Opinion category, Page 502
Letter to the editor: Which lives matter?
Regarding the article “Wolf again vows to veto any bills that limit abortion access in Pa.” (June 11, TribLIVE): Guess Gov. Tom Wolf doesn’t believe Black Lives Matter. In 2019, Black people made up just 12% of the U.S. population but accounted for 38% of the reported 889,000 abortions that...
Letter to the editor: No dignity from Biden, either
Letter-writer Ed Svitek states that it’s “Biden’s job to restore our dignity” (June 10, TribLIVE) and writes about lies by President Trump and Republicans. When a person makes a false statement, it could be because he or she does not have all the facts; when a person lies, he or...
Editorial: Don’t fall for a phony ‘forensic audit’ of 2020 election
How long does the 2020 presidential election need to haunt Pennsylvania politics? Almost seven months after the polls closed in November, the state is still being harangued by questions of whether or not to count the ballots yet again. Former President Trump — who lost Pennsylvania and then the White...
Letter to the editor: Thanks for helping Alle-Kiski kids
As the co-founder of Project SEED, I would like to extend a sincere thank-you for the tremendous support and generosity we have received from so many individuals, businesses, clubs and organizations in the Alle-Kiski Valley and beyond. We just completed our eighth year of providing food to hungry children in...
Joe Bell: Ongoing trade war limits recovery for U.S. businesses
With vaccination rates increasing and businesses reopening across the country, there’s good reason for optimism. Businesses that have struggled to survive the challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. For businesses across the nation, however, there is still a big...
Letter to the editor: Yielding our rights to government
Did Joe Biden leave out the word “don’t” before “yield”? This is from an official transcript of his remarks after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16: “I told him that, unlike other countries, including Russia, we’re uniquely a product of an idea. You’ve heard me say this...
Letter to the editor: Politicizing the Eucharist
How dare the bishops politicize the Eucharist (“U.S. Catholic bishops OK steps toward possible rebuke of Biden,” June 18, TribLIVE). Their proposed “teaching document” is aimed directly at Joe Biden. What about politicians who support the death penalty? What about divorced Catholic politicians, such as twice-divorced Newt Gingrich? What about...
Letter to the editor: More reasons for high turnpike tolls
Professor Paul Kengor’s column “Highway robbery on the Pa. Turnpike” (June 10, TribLIVE) criticizes the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for raising toll fees despite the cost savings resulting from eliminating over 500 tollbooth workers and substituting E-ZPass and Toll by Plate. Kengor fails to mention that the turnpike has been required...
Editorial: The dual good causes of local fire departments
Volunteer fire companies play two valuable roles in most Pennsylvania communities. First, they are an irreplaceable service. They do more than douse flames, as if that wouldn’t be enough. They rush into emergencies that aren’t burning buildings. They respond to car crashes and natural disasters. They save us from acts...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Right to bear arms does not extend to Black people
Conservatives have a special purgatory for uppity Black women who dare question America’s founding myths. New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones — her Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project” centralized slavery in America’s origin story, a heresy that inspired laws banning her work from classrooms — now lives there. And she’s about...
Letter to the editor: Climate change and cold weather
It’s supposed to get (relatively) cold the evening of June 22. Low in the 40s. Probably not as cold as the all-time cold for the date, 42, set in … 1988. The reason that’s interesting is that later in the summer of 1988, Pixburg had its longest and hottest stretch...
Letter to the editor: Can Harris stop the scabs in Pittsburgh?
Isn’t it great that Madam Vice President visited our fair city? I was hoping she would be able to stem the influx of undocumented non-union scab workers who are swimming across the Mon! Andy Shubik Stoystown...
Pat Buchanan: Will bishops deny Biden Communion?
Last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 168-55, more than 3-1, to provide new guidance for receiving Holy Communion. Behind the decision? Bishops’ alarm that the public religious practice of President Joe Biden is conveying a heretical message to the faithful and the nation. At Sunday Mass, Biden...
Letter to the editor: Not all charter schools are high quality
There were some assertions and questions in the letter “Wolf cutting charter school lifeline” (June 11, TribLIVE) that warrant a response. Public schools have greater costs per student than charters, and during covid, there were zero days to prepare. Existing deficits already had tightened budgets, and unlike charters, huge cash...
Editorial: Holding university funding hostage won’t solve this impasse
We depend on our leaders to fix problems when they are presented. Whether it is a state of emergency in the face of a hurricane or recognizing a new kind of fraud and declaring it a crime, the people we elect to run our government need to find ways to...
Letter to the editor: Gerrymandering needs to end
The fight to end gerrymandering in Pennsylvania is in trouble. This legislative session’s anti-gerrymandering bill has been stalled in committee after being introduced more than 100 days ago, then considered at one initial hearing. This bill responds to the 70% of Pennsylvanians who want gerrymandering to end. Months of citizen...
Tom Purcell: Learning dignity for $1 an hour
They called me “The Trail Blazer,” Good Buddy. That was my citizens band radio handle in the summer of 1977, when the hit movie “Smokey and the Bandit” created a CB craze and millions of kids like me dreamed of getting one. Much to my surprise, my father permitted me...
Nathan Benefield: With $7 billion windfall, Pa. should focus on jobs, students
Every year, Pennsylvania enacts a 1,000-page budget, full of obscure spending rules and indecipherable earmarks. Yet it’s arguably the most important vote legislators take each year because it determines our state government’s priorities for the next year. This year’s budget talks face a rare challenge: What to do with an...
Letter to the editor: Why the hatred for Republicans?
Letter-writer Edward Svitek (“Biden’s job to restore our dignity” (June 10, TribLIVE) reminds me of my departed grandmother (RIP, Grandma): They both hate/hated Republicans with a passion, but can’t/couldn’t present a valid true reason why. That’s why many years ago I registered as an independent, considering both sides of a...
Letter to the editor: Pa. Republicans aiming to suppress votes
During the four years of the Trump administration, the general public was subject to claims that the Democrats could not let go of the fact that they lost the election. In hypocritical fashion, we are now being inundated with equally false claims that the election was rigged, stolen or otherwise...
Editorial: Westmoreland Transit making right moves to bring back passengers
The federal CARES Act funding passed in 2020 was meant to do more than just provide stimulus checks to families and loan money to keep businesses writing paychecks. It also was about keeping necessary services from closing down. The Westmoreland County Transit Authority will be making use of that to...
Letter to the editor: No politics in sports
Who would ever have thought they would see the day the MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL would move from being politically neutral to the progressive left? They must now bear the descriptive title of “professional sports and social justice organizations.” We are not privy to the reasoning behind Major League...
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 21
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of June 21....
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 21
Editorial cartoons for the week of June 21....
Jonah Goldberg: Concept of antiracism leaves no room for dissent
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” I’ve long argued that this exhortation is a soft form of totalitarianism. It’s rhetorical bullying. The speaker assumes he or she has authoritative knowledge of not just the problem but the solution. And if you disagree, you’re a...
