Opinion category, Page 793
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Trump’s State of Kumbaya address
At times during the State of the Union speech, Donald Trump sounded like he wanted everyone to love each other. If you just caught selected snippets, you might have believed that he had turned a new leaf, pushed the restart button and resolved to let bygones be bygones. “We must...
George Will: Limited government requires a limited president
WASHINGTON Soon, in a federal court that few Americans know exists, there will come a ruling on a constitutional principle that today barely exists but that could, if the judicial branch will resuscitate it, begin to rectify the imbalance between the legislative and executive branches. It is the “nondelegation doctrine,”...
Editorial: UPMC, Highmark show charities are big business
When Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Thursday that he was going to court to break up the UPMC-Highmark catfight, it put a spotlight on something that frequently gets forgotten when dealing with the big business of health. They are both nonprofit organizations. Neither of them hide that. In fact, it...
Sounding off: Where’s our property tax relief?
Where’s the property tax relief we were promised? Pennsylvania is second in the nation in gambling revenue intake behind Nevada. In 2017 Pennsylvania took in 3.2 billion — and that was before we started keno and sports betting. Some estimates project that this will create an additional $1 billion to...
Letter to the editor: Stop tantrums, politicians
The attitude of our elected representatives, on both the state and federal level, is talk-talk-talk while digging their heels in and throwing a tantrum to get their own way. Solutions addressing critical problems never get beyond the talking stage. These do-nothing representatives who consider themselves privileged need an incentive to...
Letter to the editor: Roads, not drivers, the problem during snow
Regarding the article “Did Pittsburgh forget how to winter?” (Feb. 1, TribLIVE): I attempted to go to work on Feb. 1, and I did experience the “35 minutes to drive one mile” speed rate. However, I only drove that one mile, from my home in Oakmont to the second light...
Letter to the editor: Legalized pot will cost Pa.
The February 2019 issue of the AAA Motorist newsletter had a great article titled “Driving while high can double your risk of a crash.” States that have legalized marijuana are experiencing many more fatal crashes. It is a proven fact that marijuana affects balance, coordination and judgment, thus impairing a...
Letter to the editor: Recycling in our disposable society
So now we have most communities being forced to recycle certain garbage items (glass, only certain colors, metal cans). What exactly is this supposed to accomplish? Other than good gubmint jobs, complete with a golden pension plan. This is financially irresponsible. Glass is basically worthless (How much do you buy...
Letter to the editor: Compromise on the border wall
While President Trump reopened the government and a committee is trying to broker an agreement, it is critical that compromise is reached. But current reports state that Trump still wants $5.7 billion for the wall. Speaker Nancy Pelosi still says there will be no wall. This reflects the very extremes...
Editorial: Penn Hills grand jury report, recovery plan short on teaching lessons
You can’t keep digging a hole without making plans to climb out. Right now, it doesn’t seem like Penn Hills School District will ever find a way out of the dirt. On Tuesday, a grand jury report used words like “economic ruin,” “egregious” and “catastrophic” to paint a picture of...
Walter Williams: Opportunities endless when sex becomes optional
Suppose I declare that I am a king. Should you be required to address me as “Your Majesty”? You say, “Williams, that’s lunacy! You can’t prove such nonsense.” You’re wrong. It’s proved by my declaration. It’s no different from a person born with XY chromosomes declaring that he is a...
John Stossel: The slum by the Bay
San Francisco is one of the richest cities it the world. It’s given us music, technology and elegant architecture. Now it gives us filthy homeless encampments. One urban planner told me, “I just returned from the Tenderloin (a section of San Francisco). It’s worse than slums of India, Haiti, Africa!”...
Letter to the editor: Trump must be impeached
Before Trump was elected president, I had a feeling he wanted to build a Trump Tower in Russia. Why else would he want to protect Putin from being accused of tampering with our election? Trump is willing to sell out the United States for his own financial gain in Russia...
Letter to the editor: Guns are a right
After the news of the gun rally in downtown Pittsburgh and Mayor Bill Peduto’s plan to create his own staunch “gun control” policies, I have to wonder why there is a constant attack on guns. I understand they can kill, but so could any blunt or sharp object in the...
Michael Tomasky: Political polarization is America’s normal — and there’s nothing new about it
When Americans think about political polarization, I’d imagine most of them think back to the ’90s—Newt Gingrich, the Clintons, the ascendance of conservative media figures like Rush Limbaugh, all that. Well, polarization started in the ’90s all right. But not the 1990s. The 1790s. In other words, we have this...
Lori Falce: Virginia racism, sex scandals provide lesson on consequences
Yes, Virginia, there are consequences for things you did in college. Or high school. Or a hotel room in Boston. Not to pick on the state known as “The Mother of Presidents and the Mother of Statesmen,” but lately, Virginia is also the “Mother of Chickens Coming Home to Roost.”...
Laurels & lances: Marijuana, Scouts, violence, drugs, and the Super Bowl
Laurel: To the Wolf administration for committing to gauging the public’s sentiment on marijuana legalization. Can’t get much more thorough than Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s plan to visit 67 counties. Oh no, Toto, I don’t think we’re in Harrisburg anymore — or even Braddock! Laurel: To the Boy Scouts for...
Letter to the editor: Her success not ‘cosmic luck’
With all due respect to letter-writer Thomas C. Spallone (“Cosmic luck,” Jan. 18, TribLIVE): Yes, I was born in America. M grandparents came to this country as legal immigrants. The security I enjoy today was not given to me by others. My father was an unemployed coal miner, my mother...
Letter to the editor: ‘Free Solo’ movie is astonishing
There’s something odd about Alex Honnold’s brain. He’s the subject of “Free Solo,” the best movie thriller you’ll see in years, even more so because it’s real life, not Hollywood. Technically a documentary, “Free Solo” tracks the motivation and physical skills of a man driven to climb the 3,000-foot granite...
Letter to the editor: Disdain toward others is disheartening
This letter is in response to letter-writer Thomas C. Spallone (“Cosmic luck,” Jan. 18, TribLIVE): Reading your letter was so inspirational and thought-provoking. You are absolutely right when you say we had nothing to do with where we were born and under what conditions. The arrogance and disdain that so...
George Will: Senate Finance Committee steered by Iowa tractor driver
WASHINGTON His tractor is so noisy that, when driving it, the man who calls himself “just a farmer from Butler County” puts his cellphone under his cap, set on vibrate. Charles Grassley, 85, who has served in the Senate longer than all but 11 of the 1,983 other senators —...
Jennifer Rafanan Kennedy: Real culprit in Pittsburgh’s lead crisis
On Friday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that his office has filed 161 charges against the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) over elevated lead levels. For years, Pittsburgh community members and environmental coalitions like the Our Water Campaign — a local coalition of environmental, labor and community organizations...
Letter to the editor: Not America’s fault
In his letter “Cosmic luck” (Jan. 18, TribLIVE), Thomas C. Spallone claims that “If you were born in America, you didn’t earn your citizenship” because your good fortune came from “random cosmic luck,” and therefore we are no better than immigrants trying to cross our borders. To understand why his...
Letter to the editor: McCarthy was a patriot
In his op-ed “Free press, elections help debunk ‘official’ lies” (Jan. 12, TribLIVE), Joseph Sabino Mistick includes a typically sordid narrative portraying Joe McCarthy as a hoaxer. Unfortunately, it’s outdated. M. Stanton Evans’ landmark 2009 “Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America’s...
Letter to the editor: ‘No walls’ didn’t work for Native Americans
This is an answer to Jim Blahovec’s letter “What if Native Americans had built walls?” (Jan. 22, TribLIVE): As I view the Smithsonian Channel’s “Aerial America,” I think about the killing, burning and pillaging of the Native Americans by immigrants who took away their land. This leads me to want...
