Letters to the Editor category, Page 210
Letter to the editor: Time to increase Social Security thresholds
Congressional Gaming Caucus co-chair Guy Reschenthaler recently introduced the Shifting Limits on Thresholds (SLOT) Act, which would raise the tax threshold for slot winnings from $1,200 to $5,000. The current threshold for reporting slot winnings was set in 1977. While this is commendable, it doesn’t adequately address what constituents really...
Letter to the editor: Let Ukraine, Russia duke it out
The war in Ukraine will not end well. There’s a lot of self interest among world leaders. Ukrainians cannot win the war without assistance. NATO is involved. Russia may come after European NATO members before they come after us. Joe and Hunter Biden may be subject to Ukrainian blackmail because...
Letter to the editor: Biden a better car salesman than president
Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that if you buy an electric vehicle (EV), you can save $80 in gasoline every month. Imagine that. In August, the White House held an EV summit, inviting executives from GM, Ford and Chrysler but none from the world’s largest...
Letter to the editor: Use ARP funds to fix Westmoreland’s safety net
Ninety-eight people died June 24 when a 12-story condo in Surfside, Fla., collapsed. This tragedy occurred because warnings regarding the building’s crumbling structure were ignored. Westmoreland County commissioners have spent $7 million of American Rescue Plan funding to repair structural defects to a courthouse parking structure. These necessary repairs will...
Letter to the editor: We’re all responsible for keeping our rights safe
Let the sunshine in! That is, let the Sunshine Act intent in our school board and local council public meetings. Everybody needs to know that you have a right to know and an obligation to care about what is right, just, equitable, ethical and fair. More than ever before, there...
Letter to the editor: Money for education not making kids smarter
We have a governor who I believe feels by throwing money at teaching our children, they will become smarter. Or is it because teachers unions give millions of dollars to his party? We spend more per student than any other country in the world. But our students keep falling further...
Letter to the editor: What about treatment of Brett Kavanaugh?
Letter-writer Robert J. Reiland thinks several Republican senators embarrassed themselves during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, and that Sen. Ted Cruz made racist attacks on the nominee (“Republicans’ questioning of Jackson embarrassing.” Asking difficult questions, as Cruz did, is not an attack and does not make one a...
Letter to the editor: Educating students about artificial intelligence
While the editorial “Artificial intelligence is not educational taboo” (March 8, TribLIVE) implied otherwise, I am not, in fact, afraid to talk about artificial intelligence and how this topic might fit into schools. AI is not only about Alexa and Siri; it also is used in facial recognition technology, Deepfakes,...
Letter to the editor: Defining a woman
The next appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court can’t/won’t define what a “woman” is! I can. Whadahekzgoinonhere?? Huh? Joe Marmo Cheswick...
Letter to the editor: Would Putin go nuclear?
Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear forces on alert. We could do likewise, going from DEFCON 3 to 2 to 1 (defense conditions of readiness prior to all-out nuclear war). To do so would only heighten tensions. The concept of MAD — mutually assured destruction — prevented nuclear war throughout...
Letter to the editor: ARP funds should go to treat substance abuse, mental illness
I am a Westmoreland County physician who has worked throughout the pandemic and witnessed the damage from covid-19 firsthand. Many patients and families are still struggling with depression, addiction or both. Hopefully, our county commissioners will use Westmoreland County’s American Rescue Plan funds to rescue our communities as we recover...
Letter to the editor: Will and Toomey’s Ex-Im Bank myth
I read, with disgust, the March 31 George Will opinion piece “Toomey rightly wants to rein in Boeing’s bank.” Sen. Pat Toomey and Will have used only the barest of facts as a matrix upon which they weave a complete myth. I had firsthand experience in obtaining an EX-IM loan...
Letter to the editor: Peace plan could save Putin’s soul
An open letter to Vladimir Putin: Dear President Putin: When first you became president, there were a few of us Americans who may have thought, privately, “Finally, a Russian leader who knows how to get things done.” Frankly, sir, we were wrong about your judgment when it comes to foreign...
Letter to the editor: Bills should be shorter — and read — in Congress
I would love to see a bill proposed by Congress to limit the amount of pages each new proposed bill could contain — no more than five pages, front and back. In addition, before a vote is taken on the bill, each member of Congress must sign a statement that...
Letter to the editor: Putin won’t go nuclear
Regarding letter-writer Rodger Henderson’s remarks about good buddies Putin and Trump and about the situation in Ukraine (“Peacemakers will restore order,” March 14, TribLIVE). To everyone who is afraid of it, I’d like to assure them that this war will not lead to nuclear war mainly because Putin, while damn-straight...
Letter to the editor: America’s greatness threatened
The names folks who desire to destroy America use to describe those of us who disagree with them are not fit to print, so I’ll be considerate and refer to them as dipwads. Once upon a time, I registered as a Republican because I felt the Republicans were more in...
Letter to the editor: Putin’s evil
What will dictators do to hold on to power? Such evilness by all means to hold on to power. Vladimir Putin jails or kills his political opposition. He has changed Russia’s Constitution and rigged the voting system to stay in power. The countless conjured-up reasons to invade Ukraine are just...
Letter to the editor: Sex and gender absurdities
The greatest asset of any comedian is to deliver a line with an unsmiling, deadpan expression. I recently witnessed Rachel Levine unabashedly state that she is the first woman appointed as an admiral to the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. How did we get here? In 1972, Congress passed...
Letter to the editor: Commissioners must address mental health care needs
Thank you, Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew, for working with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) to prioritize improving mental health care in Pennsylvania. The economic, physical and emotional suffering related to covid-19 have led to a crisis situation. Westmoreland County lacks adequate mental health care services. The covid-19...
Letter to the editor: We should be giving Ukraine the military help they need
“For God’s sake, this man (Putin) cannot remain in power.” A completely correct and inspiring statement by President Biden, this made me proud to be an American. For God’s sake, let us give Ukraine the military equipment immediately that they are requesting — the fighter jets, the tanks, air defense...
Letter to the editor: Republicans need saving
Given recent history, Pennsylvania Republicans should make their official motto “Save Us From Ourselves.” First, 14 Republican lawmakers joined a lawsuit asking the state’s Supreme Court to rule that mail-in-balloting is unconstitutional. Republicans trying to limit access to the ballot wouldn’t be shocking, as voter repression seems to be part...
Letter to the editor: Consider lifesaving organ donation
April is Donate Life Month. This is a perfect time to encourage organ donation. I was introduced to the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) early in my nursing career. I told my family to donate my organs if ever there was an opportunity to do so. I have...
Letter to the editor: Cyber charter funding reform needed
Despite ads on TV, cybercharter schools are not free. Your school district property taxes fund them. That funding needs to change because it continues to drive your taxes up. Pennsylvania has 500 school districts. By law, each district must pay a different tuition per student for attendance at a cybercharter....
Sounding off: Hide your Bibles, the book banners are back
With a nod to Meredith Wilson’s “Music Man”: Trouble, oh we’ve got trouble, Right here in Westmoreland County! With a capital “T” That rhymes with “B” And that stands for Books. The book banners are back (with book burners a half-step behind), never really having gone away. They would have...
Letter to the editor: Crosswalk signs is what Jeannette needs?
The article “Jeannette officials continue discussion about use of federal covid relief cash,” March 24, TribLIVE) is Jeannette in a nutshell. Our mayor wants to install crosswalk signs. Seriously? This might also explain why the old Monsour hospital site is still an empty lot. Crosswalk signs. SMH. Dale Parker Jeannette...
