Opinion category, Page 803
Dale Kotowski: We all depend on clean water
Here in Western Pennsylvania, it can feel miraculous that wild trout have persisted through all that has been thrown at them: clear-cut logging, coal mining, oil and gas drilling. And yet an hour’s drive east from Pittsburgh, trout anglers like me face a bounty of choices. Mill Creek, Indian Creek...
Editorial: Shutdown could hit Pa. in tax season
In a press conference Friday, President Trump confirmed that he told Democrats in a negotiation earlier in the day that he would be willing to keep the lights out and the employees off the clock in federal offices for months or years to get the border wall that is the...
Letter to the editor: Kudos to Kennywood
The Kennywood Park management, staff and employees should be commended for another outstanding Festival of Lights Christmas event that we were so glad to attend. The park decorations, tied in with professional stage acts and choral music, provided an enjoyable atmosphere. We will be sure to attend next year’s event...
Letter to the editor: New year, same soup?
On New Year’s Day, members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly were sworn in and seated. There were a few more women, some younger members, some more progressive Democrats and more moderate Republicans — but will there really be any change? Will any one of them, or any bloc of them,...
John Stossel: Sweden isn’t socialist
For years, I’ve heard American leftists say Sweden is proof that socialism works, that it doesn’t have to turn out as badly as the Soviet Union or Cuba or Venezuela did. But that’s not what Swedish historian Johan Norberg says in a new documentary and Stossel TV video. “Sweden is...
Walter Williams: The worst enemy of black people
Malcolm X was a Muslim minister and human rights activist. Born in 1925, he met his death at the hands of an assassin in 1965. Malcolm X was a courageous advocate for black civil rights, but unlike Martin Luther King, he was not that forgiving of whites for their crimes...
Editorial: Replacing hate with tolerance
Hate. When hate is written in capital letters and bold font, we recognize it for what it is. It looks like blood on the walls of a synagogue or a black boy beaten to unrecognizability before being dumped in a river. It sounds like ugly words that leave you shocked...
Letter to the editor: North Side must do better
I was born and raised on the North Side, but left in 2006 with the Army to come to Hawaii. However, I frequently visit home, and it seems the same problems exist today as they did before I moved. The people of City Council District 1 must do better in...
Letter to the editor: EPA prioritizing money over children’s health?
The letter by Stephanie Catarino Wissman of the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania (“Committed to methane reduction,” Dec. 6, TribLIVE) attempts to discount the testimony of letter-writer Lois Bower-Bjornson (“EPA rollbacks dangerous,”Nov. 16, TribLIVE), who wrote, “My 12-year-old son has nosebleeds if the windows are open at night. My 9-year-old...
Letter to the editor: Immigration win-win-win
A simple, straightforward, common-sense solution to the immigration problem facing our nation: Government enacts a program whereby each bleeding heart liberal has an opportunity to sponsor an immigrant or immigrant family. Bleeding heart liberal assumes total responsibility for immigrant’s food, clothing, housing, education, health care and all incidentals. 1. Immigrant...
Donald Boudreaux: Progressives are unrealistic
Progressives take pride in their reliance on science. They insist that society should be governed according to objectively discovered facts rather than ruled by superstitions, dogmas and baseless fears and fantasies. I believe that progressives are correct — which is why I’m no progressive. Progressives’ agenda is inconsistent with their...
The cost of a kid’s medication
The first time I went to the pharmacy with my new insurance, I held my breath and stiffened. I looked away and braced myself the same way I do when I get blood work or a flu shot. It was going to hurt. “That will be $35.” What? Oh, no....
Laurels & lances: A baby, a DUI, deaths and support
Laurel: To Miles Everett Bartko. It isn’t every kid who gets this much attention, especially at just a couple of days old. But kudos to young Miles for his keen sense of timing. He wasn’t just the first baby born in Westmoreland County this year. He was the first birth...
Letter to the editor: Headline inaccurate, offensive
I am writing about the above-the-fold “Mattis waves white flag” headline on Page One Dec. 21. It is both inaccurate as to the Secretary of Defense’s actions, and offensive to anyone who served in the armed forces. Remind your copy desk that it’s better to be accurate than clever. Sally...
Letter to the editor: Let’s go back to paper over plastic
Everyone talks about how much plastic is in our oceans, landfills, etc., and now even the recyclers don’t want it. To help this situation, I propose that all stores and supermarkets revert back to using paper bags instead of putting one or two items in a little worthless plastic bag....
Letter to the editor: Pa. has sunshine, too!
A recent cartoon questioned whether Pennsylvania has enough sunshine for Gov. Tom Wolf’s 10 percent solar goal. Germany was the No. 1 solar nation for years, and we get more sun than they do. If you look at a graph of the price of solar in the last 15 years,...
Letter to the editor: Before casino opens, look to prevent theft
Well, this is certainly great news for the area. The new casino will be open this year. The politicians are anxious to spend that new revenue. But, there is only so much money available for recreation, and the gambling money will have to come from somewhere. You may have noticed...
George Will: In Illinois, a sign of intelligent life in the Democratic Party
WASHINGTON If Republicans have a lick of sense, they are alarmed by a recent sign of intelligent life in the other party. The sign is the election by Democrats in the House of Representatives of Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In November, she...
Peter Morici: Better ways to appoint Supreme Court justices
How about this new year’s resolution for Congress: find a better way to appoint Supreme Court justices. The spectacle of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings — character assignation largely motivated by his fairly conservative approach to the Constitution — illustrates that Congress has made the process toxic. And, it has...
Editorial: More nickels, dimes for Pennsylvania Turnpike
Keep a couple extra coins in the cup holder of your car. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is hungry. On Sunday, the toll will go up again, meaning that ride to the office, or that trip in a truck for work, or just that weekend jaunt to Grandma’s house — all of...
Letter to the editor: Rational gun discussion would be ‘real start’
The editorial “Pa. officials make moves on guns” (Dec. 14, TribLIVE) lauds the “real start to a conversation,” referring to Mayor Bill Peduto’s press conference to propose a City of Pittsburgh ordinance banning assault weapons. The Trib’s characterization of the city’s proposal as a “real start” is interesting. These discussions...
Letter to the editor: Befitting memorial to Hulton Bridge
I recently had the opportunity to read the article on the Hulton Bridge art project (“Riverview High School art project gets state funding boost,” Nov. 13, TribLIVE). Bravo to the people and organizations responsible for making this cultural venture happen. Alkthough I will miss that majestic rattletrap structure that spanned...
Letter to the editor: Catholic Church not above the law
The Catholic Church has a lot of nerve airing a radio commercial urging Catholics to come back to their religion by coming to confession. Are you kidding? Once again, ignore the perverted priests and focus on what laypeople have done wrong. It sickens me that the Catholic Church continues to...
Mitt Romney: How a president shapes the public character
The Trump presidency made a deep descent in December. The departures of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, the appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the abandonment of allies who fight beside us, and the president’s thoughtless claim that America has long been...
Pat Buchanan: 2020 year of the Democrats? Maybe not
If Democrats are optimistic as 2019 begins, it is understandable. Their victory on Nov. 6, adding 40 seats and taking control of the House of Representatives, was impressive. And, with the party’s total vote far exceeding the GOP total, in places it became a rout. In the six New England...
