Letters to the Editor category, Page 338
Letter to the editor: In praise of the DMV
When was the last time you heard someone praise the wisdom of the DMV? When I visited the Bridgeville DMV facility to secure a Real ID, I expected the worst: a three-hour wait for the painful experience of being told I didn’t have the right documents. To my delight, the...
Letter to the editor: Transparency vs. politics
The editorial “The people have a right to know” (March 2, TribLIVE) offers only one side of the story. I don’t disagree that the people have a right to know what their public officials are doing, but I think it’s important that they understand the entire scope of what an...
Letter to the editor: Electoral College is essential
Regarding Ron Slabe’s letter “Electoral College is archaic”: Any law, resolution or proposal to change the core process of our national election, especially one heavily sponsored (i.e., funded) by left-wing progressives, is something the electorate should strongly oppose. The left has a way of assigning nomenclature to disguise the purpose...
Letter to the editor: Who would fall for ‘Russian meddling’?
Warning! “Experts” report that Vladimir Putin is personally crafting the most hypnotic Facebook ad ever created. If Hillary herself even glances in the ad’s general direction, she will become another Trump zombie. In reality, though, I find it maddening that the media and politicians use the words “meddling” and “interference”...
Letter to the editor: Pro-life means protecting all lives
To me, “pro-life” means supporting all aspects of all lives. It’s not enough to merely encourage a child’s birth while ignoring efforts to feed, clothe, educate, provide health care and protect that child throughout life. Since 2016, we’ve seen expanding anti-life policies, including attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act...
Letter to the editor: Investing and coronavirus
Coronavirus has done one good thing: It forced individuals to reassess investment. The result: a near-recession. While a bear market is never preferable, the chance of an economy not propped up on overconfidence and malinvestment should be desirable to all. Then, the Fed reduced rates to 1.5% in an attempt...
Letter to the editor: School tax & retirement
I believe in total elimination of school tax. No property owners should lose their homes because of it! Op-ed writer Gary English (“Tax -shifting schemes won’t provide property tax relief,” Feb. 18, TribLIVE) doesn’t agree. The proposed House/Senate Bill 76 on school tax elimination would provide much more than a...
Letter to the editor: Economic truths about Obama, Trump
In response to the letter “Obama vs. Trump on national debt” (Feb. 27, TribLIVE): The Bible tell us that the truth will set you free. While President Obama inherited a bad economy, the truth about the Obama “recovery” is that it had the lowest labor participation rate in years with...
Letter to the editor: Young people know the election stakes
There is a growing trend of Republican retirements in the Pennsylvania Legislature. From Joe Scarnati to Mike Turzai to local representatives, it’s clear that something is sending career Republicans packing in 2020. Each time members of the GOP decide against filing reelection papers, it’s an opportunity for voters to ask...
Letter to the editor: History of African American Chamber of Commerce
I would like to clarify the history of an economic organization that is important in the history of Pittsburgh’s black community — the African American Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1996 at the suggestion of business consultant Richard Portis. Founding members were Mulu Birru and Charles Reaves of the Urban...
Letter to the editor: Empathy and public policy
In his appeal “Less judging, more love,” letter-writer Keith Kondrich ironically ponders bedtime questions through a lens of self, but imagining hardship on ourselves doesn’t prevent or alleviate hardship for others. “What if it’s me” ignores searching for solutions to help improve lives of those struggling with difficult circumstances. If...
Letter to the editor: Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race
In her column “Voting for a woman president” (March 5, TribLIVE) Lori Falce writes: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the most recent candidate to pull out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. She was the last serious female contender.” Really? I take Tulsi Gabbard’s credentials and candidacy very seriously....
Letter to the editor: Chuck Schumer should resign over ‘word choice’
“It was a very poor choice of words,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said. And just like that, Sen. Chuck Schumer’s attack on two sitting members of the Supreme Court in the most voracious manner was dismissed by some on the left. Those words to Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh...
Letter to the editor: Reject socialism
I watched Bernie Sanders being interviewed on “60 Minutes” and was amazed. When asked how his new government programs would be funded, his answer was “tax the billionaires.” I wonder if billionaire Mike Bloomberg agrees with that. Sanders’ freebies simply cost too much. There are not enough billionaires to pay...
Letter to the editor: High heels & mine sites
In her column “Voting for a woman president” (March 5, TribLIVE), Lori Falce relates standing next to a woman wearing high heels in the dirt at a strip mine. The woman was bemoaning the fact that she needed to get home to make pies, and the men on the site...
Letter to the editor: Democratic candidates’ promises won’t work
After listening to the recent Democratic presidential debate, which looked more like “Saturday Night Live,” I wondered: Is this the best the Democrats have to run for president? Bernie Sanders talked about education in Cuba. I ask, how else would you brainwash our kids? Joe Biden said 150 million people...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh Zoo’s accreditation doesn’t break lease
The editorial “Pittsburgh should OK zoo accreditation” (March 6, TribLIVE) supporting the Pittsburgh Zoo accreditation by the Zoological Association of America (ZAA) as not a lease violation is absolutely correct. The condition that Pittsburgh Councilman Bruce Kraus argues as a lease violation is that the zoo broke the lease when...
Sounding off: Think, verify before you post
With the rise of Facebook and Twitter, we have all become media outlets. With the click of a mouse we can share news links with our family and friends. When we share a story, we are applying our personal stamp of approval. Sometimes, we are saying we think something is...
Letter to the editor: Saving lives via organ donation
Many area hospitals participate in campaigns from Jan. 1 to April 30 to raise awareness of cornea, tissue and organ donation. Part of my hospital’s mission in this challenge is to dispel myths that prevent people from registering for organ donation. While 95% of us say we support organ donation,...
Letter to the editor: Immigrants and coronavirus
While President Trump visited India last month, mobs attacked Muslims in several locations. Over 30 people were killed, including an elderly woman burned to death in her home. A writer for Atlantic Monthly notes that “pogrom” is the correct term for such attacks. As in czarist Russia and Nazi Germany,...
Letter to the editor: Anger, resentment as old as time
If you check most any news source, whether local, national or world, you will see a preponderance of it concerning factionalism, nationalism, partisanism, tribalism, separatism, angry divisiveness between political parties, religions, races, genders and niche identities. We choose our exclusive groups to bond with, then point the finger at outsiders...
Walter Williams: We have no ‘right’ to health care
Sen. Bernie Sanders said: “I believe that health care is a right of all people.” He’s not alone in that contention. That claim comes from Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives. It is not just a health care right that people claim. There are “rights” to decent housing, decent...
Letter to the editor: Bezos’ wealth could cover a lot
Let’s imagine that Jeff Bezos, who accumulates almost $9 million an hour, lived in a world with Bernie Sanders’ 8% “extreme wealth” tax (on fortunes over $10 billion). A single year would see $9 billion flow into government coffers from Bezos’s $115 billion treasure trove, more than enough to cover...
Letter to the editor: Methodist Church & LGBT people
Western Pennsylvania will soon welcome spring with colorful blooms and sweet aromas. On this Sunday, there’s a sky as blue as popsicles from my childhood. My girlfriend “KB” and I walk hand in hand looking for a church. We walk up to a stately stone United Methodist Church surrounded by...
Letter to the editor: Tale of 2 Americas
Reading recent letters, you’d think there are two Americas. One is certain righteousness, President Trump’s logic and reason, spouting claims that “He has arrived,” supporting a chosen son who’d make Geppetto’s head explode. The other squandered all political capital promoting morally offensive “progressive” social reforms while abiding archaic bureaucratic mores...
