Sounding off: Combine vaccine passport, voter ID

As I read about the perpetual political wars over the concerns of having a vaccine passport, my solution (to please both Democrats and Republicans) is to just print the vaccine passport on one side and the voter ID on the other side. Simple, everyone is happy and the country is a little safer!

Paul Schawalder, Plum

Guns and mass shootings

Don Grasser in his letter “Our rights are for everyone” objected to the observation that “more guns mean more shootings.” He asked, “Guns were bought at a record pace last year, and how many mass shootings were there?”

Well, this is something he could easily have looked up: Do gun purchases track with mass shootings? Let’s take a look:

2020: 40 million guns purchased; 611 mass shootings

2019: 13.9 million guns purchased; 434 mass shootings

2018 13.1 million guns purchased; 323 mass shootings

2017 14.0 million guns purchased; 345 mass shootings

2016 15.7 million guns purchased; 382 mass shootings

Hmmm. Mr. Grasser might want to rethink his opinion on the effect of easy purchase of guns on the illicit use of guns.

Joanne Murray, Jeannette

Dangers of vaccination passports

Medical freedom and informed consent have always been fundamental principles in the American health care system. Requiring “vaccination passports” (documented evidence of vaccination) not only intrudes on the privacy of health information and frustrates the principles of medical freedom and informed consent, but its most nefarious infraction is that it lays groundwork for the stratification of a second-tier citizen.

Citizens who, for any host of reasons, choose not to carry or obtain a “passport” risk being obstructed from full participation in society. Denial of service, hindrance from commercial activity and participation in public life would be penalties for not carrying a universally required “passport.”

This is an awesome power that should be properly contemplated and understood.

Stacey West, Sewickley

What Doug Chew’s constituents want

The testimony submitted by Republican Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew to a state senate committee seeking comments on election integrity and reform deserves further response. It is a bit more than many constituents can swallow let alone, errr, chew on, especially his statement that “… most of my constituents would like to see no-excuse mail-in voting be eliminated.”

While Chew provides the committee with paragraphs of statistics, which they can easily access from county election officials, he offers no data to support his fictional statement regarding constituents’ views on mail-in ballots. He cites no polling results, surveys or even anecdotal evidence backing his claim.

Chew does present select constituent comments, most of which come from past or current Republican Party officials. These, along with quotes from that internationally recognized leader for expanded voting rights, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, round out Chew’s testimony. I didn’t know that Thomas was a constituent, let alone an expert on voting rights.

If Chew wants to educate voters, as he says , he can begin by telling constituents that they need to forget President Trump’s big lie about the 2020 election, which court decisions, many by Republican judges, have found to be fair and without fraud. That might help restore confidence in elections. But I predict he won’t do that because his testimony is all about Republican efforts nationwide to suppress voters’ rights.

Glenn R. Plummer, Unity

Who does minimum wage hike benefit?

Thank you, Democrats. As a senior citizen, why would I want the minimum wage raised? We seniors won’t be getting a raise like this.

If they raise the minimum wage, I will be paying more for the food and goods they make. If I go out to eat, I will be paying more and going out less. Do you think the servers will get the same raise? They don’t make minimum wage now, and rely on tips.

So we raise some people up who might have received state assistance, and now they lose that. What do they gain?

But the big kicker is what they’re not talking about: What about the workers making $15 an hour now? Do you think they will be getting the same percentage raise? It could mean their employers will need to charge more for the same products; if they do, they lose and the jobs might go to China or elsewhere. Now they’re unemployed. I see more jobs being lost here than the people they’re trying to help.

So who does it benefit? Only these big people voting for it saying, “Look what I did!” In reality they are screwing everybody — all of us will be paying more.

The people wishing for this better rethink what they’re doing. Better yet, these people should not be working for us!

Cliff Long, Unity

Doug Chew does speak for some constituents

Thanks to Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew for addressing issues concerning the 2020 election fiasco. His testimony before the Senate was based on his many discussions with constituents and his hands-on involvement in the election process.

To those criticizing Chew, just because you have a different opinion doesn’t make his testimony “one-sided and misleading.” To say he caused “rifts” simply because he doesn’t agree with you is exactly what is wrong in our political dialogue today.

Left-wing zealotry and propaganda is at an all-time high around the country. Some believe that less election security is better because it allows for fraud and no checks and balances. As a conservative in a solid Republican county and someone who stands for free and fair elections, I believe Chew should be commended for speaking out on behalf of the majority of county voters.

Ronald Zona, North Huntingdon

Ensuring all can vote in Westmoreland

Westmoreland County must continue its commitment to ensure that voters can vote safely and securely. The 2020 election showed us that dropboxes, six of which were placed throughout the county, are a safe and secure way for voters to submit their mail-in ballots.

Nationally, changes made to improve voter access helped to increase voter participation to more than 60%, a substantial increase but still lower than many other countries. Countries such as Sweden, Japan, Germany and others range in the 70%-90% range, while prior to 2016 we ranked with Slovenia, Estonia and Latvia at just over 55%. We should all work to increase our voter turnout.

In Westmoreland County, our covid case numbers continue to be high, and mail-in voting remains a safe way to cast our ballots. Importantly, it also provides greater access to those who live in rural communities or who would have difficulty driving to the courthouse. Dropboxes also provide timely delivery of ballots, rather than relying on our now-uncertain U.S. Postal Service.

I encourage support for multiple dropboxes to assist those with transportation issues, and to ensure that all citizens who wish to vote are able to do so safely.

Suzanne Wilcox English, Hempfield