Opinion category, Page 104
Letter to the editor: Resolve to be healthier with plant-based diet
New Year’s resolution, anyone? How about one with multiple benefits for our health, our planet and the animals? Eating more veggies, fruits, legumes, grains and nuts helps us stay healthier, reduce global warming and stop animal suffering. It requires no exertion or deprivation. And it saves money too! The abundant...
Editorial: The burden of the [egg] yolk
The price of eggs was political in 2024. The breakfast staple and baking building block often came into the conversation over the cost of groceries. Vice President-elect JD Vance provided an inadvertent chuckle for some when claiming a carton cost $4 — while standing in front of a display with...
Letter to the editor: Natural gas drives benefits across Pa.
I would like to respectfully disagree with the writer of the letter “Fracking falsehoods” (Dec. 18, TribLive). Natural gas development is a vital driver of Pennsylvania’s economy and energy security for the nation. It is difficult to ignore the benefits and disregard the truth in the numbers. While critics continue...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: President and Mrs. Carter made America better
Jimmy Carter became larger in defeat. That’s not easy to do, but it is especially rare in politics. For many politicians, losing the big one is enough to push them into the background forever. For Carter, his one-term presidency was just one step along the way to greatness. Carter’s presidential...
Point: Democrats have an opportunity to rebuild
As this historic 2024 political year comes to a close, many Democrats are crying in their eggnog. Not only did we fail to win back the House of Representatives (this prospect seemed likely in January), but we lost the Senate and frustratingly lost the White House again — and the...
Counterpoint: GOP disarray is a positive for Democrats
As Democrats look to 2025, several factors provide them with a sense of hope and optimism for regaining and maintaining political power. The landscape of American politics can be unpredictable, but the current climate offers promising avenues for Democrats to explore as they prepare for coming elections. One of the...
Sounding off: Minimum wage, Biden, Trump at top of week’s letters
Pennsylvanians need a raise State Rep. Jesse Topper hit the nail on the head when he said Pennsylvanians need more money in their pockets (“We can stop the pinch who stole Christmas,” Dec. 20, TribLive). But he was tone deaf with his answer. We, the struggling middle class, need a...
Letter to the editor: Pennsylvanians need a raise
State Rep. Jesse Topper hit the nail on the head when he said Pennsylvanians need more money in their pockets (“We can stop the pinch who stole Christmas,” Dec. 20, TribLive). But he was tone deaf with his answer. We, the struggling middle class, need a pay increase to deal...
Editorial: What does Biden’s block mean for U.S. Steel?
Pittsburgh is a steel town. Pennsylvania is forged from coal and coke and iron. Maps are peppered with the words “furnace” and “mills.” The history of metal production in the Keystone State began in the 1700s — before America was a nation. Did the end of that identity come Friday...
Letter to the editor: Biden is no hero
I find it interesting the accolades the writer of the letter “Thankful for Biden’s accomplishments” (Dec. 26, TribLive) bestowed on President Biden, and I’d like to share what else Biden has done. His history of lies goes back to his Senate days, and when he thought he was going to...
Jonah Goldberg: The ‘deep state’ and ‘the swamp’ are both favorite Trump targets. Here’s the difference.
Donald Trump has promised to do many things once he reoccupies the White House. Among the most famous, and most desired by his biggest fans, is his vow to “drain the swamp” and “demolish the deep state.” The first and arguably most important challenge for such a project is definitional....
Letter to the editor: Why is parking so difficult at Acrisure Stadium?
Why does almost every football stadium I see on television have adequate parking, as opposed to Pittsburgh? I guess it’s because the Rooney family preferred mega-bucks development income to parking convenience at Acrisure Stadium. Greed. Mark Miller Murrysville...
Letter to the editor: Cost of covid treatment evidence of drug companies’ gouging
A few months ago, a friend of mine contracted covid. Soon after, her medical insurance company issued a statement stating they had paid the drug company $1,453.55 for the Paxlovid treatment. The high cost of the antiviral was a little concerning, and I decided to do some research into the...
Letter to the editor: Remembering Officer Leonard Miller
Officer Leonard C. Miller, the first Black police officer for Apollo, was a distinguished graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Police Academy. He began his tour of duty Jan. 1, 1980, and was killed at 21 in the line of duty Jan. 3, 1980. Miller was genuine by nature...
Paul Kengor: My Top 5 Most Astonishing Political Moments of 2024
When it comes to politics, 2024 was an insane year. So much so that your faithful columnist has conjured up a list of the Top 5 Most Astonishing Political Moments of 2024. Here we go: Number 5 is President Joe Biden’s shocking appearance at the presidential debate. Pretty much any...
Editorial: Pittsburgh needs to show urgency in addressing police staffing
On Wednesday, New Orleans was primed for a party. That’s not surprising. The city starts celebrating Mardi Gras on Monday for an event that doesn’t take place until March 4. The French Quarter ratchets up to a fever pitch of music, parades, beignets and alcohol. And so it makes sense...
Sharon Pillar: Renewables reliable, economical
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is often referred to as insanity. As we enter our 4th consecutive year of wildly escalating electricity prices, it should be clear by now that what Pennsylvania has been doing in terms of energy is simply not working...
Cal Thomas: Lessons of 1925 for 2025
Political and other prognosticators are busy as usual predicting the future. Never mind calculating how wrong they have been in the past, our desire to know what’s coming sometimes overcomes sound thinking, ignorance of history and an understanding of human nature. Recall the number of times climate alarmists predicted we...
Letter to the editor: Clowns come to town ahead of the Trump circus
The circus is not even in town yet, and the show has already begun. The last piece of legislative business for the House of Representatives of the 118th Congress is to fund the government. On Sept. 25, the Senate and the House voted to pass the bipartisan continuing resolution HR...
Letter to the editor: Trump-haters will be eating their words
I read with some sadness the letter “Let Trump’s destruction play out” (Dec. 27, TribLive). In his first sentence, the writer steals from the greatest talk show host and conservative commentator of all time, Rush Limbaugh, who coined the term “low information voter” years ago to describe people just like...
Editorial: What is Pennsylvania’s political future?
Where does Pennsylvania go from here politically? It can be hard to predict. That’s what makes Pennsylvania a swing state. The Democratic and Republican strongholds are well known, but the fuzzy purple edges where things blur are harder to pin down. Will that continue? Will Pennsylvania continue to be the...
Letter to the editor: Have we elected a king in Trump?
The headline “Judge rejects Trump’s bid to dismiss hush money conviction because of Supreme Court immunity ruling” (Dec. 16, TribLive) caught my eye. Reading the AP article raised my eyebrows, and I had to read and reread the last line of the first paragraph, “But the overall future of the...
Chip Minemyer: Tired Sandusky taunts further insult victims of abuse
Why does chirping about a scandal that broke more than 13 years ago still give fans of Penn State’s football opponents such glee? A grand jury indictment in November 2011 accused former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky of sexually abusing young boys in his care. In 2012, he...
Marc Champion: Europe needs to swiftly fulfill its aid pledges to Ukraine
A note to Europe’s leaders: When it comes to sending sufficient aid to help Ukraine end Russia’s invasion, if not now, when? In October, I visited and wrote about a critical mine at Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, which had become the primary focus of Russia’s efforts to maximize the territory...
Carl P. Leubsdorf: A look ahead to what might happen in 2025
My prediction that President Joe Biden would drop out was a rare bright spot among last year’s not totally serious predictions. Undaunted, I try again by looking ahead to 2025: January — House reelects Speaker Mike Johnson on third ballot after he agrees to make Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene assistant...
