Opinion category, Page 567
Letter to the editor: Value hard work, not handouts
Dear President-elect Biden, Would you consider giving up your salary to be put back in to help pay down the country’s debt? Maybe you could put it into that student loan forgiveness program. I’m really curious about that. I believe that as an adult, when I run up debt, I’m...
Letter to the editor: Small sacrifices would have prevented shutdown
It’s shutdown time again, and one more nail will be placed in the coffin of small businesses that have somehow managed to survive this pandemic. There seems to be some confusion as to why it is again necessary to take this extreme approach. The reason is because some of you...
Letter to the editor: Masks and political control
With the increases in covid-19, it seems to me that wearing masks has failed to halt the spread of this virus. Here is an alternative to mask wearing: Take the temperature of each person entering a store, restaurant, bar, club, stadium, funeral home, sports arena or church, and deny entrance...
Letter to the editor: Political therapy
The facilitator of the political therapy group noted an empty chair and asked, “Where’s Bill?” “He switched positions on election fraud,” said Kayleigh. “Lock him up! Lock him up!” they all shouted. “Show of hands: Who believes the election was stolen?” the facilitator asked. All hands were raised. Rudy raised...
Letter to the editor: Why aren’t we autonomous?
Autonomous — word of the decade. Politicians and car designers are all aflutter to get autonomous vehicles to make our lives better. And cheaper. Trucks can deliver food from the farm direct to your kitchen 24 hours a day. No messy union rules. Did I mention cheap? But I’m more...
Peter Morici: Once vaccines roll out, Biden must get millions back to work
President-elect Joe Biden ran on a platform to address climate change, remedy inequality, resurrect the economy, and implement a more focused covid-19 strategy but he faces some tough challenges delivering. It appears that Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna should be rolling out vaccines soon, but it will take months to...
Sean Kertes and Doug Chew: Why Excela received $5 million grant
We write in response to the Dec. 4 letter “$5 million grant to Excela wrong.” Transparency in government is important, so we’d like to set the record straight. The basis for a grant to Excela was set as far back as July 6, when Excela’s leadership team met with the...
Letter to the editor: Fondly remembering George W. Bush
The presidency of President George W. Bush is looking better and better with each passing day. Doug Baughman Robinson...
Editorial: When prisons are covid hotspots, the community suffers, too
The coronavirus pandemic has hit certain populations hard. Seniors are at risk. So are diabetics. Cancer patients. People with pre-existing respiratory or circulatory conditions. That makes some locations particularly important to protect. Personal care homes. Senior centers. Nursing homes were among the first major hotspots for covid-19 outbreaks. But those...
Letter to the editor: Rep. Bob Brooks’ contempt for democracy
State Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, recently sent a letter to his constituents intimating there were “terrible activities in some major cities” with regard to mail-in voting. He went on to support throwing out the results of the vote and not allowing the state’s electors to vote for the winner in...
Letter to the editor: The career politician and the honest man
Many years ago, I was employed by my local township. I learned a valuable lesson that I am reminded of by the 2020 election. I remember one election in particular. We had two first-time candidates running for office. Both campaigned on their desire to improve our township and the lives...
Letter to the editor: Looking at Trump’s accomplishments
Thanks to letter-writer Robert Szypulski for his compilation of Trump “deliverances” (“Thank you, President Trump”). Now to cases in no particular order of importance as space permits: • “Preserving 180 million employer health plans”: I didn’t know that they were endangered really, but I do know his administration is busily...
Letter to the editor: Loss of expertise at Allegheny County Jail
Regarding the article “Jail Oversight Board to investigate why high-ranking medical administrators keep quitting” (Dec. 4, TribLIVE): Janet Bunts, a seasoned health professional with 26 years’ experience, left her position as health services administrator after only three months, citing “a lack of leadership, lack of orienting new staff, a lack...
Pat Buchanan: Has America’s Suez moment come?
2020 surely will qualify as an “annus horribilis” in the history of the republic. By New Year’s, one in every 1,000 Americans, 330,000, will be dead from the worst pandemic in 100 years. The U.S. economy will have sustained a blow to rival the worst year of the Great Depression....
Cindy Adams Dunn and Stephanie Wein: Celebrating conservation win in year of loss
It seems like more than ever, we’re barraged by a news cycle that’s filled with depressing stories about all the things going wrong in the world, from the divisiveness of the election to extreme weather and destruction, and of course, the pandemic. But there’s some good news that has quietly...
Letter to the editor: McConnell started it
Regarding Ron Maxson’s letter “Liberals deserve what they gave Trump for four years” (Dec. 9, TribLIVE): Mr. Maxson, your memory is a little short. Or you refuse to recognize that good ol’ Mitch started this whole pile of crap when he didn’t work with President Obama. Leonard Mucci Derry Township...
Letter to the editor: Pa. representatives’ participation in lawsuit is shameful
I find it unbelievable that a small group of Pennsylvania state representatives decided to join in the Texas-led lawsuit (thrown out, thank goodness) to invalidate the Electoral College votes of four states, including Pennsylvania. This same group of lawmakers voted for Act 77 in October 2019. This was the bill...
Letter to the editor: Steelers and Republicans both looking ahead
How do Pittsburgh Steelers fans feel about the methods the Patriots used to get to and win their Super Bowls? The same way Republicans feel about how Joe Biden won the presidency. Can you at least relate? The NFL will not take away the Lombardi trophies from New England, but...
Editorial: Do what’s best and take the covid-19 vaccine
On Monday, the first health care workers rolled up their sleeves and accepted a shot in the arm of the Pfizer/BioNTech cocktail that offers hope against the coronavirus pandemic. In Pittsburgh, five front-line UPMC employees, including a critical care nurse and a patient transporter, had their injections livestreamed. This is...
Letter to the editor: Covid lockdowns preview of what’s to come
As a lifelong business person with international experience, it is my opinion that people need to understand that the covid-19 lockdowns being imposed, mostly in Democrat-controlled states and cities, are a preview of the kind of society America will become under national Democratic governance. The history of every country taken...
Letter to the editor: Now is time to legalize marijuana
The editorial “Pa. should take it slow on legalizing marijuana” (Dec. 6, TribLIVE) told us that cannabis legalization ought to wait for more studies. Interestingly, most cannabis studies focus on uncovering detrimental effects of cannabis rather than potential benefits. Coinciding with state-based recreational cannabis legalization, the United States has seen...
Tom Purcell: Viruses and responses differ; human nature doesn’t
The way my siblings and I responded to my family’s chicken-pox outbreak in 1973 might shed light on Americans’ responses to covid-19 in 2020. I was about 10 and remember how differently my five sisters responded to that highly contagious bug. To prevent its spread, our family doctor ordered us...
Peter Smith: Community capitalism would strengthen markets and people
Pope Francis recently wrote that “market capitalism” is out of control and that the world needs an alternative. In the United States, we are well aware of the burgeoning economic gap between the top 1% and everyone else that has erupted over the last 30 years. Multiple factors have contributed...
Mark Schwartz: Why no sanctions for frivolous election lawsuits?
Covid-19 has certainly made for an unprecedented situation for lawyers, as well as for our judges who try to maintain a semblance of order amid the overwhelming disorder that covid-19 has imposed. Court proceedings have always been about in-person proceedings, where we are able to personally confront opposing parties, their...
Letter to the editor: Pot dealers will need new line of work
Regarding the article “House votes to decriminalize marijuana at federal level” (Dec. 4, TribLIVE): Maybe the dealers will now turn to robbery to make a living putting people’s lives in danger. Clem Zahrobsky Delmont...
