Letters to the Editor | June 10, 2024

It was with disbelief and outrage that I learned of some Republican members of the Pennsylvania House booing or walking out when former Capitol Police officers Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell were honored for the valor and bravery they displayed on Jan. 6, 2021, as a mob incited by Donald Trump attempted to reverse the legitimate victory of President Joe Biden. We see once again that the GOP’s claim to be the strongest supporter of law enforcement is a sham. That when officers are defending democracy and protecting elected officials, the support they claim to have for “the blue” evaporates.

The ignorant and hateful who turned their backs on two national heroes demonstrate the moral bankruptcy that has been inflicted upon our country courtesy of former President Trump. These legislators are a disgrace, and they serve in a governmental body whose tenets they seek to tear down. It is no wonder the world questions what has happened to America, and lives in fear that a tyrant will be returned to office to finish the job he began: to destroy American institutions, to trample upon the rule of law, to “terminate the Constitution” (Trump’s own words), and to rescind its once-cherished freedoms.

Oren Spiegler, Peters Township

What a simultaneously joyous and sad day May 30 was, when former President Donald Trump became a convicted felon. A jury of 12 of his peers found him guilty on 34 counts. Sentencing is planned for July 11. That’s only four days before the Republican National Convention, so Trump and his team may seek another date. Continued debate about the legitimacy of the prosecution and likely an appeal is next. An appeal would delay things for months. It is interesting that in all states except for Maine and Vermont, felons are not eligible to vote.

There are no rules blocking candidates with criminal records from running for the highest office in our nation. It seems prudent for our lawmakers to amend the Constitution so that felons are ineligible to run for president. Our forefathers never dreamed of the quagmire our nation is facing with a felon as a presidential candidate. Who wants a criminal making decisions for our nation? You cannot be a felon and serve in the military, but a felon can be commander in chief? Choose wisely in November.

Gail Titus, Newtown

The story of Republicans distorting the rule of law is the most dangerous issue of all. These lawmakers know Donald Trump’s indictment was by a grand jury of ordinary people. They know his conviction was by a jury of residents of his city who were randomly assigned and chosen with input from his own defense counsel. To call it a partisan show trial organized by the Biden administration is to pervert what it really was — and these lawmakers know it. Graduates of Harvard and Yale — like Sens. Ted Cruz and J.D. Vance and Rep. Elise Stefanik, to name just a few — should know better. Yet, for their own personal gain, they are willing to set the republic on fire. Without the rule of law, our democracy means nothing. Remember that in November.

Meg Berlin, Philadelphia

Republican politicians used to campaign in favor of law and order because that is what got them elected. I remember when Richard Nixon successfully ran for president on a platform of restoring law and order. Law and order in America means being innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, with a speedy trial and a jury of one’s peers listening to witnesses who are under an oath enforced by a charge of criminal perjury. Trials in American courts are designed specifically to protect the innocent from false criminal convictions. That protection was in effect in Donald Trump’s trial. But the party of law and order was your father’s GOP. Today, Republican politicians gather to abolish the rule of law. They line up in abject submission to denounce the American system of law and order as being corrupt because their political survival requires it. They do so in disregard for the future of their grandchildren to freely engage in the American constitutional system of law and order.

Wayne Williams, Malvern

It’s disturbing to hear that young voters may not support President Joe Biden. While realizing there are many issues of concern, climate change is the paramount reason they should. We should have reduced carbon emissions by 30%, but we’ve only cut around 7.5%. We are woefully short of reaching zero by 2050, the target agreed upon by world leaders in the Paris Agreement. In fact, according to the International Energy Agency, the fossil industry projects increasing carbon consumption by 2% per year in the future. Scientists say that if they succeed, this could raise the global temperature by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, threatening human existence.

When Trump was president, he pulled America out of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change negotiations, setting back progress on carbon reductions by four years. Recently, he promised the fossil industry that he would scrap Biden’s carbon reduction policies. The world cannot afford another four-year setback in reducing carbon emissions. If we don’t get to zero by around 2050, today’s young voters (and the rest of us) will probably face a perilous future. Please save us all: Reelect Joe Biden.

Richard Whiteford, Climate Change Specialist and Educator Leader, Climate Reality Project, West Chester

Aqua Pennsylvania has notified its customers that it has filed requests with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to substantially increase its water and wastewater rates. Those increases are on top of the staggering water bill hikes Cheltenham residents have seen since 2019, when Aqua purchased the township’s wastewater system. Aqua claims the rate increases currently under consideration are intended to continue its investments in increased system reliability and capacity and to prevent service interruptions. While that may be true, in part, I cannot help but feel that the exorbitant rate increases Aqua is seeking — on top of its previous onerous increases since acquiring the township’s system — are intended primarily to unreasonably and unfairly enhance Aqua’s profitability at the expense of the community it claims to benefit. Moreover, the increases present a substantial financial hardship for senior citizens with fixed incomes. Accordingly, I urge all Pennsylvanians (and The Inquirer Editorial Board) to challenge Aqua’s proposed rate increases.

Marshall Fleisher, Wyncote

If the economy needed people in the country illegally to be deported, businesses would have pressured politicians to do so. Employers need to file an I-9 for every employee. If the I-9 system were run like the credit card systems, then it would be extremely difficult for employers to hire people who can’t legally work. Updating the I-9 system and employment regulations to identify irregularities and seriously penalize employers would tremendously reduce illegal employment. Our economy, as well as those of most nations, was built on cheap labor — whether by slaves, indentured servants, or immigrants. When the pandemic hit, a sizable percentage of the essential workers in the meatpacking business were in the country illegally. Their wages were similar to those of union meatpackers in 1975. As any smart politician will tell you, it’s the economy, stupid.

Jack Marquess, Haddon

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