Opinion category, Page 377
Sen. Kim Ward: A step toward election integrity in Pa.
The commonwealth’s 2022-23 budget and legislative package delivered many things for Pennsylvanians, but one of the most significant yet underlooked items was an issue that many Pennsylvanians said mattered most: election integrity. The election integrity package recently put forth in Pennsylvania engages both the legislative and constitutional amendment processes. Through...
Letter to the editor: We need transparency from commissioners on ARP spending
I want to thank the editorial board for addressing the Westmoreland County commissioners’ baseless plan for an opaque monthly rollout of rescue plan money (“Why the cliffhanger American Rescue Plan announcement?” July 14, TribLIVE). The commissioners were giddy to vote for their spending plan July 14. They sighed in relief...
Letter to the editor: Roe v. Wade’s flaws are many
What’s being lost in all the vitriol following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade is a growing awareness that the original 1973 opinion was deeply flawed. In Roe, an activist Warren court created a Maginot Line in the sand that, far from settling a dispute, divided the nation....
Editorial: Quecreek brought us together; it would serve us well to remember that
Pennsylvanians are not the kind of people who do anything in lockstep. We can be tribal. We can be territorial. We are willing to go to war over things such as hockey and football, which university is superior to all others and the best convenience store in the state. We...
Letter to the editor: Pa., not Fla., has the dangerous leaders
In a recent letter, Simon P. Solar warned of the dangerous Gov. Ron DeSantis who deviated from CDC guidance on covid-19 (“DeSantis endangering lives,” July 11, TribLIVE). Apparently, Solar is unaware that the vast majority of the people fleeing to a thriving Florida from blue states don’t agree. While DeSantis...
Letter to the editor: Gun safety shouldn’t be a partisan issue
Many Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers seem to care more about appeasing a minority of their base than protecting their own constituents’ lives. Republicans have persistently blocked and obstructed any legislation or even debate on gun safety bills in Harrisburg. Afraid of a small but vocal portion of their party, they pander...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: A history of presidential cover-ups
Whether you were born during the day or during the night, you weren’t born yesterday or last night, and the Secret Service claims that agents’ text messages before and during the attempted coup of Jan. 6 were inadvertently erased just don’t hold water. The Secret Service told its agents to preserve...
Letter to the editor: It’s the New Ken Bridge
The George D. Stuart Bridge was completed in 1952. No one calls it anything but the Tarentum Bridge. In various locations are signs directing unfamiliar truckers and motorists to the C.L. Schmitt Bridge, raising the question as to how to get to the New Ken Bridge. Please, sign makers in...
Sounding off: Missing real GOP, parents’ and protesters’ rights, sanctity of life
Missing the real Republican Party As a lifelong Democrat, I never thought I’d say this, but I miss the Republican Party. It seems that most Republicans have transmogrified into Trumplicans. Some against their will, I assume. Trumplicans are in full campaign mode all the time, pointing out what they see...
Letter to the editor: We must all help the police keep us safe
Lay a gun on a table. Leave it there for a year. How many people did this gun kill? Guns do not kill people. Guns are not the problem in our society. Watch the news every day. What is being done about all the murders? Nothing, it seems to me....
Editorial: Vaccines work and vaccine waste is a tragedy
In December 2020, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when the day that had been awaited for nine months finally arrived. The first covid-19 vaccines were delivered to hospitals across the country. The first vaccines were delivered into the arms of some of the most at risk: front-line...
Letter to the editor: 401(k) crypto warning was a public service
There is a dirty secret about 401(k)s. As pensions, they are a mess. Companies love them because they vastly reduced company pension contributions while increasing the amount workers had to pay in. Workers were lured into them because 401(k)s allowed withdrawals. But pensions should not be treated as savings accounts;...
S.E. Cupp: Tiptoeing toward a post-Trump America?
In the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election, I was confronted with the same singular question from dozens of cable news hosts, print reporters, podcasters and panel moderators — not to mention the occasional stranger in the grocery store or friend at a party: What happens after Trump?...
Letter to the editor: Republicans seem intent on civil war
The letter from Nicholas S. Haden (“Republicans need to pull together and fight,” July 15, TribLIVE) sounds like a call to arms for Republicans. Considering their party leader could be nearing an indictment for seditious conspiracy, I guess I should consider buying a gun to protect for the coming civil...
Letter to the editor: Did deniers sleep through Jan. 6?
I think letter-writer Dave Fredley must live under a rock or a log (“Jan. 6 committee, what a show,” July 14, TribLIVE). You seem to be a denier,just as President Trump is. All of the damaging testimony that has been given has come from relatives, friends and trusted advisors of...
Lori Falce: Blinded by political party colors
There was a time in my life when I couldn’t tell you the political parties of almost anyone I knew. Parties didn’t define any of those people as much as other things about them. They weren’t Democrats or Republicans. They were teachers, bankers, farmers, electricians, nurses, housewives, mechanics, retirees, students....
Letter to the editor: Hospitals need better system for excessive wait times
My husband recently had to drive me to the emergency room. I have a heart condition that will cause my heart to race and beat erratically. This could result in a blood clot, potentially leading to a stroke. I was asked to sit in the waiting room. I met a...
Letter to the editor: Supreme Court’s decisions correct
I was puzzled by the editorial headline “Does the Supreme Court believe in states’ rights or not?” (June 26, TribLIVE). The author insinuates that the court politically chooses between what is a constitutional right. The court, in reversing Roe and the New York gun law, was both consistent and logical...
Paul Kengor: Signs of the economic times
Last week I rented a car, a standard SUV. I do that often, but this time was very different. The price was shocking. It was $650 to rent from 4:30 p.m. on Friday until 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, before insurance and other costs. I actually didn’t need the car until...
Laurels & lances: Social work, medical bills
Laurel: To a smart thought. The problems of police departments have been an ongoing topic of conversation in the state and across the country — especially in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. While much of the problem-solving has been lost in the fight...
Peter Morici: America needs to take more risks in Ukraine
America will have to take more risks to accomplish its legitimate objectives in Ukraine. We should want the Ukrainian army to push back the Russians to its preinvasion borders. Retaking the Crimea as President Volodymyr Zelensky aspires, is a terribly remote prospect absent direct NATO military engagement. Defense Secretary Lloyd...
Dean McFarlin: Allegheny county executive navigates complex issue with competing constituencies
During a special meeting Tuesday, Allegheny County Council overrode County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s veto of a bill to prohibit new natural gas leases in Allegheny County parks, capping a period of tumultuous negotiating and debate around fracking and drilling issues and what is best for the county. Everyone agrees that...
Letter to the editor: Corporations play by their own rules
Regarding Julia Bojalad’s letter “Stop corporate gouging” (July 1, TribLIVE): Ha, ha. That’s what corporations do, Julia. They’re not legal “fictions” for nothing. I’m not disparaging capitalism here. It works — on the small. Your small businessman, your roofer, plumber, hairdresser and restaurateur actually participate. They also bear most of...
Letter to the editor: America’s downfall
Today, we have no school prayer, God is missing from virtually all public sponsored events, and it’s legal to kill an unborn child. The disrespect of authority is so significant that we hate each other when it’s not our leader in power. We lowered standards to improve performance and raise...
Editorial: Veto not a defeat for Fitzgerald but a victory for people and process
A veto is an important part of the system that limits the power of one office by offering power to another. The system of checks and balances modeled at the federal level and copied by the states and even some local governments is how we keep our leaders from becoming...
