Letters to the Editor category, Page 142

It takes a lot to have news affect us these days, as we’re all sadly numb to the garbage that exists sometimes as human beings. But the recent stories of the two men accused of abusing disabled residents at McGuire Memorial (“Feds charge 2 men with hate crimes in Beaver...

So our great President Biden has announced his two-part economic plan to fight inflation. It’s simple: Part one, buy American, but not oil. Apparently, oil purchased from terrorist states such as Iran or Venezuela will somehow reduce our now record-breaking U.S. gasoline prices, but U.S. oil won’t. I guess our...

In the 1950s, corporations contributed 32% to the federal revenue, in 2013 it was 10% and currently it is 7%, equal to a more than three-quarters reduction rate. This reduction in taxes paid by corporations is due to the Reagan, Bush and Trump tax cuts for the wealthy few plus...

I saw three minutes of world news coverage on “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” of the devastating tornado in New Orleans … only three minutes! Where is the minute-by-minute media coverage of Americans facing total destruction and personal devastation like in Ukraine? Where is President Biden? Has he requested...

The article “Legal experts weigh in on final day of Jackson’s hearings” mentions “questioning” by Republican senators. What I saw did include questioning, but some GOP senators apparently were more interested in demonstrating their incredible lack of maturity in comparison to the poised demeanor of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sens....

As a solar supporter concerned about coal-dependent communities, the prospect of Pennsylvania joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) fills me with hope. RGGI will cut carbon pollution from power plants in the state by 25% while raising hundreds of millions of dollars each year to invest in clean energy,...

The deadline for filing an assessment appeal in Allegheny County is March 31, 2022, for the 2022 tax year. We are the only county that favors the taxing bodies over homeowners in the state. Here’s the tax scheme (or scam): • Certify assessments • Mail tax bills • Appeal hearing...

Bad arguments often are the result of using the same term in two different senses. These arguments typically use a weak (trivial) definition to prove the argument, and then they substitute the strong (substantive) definition to give the argument import. Welcome to critical race theory and systemic racism. Their strong...

Hey, Joe, have you filled your tank up lately, or are you busy riding the train? How about a gas stimulus check or some infrastructure at the pump? Is this your play to get us to convert to electric cars, then break our banks replacing batteries at a cost of...

On behalf of Pittsburgh-based Veterans Place board members and staff, I want to express our gratitude to Vietnam veterans today, National Vietnam War Veterans Day. From 1961 to 1975, approximately 2,700,000 American men and women served in Vietnam. More than 800,000 of those vets are alive today, many who need...

March 29 is the official date of National Vietnam War Veterans Day as proclaimed by President Trump in 2017. This is not a day to debate the war. This is a day to honor the men and women who served proudly out of loyalty and love of country. They gave...

The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is shown every day on TV. War is ugly as peaceful, hardworking people are being maimed and killed. Rather than concern for the Ukrainian people, we hear comments from elites like climate tsar John Kerry of his concern that Russia may lose its focus on...

The Hempfield Area School Board is to be commended for attempting to model a framework for parents and educators to determine which materials are appropriate in public school libraries (“Hempfield school board shelves any changes to its library book policy and selections for now,” March 11, TribLIVE). The internet provides...

Patricia DeMarco’s outstanding op-ed (“Energy independence means good union jobs in clean energy,” March 16, TribLIVE) describes the disadvantages and risks of using fossil fuels and the benefits of switching to renewable energy to achieve energy independence. Unfortunately, the U.S. does not have the policies in place to accomplish this...

A 21-year-old man dives onto a raft in his best friend’s swimming pool, injures himself and sues his best friend’s parents, and the jury awards him $19 million (“West­moreland jury awards $19M to swimming pool injury victim,” March 11, TribLIVE)? I’m embarrassed by you jurors. I thought Westmoreland County was...

“Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.” — John Adams Could these words possibly hold any more weight than they do today? It seems some have forgotten that government is meant to be a virtue, a symbol of the free, democratic process. Instead, it has been...

I was sad to see that our revitalized national obsession with banning books had reached Franklin Regional (“Franklin Regional ‘pauses’ teaching of novel about Iranian Revolution after complaints,” March 7, TribLIVE). I look back fondly at my years at FR and can say, unequivocally, that the teachers and administrators provided...

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2021, the U.S. imported 8.47 million barrels of oil a day to meet our energy needs. But U.S. oil companies also exported 8.63 million barrels of oil a day, indicating that our country would easily be energy independent if U.S. needs came...

Regarding Paul Kengor’s column “Why didn’t Putin do this under Trump?” (March 17, TribLIVE): Maybe the answer is as simple as Putin didn’t feel it was necessary and that Trump was doing all that was requisite to compromise and weaken the EU and NATO. In July 2016, and throughout his...

The article “Hempfield is latest district to face book ban challenge” leads the reader to a conclusion that book challenges are wrong. The article states that 330 challenges were made in the last three months of 2021 compared with 156 in 2020, according to the American Library Association. What does...

George Will’s column “A stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation’s sleeve” (March 6) used the surname Trump 15 times, but no mention of the floundering current administration. Will is already working on 2024. I would rather be called a Trump poodle than a Biden basset hound. Donald...

Letter-writer John Meyer (“The border is not ‘open,’ ” March 20, TribLIVE) states “this administration has maintained the border policies of the previous administration.” This is false. President Biden, in his first hours in office, signed numerous immigration-­related executive orders and administration policy changes, one of which was to end the...

It has been almost a year since the American Rescue Plan Act became law, providing federal funding to boost state economies and help people recover from the financial toll of covid lockdowns. Now, the General Assembly is considering legislation that would prioritize using a portion of that funding to invest...

It is curious that those who are most vocal about “parents’ rights” and keeping government out of parental decisions are the ones who want to ban books. They are asking government to do their job, abdicating their own responsibilities. If they don’t want their children to read something, why do...

In the article “Norwin director claims assignment on racism was critical race theory teaching,” Shawna Illagan accused a district teacher of “political indoctrination” because she questioned students about whether or not systemic racism exists in America. She claimed the teacher’s interpretation of critical race theory was “one sided.” Systemic racism...