Sounding off: Where are the adults?

Peter, Paul & Mary had a hit with “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” in 1962. Today a new hit song might be “Where Have All the Adults Gone?”

I have exercised my right to vote since I was 18. I knew the date of the election and voted, and if I forgot the date and did not vote, my fault. If I was going to be away on Election Day and I wanted to vote, I applied for an absentee ballot and voted. If I failed to notice a conflict in being away on Election Day, or if I failed to meet any of the mail-in deadlines, my vote did not count, my fault. If my dogs ate my absentee ballot, my vote does not count. My fault.

Where are the adults? If you do not want to vote in person because of covid-19, get a mail-in ballot and meet the deadlines.

Now the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has taken away my right to an “Election Day,” replacing it with an “Election Season.” I have been stripped of my right to have ballots cast and turned in no later than Election Day, to have ballots counted on Election Day and to know the outcome of Election Day, the night of or the day after.

All my rights to a free election are gone. Why? I forgot about the deadline. I forgot the date. I forgot I would be away. I am uncomfortable with covid-19. The dog ate my homework (ballot). “Where Have All the Adults Gone?”

The Rev. James Holland, West Deer

Election choice — none of the above

As a consistently registered independent since 1967, it is extremely disheartening to witness how we have permitted the deterioration of our government and legal system. This is, arguably, one of the lowest periods in our country’s development: deceit, lies, fraud, illegal actions, etc.

All talk show hosts and radio/ TV stations report the portion of the news that support their viewpoint and/or extrapolate a portion with their own interpretation of the balance. How often have you been subjected to “so-called” experts espousing the beliefs of a specific party ?

The two political parties are fanatical in the conviction that their philosophies are the only ones that matter. All others are deluded and, thus, the enemy. Many times, the defense/rationale is akin to 5-year-old kids fighting: He/she hit me first.

Some might feel we should vote for the “lesser of two evils.” A vote for either presidential candidate is unconscionable. If completely loyal to your party’s principles, then have at it. Should you be concerned about our country’s present and future, please contemplate writing in none of the above. Perhaps those creating the chaos and embarrassment will receive the message. Your consideration is appreciated.

David Kapeluck, Delmont

‘Pro-life’ is not clear-cut

I appreciate the writer’s passion in the letter “Trump is right pro-life choice”. I did, though, feel surprised at the implications that the term “pro-life” is so clear-cut and that the decision for a so-called pro-life president is so obvious, as shown in the letter’s last line: “Very easy choice.”

If “pro-life” only means a person standing against abortion in support of the unborn, then, yes, it’s more clear-cut (even there, shades of gray remain). But what about standing against gun violence in support of each life taken? What about standing against war in support of each life lost, both civilian and military? What about standing against the mistreatment of immigrants and the marginalized of society in support of each life in pain?

What about standing against the death penalty in support of each life that’s just as imperfectly human as the next? What about standing against the abuse of the Earth in support of a living planet that offers so much life to us?

It seems that “life” is not only precious in every complex form, but the very term itself brings with it a complexity that defies any clear-cut approach to declaring oneself to be “pro-life.”

Thus, I agree wholeheartedly with the writer’s line about looking into our relationship with God — the divine essence of all life — as each of us must intentionally seek a life-giving spirituality, explore various viewpoints, wrestle with difficult issues and ask hard questions that may not have straightforward answers.

John David Kudrick, Penn Township, Westmoreland County

Winning our democracy back

October is Halloween month, and this is a very different Halloween since everyone is already wearing a mask except the president and some of his supporters.

In the White House, we have a reality star who is playing president. In any Halloween game, he would be considered a loser. In my opinion, he is a loser and is responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives.

As Bob Woodward quoted the president in his book “Rage,” he knew about this dangerous virus in early February. However instead of acting, he continued to golf, conduct rallies and make nasty comments about China and people who were concerned about the virus. His response to Woodward was, “I did not want to panic the American people.”

The American people have a way to eliminate this pseudo dictator: Vote to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the other Democrats on the ticket. This is the only way to wrest our great democracy from Trump.

Richard P. Davis, Saltlick

Do you believe the Biden-Harris promises?

Oceanfront property in Arizona!!

If you are confident in the repeated Joe Biden/Kamala Harris promises that your taxes will increase only if you earn over $400,000 per year and that only the “rich’” will pay for their expansive spending plans, please contact me ASAP about the above property.

Facts matter and, if Biden/Harris on day one reverse the Trump tax cuts as promised, a married couple with taxable income of $80,000 would pay an estimated $2,200 more in taxes each year. The couple’s standard deduction also would decrease by $11,700, likely adding all or some of that amount to their taxable income. Your corporate employer would face a tax rate increase from 21% to 28%, likely forcing job cuts and reduced future wage and salary increases.

Taxes and income are only two items in our household budgets. With expansion of fracking in recent years, my unit cost for natural gas dropped by about 70%. My electricity unit cost dropped by about 25%, and gasoline prices decreased by about 35%. Biden likes fracking when he’s campaigning in Pennsylvania, but both he and Harris have stated repeatedly that they would eliminate it, thereby wiping out these savings.

If after reading this you are still confident that your family finances will not be affected by the Biden/Harris policies, please contact me, and perhaps you can even use the $2,500 you are saving each year from Obamacare to help with your Arizona oceanfront land purchase.

Larry Schultz, Murrysville

Biden’s free lunch won’t be free

Joe Biden needs, among other things, to take a course in basic economics. He’s said he will raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% because “that will raise a lot of money.” It’s true, but who does he think will pay the increased taxes?

Corporations are beholden to their shareholders to make a profit. The increased taxes at the corporate level will simply be passed to the consumers of the products each corporation manufactures in the form of higher prices for those products. So who really gets their taxes raised?

There is no such thing as a free lunch in a free market system. As a good reference look up economist Milton Friedman’s book “There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch.”

Rex Cox Jr., Harrison City

Last presidential transition wasn’t so peaceful

Regarding Joseph Sabino Mistick’s column “Life will go on after election”: So Mistick longs for the “peaceful transition” of power this time. What about the last one, where the Democrats did everything they could to undermine and subvert that transfer of power? In my opinion, they lied and cheated, used the awesome power of the CIA, FBI, FISA court (all with theknowledge and approval of President Obama and Vice President Biden) and a special prosecutor, and the perfidy and outright collaboration of the media all toward the effective, if not overt, interference of the use of that power.

Many say President Trump is divisive, but he is an absolute amateur compared to the professionals in the Democratic Party and their sycophants in the media.

Tom Portante, O’Hara