Opinion category, Page 19
Editorial: SNAP shutdown starves more than the poor
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the modern incarnation of what was originally called food stamps. The program was born during the Great Depression, when feeding families was a challenge on a broad scale. It was reconceived in the 1960s. President John F. Kennedy moved forward with a pilot program...
Letter to the editor: Help available to pay gas bills
October is the perfect time to explore assistance programs that can help lower your natural gas bill before the first cold snap. Peoples Natural Gas customers have access to programs that can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars this winter. Many customers assume they don’t qualify, but these programs...
Letter to the editor: Vote for candidates with integrity
Nov. 4 is Election Day. Normally when the president’s office is not on the ballot, there is low voter turnout. This is a critical election for local and county offices, and your voice is much needed, so please vote. I view integrity as the most important characteristic a candidate should...
Letter to the editor: Trump doesn’t deserve Nobel Peace Prize
It is preposterous that President Trump is being hailed as a peace-maker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. The current Israel/Hamas ceasefire is essentially the same as the ceasefire already in place when he took office Jan. 20, 2025. On March 18, 2025, Trump did not object when Israel reinvaded Gaza,...
Michael Ohler: Pa. needs more state prison boot camps
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) has one of the highest recidivism rates in the nation. That’s why its decision last month to close the Quehanna Boot Camp, the state prison with the lowest rate of recidivism and the highest rate of GED graduations, continues to deserve scrutiny. On the...
Allison Schrager: A zombie economy could be America’s future
Over the next decade, the U.S. economy will face two big challenges: higher interest rates and AI-generated disruption. Each invites the same solution: policies to keep rates below their market level. The strategy, also known as yield-curve control, is tempting, and it may even provide an immediate boost to the...
Letter to the editor: Improvements to Penn Avenue sorely needed
I love the Strip. It’s probably the most Pittsburgh neighborhood. It represents old and new, tradition and potential. It’s where I do much of my shopping, where I take out-of-towners and where I go when I really need a coffee. I am there at 6 a.m. on the coldest Christmas...
Letter to the editor: Football is a cult
For local sports fans who have a functioning cerebral cortex, we appreciate that the only sporting event that was worth watching over the weekend of Sept. 27-28 that involved a Pittsburgh professional sports team was the Penguins game played at PPG Paints Arena Saturday. That event was truly Pittsburgh sports...
Letter to the editor: Four wrongs — Nobel prize, baseball money, Penn State, budgets
Four wrongs: Whether you love him or hate him, nobody deserves the Nobel Peace Prize more than President Donald Trump. Even the recipient of the prize agrees. The payroll of the Toronto Blue Jays is $58 million. Seattle Mariners is $61 million. Milwaukee Brewers is $116 million. Los Angeles Dodgers...
Editorial: UPMC and AHN are growing their networks. Is that good?
The human body is made up of assorted clusters of material. Cells combine to create tissues that can specialize into organs and work together in systems. That’s how we get cardiac tissue making up a heart that drives the cardiovascular system. The health care world can be similar. Doctors and...
Letter to the editor: Population control
In the 18th century, after the French Revolution, there was a shortage of food, which led to unrest. To solve the problem the government, through mass executions facilitated by new laws removing the rights of defense and appeal, drastically reduced the population needing to be fed. This attitude toward solving...
Editorial cartoons for the week of Oct. 20
Editorial cartoons for the week of Oct. 20....
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Oct. 20
Mallard Fillmore cartoons for the week of Oct. 20....
Letter to the editor: Flag-burners should be prosecuted
In the letter “Kirk, Kimmel and free speech” (Oct. 16, TribLive), I was thoroughly annoyed (to put it nicely) with the writer’s comment regarding flag-burning. He hates it but would tolerate it as a means of expression. How insane! Tell those thousands of young men storming the beaches of Normandy...
Letter to the editor: We need courage and compassion
I don’t have all the answers, but I see how decades of changes in education and public discourse brought us here. Investment in education has declined, and access to higher learning is increasingly out of reach. Critical thinking and civic awareness have suffered, leaving people vulnerable to misinformation and fear-based...
Letter to the editor: Reject liberal Pa. Supreme Court judges
In an off-year election there usually aren’t many important offices on the ballot. However, this November is an exception. The three uber-liberal Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht must not be allowed to return to the bench. People living in Westmoreland County should remember how...
Editorial: Health insurance subsidy discussions cannot wait
Sometimes if you just wait, a situation will change. Maybe the forest fire will burn itself out. Maybe the floodwaters will recede. Maybe the storm promised by the weatherman will veer off and unleash its fury elsewhere. That can happen. It does happen. But it doesn’t always happen. That’s part...
Joseph Sabino Mistick: Our disciplined, dignified military
It has been almost three weeks since 800 American generals and admirals were summoned to Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia to hear remarks by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The officers traveled from around the globe, directed by Hegseth to leave their posts for what he...
Ken Silverstein: Bridging the red-blue divide on climate
Heather Reams, the president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), stepped onto the stage at Breckenridge’s Mountain Towns 2030 summit — a room full of progressives accustomed to negotiating with Republicans on climate policy. She faced an audience from Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado — areas that often depend...
Patricia Murphy: Trump forged Middle East peace. How about fixing Congress next?
Defying the odds and expectations of many, President Donald Trump went to the Middle East last week and announced what many thought impossible — a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and, hopefully, a path to peace in the Middle East. As a part of getting both sides to agree to...
Ryan Kennedy: Far fewer Americans support political violence than recent polls suggest
A series of recent events has sparked alarm about rising levels of political violence in the U.S.: the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 ; the murder of a Democratic Minnesota state legislator and her husband in June ; and two attempts to kill Donald Trump during...
Colin McNickle: Keeping the AI revolution powered up
There’s no doubt that Pennsylvania will have to up its game to meet the massive increase in electricity generation required to power the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution now a full step in the front door. How best to do that, however, remains the paramount question, says Frank Gamrat, executive director...
Letter to the editor: Vote out incumbents
Potential voter: Are you dissatisfied with our federal, state and local governments? I believe the solution lies in voting out long-term incumbents. If a government is corrupt, not serving all its constituents, lacking transparency or simply failing to perform its duties, the incumbent is ultimately accountable. In any other profession,...
Letter to the editor: Energy development facts
In the op-ed blaming technology companies for rising energy prices (“AI, crypto and Pa.’s war on the little guy,” Sept. 20, TribLive), the authors include an unrelated, passing reference to so-called “subsidies” included in the recently enacted federal legislation dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). The authors assert the...
Letter to the editor: Murrysville council candidate committed to good planning
As mayor of Murrysville, I want to clarify how the comprehensive plan process works and highlight the commitment of Republican Council candidates Jason Lemak, Michael Korns, Loren Kase and Darren Miller to preserving our community’s rural charm. The comprehensive plan is not something the council can unilaterally impose. It is...
