Opinion category, Page 114
Paul Kengor: Nominating likable presidential candidates
On the eve of Tuesday’s election, RealClearPolitics posted a striking number. Its composite average of presidential polls showed a literal tie between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Each candidate was at 48.5%. You couldn’t get more even. Still, as my editors here will attest, I predicted that Trump would thus...
Gary Blumenthal: All eyes on Shapiro for essential ID/A funding
As the dust settles from the 2024 election, Pennsylvania’s leaders must now prepare for the 2025 legislative session and the forthcoming fiscal year budget debate, as families, caregivers and individuals in the intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) community look to Gov. Josh Shapiro to champion crucial funding needs. Last year’s...
Rabbi Michael Pollack: Pa. leaders must step up to fight foreign election interference
Senate Republican leaders decided to end our two-year legislative session without passing HB 2433 and banning foreign influenced corporations from political spending in Pennsylvania elections, and our Pennsylvania state Senate has now gone home until the new year. The editorial “Why would Pennsylvania elections need foreign money?” (Sept. 19, TribLive)...
Letter to the editor: Don’t miss Duquesne-Robert Morris game
This Saturday, Duquesne and Robert Morris renew their FCS Division 1 football rivalry with a noon kickoff at Rooney Field. If you are a college football fan, it doesn’t get much better than this, as both teams enter the contest undefeated in NEC conference play. The winner of the mythical...
Letter to the editor: Drill, baby, drill is a false promise
“Drill, baby, drill” is a rallying cry and a promise to lower prices and improve our lives. But is it really true? According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, we produce much more natural gas than we use, exporting about 75% of our output. We also produce more electricity than...
Editorial: Pennsylvania still has lessons in wake of election
Everyone knew Pennsylvania would be a key player in the 2024 presidential election. What was less certain was the state being a microcosm of the election as it played out across the country. On Tuesday, as ballots were counted, the areas that voted for the Democratic and Republican candidates were...
Letter to the editor: Allow ACHD to protect us
As Allegheny County Council votes this month on a fee increase for Title V operating permits, some are arguing that this will place an unfair burden on U.S. Steel, a company that earned $2.14 billion in 2023. Nonsense! The Allegheny County Health Department has been admonished by the Environmental Protection...
Jonah Goldberg: Amid a combative election, party realignment continued apace
The term “realignment” gets used and abused a lot, because people have agreed to use it without agreeing on a definition. Traditionally, realignments are said to have occurred when majority and minority parties switch places. Starting in 1932, FDR pulled Blacks and working class and immigrant whites into the Democratic...
Cal Thomas: Democracy lives in brightness
In the end, Kamala Harris was the wrong candidate with the wrong message at the wrong time. President-elect Donald Trump won the greatest comeback in American political history — bigger than Richard Nixon’s 1968 victory — by surviving two assassination attempts, a media that was shamelessly in the tank for...
James Stavridis: North Korea troop deal exposes Putin’s weakness
Russian President Vladimir Putin is suffering grievous manpower losses as a result of his illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. He has lost about 200,000 killed, double that number wounded and at least 500,000 young men fleeing the Russian Federation to avoid the draft: a butcher’s bill of over a...
Ken Zapinski: Maintaining a robust economy is also a public health issue
Most of the major metro regions in the U.S., including Pittsburgh, would not meet the new Clean Air Act standard for tiny soot pollution, according to the latest data from the Environmental Protection Agency. Of the 50 largest metro areas, 26 would violate the new standard established by the EPA...
Letter to the editor: Use math to set well pad setbacks
The state of Pennsylvania is over 100 years a Keystone State. In the 1920s, Canonsburg was called the “most radioactive town in America.” Also in the past decade, the Canon-McMillan School District was studied for three years by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the University of Pittsburgh for suspected...
Letter to the editor: Harris, Walz didn’t ‘fail interviews’
Here’s a response to the letter “Harris, Walz failed their ‘interviews’” (Oct. 22, TribLive), in which the writer said he thinks Kamala Harris sounded stupid, faulted President Obama (who is not on the ballot) for not strengthening the Affordable Care Act and vaguely criticized Tim Walz for saying the NRA...
Editorial: Was dog attack a pit bull problem or a pet owner one?
People expect a few scares on Halloween. Maybe there’s a guy in a hockey mask with a rubber knife lumbering down the street. Maybe an animatronic zombie lunges off the neighbor’s porch. Maybe there’s a spooky haunted house set up in the garage at the end of the block. But...
Letter to the editor: Police chief has fouled out
Well, Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto, or should I say former chief as of Nov. 1, has taken his ball and gone home (“Pittsburgh police Chief Scirotto to step down amid refereeing controversy,” Oct. 25, TribLive). While he has gotten good reviews as chief, I guess he became greedy and...
Letter to the editor: Protect pharmacy benefits
Recently, I participated in a symposium hosted by the Pittsburgh Business Group on Health to discuss the key health care issues facing local employers. One takeaway was that rising prescription drug prices remain a significant challenge for small businesses as they work to attract and retain talent and protect the...
Cal Thomas: Is it too early to talk 2028?
What can a columnist do when his deadline is Election Day and he doesn’t know who has won the presidency and other offices (and we likely might not know for days, or more, if the polls are right about a virtual tie)? Answer: He speculates about 2028. Whether Donald Trump...
Rev. Erik Hoeke: Community is what we make of it
Seventy-two percent of Americans agree that in our complex society we have a shared responsibility to engage with people different from us, according to a 2023 study conducted by More in Common US. So why are politics so partisan and divisive? And how might we meet these challenges in our...
Letter to the editor: Halloween racism in Mt. Pleasant
Woo-hoo! Mt. Pleasant makes The New York Times (for racist Halloween float). Great job politicizing a family event in a denigrating fashion. I thought Halloween was about kids and treats. Guess I was misinformed. Tina Bobnar Greensburg...
Letter to the editor: Why can’t we all have nice things?
When I was little, when people asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I used to answer American Gladiator, then Olympic gymnast, then architect, but my overall goal was still the same: to be able to provide for and protect my family and loved ones, to...
Editorial: It’s your turn to change the world
OK. That’s it. The 2024 election cycle might be the longest and the shortest ever. In some ways, it feels like it’s been going on since Donald Trump announced his Republican candidacy in 2015. In some sense, it might be dated to 2021, when the former president suggested he would...
Letter to the editor: Leaders must address asthma
Childhood asthma leads to over 10 million missed school days annually in the U.S., making it a significant contributor to chronic illness-related school absenteeism. In the U.S., nearly 25 million Americans, including 5.1 million children, have asthma. In Pennsylvania, approximately 12.3% of school age children have asthma. Albuterol is a...
Joseph J. Ellis: The U.S. alone is saddled with an Electoral College. How did that happen?
In 2016 and 2020, Donald Trump lost the popular election by several million votes. But in 2016 he won in the Electoral College with slim majorities in several toss-up states. That is the only way he can win the looming election, a contest all the polls show is too close...
Letter to the editor: Allegheny Valley Hospital is the best
As you enter the front of Allegheny Valley Hospital, the “moment” has begun. The front-desk staff is helpful and caring, so professional in their jobs. All departments through the hospital are there for you. The moment of exiting the hospital provides a feeling of gratefulness and happiness. Thank you, nurses...
Letter to the editor: Pittsburgh Mills should never have been built
Regarding the article “Namdar Realty profits from Pittsburgh Mills, ‘dying’ malls” (Oct. 19, TribLive): More power to Namdar for figuring out how to make a profit. The real story, however, is that the mall should never have been built in the first place. Construction of the mall was discussed back...
