Opinion category, Page 525
Editorial: Pandemic rent relief is welcome, but a band-aid
Fixing the coronavirus pandemic might start with a covid-19 vaccine, but the shot isn’t a light switch that turns back the dark with a flick. By the same token, the progress toward correcting the economic impact of the pandemic isn’t going to respond to the push of a button either....
Letter to the editor: Self-denial seen in Trump signs
In response to Rick Tatano’s letter “Keep Trump signs up” (April 11, TribLIVE): Yes, please do keep them up. Show Americans how you are self-denying. Show real Americans how you still follow a man who would try to do anything to be president — as far as suggesting a coup....
Stephanie Catarino Wissman: Pennsylvanians could pay more under Wolf’s proposed severance tax plan
For the seventh straight year, Gov. Tom Wolf is proposing a new tax on the state’s natural gas producers — and ultimately on Pennsylvanians. This year’s severance tax plan, like the others before it, could undermine the production of natural gas — which about half of American households rely on...
Letter to the editor: Morality of gun control vs. abortion
In his letter “Gun violence prevention laws effective and a moral imperative”, Rev. Vincent Kolb laments mass shootings and states “anyone with compassion who values human life should be morally outraged by our society’s refusal to prevent this slaughter.” Someone should ask him about the morality of the 60 million...
Letter to the editor: Misconceptions on vaccines, Biden, voter rights
Recent letters to the editor have blamed the poor inoculation progress in Westmoreland County on not having a health department and the county commissioners. I believe the fault lies solely at the state level. It doesn’t matter whether a county had a health department; none knew when, or how much,...
Letter to the editor: GOP’s racism
Republican efforts to restrict voting rights and widespread attacks on people of color and immigrants are symptomatic of many white Americans’ attitudes promulgated, in my opinion, by none other than Donald J. Trump. Sadly, his racist legacy lives on and will continue for many years. It is this nonsensical idea...
Letter to the editor: Frustrated with Biden
Regarding the letter “Disagree with election results? Return stimulus checks”: I do disagree with the presidential election results, and I would send my stimulus check back but for the following reasons: 1. I work and have paid taxes for 57 years, so I believe it is my money to begin...
Rich Fitzgerald: Portable benefits system would protect gig workers
As we turn the past year, and look ahead to a better 2021, it’s also time to continue to build on our strengths, which became all the more evident during this pandemic. Our southwest Pennsylvania region has a diverse economy and has been fortunate to see growth in both traditional...
Jonah Goldberg: Future of the GOP may hinge on Florida
You know all those “Florida Man” stories? “Florida man arrested for throwing alligator through drive-thru window,” “Florida man learns the hard way he stole laxatives, not opioids,” etc.? There are several theories for why Florida men stand out so much, starting with Florida is just weird. The most interesting involves...
Editorial: The vaccine process depends on maintaining public trust
On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the investigation of six reports of blood clots in women who had been administered the Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccine. This isn’t a reason to be alarmed so much as proof that the system...
Letter to the editor: Mariah Fisher will work for good of all constituents
This time we have a choice. On May 18, a special election will be held to elect the representative of the 59th District of the Pennsylvania House. All registered voters can vote in this election — Republicans, Democrats and independents — and they can vote by mail or in person....
Letter to the editor: Doug Chew is wrong on mail-in voting
Eric Falk was right to call out Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew’s Senate testimony as one-sided and misleading in his op-ed (“Not all Westmoreland residents want mail-in voting eliminated,” March 29, TribLIVE). As a county resident, I was proud and happy to vote by mail in 2020. Current voter suppression...
Letter to the editor: Politicians working together can save lives
Would you agree that 12 weeks could be a lifetime during a pandemic? It has been about 12 weeks since President Biden took office. More than 150 million shots of vaccine have been administered to people. Just imagine how many people would have been vaccinated if, in the approximately 12-week...
Pat Buchanan: Vaccine patriotism vs. vaccine globalism
When the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines first proved their efficacy, preventing nearly 95% of coronavirus infections in those who got the shots in test trials, a vexing issue immediately arose. Who should get priority in receiving these lifesaving shots? Generally speaking, the answer, while differing slightly from state to state,...
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Another word for anxiety is fear
Apparently, Robert Pape was surprised. Notwithstanding earlier research or the alarm raised in this and other forums, Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, expected, when he began studying the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, to find the rioters acted out of economic anxiety....
Letter to the editor: We need competent leaders for vaccine rollout
Today I write to you not as a social worker or as a front-line worker. Today I write to you as a granddaughter who feels powerless in helping her vulnerable grandparents secure appointments for covid vaccines. I am a proud Excela Health employee, and my employer ensured I had quick...
Letter to the editor: We need competent leaders for vaccine rollout
Today I write to you not as a social worker or as a front-line worker. Today I write to you as a granddaughter who feels powerless in helping her vulnerable grandparents secure appointments for covid vaccines. I am a proud Excela Health employee, and my employer ensured I had quick...
Letter to the editor: Producing more vaccines
Come on, now: The president and Congress have the power to get hundreds of millions of the covid-19 vaccine produced faster, but they haven’t, contributing to more deaths. Intellectual property regulations allow Pfizer and Moderna to keep their vaccine processes to themselves. They’re both working at capacity. Well, get them...
Editorial: The region’s airports could fare well as post-pandemic air travel rises
Air travel is getting off the ground again. A year of coronavirus pandemic restrictions and precautions made airports into ghost towns. The 777.9 million people annually who had been taking off their shoes and separating their laptops from their carry-ons at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints slowed to a trickle. On...
Letter to the editor: Look at reasons for reps’ votes before forming opinion
In response to Teri Krause’s letter “Monitor reps’ votes before casting yours” (April 1, TribLIVE): I would suggest that she read the changes made to the Violence Against Women Act, and maybe then she would realize why people would vote against it. It’s obvious the eight GOP representatives she mentions...
Letter to the editor: Biden voters, look what you’ve done
Let me get this straight. Voters who actually have jobs and actually pay taxes voted for this president. Why didn’t you just take most of your money and give it to charity instead of taking the rest of us with you? Now President Biden is going to seriously raise taxes...
Letter to the editor: All the king’s men
President Trump: Paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017 and zero in past years. There’s either something seriously wrong with the U.S. tax code or some big-time corruption happened. We’ll see. William Barr: The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s attorney general and not the president’s...
Tom Purcell: The value of organized religion to a representative republic
Fewer Americans are attending traditional church services. Fewer are attending Catholic schools, too. According to Gallup, the number of Americans who belong to a church, synagogue or mosque continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup’s eight-decade trend. And thanks to the covid pandemic,...
Letter to the editor: Would a county health department help?
There have been a number of letters to the editor regarding the need for a Westmoreland County health department. Other than help to get the covid-19 vaccines, I have not read anything about what other functions the department would provide. I don’t think authorizing and building a new county agency,...
Letter to the editor: What gun control is really about
Letter-writer Jonathan Love (“Urge reps to support gun background check bill,” March 9, TribLIVE) makes it naive to sound so petty. All gun bills are a disaster. In my opinion, anti-gunners aren’t really worried about gun violence, and these small bills are nothing but steppingstones to complete the disarming of...
