Cheers & Jeers
For the 缅北禁地
Pennsylvania launched an anti-litter campaign on Monday.
For the 缅北禁地
These are the components that accompany a mail-in ballot.
Cheers: Pennsylvania has long had a litter problem, and it becomes more painfully apparent every summer along our roadways. With more people traveling and no snow to obscure it, you can see trash strewn along interstate highways. It hardly makes the commonwealth seem like an inviting place for visitors who are driving through. On Monday, the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf announced a statewide anti-litter campaign, 鈥淧A Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters.鈥� The campaign has a simple goal 鈥� to get the many Pennsylvanians who say they disapprove of littering but do it anyway to put their refuse in a trash can. Wolf administration officials pointed out at the campaign鈥檚 launch that litter can cause environmental problems and costs the state about $350 million to clean up every year. We think Pennsylvanians would be better served if they cleaned up after themselves, freeing up that $350 million for other purposes.
Jeers: USA Today reported earlier this week that the number of Americans without health insurance had fallen to 8%, a record low, according to an analysis from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The reasons? More people have been able to enroll in plans through the Affordable Care Act due to increased premium subsidies in the 2021 American Rescue Plan. This has lowered premiums and deductibles. Also, additional states have expanded Medicaid coverage. The premium subsidies are due to expire at the end of this year, and they are the subject of wrangling on Capitol Hill right now. Medicaid coverage will also end for many Americans once the public health emergency declared due to COVID-19 is concluded. Some way should be found to maintain their health coverage, too. Even though 8% is a good number, it still means that close to 1 in 10 Americans is without health insurance. In a country as wealthy as ours, that number is still too high.
Cheers: Mail-in voting in Pennsylvania provided a safe way for citizens to cast ballots in the 2020 elections, and is convenient for those who can鈥檛 make it to polling places on Election Day due to work, child care or other obligations. It鈥檚 basically casting an absentee ballot without the need for an excuse. There is no evidence whatsoever that mail-in balloting was a source of fraud in 2020 or in any other year. Still, it has not prevented acolytes of former President Trump from trying to do away with mail-in ballots, both in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. On Tuesday, their efforts were thwarted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which ruled 5-2 that there was no restriction in the state鈥檚 constitution for the use of mail-in ballots. That means it will, at minimum be in place for the election in November. It needs to stay for every election thereafter. It allows more people to vote, plain and simple. Why should that worry its opponents?
Jeers: The Music Midtown festival in Atlanta has loomed large on the city鈥檚 entertainment calendar for almost 30 years, and this year appearances had been booked by such contemporary hitmakers as Fall Out Boy, Jack White, Phoebe Bridgers and My Chemical Romance. But earlier this week promoters pulled the plug on it. It was not due to slow ticket sales; instead, promoters decided they could not go forward with it due to recently enacted laws in Georgia that would have prevented them from prohibiting guns at the festival. Who can blame them? After the mass shooting that took place at a country music festival in Las Vegas in 2017 that left 58 people dead, and the combustible combination of sweaty, amped-up crowds and alcohol, promoters had every reason to worry that the festival would be a breeding ground for lethal mayhem. Michael Julian Bond, a member of Atlanta City Council and son of the late civil rights activist Julian Bond, put it well: 鈥淎s a society, we鈥檙e trading one set of rights for another. You can carry whatever kind of crazy weapon you want, but you can鈥檛 peacefully assemble.鈥�