Opinion category, Page 152
Sounding off: Presidential race tops writers’ concerns
Biden should step aside Joe Biden claims this year’s presidential election is about preserving democracy and that Donald Trump is running solely to feed his oversized ego. If Biden truly believes this, then he should step aside. The Democrats would then be able to nominate a practical centrist around whom...
Letter to the editor: Remembering Lorin Maazel
The legacy of the “City of Champions” is more than Super Bowls, Worlds Series, Stanley Cups, NCAA Championships or superstars. It also includes Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra stars like Victor Herbert, Fritz Reiner, William Steinberg — and Lorin Maazel, who died July 13, 2014. From a child prodigy in Paris, LA...
Editorial: Start planning path to next Pennsylvania budget now
Pennsylvania has a 2024-25 budget. Hallelujah. The budget came in a mere 11 days late. In Pennsylvania political time, that’s practically early. The 2023-24 budget overshot the June 30 deadline by almost half a year. The last parts were signed Dec. 14, making it closer to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s February...
Gary Franks: Biden helps Trump increase his lead
It is a miracle. President Joe Biden has done what few Americans have ever done or even thought possible. He has caused former President Donald Trump to be relatively silent. Trump is speechless. The latter does not have to do or say anything as long as Biden persists in being...
S.E. Cupp: Democrats, Republicans and the death of common sense — we’re stuck with Biden and Trump
Common sense. We all know what it means, but common as it is, definitions and ideas of it have changed over centuries. Aristotle connected common sense directly to the senses, and the ways in which we use different tastes, colors, feelings, smells and sounds to collectively perceive and categorize things....
Kari Xander: Pittsburgh must do better for its nurses
Pennsylvania is heading toward the worst nursing shortfall in the entire nation and will soon have over 20,000 empty positions. Here in Pittsburgh, our enormous health systems have the financial resources to lead the way in solving this crisis. Instead, the health care industry has done the exact opposite and...
Letter to the editor: Is Mark Madden rooting for Pirates to fail?
I’ve never written a letter to the editor in all my 66 years. But Mark Madden has gotten me fired up enough to give it a shot. Is he ever positive about the Pirates? In his column “Bryan Reynolds’ contract turning out to be bargain for Pirates” (July 6, TribLive),...
Letter to the editor: Vote for legislators who listen
Most Americans, no matter their religion, race or political party, want the same things from our government: • 98% support changing the way our political campaigns are funded. We want a reduction in big money’s influence. • 85% believe in access to abortion. We want reproductive freedom. • 75% support...
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ malfeasance
The debate between Presidents Trump and Biden was over much sooner than liberals would have liked, as it was instantly apparent Biden was not dialed in and gave the worst performance in contest history. In the immediate aftermath, network personalities critiqued both candidates, focusing the overwhelming majority of their commentary...
Laurels & lances: Furries and Philly
Laurel: To furry friends. You might want to dismiss Anthrocon as a bit silly. When you have thousands of people dressed like stuffed animals, the jokes do tend to write themselves. But the convention is serious business, too. VisitPittsburgh’s senior director of communications and public affairs Emily Hatfield said this...
Lori Falce: Why can UK and France move faster toward political change than U.S.?
America is a relatively young country. At just 248 years since announcing our debut as an independent nation with the Declaration of Independence, we are relative children on the world stage. Let’s look at the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — a good starting point for...
Mark Z. Barabak: It’s not just the White House. Biden could also cost Democrats control of Congress
As if Democrats don’t have enough to keep them up nights, here’s something beyond frightful visions of a Trump victory: a Republican trifecta in Washington. Joe Biden’s calamitous debate performance and the burgeoning concerns about his age and acuity aren’t just undercutting his chances at a second term. They’re also...
Jonah Goldberg: What too many Republicans still don’t understand about Donald Trump’s agenda
Donald Trump isn’t normally thought of as a consensus-builder, but in one sense that’s exactly what he is. Many of Trump’s most ardent fans and foes alike believe he is the leader of a political movement with a clear and defined set of principles and goals. They disagree only on...
Letter to the editor: WPIAL won’t correct inequities
It’s obvious the WPIAL will never correct the inequities that allow the Catholic/private high/low schools to enjoy athletic recruiting from anywhere. Question: Is it possible to determine how many members of the board of directors of the WPIAL (and the PIAA) are Catholic? The media, when dealing with “higher ed”...
Letter to the editor: Dziados will work for women’s rights
Whom do you want making decisions for you in the medical exam room? Your doctor? Or your congressman? On June 24, 2022, Chris Dziados, who is recently retired from the military and running for Congress, stood on the steps of the Supreme Court, horrified that SCOTUS would strip away women’s...
Editorial: If Biden won’t say Fogel’s name, Trump couldVideo
Please say Marc Fogel’s name. Say his name, say it often, say it in important places and bring him home. Fogel, 62, is a teacher from Oakmont who has spent his whole adult life teaching kids in foreign countries. In August 2021, he was arrested in a Moscow airport for...
Letter to the editor: Shapiro-Whitmer good bet for Democrats
It now appears fairly certain that Joe Biden is not going to be the Democratic nominee for president, that he will not be able to overcome a disastrous debate performance which was viewed by tens of millions and which will make for devastating ads to be run by his presumed...
Letter to the editor: Let’s look into Biden’s ‘cold’
In the many critiques that have been made public of the recent presidential debate, so much has been made of the cold that so severely afflicted President Biden that witnesses, including a number of Democrats, have expressed doubts about his ability to maintain the present campaign to a successful, winning...
Peter Morici: Whatever the inflation reports say, the Fed has no business lowering rates now
Anticipating the Federal Reserve’s moves is tough because the U.S. central bank has not effectively articulated the challenges it faces. Monetary policy features famously long lags that change from one business cycle to another. Much depends on structural changes in government finances and the private economy, external shocks that instigate...
Leonard Greene: First lady Jill Biden getting unnecessary abuse after Joe’s debate flop
Her loving students might call her Dr. B., but one cynical columnist has gone so far as to deride her as “America’s most famous community college teacher.” Jill Biden can’t win. If she talks her husband into staying the course after his widely panned debate performance, she’s a power-hungry puppet...
Letter to the editor: Where does Dave McCormick live?
There have been many opinions about Senate candidate Dave McCormick and his upbringing. Clearly, McCormick is originally from Pennsylvania, born and raised. Sen. Bob Casey is raising questions about McCormick’s current residency. Meeting the requirements to get on the ballot requires residency. If it’s a property bought to meet these...
Letter to the editor: Credit card swipe fee proposal would hurt consumers, small businesses
Some members of the Pennsylvania Legislature are making a misguided effort to exempt sales tax from credit and debit card interchange fees. I fear this radical change would adversely affect consumers and small businesses, including members of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania. Interchange fees are payments...
Editorial: Standing up for youth lost in accidents and crime
We lose children every day. There are a million ways every year that our most precious resource slips through our fingers. All of them are heartbreaking. All of them are terrible. Nationwide, the total is about 37,000 annually, according to the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention. In Pennsylvania,...
Letter to the editor: Making the Strip District safer
I recently read a letter from a fellow resident who moved to Pittsburgh for work and was convinced to stay because of the Strip District (“Strip District should cater to pedestrians,” June 30, TribLive). He highlighted the pleasant experience of walking to work, getting groceries and dining out, contrasting it...
Amber Bloom: Paying student teachers stipends is a win-win
As the daughter of a sixth grade teacher, I’ve grown up surrounded by educators. Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to follow in my mom’s footsteps and become a teacher myself. I’m very clear on my purpose in life: it’s to serve my students. But as a college student...
