Opinion category, Page 745
Letter to the editor: Cable-bill woes
I agree with letter-writer Mary Ann Buffer (”Let’s cancel cable,” March 5, TribLIVE). Two years ago, I bundled my phone, TV and internet with Comcast and was told it would cost $122 per month. I have never been billed, or paid, only $122 per month. My first monthly bill was...
Lori Falce: Give 2020 election an NFL Draft makeover
All over America, people are doing their research and looking at needs versus wants and paying attention to trends and a final goal and assessing the pool of potential that could get the job done. And unfortunately almost none of that has to do with the 2020 presidential election. Nope,...
Laurels & lances: Voting, truth and rebuilding
Laurel: To party being less important than community. The Murrysville-Export Republican and Democratic clubs have worked together this year to garner 85 signatures necessary on a petition filed in Westmoreland Common Pleas Court seeking an order to redraw the Sardis and Newlonsburg precincts. The community hopes splitting each of those...
Nancy French: Romney wasn’t Christian enough for some Republicans. Somehow, Trump still is.
When Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, ran for president in the 2008 GOP primary, many evangelical Christian voters were reluctant - putting it mildly - to support him, because of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One of Romney’s opponents, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, exploited...
Letter to the editor: We’ll have Trump for 4 more years
The Democratic Party has no one who can match President Trump. The man has done more as president than any other president except Ronald Reagan. Joe Biden is a big joke. How was he ever elected to Congress? Do we need people like Maxine Waters and Biden? Over the years...
Letter to the editor: Government should manage water runoff
Regarding the articles “Storm water strategies to be shared in Latrobe” (April 11, TribLIVE) and “Public hearing scheduled to discuss flood plan for Westmoreland County” (April 14, TribLIVE), about controlling rainwater runoff: It doesn’t matter what local paper I read, the suggestions from experts from various organizations are all the...
Letter to the editor: Perplexed by Congress, more
As I read and hear the news, I find several items to be perplexing. Can anyone help? Instead of passing legislation to address important issues, Congress is passing nonbinding “resolutions.” Why are they wasting time and money on resolutions and not legislating? There is a lot of opposition to a...
Paul Kengor: Dr. Thomas Starzl and the burden of genius
Last week, I joined a packed auditorium in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center for the debut of a fascinating new documentary, “Burden of Genius.” The subject is Dr. Thomas Starzl, pioneer of organ transplantation, who pursued that revolution in medicine at Presbyterian University Hospital and Children’s Hospital, which were connected together...
George Will: Politicians have no qualms about borrowing from the future
WASHINGTON Pursed lips and clucked tongues signaled disapproval among the wise and responsible when, at a recent televised event, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the “democratic socialist” from Vermont, did not plausibly explain how he would pay for “Medicare for All.” The remarkable thing, however, is the quaint expectation that any political...
S.E. Cupp: Bernie Sanders’ secret: He’s a political insider
There’s good news and bad news for Bernie Sanders. The bad news is, 2020 is proving to be a lot more work than 2016 was. He’s no longer just a protest candidate who can dodge the demands of running for president in favor of vague promises and canned speeches. The...
Editorial: Westmoreland sheriff’s office raid shows problems
There is a problem in the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office. For the second time, authorities have conducted a raid on the agency. It happened Wednesday morning when state police investigators swooped in, collected documents, questioned people and left two hours later. “It’s not about me this time,” Sheriff Jonathan Held...
Letter to the editor: Farm workers & citizenship
The article “Pennsylvania congressman aims to expand immigrant worker program to dairy farms” (March 19, TribLIVE), which describes the bill to extend H-2A agricultural guest-worker visas to year-round jobs on dairy farms, does not discuss the downsides of the proposal nor a reasonable alternative. The H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker...
Letter to the editor: Clint Hurdle should go
Regarding the headline “Bullpen blows it again as Pirates lose to Nationals” (April 13, TribLIVE): It’s not the bullpen. It’s Clint Hurdle’s handling of the pitching staff. In at least four of the Bucs’ last six losses, Hurdle pulled the starting pitcher who was pitching great and had the lead....
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ Medicare for all
Democrats are using semantics again. They have a new name for national health care: Medicare for all. Eleanor Roosevelt wanted national health care, but her husband had trouble getting his other programs passed by Congress, so the subject was dropped. President Clinton’s national health care system proposal made “War and...
Pat Buchanan: Is Bernie stealing Trump’s ‘no more wars’ issue?
“The president has said that he does not want to see this country involved in endless wars … I agree with that,” Bernie Sanders told the Fox News audience at his April 15 town hall meeting in Bethlehem, Pa. Then, turning and staring straight into the camera, Bernie added: “Mr....
Jonah Goldberg: Mueller report offers little in black and white
Maybe you haven’t noticed, but we live in a time when everything is supposed to be black and white. The weird, incestuous relationship between the media and the political parties incentivizes combatants to take positions on the 1-yard lines, if not in the end zones. But what if — and...
Editorial: Murrysville needs more polling places
If you want people to vote, you can’t make it a challenge. In two Murrysville precincts, there are just too many voters to make showing up at the polls an easy proposition. Newlonsburg has 3,454 registered voters. Sardis has 3,498. That’s almost 7,000 voters — nearly half of Murrysville’s overall...
Letter to the editor: Democrats, do your jobs
I cannot take it any longer! Why, when we have such huge issues at the border of our country, are the Democrats only interested in tax returns? What do tax returns have to do with the proper running of our country, other than digging for more dirt on President Trump?...
Letter to the editor: Praise for Roger Eckels
It has been a great pleasure to watch Mt. Pleasant District Judge Roger Eckels’ service as a judge and advocate (“Veteran Mt. Pleasant District Judge Roger Eckels retires,” March 29, TribLIVE). Eckels always was willing to step forward when needed to volunteer or help in the community. He participated in...
Letter to the editor: Bill Peduto & illegal immigrants
In response to a proposal to relocate illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities, Mayor Bill Peduto has said Pittsburgh would welcome several hundred (“Peduto: Sending immigrant detainees to Pittsburgh not a punishment,” April 12, TribLIVE). Come on, Bill, you can do better than several hundred. You offered a huge pile of...
Michael Hiltzik: Surprise! Social Security has gotten healthier
The crux of the conservative attack on Social Security in recent years has been the claim that the program is on an unbroken path to insolvency. Monday’s release of the Social Security trustees’ annual report knocks a pillar out from under that campaign, for it shows that the program actually...
Tom Purcell: ‘Trading up’: Daughters, sons can build careers debt-free
This Thursday is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, the one day every year when young people can learn — in person — about the work world of their parents or mentor. This year, more young people are showing interest in the trades — with good reason. According...
Editorial: Casey’s call for DNC debate makes electoral sense
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, is right. The Democratic Party should hold one of what promises to be a plethora of primary debates in Pennsylvania. The Keystone State will undoubtedly be a keystone in the 2020 presidential election. It usually is. Americans have gone to the polls to pick a...
Letter to the editor: How will we pay for freebies?
Ready to go on a date 50 years ago, I would ask my father for $5. He would reply, “Go out to the back yard and pick it off the trees.” I of course would respond, “Dad, there’s no money on the trees.” Which naturally brings us to the famous...
Letter to the editor: Put whole milk in schools
Getting whole milk back in our schools cannot be considered a political issue. We must get whole milk back in our schools for our children’s’ sake. It’s important that their bodies and their developing brains have real whole milk. The good news is that U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-Howard,...
