Sounding off: Now's the time to fix Pittsburgh's road system

I have lived in the Pittsburgh area for over 20 years. I cringe every time I need to go into the city. I am sure I am not the only one. This opinion is to piggyback on Tom Kerek’s letter “Eliminating Pittsburgh’s traffic nightmares.”

As most people who live on the east side of the city know, your trip could take 30 to 90 minutes or more. I am not an engineer, but I can see the causes: too many cars on the roads, ramps clustered together and roadways that are too narrow. And then the tunnels and the unexplained reason why people seem to have to slow down to 15 mph to enter them.

With the push to revitalize and get people to travel Downtown and enjoy the jewel we have, it’s time to fix the road systems. Widen the tunnels. Would it be expensive? Yes! But how much, and is it feasible? Again, I am not an engineer. Maybe it has been investigated. But it appears that nothing is being done, and the attitude of the city fathers and others may be “Let them eat cake.” Who cares if you have to struggle to get into town?

With the infrastructure bill introduced, now seems to be the right time to investigate the options and plan and act on making an antiquated road system better, and save the environment along the way.

Ron Giuliana, North Huntingdon

Hyde Amendment protects taxpayers, babies, mothers

A long-standing protection for taxpayers is in danger.

The federal Hyde Amendment, which has barred taxpayer funding of abortion except in limited cases, is in jeopardy. This time-tested policy safeguards hard-earned taxpayer dollars, while also saving lives that would be otherwise lost to abortion.

It’s time for us to speak to our congressional representatives and U.S. senators and let them know that no budget should be approved unless it contains Hyde Amendment protections for taxpayers, unborn babies and their mothers.

Maria V. Gallagher, Harrisburg

The writer is legislative director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation.

Border crisis is Biden’s disgrace

Imagine this scenario: Your loved one is in a car accident, blood everywhere. Nervously rushing to the hospital, you hope everything will be OK.

Emergency room providers ask — “What kind of car was involved?” “Any trouble with it?” Not examining the patient, they research the car’s safety history and call the car company, discussing safety concerns.

Meanwhile, the patient deteriorates. Nurses call for help, but providers continue talking to the car company. You scream “TAKE CARE OF HIM!!” The providers explain that finding the “root cause” is their priority — they finally see him briefly, but you incredulously watch as they make a few comments and walk out.

Now, reality: The “patient” is our southwestern border in crisis; the “providers” are President Biden and Vice President Harris. Harris visited with the presidents of Guatemala and Mexico to learn the “root cause” of migration, and eventually went to a less busy portion of the border. Did she talk to Border Patrol? Local law enforcement? Citizens? I don’t think so. Why not?

All report horrific situations and dangerous cartels affecting thousands of immigrants and American citizens alike, with children the saddest victims. Harris’ visit was truly, in her own words, “a gesture,” because the Biden administration — with mainstream media support — ignores the tragic outcomes of their actions.

Abolishment of effective border policies is President Biden’s preventable, unconscionable humanitarian disgrace. They own this. Their failure has resulted in incalculable suffering, as obvious as our hypothetical medical providers’ nonexistent handling of their critical patient.

Some issues are partisan. This is not. It’s an American one.

Mary Rita Turka, Murrysville

Supreme Court system is broken

The Republican Party has allowed the Federalist Society to pack the Supreme Court with radical far-right activist judges. The result is a court that is pro-corporation, anti-worker and anti-voting rights.

Bush v. Gore, Citizens United and the 2013 Shelby County decisions, all from the 21st century, have the dubious distinction of being included in Time magazine’s list of all-time worst Supreme Court decisions. And, coincidentally, all three limit voting rights.

Bush v. Gore was a precedent-setting political decision the court had no jurisdiction to make. In Citizens United, the court limited the voter’s right to not be lied to by allowing corporations and rich individuals to plow as much money into false political advertising as they want. Shelby County put the onus on the voter to fight for their rights.

With the recent court decisions upholding Arizona voting restrictions and halting California collecting names of big donors , the Roberts court further limited voting rights. In his majority opinion Justice Samuel Alito, without any real justification, gave states the ability to ignore the Voting Rights Act.

When you have the Supreme Court rewriting laws and making decisions along party lines, the system is broken.

Michael Garing, North Huntingdon

Stand up against ‘new normal’

What a difference a year makes. It seems like only yesterday that our border was secure, unemployment was at an all-time low, China was on the defensive and we were energy independent. Seems like yesterday “birthing people” were mothers and people burning cities were criminals.

Today, given the abandonment of the former president’s policy, our border is open to drug cartels, disease and sex traffickers, Chinese spies caught “red handed” are not prosecuted, and our Keystone XL pipeline is closed while we look the other way on Russia’s pipeline to Germany. You would almost think the current president was doing our adversaries a favor.

What’s more troubling is the media and Big Tech abandon journalistic integrity. Any challenge to their “truth” via our First Amendment right is labeled as “disinformation” and silenced.

We are told this is the new normal and to blame all our woes on the convenient virus. You remember the virus — where we were called xenophobic to suggest it came from China until the evidence suggested it actually did?

Yes, it’s the new normal, where we are told to blindly “follow the science,” which is constantly changing to fit any circumstances. What sense does it make to require vaccines and masks when we allow the infected to cross our borders with impunity?

It’s time to be “woke,” all right — awakened to how our way of life is being erased before our very eyes.

It’s time to wake up, America. Call your congressman, talk to your friends, write a letter. Stand up for your country while you still can, before it’s too late.

Richard Lafferty, Buffalo Township

No reason to fear mail-in ballots

Letter-writer Dave Majernik (“Beware of mail-in ballots”) fails to point out that the large mail-in ballot response was most likely because of the global pandemic. People of all political parties, or no party, may have been reluctant, as I was, to vote in person because of that.

People aren’t “too lazy” to vote in person; many are working shifts outside of the short window on Election Day.

Applying for a mail-in ballot is easy, but applicants must provide a driver’s license, state ID or the last four digits of their Social Security number to prevent “cheating.” Registered voters can apply online at VotesPA.com.

Registered voters of all viewpoints can use mail-in ballots with confidence. A unique bar code is generated for each mail-in ballot. This bar code is scanned when the ballot is sent out and upon return to the election board, and it is locked up until Election Day morning. At that time, it is scanned at several different stations when it is opened and the voter’s selections recorded.

And lest we forget, the mail-in ballot expansion was part of the Act 77 voting reforms passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature in 2019.

Eileen Elicker, Washington Township

Critical space theory

Every day I hear more about the controversy over critical race theory. The shouting back and forth on this subject is deafening.

I believe that CRT has its foundation based in revisionist history, but I’m not comfortable voicing that opinion because this country is now caught in what I call “critical space theory.” Today there is very little room left for expressing opposing views against the sacred cows of both liberal and conservative positions.

I believe some of the CRT support comes from those who fail to understand the difference between equality and “equity.” Equality describes nondiscrimination, while “equity” involves the suspension of private property rights and the redistribution of wealth along racial lines.

Proponents call it “antiracist,” but it is more properly defined as anti-capitalist. If you want to divide your property and wealth with those who espouse this view, have at it. I choose to not do so.

The vision of Martin Luther King Jr. was equality. Among the supporters of equity were Fidel Castro, Josef Stalin and Chairman Mao. Choose which philosophy you want to accept. I will stand with Dr. King. (Just don’t tell anyone.)

Ed Klein, Shanksville