Opinion category, Page 458
Letter to the editor: Rep. Leslie Rossi is not demonstrating leadership
Rep. Leslie Rossi, please demonstrate some leadership (“Westmoreland Co. lawmaker offers to help with vaccine exemptions as covid-19 infections surge.” Covid-19 cases and deaths are rising. Consider these headlines: • “Excela reopens Unity testing center in response to rising covid-19 numbers.” The article reports that on Dec. 10, a record...
Ramesh Ponnaru: Democrats should blame themselves, not Joe Manchin
The Democrats should have listened to Joe Manchin. As their “Build Back Better” agenda assumed legislative shape, the Democratic senator from West Virginia kept telling them what he didn’t like about it. On Nov. 1, he decried the bill’s “shell games” and “budget gimmicks” and called it “a recipe for...
Teresa Ghilarducci: The perfect Christmas gift? Cash.
If you still haven’t gotten a holiday gift for someone — or anyone over the age of 12, for that matter — you’ve come to the right place. As an economist, I can assure you that not only have you done the responsible, even thoughtful, thing. It may also not...
Sally Pipes: Post-pandemic, fix scope-of-practice laws
Even health care answers to the law of supply and demand. Before the pandemic, demand for care was surging as our nation aged. Supply has not kept up. More than 83 million Americans live in areas where there’s a shortage of primary care health professionals, according to the federal government....
Letter to the editor: Why run S.E. Cupp’s bitter diatribes?
Reading (which I usually do not) S.E. Cupp’s columns has me wondering why the Tribune-Review continues to print them. Cupp must have a dictionary with only words like “conspiracy-spewing quack,” “rotten fermenting barrel of toxic waste,” “soulless,” “insane” and “kooks.” Her hatred of President Trump has no end. Cupp dislikes...
Letter to the editor: Nurses need a lifeline
There are currently more than 1.7 million positive covid cases in Pennsylvania, which is leading to burnout for nurses and causing a spike in staffing shortages. Pennsylvania has been hit hard in terms of nurses leaving their jobs, and these professionals are in need of a “rapid response” to help...
Editorial: Commissioners have to prove emailed comments are more than junk mail
There are only so many hours in the day, and in a work day, that number is even shorter. Instead of working with 24, you are compressed to just eight. Anyone who has tried to shoehorn one more meeting in between this planning session and that roundtable can attest that...
Letter to the editor: Biden’s climate order is not enough
Regarding the Associated Press story “Biden order would make U.S. government carbon neutral by 2050”: After the less-than-adequate pledges coming out of COP26 in Glasgow in November, the executive order seems like good news. Here’s the problem. Presidential executive orders can be easily reversed by the next administration; and with...
Tom Purcell: The basics of student loan debt
’Tis the season for giving — or, for some legislators, a good time to demand that the government force taxpayers to give others a large gift. A few weeks ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the house floor to issue another plea for the federal government to cancel nearly $1.7...
Dr. David Macpherson: ‘Anonymous homicide,’ part 2 — a message to local leaders
Most of us are tired of thinking about the pandemic. It’s ceased to be interesting news. It’s become fertile ground for politicians who increasingly seem to need a soapbox to stand on and shout from to attract votes. The more they shout, the less interesting it seems. Even reports of...
John Sparks: Vaccine mandate a case of federal overreach
Whether you have strong convictions against vaccines, or just about the covid vaccine, or you have no particular aversion to vaccines, understanding what is going on with President Joe Biden’s OSHA-enforced vaccine mandate is important. The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) mandate is just one leg of a three-legged...
Letter to the editor: Schools must ensure safety of all
Following this month’s state Supreme Court ruling striking down Pennsylvania’s school mask mandate, Mark Holtzman, McKeesport Area School District superintendent, announced that students and staff will no longer be required to wear masks in district schools. He believes this ruling is good for the district, because it gives parents the...
Letter to the editor: Our problems are government-inflicted
OK, can we be any more ridiculous? Non-American citizens should never be allowed to vote for anything, period. Also, if the government is going to allow businesses to continuously be robbed without any bail or penalties, then all businesses big and small should be equipped with a bar system keeping...
Editorial: Can UPMC solve the nursing shortage?
Necessity is the mother of invention. It’s a truism because, well, it’s true. You don’t find a new way to do something unless you have a problem that needs to be fixed. Is that what UPMC is doing with its latest announcement? This isn’t a new hospital or a new...
Letter to the editor: Republicans are not planning for our well-being
Can you imagine that one of our two major political parties has no platform, no legislative agenda, no guiding principles beyond “Democrats are bad,” to improve the lives of Americans ahead of next year’s election? The Republicans have no proposed legislation to help us survive human-caused climate change. No sense...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 20
Editorial cartoons for the week of Dec. 20....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 20
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Dec. 20....
Gabe Kaminsky: GOP’s crowded Pa. gubernatorial field a help or hindrance?
With Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf term-limited in a state that narrowly went to Joe Biden in 2020, both Democrats and Republicans are scrambling to best position themselves for the 2022 gubernatorial race. Democrats have rallied around Attorney General Josh Shapiro; on the Republican side, it remains unclear whether a...
Mona Charen: The MAGA perversion of patriotism
In September, an Arizona student who tested positive for covid-19 was ordered to quarantine for several days. Seems normal, no? No. The boy’s father barged into principal Diane Vargo’s office and demanded the kid be allowed back into school immediately. Vargo was alarmed when the intruder told her others were...
Letter to the editor: Grateful for ATI’s generosity
My late husband, Kenneth (Jack) Koedel, retired from ATI after 46 years of employment. He has been gone for 5½ years. Every year during the holiday season, the company deposits a gift of money in my bank account. I am so grateful that they have not forgotten the widows of...
Letter to the editor: Maybe Dr. Oz will be good for Pa.
With Dr. Mehmet Oz throwing his hat in the Senate race, I ask myself, why not? In recent elections, we have had a diversity of candidates. Hey, we have a caterer as a coroner in Westmoreland County. Caitlyn Jenner is running for governor of California, a position formerly held by...
Editorial: GOP shouldn’t overreact to redistricting
The Pennsylvania House Majority Leader may be a bit hyperbolic. Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said he thinks the new preliminary map for redistricting the state House of Representatives is “a danger to our system of government.” That seems like a reach. It’s a map, not a coup d’etat. It’s also...
Letter to the editor: Hungry kids need Build Back Better passed
While families are counting down to the holidays, many are also anxiously watching a different clock — the one that is running out for Congress to take meaningful action to address hunger and poverty in communities here in Pennsylvania and nationwide. Unless Congress acts before the end of the year,...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: United when disaster strikes
As the nation became aware of the devastation caused by last week’s tornadoes, we were reminded once again what the word “united” means in the United States of America. Cutting across nine states — Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee — there were at least 44...
Sean Hoffmann: Pa. has historic opportunity to restore quality of beloved rivers
Western Pennsylvania is known for its three rivers: the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio. These rivers and the surrounding region provide an ecological richness along with tremendous recreational opportunities. They are biologically diverse, picturesque and among the most historic tributaries in America. And because we cherish our three rivers,...
