Opinion category, Page 262
Letter to the editor: Waiting for Ward’s action on budget
Sen. Kim Ward, president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, has the power to resolve the “tempest in a teacup” that is nevertheless blocking passage of the state’s $45.5 billion budget. The battle’s about a $100 million school voucher bill (a mere 0.2% of the state budget). The bill’s late-night,...
Editorial: Cutting support to Daily Collegian shows Penn State doesn’t value information
Every day, Penn State students hoping to go pro step onto the field of play, pick up the ball and run with it. They score big, and more than a few have gone on to win major awards as a member of amazing teams. But the university’s board of trustees...
Letter to the editor: On marijuana, legalization works better than prohibition
Those who wish to perpetuate marijuana prohibition desperately try and mischaracterize state-level marijuana regulation as a policy failure (“Pa. politicians’ pot push won’t be the boon they claim,” July 24, TribLIVE). Reality does not support this claim. Public support for legalization has never been higher. Further, none of the 23...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: The good life of Tony Bennett
On the death of 96-year-old Tony Bennett on July 21, the media was filled with stories of a remarkable guy who was still a regular guy. Born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in Queens, this Calabrese son of a grocer and a seamstress led an authentically American life, with all its ups...
James Stavridis: NATO convoys can protect Ukraine’s grain harvest from Putin
In the latest escalation of his war crimes against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pulled out of the painfully negotiated grain deal that for months has permitted exports of Ukrainian and Russian agricultural products from Black Sea ports. There are several reasons for Putin’s withdrawal: frustration at Western sanctions;...
Point: Bidenomics is working for Pa. — and America
President Joe Biden’s visit to Philadelphia on July 20 offered a timely reminder of how much progress Pennsylvania has made under his leadership. Two years ago, Biden inherited a broken economy — one that didn’t reflect the American dream but instead a fundamental lie: the idea that an economy rigged...
Chris Impey: Whistleblower calls for government transparency as Congress digs for the truth about UFOs
A congressional subcommittee met July 26 to hear testimony from several military officers who allege the government is concealing evidence of UFOs. By holding a hearing on UFOs — now called “unidentified anomalous phenomena” by government agencies — the subcommittee sought to understand whether these UAPs pose a threat to...
Counterpoint: Bidenomics doesn’t add up for Pa. or America
President Joe Biden recently returned to his birth state to pitch his newly branded economic vision: Bidenomics. Though Biden seems eager to paint a rosy economic picture, the numbers show that Bidenomics is, at best, a mixed bag. Yes, the national unemployment rate is below 4%, where it has remained...
Letter to the editor: Cyber charter reform long overdue
Thank you for the editorial on cyber charter funding (“Cyber charter reform needs to be about education, not politics,” July 23, TribLIVE). That reform is long, long overdue. Few taxpayers understand that cybers aren’t “free,” as ads have claimed, but rather that their property taxes are paying for a “shadow”...
Sounding off: Book bans, Trump, division, minimum wage among week’s topics
Book-banning futility The article “Hempfield book policies up for future vote with further revision” (July 10, TribLIVE), states that the school district is banning pictures of female breasts. How perverse. I believe this book banning thing has gone too far. Are we going back to the Spanish Inquisition with banning...
Letter to the editor: US should invest more in foreign aid
Around the world, 736 million people live in extreme poverty, making less than $1.90 per day. That is 736 million human beings without access to the necessities of life that are so often taken for granted. Foreign aid is the key to eradicating extreme poverty, and as one of the...
Editorial: Bringing Marc Fogel home is Biden’s job
The different branches of government have roles that are well defined, especially between the first two mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. The legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch implements them. Politics and power being what they are, it doesn’t always end there. Congress gets to control the money,...
Letter to the editor: God is a problem, not an answer
I must humbly disagree with the letter “Faith can change lives” (July 17, TribLIVE). God is not the answer, he is the problem. The God of the Bible is an angry being with a childlike mentality. He creates man and then floods them when they anger him beyond repair. The...
Gary Franks: Only the GOP can skillfully chase away the Black vote
Maybe it is time to revamp your campaign, Ron DeSantis. I am guessing you have the “A Team” of consultants. OK. What have they done for you lately? Is it possible that one of your consultants participated, aided or abetted the campaign of the Arizona congressman who referred to Black...
Dwan Walker: Credit card bill bad for Pennsylvanians
Here in Aliquippa and other communities like ours across Western Pennsylvania, we’re seeing how the hard work and determination of our ordinary citizens directly contributes to the strength and resolve of our commonwealth. Bouncing back in the aftermath of a global pandemic has not been easy, but our neighbors are...
Letter to the editor: Greensburg’s McKenna Center should be relocated
The recent feature story “ ‘Not your grandmother’s center’: Seniors centers evolve with Pilates, pickleball and pub burgers” (July 23, TribLIVE) and editorial “Senior centers could be model for providing human services” (July 25, TribLIVE) noted the value of senior centers. But it also brought to mind the dichotomy of...
Letter to the editor: Goldie’s Act will protect dogs
Congress must pass Goldie’s Act to help protect dogs and puppies suffering in puppy mills. Goldie’s Act (HR 1788) is a federal bill named in honor of a golden retriever who suffered without adequate fresh food, water or veterinary care in a puppy mill that was licensed and overseen by...
Lori Falce: There are other small-town problems, Jason Aldean
Jason Aldean set off quite the brush fire with his latest video. The country singer’s single “Try That in a Small Town” plays to a regular trope of the genre: the inherent nobility of small-town life. Aldean talks about small towns a lot in his music. “Hicktown” was one of...
Laurels & lances: Painting heads and butting heads
Laurel: To getting a head. No, not “ahead.” As of Wednesday, a longtime landmark has been reunited with its top. The statue stands outside Lug Nutz auto shop on Route 119 in Greensburg. It has experienced identity issues over the years, donning different appearances. For a while, the burly 20-foot-tall...
Letter to the editor: The Trump blind spot
When George Will analogizes the current state of the Republican race to the first inning, he is, to borrow his language, “harpooning himself” (“Neither Trump nor DeSantis will get GOP nod,” July 16). We are a year removed from midterms in which Donald Trump’s candidates lost in spectacular fashion —...
Rachel Marsden: Controversial top appointment unearths divisions among Washington and its allies
Shortly after Yale professor and former Obama-era Justice Department official, Fiona Scott Morton, landed the role of the European Commission’s chief competition economist, the knives came out here in France. French President Emmanuel Macron led the charge himself. “If we have no (European) researcher of this level to be recruited...
Letter to the editor: God, the Bible and governing
James Madison, the primary author of our Constitution, had it right when he stated: “We have staked the whole future of our new Nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political Constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves...
Letter to the editor: RGGI good for Pa.
Pennsylvania recently joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multistate, bipartisan program to cut carbon pollution coming from power plants, which Pennsylvania produces more of than all but four other states. The RGGI is a big success in 11 other states. Statistics show RGGI will reduce Pennsylvania’s carbon pollution...
Editorial: Pennsylvania lawmakers need training camp
The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in training camp. The team descended on Saint Vincent College in Unity on Wednesday prepared to settle in for the long haul, bringing TVs, pillows and snacks. They will spend their time at the school focused on developing their skills as individuals and a team...
Letter to the editor: Division and corruption in America
Did you ever think you’d see America so divided and corrupted as it is today? Yes, I’m aware there are many great people doing great things all over the place, but sometimes it seems overshadowed by all the craziness, violence, deceit and moral decay. Mass shootings daily, cities imploding and...
