Johnson as speaker bad news for America

Finally, and with so much turmoil in the world that needs to be addressed by Congress, U.S. House Republicans have elected a speaker.

The elevation to this position of Rep. Mike Johnson is good news for him, for Donald Trump, whose approval was necessary for a Republican speaker to be elected, and for the far-right members of the GOP, particularly the extremists who toppled the far-more-moderate Kevin McCarthy. It is bad news for the country.

Johnson’s acceptance speech was that of a dignified, intelligent, articulate and affable gentleman. It was deceiving.

Johnson is a prominent election denier/liar who actively attempted to overturn the legitimate result of the 2020 presidential election. He opposes marriage equality, women’s reproductive rights and providing aid to Ukraine: wrong and out of step on all of these issues. He is a perfect leader for his deep South home state of Louisiana, but one who is not reflective of much of the rest of the United States.

An ultra-right-wing speaker is wholly inappropriate in a U.S. House that is narrowly divided, 221-212. There is no mandate for a radical Republican like Johnson to lead this body.

I will try to look at the bright side. By betraying tens of millions of Americans with this choice for speaker, the Republicans may enable Democrats to score significant gains in future elections.

Oren Spiegler

Peters

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Bag ban nonsense

Your “lance” about Pittsburgh’s plastic bag ban made me laugh (“Cold cases and bag bans,” Oct. 27, TribLIVE). Next time you go to the store, check out all that plastic packaging for everything. And let’s not forget all the plastic cups, forks, spoons, etc., plus soda bottles, signs … . Sheesh. Aren’t there more important things out there as the world goes to hell in a handbasket? But we get the old “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Rob Fusia

New Kensington

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Republicans, does anybody really care?

With all of the chaos and confusion within the Republican caucus of the House of Representatives and more specifically, its poor leadership, as documented in numerous current issues of the Trib, I’d like to propose that the Republicans adopt, as their theme song, Chicago’s popular early 1970s hit “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”

A sampling of the lyrics from the song nicely matches the dismal performance of the clearly dysfunctional Republican Party:

Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?

If so, I can’t imagine why

We’ve all got time enough to cry …

Everybody’s worryin’

I don’t care

About time

(Oh no, no) I don’t care.

Wayne Baughman

Salem

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We should invest in school bus safety

Much has been said about school safety in the past few years, but not enough has been done regarding school bus safety. Unfortunately, as a retired Pennsylvania child care inspector for more than 18 years and a Pennsylvania school safety and security assessor, I can only say what must be done. It is up to Pennsylvania legislators, school districts and school boards to do what must be done.

Pennsylvania schools and child care facilities are having problems hiring qualified bus drivers. I checked thousands of clearances for employees working directly with children; I recommend that schools pay for the prospective bus driver clearances. The three required clearances for Pennsylvania public schools and/or four required clearances for Pennsylvania licensed child cares would cost less than $100 per employee. Also, there would be other safety benefits with this process.

Wouldn’t this be taxpayer money well spent? Why do child care employees need one more clearance than public schools, you ask? Well, that’s another story that needs to be told and changed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Dennis Smiddle

Canonsburg

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Those were the days

It seems as though that dangerous, bigoted white nationalist, who spent much of his time in a worn-out easy chair smoking a cigar, was never more right than now. Fifty years ago, Archie Bunker and his wife Edith sang the theme song to “All In The Family”: “And you knew who you were then. Girls were girls and men were men … Didn’t need no welfare state. Everybody pulled his weight … People seemed to be content. Freaks were in a circus tent … Those were the days.”

This hilarious, insightful and often touching television show couldn’t be made today under our politically correct, censorious, tyrannical state. There were many arguments on sensitive subjects between the polar extremes of Archie and his son-in-law Michael “Meathead” Stivic. Those humorous shouting matches were often intellectual food for thought, even when delivered through a silly sitcom. Today that type of robust debate seems to be forbidden.

It is estimated that the average empire only lasts about 250 years. According to Edward Gibbon’s great work, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” the root cause of the collapse of Roman society was their loss of civic virtue and individual morality. America is 247 years old, our virtue and morality are circling the sewer drain, and our systemic corruption is beyond belief. Emperor Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned. We get a bumbling Joe Biden eating ice cream cones.

I was fortunate to have grown up in a time when the American dream was still alive and well. Wow, “Those were the days.”

Steven Crichley

Carrick

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IRA provisions help seniors with drug costs

I appreciate the background and personal stories in the article “Planned reduction of Medicare drug costs could ease burden on cash-strapped seniors” (Sept. 1, TribLIVE).

I wanted to provide additional information on other prescription drug provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that may also ease the burden for Susie Bell and other Pennsylvanians.

In addition to the out-of-pocket spending and insulin price caps for Medicaid beneficiaries, the IRA also expands eligibility of Part D Low-Income Subsidies (LIS), which help beneficiaries with premiums, deductibles and cost-sharing. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), enrollees who receive LIS benefits do not face a coverage gap, and they pay modest co-pays until they hit catastrophic coverage, at which point they face no additional cost-sharing. Currently, individuals with incomes up to 135% of the federal poverty level (FPL) qualify for full LIS benefits, and those with incomes between 135% and 150% of the FPL for partial LIS benefits.

The IRA eliminates the partial LIS benefit and expands full eligibility for individuals with incomes up to 150% of the FPL beginning in 2024. Based on 2020 estimates from KFF, expanding LIS benefits could help 23,185 Pennsylvanians from paying the full cost of drugs in the coverage gap phase like Bell is now.

Marina Thornton

Washington, D.C.

The writer, a Franklin Park native, is a Master of Public Health student at George Washington University.

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Nothing from government is free

The article “Here’s how to get your free covid-19 tests” (Sept. 25, TribLIVE) is inaccurate. The tests are not “free,” nor were they “free” when “the White House launched the program to allow Americans to request free at-home covid-19 tests in January 2022.”

It costs money to pay for these tests. Somebody is paying for them. President Biden may claim he is paying for them, but he doesn’t have that kind of money. The government has only two sources: from taxes collected or by printing more money. Just printing money without collecting it is inflation, and everybody pays for it in the long run through higher prices.

You need to focus more on the ridiculous rate of inflation in the past few months than on Biden’s efforts to supply “free” covid tests. In the long run, nothing that “the government pays for” is free.

Richard F. Flickinger

Ligonier

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