Letters to the Editor category, Page 122

On this, the upcoming 247th celebration of Independence Day, let’s take a quick review of why we broke away from England. It seems that Thomas Jefferson had a poor opinion of King George III, even all those many years ago. The main problem — poor customer service. We oftentimes seem...

Sen. Kim Ward wants to fast-track Lifeline Scholarships (vouchers) for students to attend private and religious schools. She claims schools need accountability and that it’s senseless to dump more dollars into schools with failing test scores. Here’s the question: Will she hold Lifeline Scholarship schools academically accountable? Her care about...

When we think of the Fourth of July, we think about people like the Founding Fathers, but it’s just as important to remember those who have helped preserve our freedom. Fifty years ago this month, Alexander Butterfield testified of the presence of a recording system in the Oval Office before...

Thomas B. Reed of Maine was speaker of the House from 1890 to 1899. He ruled the House with an iron hand, partly through his acid wit. When one member said he would rather be right than president, Reed retorted, “The gentleman need not be disturbed; he will never be...

For a nation claiming to follow the teachings of Christ, there seems to be large doses of hypocrisy. Complaints about high taxes, Medicaid recipients, illegal immigrants, the homeless and the poor taking advantage of “social systems” that give some relief, and how too many low- and middle-income (families making less...

In light of recent events surrounding Hunter Biden, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and others, we need a reset on what it means to be a public servant. Dictionary.com says a public servant is “a person holding a government office or job by election or appointment.” There are millions who...

The Allegheny County detention facility at Shuman Center has been closed for some time, and now it’s Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center (“Westmoreland closes juvenile detention center amid state investigation, staffing shortages,” June 24, TribLIVE). Given that, there is no mystery in the spike of delinquent crime. I am well...

Trump violated law The writer of the letter “Trump deserves 4th Amendment protection” (June 22, TribLIVE) bases his argument on the Presidential Records Act. Before writing his letter, perhaps he should have actually read the act, which states in part that the official records of the president and his staff...

Recent revelations of very expensive vacation trips enjoyed by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are shocking. None of these trips were disclosed on either of their financial report forms, despite having been paid for by wealthy Republican individuals having multiple cases brought before the Supreme Court. Neither justice ever...

The writer of the letter “Trump deserves 4th Amendment protection” (June 22, TribLIVE) employs the usual fallacies of the right wing in defense of former President Trump keeping secret documents. According to the Presidential Records Act, which he cites, they must be returned to the government upon leaving office (classified...

The response by many Republicans to the plea bargain negotiated by Hunter Biden’s attorney with the Department of Justice, ending the five-year investigation of the president’s son’s wrong­doing, comes as no surprise. Forget that the overwhelming number of DOJ charges result in plea bargains. Forget that the investigation was led...

I strongly disagree with Rep. Eric Nelson’s position on the Regional Gas Greenhouse Initiative (RGGI) and the use of fossil fuels (“Why is Shapiro so quiet on Pa.’s energy policy?” May 30, TribLIVE). The data on Pennsylvania joining RGGI show a win for our economy, health and environment. RGGI, a...

In response to the writer of the letter “Trump deserved 4th Amendment protection” (June 22, TribLIVE): You are obviously a fairly intelligent person, to achieve Ph.D. or MD status. But you obviously didn’t read the entire amendment and digest its meaning. So I’ll help you out. It is meant to...

The writer of the letter “Trump deserves 4th Amendment protection” (June 22, TribLIVE) bases his argument on the Presidential Records Act. Before writing his letter, perhaps he should have actually read the act, which states in part that the official records of the president and his staff are owned by...

As a veteran, I am sick and tired of the fake outrage concerning the Second Amendment when far right fascists rage all-out war against other constitutional rights, particularly the First and 14th Amendments. Current book ban trends are for no other reason than that the material makes certain people “uncomfortable,”...

State Sen. Gene Yaw’s recent commentary claiming the retirement of Homer City’s coal-fired power plant will be a “crippling blow” to the regional energy grid is misleading at best (“In Homer City, another step in killing the grid,” June 14, TribLIVE). PJM Interconnection — our grid operator — found no...

According to the article “Greensburg eyes expansion of business zoning to include self-storage units” (June 15, TribLIVE), the City of Greensburg and its mayor are considering allowing storage facilities in dilapidated buildings on Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. This challenge for the city is to change over the old, empty,...

It’s a shame when people visiting Pittsburgh for a reunion, wedding, graduation or some other event have to pay three times the cost of a hotel room because greedy owners are gouging patrons because of a concert at the stadium, which the visitors were not in town for to begin...

In response to the letter “Ramifications of DEP name change” (June 16, TribLIVE): This is a case of classic leftism. Accuse the other side of what you’re actually doing. In my opinion, Democrats have run the state Department of Environmental Protection and feel a name change is somehow a threat...

For years I thought that rich people ran our country. They would pick the Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate, so they didn’t care which one won. They were all for the rich. The Clintons were no different than the Bushes and Mitt Romney no different than President Obama. Then...

It’s me again, old and “whys.” Why do the taxpayers have to provide more for prisoners than warm, dry and fed? Prison is supposed to be punishment, not vacation. Why do taxpayers have to support illegal immigrants who obviously are lawbreakers? That’s the illegal part, for those who can’t figure...

I recently visited the Carnegie Museum of Natural History with a friend who was visiting from Michigan. She was fascinated with the extensive, preserved displays. However, when we reached the Egyptian area, we were confronted with a sign letting us know the bones, mummies and sarcophagus displays were going to...

I’m very disappointed to hear that the WPIAL has given high school streaming rights to the NFHS Network. I have tried to use this streaming service the past two years for my sister, so she could stream her grandson’s basketball games from Ohio. She was lucky if she got one...

It’s blasphemy to have a modern retelling of the Good Samaritan parable (Matthew 7:22-23) replacing the Samaritan with a transgender person (“Parable of the Good Samaritan for 2023,” June 11, TribLIVE). Jesus Christ taught us to love all people, even our enemies. So what are you really trying to say?...

According to the National Commission on Correctional Health Care’s Mortality Report regarding the many deaths at the Allegheny County Jail, “Allegheny County does not do mortality reviews,” which is a violation of National Commission on Correctional Health Care standard, “Procedure in the Event of an Inmate Death.” How is the...