Opinion category, Page 761
Walter Williams: Slavery is neither strange nor peculiar
The favorite leftist tool for the attack on our nation’s founding is that slavery was sanctioned. They argue that the founders disregarded the promises of our Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are...
Editorial: Graduation ends journey for parents, not schools
That first day of school is hard. We drop the kids off for kindergarten. We dry their tears and push them to go. We hide our tears so they don’t know we’re scared, too. And that’s not the only first day. There’s the first time taking the bus, the first...
Letter to the editor: Abortion holocaust
In the article “Rep. Frankel, Pittsburgh Jewish lawmaker, outraged with pro-life group using Holocaust images” (May 17, TribLIVE), Rep. Dan Frankel said he was “… incredulous that someone would equate the Holocaust and images of murdered, naked bodies in a concentration camp with the issue of women who want to...
Letter to the editor: A lesson in tariffs
Absurditopians and Stupidians obviously wrote Don Boudreaux’s column “What if real wars were fought like trade wars?” My 16, TribLIVE); nothing else explains its lack of economic reality. When a tariff is imposed, it’s not just to collect the tariff; since demand is elastic — that is, in proportion to...
Letter to the editor: We need our Second Amendment rights
While I share Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s outrage at the recent shootings at schools and places of worship (“Bill Peduto, Philly mayor: Why we oppose Pa. Senate gun bill,” May 9, TribLIVE), I cannot support their attempts to circumvent the rights of law-abiding citizens. This...
Daniel W. Drezner: Bye-bye Bolton?
We are far enough into the Trump administration to know how the script usually plays out when a Cabinet officer or high-ranking staffer is on the outs with the president. First, Trump asks everyone within his orbit what he thinks of the imperiled official. Second, reports of Trump’s dissatisfaction hit...
Scott Paul: Toomey out of touch with steel tariff reality
Sen. Pat Toomey is placing economic philosophy above the interests of Pennsylvania’s steelmakers and workers. Toomey is a zealous disciple of free trade, even when our national security may be at stake. It’s time for the senator to change course. There’s a very current example of why he should: The...
Lori Falce: LGBTQ still need allies, support
We went to the grocery store to buy tomatoes and bread, and on the way in, my friend and I would check the community bulletin board in the entry. It would be filled with posters for bingo and ads for babysitting services and used cars. The flyer we tacked up...
Laurels & lances: Flight, fire, art and weather
Laurel: To a high-flying success. The Memorial Day weekend Shop ‘n Save Westmoreland County Airshow drew thousands of visitors to the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. The annual undertaking is a big one for a small staff, assisted by contracted performers, hired hands and hundreds of volunteers. For two...
Letter to the editor: Tom Wolf’s extortion plan for college graduates
Gov. Tom Wolf (to recent college grad): Nice mountain of debt you are drowning in. I tell you what I’m gonna do. I got this little job I want you to do. Do me this little favor and I’ll see to it that you don’t have to pay back the...
Letter to the editor: Why should Trump release his taxes?
With thousands of people illegally crossing our southern border daily to manipulate our asylum laws, and the national debt approaching $22 trillion, President Trump is trying to find solutions to both — he has repeatedly proposed cutting wasteful spending from the budget and controlling the flood of illegals crossing the...
Letter to the editor: Why a Russian band at SummerSounds
Regarding Marion Sedlacko’s letter “SummerSounds doesn’t need Russian band” (May 10, TribLIVE) criticizing the choice of a Chicago cover band from Russia to perform in the 2019 SummerSounds concert series: I have regularly attended SummerSounds since the early 2000s. Gene James and the SummerSounds organization have done an extraordinary, I...
George Will: What could possibly go wrong with Trump’s protectionism?
WASHINGTON The cascading effects of U.S. protectionism on U.S. producers and consumers constitute an ongoing tutorial about what Daniel Patrick Moynihan called “iatrogenic government.” In medicine, an iatrogenic ailment is one inadvertently caused by a physician or medicine. Iatrogenic government — except the damage it currently is doing is not...
Letter to the editor: America’s self-destruction
I must confess that I’m gullible — I refuse to believe truths if I don’t agree with you, but I will soak up lies and deceptions like a sponge if they support my beliefs. I must confess that I’m selfish — although I’m overweight, I don’t want hungry women and...
Editorial: Court confident in UPMC, Shapiro showdown
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht clearly has a lot of confidence in lawyers. When the court issued a split-decision ruling Tuesday regarding Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s attempt to force a resolution to the ticking time bomb that is the end of the UPMC-Highmark agreement, Wecht showed a great deal...
Letter to the editor: Thank Reagan, Bush on Social Security
Regarding Patrick Caffrey’s letter “Ideas on Social Security/Medicare” (May 27, TribLIVE): Great thinking. Don’t forget to thank Reagan and Bush; they made it happen. R. Ebitz Hempfield...
Letter to the editor: Democrats’ behavior disgusting
I hope that the professional, dignified way the Democrats are behaving doesn’t discourage any future candidates. It’s disgusting! Reminds me of the reaction the first time Tiger Woods won the Masters … not racism, but degrading. It’s a circus, and not the fun kind. Hannelore Miller Hempfield...
Letter to the editor: Franklin Regional building costs
With Franklin Regional elementary schools’ capacity of 1,800 students, and enrollment at 1,483, how was it necessary to launch a new building program? Clearly, there exists sufficient space for classroom reconfiguration for collaborative learning in the existing three elementary buildings. Franklin Regional’s plans for a $58 million elementary campus have...
Vince Mercuri: The dynamics of hope
Artists, marketing experts, campaign strategists and spiritual leaders all utilize hope as a means to promote their respective messages to influence their audiences. Definitions of hope can be quite abstract. Is it optimism? Is it a wish? Is it a goal? Is it a belief? Is it motivation? The definition...
Pat Buchanan: Are we on the ramp to Impeachment Road?
After a stroke felled Woodrow Wilson during his national tour to save his League of Nations, an old rival, Sen. Albert Fall, went to the White House to tell the president, “I have been praying for you, Sir.” To which Wilson is said to have replied, “Which way, Senator?” Historians...
Editorial: Disaster aid should be non-partisan
A lot of attention goes to partisanship and bipartisanship. What do these groups agree on? What can bring both sides together? What drives them apart? There is less attention paid to the things that don’t have a side. Regardless of party affiliation, Pittsburghers can be depended upon to agree that...
Letter to the editor: Mueller report vindicates journalists
The Mueller report has done many things, but one of the most important, it has vindicated the journalists in this country. In numerous incidents, Robert Mueller’s comments have confirmed what the press has written and cast doubt on the president’s allegations of fake news. Only Laura Ingraham, who must have...
Letter to the editor: Peduto & the Pennsylvania Senate gun bill
A few things stand out in Mayors Bill Peduto and Jim Kenney’s op-ed “Bill Peduto, Philly mayor: Why we oppose Pa. Senate gun bill.” One, it states incorrectly that Senate Bill 531 would pre-empt local jurisdictions from enacting firearms laws. Current state law already pre-empts local jurisdictions from enacting firearms...
Letter to the editor: ‘Taking care of’ the babies
Letter-writer Robin Hammonds (“With abortion outlawed, who will take care of the babies?” asks, “… who’s going to take care of all the unwanted babies?” Apparently her answer, like the others who advocate aborting perfectly normal fetuses, is to “take care” of them by killing them. I pose five questions...
Letter to the editor: Trump’s plans for farmers
The article “Western Pa. farmers prefer free market trade to tariff-compensation handout” makes one dramatically aware of one of the domestic economic problems caused by our chaotic Trump tariff “policy.” Our United States agricultual export business has grown successfuly for many years with China as our largest customer for the...
