When can we drop a common variable in QC?

Greg mentions a few mins after this that we can drop the numerators here.

However if 3t+4r is negative, can we still drop it without worrying about a possible sign change in the comparison?

I think he means to say - even in quantity A, if you cross multiply, the numerator will be 3t + 4r. Since both sides has the same numerator, you can ignore it.