Opinion category, Page 314
Dominik Stecuła and Matthew Levendusky: Talking across the political aisle isn’t a cure-all — but it does help reduce hostility
Simmering tension in American politics came to a head two years ago, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election. The failed insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, resulted in several deaths and injuries to almost 150 police...
Rob Perkins: Fair defense funding is a must for criminal justice reform
Our local system for providing counsel to poor people facing criminal charges violates people’s constitutional rights. The most pressing problem is chronic underfunding. Attorney compensation in particular hasn’t increased in 17 years. Predictably, unfair pay leads to underperformance. This should matter to all of us. When defense attorneys fail to...
Letter to the editor: Admission of immigrants criminal?
If I had the ability (money and staff) to allow illegals into this sovereign nation on a scale similar to that of Joe Biden, how many would it take to get the attention of Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Democrats and the media before it would be...
Sounding off: People’s goodness, late police officer, lack of workers, politics
The whole of our society is less than the sum of its parts Whenever I interact with individuals, I find that they are for the most part decent, caring, kind and generous. And yet, I find that our culture as a whole has become more and more mean-spirited, violent and...
Letter to the editor: Republicans’ criticism ironic
I find it difficult to believe that the GOP has criticized nearly everything the Biden administration and the sitting Congress have accomplished. On the contrary, the Republicans have no platform moving forward, and they can’t coalesce into a governing body. Go figure! Leonard Mucci Derry Township...
Letter to the editor: We need fair taxation to end wealth inequality
The top 1% of Americans own around 32.1% of the country’s total wealth, the 90% to 99% own around 37.7%, the 50% to 90% own around 28%, and the bottom 50% own around 2.6% of the country’s total wealth. We have not seen this level of inequality since the early...
Editorial: Annual Pennsylvania toll increases are lawmakers’ fault
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission takes a lot of flak, especially at this time of year. It happens like clockwork. While other people are struggling to maintain their New Year’s resolutions and break bad habits, the commission falls back into its annual January rut and raises the toll rates. No one...
Letter to the editor: Religion is about being a good person
I’m sitting north of Pittsburgh this evening near where one of our local police chiefs was shot dead. As if that’s not bad enough, I turn on the football game, and I see that one of the Buffalo Bills players nearly died on the field . I am praying for...
Gary Franks: Pope Benedict — sex abuse scandals and collateral damage
In Pope Benedict’s final letter, he asked for forgiveness. In the past, Benedict acknowledged “his failure to act decisively at times in confronting sexual abusers.” The priest sex abuse scandals over the decades have been shocking and horrific. The issue has been debilitating to those directly and indirectly affected. More...
S.E. Cupp: Kevin McCarthy got the GOP conference he deserves
Poor Kevin. The Bakersfield, Calif., native who, by all accounts, came to Washington 16 years ago with the sole intent of becoming speaker of the House one day faced an embarrassing defeat this week when he failed — three times — to win the nomination by his own party. There’s...
Colin McNickle: A missed opportunity to right-size Pittsburgh Regional Transit
What can the public reasonably conclude when one of the very remedies required to help right-size the badly bloated, too-expensive and ridership-bereft Pittsburgh Regional Transit system yet again is contractually excluded from a new and too-lengthy labor agreement? That major policy changes are necessary to rein in the mass-transit agency...
Letter to the editor: Tarentum Bridge potholes need attention
Being that the New Kensington Bridge will be closed to traffic for a considerable amount of time in the near future, the Tarentum Bridge will be experiencing more traffic than usual. The potholes on the New Kensington and Tarentum sides of the bridge are in dire need of being repaired...
Letter to the editor: Jail Oversight Board must do its job on jail deaths
In the event of a death at a county jail, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care requires the following to be done by the jail administration: an administrative review, a clinical mortality review and a psychological autopsy for a death by suicide. The purposes of the reviews are to...
Lori Falce: Whataboutism and the pain competition
Whataboutism got a lot of attention during the past few elections. It’s the tendency for someone to deflect the question about one thing with a counter about something else. Ask a politician about a sex scandal, get a return query about why his opponent did another shady thing — whether...
Laurels & lances: New job, big loss
Lance: To a terrible grief. The line-of-duty shooting of Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire is something that should never have happened. It’s more than the family should have to bear, and it’s a sorrow that spreads to a community not only robbed of an important leader but also of a...
Letter to the editor: The USA belongs to all of us
In the letter “Republicans, it’s time to pull together” (Dec. 29, TribLIVE), the writer interweaves the theme of bringing back “our country.” It begs the question, whose country? The writer, in her narrow worldview, appears to want to “bring back” her version of the USA. In the process, she spouts...
Paul Kengor: A new year and one pope, indisputably
For the world’s largest group of Christians, Roman Catholics, 2023 brings a big change. For the first time since the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013 and the subsequent election of Pope Francis, there will be, at last, and indisputably, one pope. The key word is “indisputably.” Unfortunately,...
Cal Thomas: Where have all the intellectuals gone?
The new slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives lacks something besides its slim majority and the battle over leadership positions. It lacks intellectual depth. The Reagan administration may have been the last one to challenge Americans to think for themselves and for that matter, just to think. Perhaps...
Rev. Erik Hoeke: What we mean when we pray for Damar Hamlin
It seems the whole country is praying for a football player this week. In the midst of Damar Hamlin’s terrifying medical emergency Monday night in Cincinnati, players and coaches gathered to pray on the field. By the time he was taken off the field by ambulance, prayers for Damar were...
Letter to the editor: Spotlight the integrity of our elections
With the article “Vote totals from recounted precincts certified in Westmoreland County” (Dec. 16, TribLIVE), which appeared on page 3 in the print edition, the Trib missed a prime opportunity to emphasize to voters the validity of the integrity of our election process. Considering the number of voters spreading rumors...
Letter to the editor: Still tampering with democracy
From the results of the November election, one can conclude that a stable democracy is important to the people of Pennsylvania. We do not want our Legislature to be able to nullify our votes, or Republican lawmakers claiming the 2020 election was stolen, or representatives going to court to oppose...
Editorial: The surprising resolution of Pennsylvania’s House leadership vote
The Pennsylvania Legislature is as polarized as a car battery. Almost nothing can happen in the hallowed halls of Harrisburg without boiling down to positive and negative, pro and con and, above all, Democrat and Republican. Until Tuesday. On the same day the U.S. House of Representatives was paralyzed with...
Letter to the editor: Legislators must address elevator concerns
Many older residents are able to stay in their homes even when they develop mobility challenges. For those of us who can no longer do that, retirement communities are available. In places like Florida, these tend to be low-rise buildings or single-story apartment homes. In older cities like Pittsburgh, many...
Peter Morici: The darkness before America’s bright new economy
Holiday parties were tough for economists. People asked: Is a recession coming? How bad will it be? The impolite reminded us of what we got wrong last year. The soothsayers at the Federal Reserve may be getting smarter. Having been burned by terrible forecasts when inflation was too low during...
Jonah Goldberg: So Congress is a mess. It’s supposed to be messy.
It’s not exactly a blistering insight into how Washington works, but nothing will get you more praise and respect than being powerful and wielding that power effectively. So, it should be no surprise that Nancy Pelosi finished her tenure as speaker of the House to lavish applause. Many dubbed her...
