks to the bipartisan leadership of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf in the last state budget, Pennsylvania took a good first step in support of Pennsylvania’s long-term care industry. In total, Pennsylvania’s 2022-23 budget invests more than $600 million in state and federal funds so that it...
Letter to the editor: Where will Oz live if he loses?
I have a question. If Mehmet Oz loses the election in November, would he remain a committed resident of Pennsylvania, or would he move elsewhere? Richard Patton Franklin Township, Beaver County...
Letter to the editor: Justifying Hempfield’s renovations
It’s interesting that Jeannette’s mayor wants the Jeannette City School District to merge with the Hempfield Area School District now as the Hempfield Area School Board and its out-of-state contractor need to justify spending over $100 million on a school district with a declining population. Does anyone really believe that...
Editorial: Why won’t GOP lawmakers fix the voting law they don’t like?
You can’t get a Democrat and a Republican to agree on much of anything in Pennsylvania — especially when it comes to elections. But, on Friday, a Republican state judge sided with Democrats, including Gov. Tom Wolf, about a pile of contested ballots in three counties. Are they the heavily...
Letter to the editor: Pay legislators what they are worth
Maybe Rep. Eric Davanzo and Sen. Kim Ward like inflation. Their checking accounts sure do: $100,000 a year for what? Our Founding Fathers didn’t envision full-time legislatures. We pay them to fundraise and campaign half the time. Why? We don’t need to reduce the size of the Legislature. We need...
Letter to the editor: Biden destroying our nation
I disagree with letter-writer Leonard Mucci (“Biden has done much good,” Aug. 17, TribLIVE), who wrote that President Joe Biden has done more good than 45 could do in a lifetime as president but never gave examples of Biden’s achievements. In the 19 months since Biden’s inauguration, our country has...
Nathan Picarsic: Time for Taiwan to be called Taiwan
It’s August in Pennsylvania. That means kids across the commonwealth are getting ready to return to school. But a talented few from Hollidaysburg are too busy to sharpen their pencils just yet: They’re in Williamsport chasing dreams in the Little League World Series. Unfortunately, one of their potential competitors, a...
Doug Sprankle: Skill games mean health insurance for my employees
I could tell hundreds of stories I’ve heard of how businesses, along with fraternal clubs and veterans organizations, have benefited in tremendous ways from legal skill games. Instead, I will just tell my story. Sprankle’s Neighborhood Markets is a small family business run by my father, brother and I with...
Mary Sanchez: Every vote in America is now about abortion
The pro-choice jubilation that overtook the state of Kansas is beginning to subside, as all victorious celebrations eventually do. What’s less clear is if the revelers fully grasp that they’re still running against howling headwinds. This is despite the overwhelming support Kansans showed for reproductive rights in the Aug. 2...
