Opinion category, Page 279
Laurels & lances: Speaking up and reaching out
Laurel: To the power of participation. We harp a lot on the responsibility of voting. We urge people to register and to get out and do their duty. There still are a lot of voices that chime back about what good it does. Can one vote really matter? What makes...
Letter to the editor: Enforce existing gun laws
The so-called Common Agenda to End Gun Violence is no more than a feel-good law for the anti-gun crowd. I seriously doubt that anyone who values the Second Amendment would favor it. So what is going to be accomplished by enacting this as a law? None of the points of...
Matt Harris: House approval of debt ceiling deal a triumph of the political center
Talking with a friend about the debt ceiling negotiations, I mentioned that there were incentives for centrists in Congress to cobble together a deal. My friend said, incredulously, “Do we actually have centrists in Congress?” Certainly, it is true that the country’s two major parties have sorted and separated over...
Gary Pezzano: Time is right to build a national model for senior care in Pa.
As the new governor and new state Legislature take the reins on their first budget, there is a sense of anticipation of what their leadership will bring to the commonwealth. While the Shapiro administration and General Assembly have developed their priorities, we urge them to seize this opportunity to build...
Letter to the editor: Independence Health System’s ‘expense reduction’
The recently combined Excela Health and Butler Hospital System lost over $62 million. President and CEO Ken DeFurio said they need to develop a “significant expense reduction plan.” The hospital system recently announced it is adopting a new name, Independence Health System. It will cost hundreds of thousands, if not...
Letter to the editor: The truth about Clarence Thomas
Regarding the letter “Clarence Thomas innocent until proven guilty” (April 20, TribLIVE): The Supreme Court justice has boasted on air that he comes from “regular stock” and claims that one of his greatest joys comes from touring America and parking his RV at Walmart. Actually, he has been yachting and...
Editorial: Increased electric bills are power struggle
Every year on June 1 and Dec. 1, Pennsylvanians face the struggle between power and money. That is when the state Public Utility Commission allows electric companies to make price changes. As it happens just twice a year, it’s definitely more stable than gas prices. And, hey, just because it...
Letter to the editor: New AG Henry ready to go
While Michelle Henry may only be taking over the attorney general’s seat for the next two years, that isn’t stopping her from kicking into gear and diving into the work ahead. With state Senate confirmation, Henry is ready to pursue her responsibilities as the state’s top law enforcement officer and...
Jonah Goldberg: Why ‘Bud Lighting’ isn’t stopping any time soon
A lot of conservatives are very excited about “Bud Lighting” — a freshly minted term for boycotting companies that cater to various “woke” causes, particularly transgender issues. The term derives from the spectacular implosion of Bud Light in the wake of its decision in March to enlist transgender social media...
Peter Morici: Biden’s bid to create U.S. semiconductor jobs may do more harm than good
President Joe Biden’s industrial policies aim to make America a world leader in semiconductor manufacturing, but the effort could do more harm than good. Post-World War II U.S. foreign-trade policies promoted trade based on comparative advantages, but too often America’s trading partners put up import barriers and subsidized domestic industries...
Letter to the editor: Alzheimer’s drug insanity
Regarding Rep. Jessica Benham’s op-ed “Federal agency could help Alzheimer’s patients” (May 23, TribLIVE): It is hard to imagine the nightmare of an Alzheimer’s patient in need of lifesaving medication approved by one huge federal agency (the Food and Drug Administration) that it is not available due to another federal...
Letter to the editor: Biden, Harris should be excommunicated
We continue to be deep in the bowels of hell. Earlier this month President Biden, who is theoretically Catholic, walked up on stage and gave a bouquet to Vice President Harris, who is theoretically Catholic, at a gala thrown by Emily’s List, an organization that adores fetal slaughter. Hey, Francis...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh’s progressives
Regarding Yarone Zober’s op-ed “Innamorato needs big action for an Allegheny County that has been thinking small” (May 20, TribLIVE): Thinking of small, Zober uses a lot of “small” words in his commentary but could not provide any examples where the progressive ideology was a successful form of government. Words...
Editorial: Cold cases demand continued questions to find answers
With a missing persons case, sometimes it seems as though the only answer sought is about location. It isn’t. A disappearance is a chain reaction of questions that beg to be answered. “Where?” is only the first. It is also the one that kicks off the dominoes of those that...
Letter to the editor: Coal can still provide reliable, cheap energy
I disagree with the letter “We shouldn’t be celebrating coal” (May 23, TribLIVE) criticizing the legacy of coal in Pennsylvania. Although coal power plants provide only 12% of our state’s electricity today, they once provided the majority of our electricity powering our manufacturing plants and providing cheap energy to make...
Hans Zeiger: Employing 1st-person sources can re-humanize history
The field of American history is in crisis. Earlier this month, the Department of Education released troubling data indicating that only 13% of eighth-graders met proficiency standards in history. Students are failing to understand the American story and our shared values — and the consequences are severe. To those of...
Cal Thomas: No will, no way in Washington
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way” is an old and familiar quotation, often attributed to Albert Einstein, who was on to something almost as significant as E=MC2. What if there is no will, is there still a way? It doesn’t seem likely. In Washington, will has come to die,...
Kristen Rotz: We can help Pa. families who are falling through the cracks
Working a full-time job is no longer enough to keep a family from struggling financially. Take child care teachers, who tirelessly care for our children, or home care workers, who support our elderly loved ones. They are like so many Pennsylvanians, treading water just to stay afloat financially. This is...
Rep. Eric Nelson: Why is Shapiro so quiet on Pa.’s energy policy?
We all believe that promises made should correlate to promises kept, especially when those promises are made by government leaders. When it comes to Pennsylvania’s energy policy and our newest governor, however, promises made have not been kept — at least, not yet. One hundred-some days ago, I joined the...
Letter to the editor: National sales tax would allow all to pay fair share
The left complains that the rich don’t pay their fair share. The right thinks President Biden spends money like a drunken sailor. Americans don’t save much money. Republicans have a solution to all three problems. Replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax. The tax would not apply...
Letter to the editor: Problems with PACs
Some political action committees (PACs) are soliciting and harassing us under false pretenses and with a sense of urgency. They then spend our contributions in ways outside their charter or what we envisioned. Rather than spending our money to support candidates, some PACs use contributions to falsely assassinate the character...
Letter to the editor: Connecting students with real jobs
Western Pennsylvania was built on the backs of blue-collar workers who opted for the trade career route rather than pursuing a four-year degree. As the editorial “Embracing and supporting career and tech education is critical” (May 1, TribLIVE) stated, “career education is not less than college education. It is merely...
Editorial: Approve savings plan for retirement
Bette Davis once declared that “old age ain’t no place for sissies,” and few older people would argue otherwise. The observation also is true regarding finances for retirement, yet millions of Pennsylvanians hurtle toward old age without retirement savings. One of the reasons for that is the lack of employer-provided...
Letter to the editor: Comparing Durham, Mueller results
The headline “Counsel blasts Russia probe” (May 15, TribLIVE), conveys Special Counsel John Durham’s opinion. A more informative headline could have read “No FBI criminality,” which states a fact and not a point of view. Durham’s investigation brought criminal charges against three people. Two cases were thrown out of court....
Letter to the editor: Another approach to opioid crisis
The letter “We can’t police ourselves out of opioid crisis” (May 4, TribLIVE) says “making medication-assisted opioid detoxification (MAOD) widely accessible should be the top priority” vs. hiring police to use opioid settlement money to reduce overdose deaths. Additionally, the article states the “CDC recommends evidence-based strategies for preventing opioid...
