Letters to the Editor | April 7, 2025

There still are heroes in America. Thank you to Sen. Cory Booker for showing us a man with heart, intellect, a passion for democracy, and the moral courage so many are lacking today.

Judy Hughes, Blue Bell

Thanks to Sen. Cory Booker for his record-breaking speech tackling the current state of this union under Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Elon Musk. It was a relief to hear the truth spoken on the floor. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick have abandoned their constituents, not even bothering to have their staffers respond to issue-related correspondence. It begs the question of whether they do not expect to have to run for elected office ever again.

BJ Onieal, Doylestown

Sen. Cory Booker’s record-breaking 25-hour speech epitomizes the current state of our Democratic Party. New Jersey’s senior senator’s monologue was long on words and high on emotion and virtue but short on action or new legislation. It introduced no ideas to improve American lives, complained about the GOP, and included no in-person constituents. In short, a much longer version of the same old story. Booker and Democratic leaders must get outside of Washington, D.C., to listen (not talk!) to constituents and propose legislation to help Americans. Until then, President Abraham Lincoln’s two-minute, 272-word Gettysburg Address remains the gold standard of political speeches.

Fred Walker, Wyndmoor

Sen. Dave McCormick recently expressed confidence in the work of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. I would like to point out to the senator that Musk did so much damage to Twitter (now X) that its market valuation plummeted from $44 billion when he bought it to $33 billion when he sold it to his own artificial intelligence start-up, xAI. And, in fact, that $33 billion is a number made up by Musk. Many of Twitter’s investors believe it’s actually worth only $12 billion now. Musk is an inventor and an entrepreneur. He invents new kinds of rockets. Some work brilliantly; many blow up. Musk took a chance on Twitter and destroyed it. But we have only one country. This is not a sandbox or development environment. We cannot do test runs. The odds are very good that Musk will destroy this country, that his experiment will blow up on the launchpad. To Sen. McCormick, I say: Your confidence is misplaced.

Alex Pearson, Merion Station

Donald Trump says decent and dedicated federal workers are crooked, lazy, and “destroying the country.” These are incredible, mindbogglingly false, and cruel statements — unless he was talking about himself. The man has absolutely no sense of public service. Remember, this is the man who purportedly described our soldiers who gave up their lives on the beaches of Normandy in World War II as losers and suckers. One would be hard put to find any record of him ever personally and selflessly serving the nation or even his community. When Trump puts himself in the shoes of federal workers, he naturally projects his own character to the situation and thus cannot imagine why anyone would ever place the public interest above their own. With that part of his character so underdeveloped, he is incapable of fairly judging the motives of federal workers. And yet, he does anyway.

Donald Kelly, Havertown, donaldkelly@aol.com

My heart breaks for the thousands of federal employees whose lives and livelihoods have been cruelly ripped apart for the sole purpose of giving more tax breaks to the insatiably greedy. If that weren’t bad enough, the architects of this cruelty use insulting lies to justify it, claiming federal workers are “crooked,” “dishonest,” “don’t do any work,” “are not real people,” or “are destroying the country.” I know every federal worker I spoke with while applying for Social Security and Medicare was knowledgeable, patient, and pleasant. They gave me complete information and made sure all my questions were answered before I got off the phone. I have no reason to believe other federal employees aren’t equally competent and conscientious. Donald Trump and Elon Musk both came from wealth and never had to fear being unable to pay their bills or support their families. Seeing them vilify hardworking public servants is just disgusting. It’s obvious they have no respect at all for people who do the real work of keeping America running.

Jean A. Kozel, West Norriton

There’s nothing like the Phillies home opener (and last week’s game was a doozy). The smell of hot dogs, the crack of the bat, a packed stadium under the bright lights. But here’s something most people don’t think about: Who’s making sure those lights stay on? Who’s keeping the power running so 40,000 fans can enjoy the game without a hitch? I’ll tell you who. It’s my union brothers in IBEW Local 614. We’re the ones making sure Citizens Bank Park doesn’t go dark in the middle of the seventh inning. We’re the ones keeping the scoreboard lit, the beers cold, and the city powered up while everyone’s watching the Phils.

And when the power goes out, whether it’s at the ballpark or in your neighborhood, it’s not some executive in a Peco boardroom who heads out into the darkness to fix it. It’s us. Without the union workforce, there’s no game day, no home opener, no lights down Broad Street. So next time you’re at the ballpark, tip your cap to the guys who make sure the power’s there when you need it. Just like the Fightins’, we show up, get the job done, and keep the game going.

Larry Anastasi, president, IBEW Local 614, Philadelphia

After millions of Americans lost their homes during the Great Recession, Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help protect consumers and their families from fraud, scams, and other predatory corporate practices. The CFPB is truly the scam police. Over the past 14 years, it has returned more than $21 billion to consumers harmed by unlawful corporate conduct by big banks and tech companies. The CFPB has helped millions of Pennsylvanians. This was made possible, in part, by the CFPB’s complaint system, which has processed over 380,000 complaints from Pennsylvania residents.

As a consumer attorney who represents people across the commonwealth when they are cheated and defrauded by bad corporate actors, I am constantly reminded of the importance of the CFPB’s role in enforcing the rules governing corporate America. Private attorneys like me are unable to enforce many of the laws the CFPB uses to prosecute bad corporate actors, leaving a large segment of corporate America unpoliced. The CFPB has also played a pivotal role in setting new rules to protect consumers, such as the recently finalized rule that caps overdraft fees at $5, which would end up saving consumers $5 billion per year.

However, the Senate has voted to strip this rule away. And the current administration is in the process of gutting the CFPB, preventing it from policing corporate America under the facade of “government efficiency,” when the true goal is to pad the pockets of the ultrarich. Our representatives in Congress should stand up for Pennsylvanians and protect the CFPB. Congress should reject any attempts to undermine the CFPB or reverse the CFPB’s rules that protect all of us.

Jody Thomas Lopez-Jacobs, Pennsylvania state chair, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Philadelphia

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