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The Libs/Dems want voter rights when 20 million people (illegals?) don’t have a birth certificate to show proof of identity. How about voter responsibility, instead? — Hubbard Shortly after Robert Mueller passed away, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Good. I’m glad he’s dead.” What a disgusting, vile thing to say about anyone! Sadly, I’m afraid millions will be saying the same thing when this pathetic human being heads off to Hades. — Youngstown This is regarding the human trafficking case in Trumbull County. Six people, who pleaded guilty, got a slap on the wrist and ...

The art of taxing fairly is messy

Editorials

“The rich should pay their fair share of taxes.” Who can argue with that? But then we must decide who is rich and what is meant by fair. Neither political party has distinguished itself in making such distinctions. But Republicans play an especially outrageous game in portraying the Internal Revenue Service as the working stiff’s enemy. For salaried workers, taxes come straight out of paychecks, meaning most are already paying what they owe. Owners of small businesses have more deductions at their disposal, but the neighborhood bakery that tries to follow the rules doesn’t ...

Free speech for me but not for thee

Editorials

Last week, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to rescind the broadcast licenses of media entities that do not relate events in Iran or Ukraine as the Trump administration would like them to be related. He also attacked The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the same reasons. This followed by one day a verbal attack on CNN by the Secretary of Defense who made known his bitter unhappiness with CNN's coverage of the Iran war. Yet, CNN is not regulated by the FCC, which only regulates broadcast media — not cable or streaming; and newspapers, ...

Orchids & onions

Editorials

ORCHID: To students and staff at Austintown Intermediate School for carrying on their noble tradition called “Hoops for Hope.” The annual hoops game between school staff and fifth-grade basketball team members took place again last week as a major fundraiser for fourth grade AIS teacher Chelsea Kachelries and her family. Kachelries has been battling a series of cancer diagnoses over the past year and the Hoops for Hope event raised significant funds to help her defray expenses. The benefit not only assists the highly respected teacher, it also reaps rewards for students who gain a ...

Treating U.S. allies like losers is not good strategy

Letters to the Editor

DEAR EDITOR: Back when presidents had advisers who were expected to give them advice rather than massage their egos by telling them what they wanted to hear, Gen. Colin Powell warned George W. Bush about the dangers of invading Middle Eastern countries by quoting the Pottery Barn rule. “You break it, you own it.” Twenty-four years later, no one around President Trump would have had the temerity to remind him of the rule. But it wouldn’t have mattered, because Trump has rewritten it to suit himself: I break it, you own it. Unlike other presidents, Trump did not consult with ou ...

Why Trump will surrender soon, but he’ll call it a great victory

Editorials

No one knows what President Donald Trump is going to do from minute to minute, least of all Trump. But it's looking ever more likely he'll be exiting Iran within days, declaring his "excursion" into it (as he's termed his war) a major victory — and then changing the subject. On Friday, Trump posted on his social media site that "we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East." What objectives? He never said what they were to begin with. He's about to wind down and exit because he doesn't give a damn ...