Letters to the Editor | June 8, 2025
Inquirer readers on elected officials doing their job, defense spending, and leading by example.
Do your job
I’m fed up with politicians not doing the job they were elected to do. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene laments voting for a budget bill she clearly didn’t read. Sen. John Fetterman resents having to be present for “throwaway procedural votes” because he’d rather spend time with his children. And the president of the United States claims he “doesn’t know” whether he needs to uphold the very Constitution he took an oath to defend. If someone is unable or unwilling to carry out the responsibilities of their position, they should not be in that role. This isn’t an unrealistic expectation. It’s just basic Hiring 101.
Eileen McVety, Downingtown
Playing defense
Ukraine did more than $7 billion in damage to the Russian air force using 117 drones that cost around $1,000 each. Meanwhile, the U.S. defense budget will hit $1 trillion in 2026 if the reconciliation bill is passed and, according to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.), “Much of the funding of the defense reconciliation bill will be unspecific because of House and Senate rules, and would technically be at the discretion of the Department of Defense.” I am aware that America needs defense spending, but Congress would be handing over hundreds of billions of American tax dollars to the discretion of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, an unqualified and inexperienced Fox News host. What could go wrong? All this, while Congress cuts funding that fights poverty for the most vulnerable among us. This bill is cruel fiscal malfeasance.
Bill Maginnis, North Wales
Greatest test
We are looking for heroes in the Republican Party. Who can we count on to remember where their allegiance lies? Not to the party, not to their rich campaign donors, not to Donald Trump, but to their constituents and the people of this country. Knowing in their hearts that the bill soon to be up for a vote in the Senate is the most dangerous and destructive piece of legislation ever devised, full of hidden and not so hidden horrors, will they look in the mirror before they vote and see a hero with moral courage or just another political hack? Finding heroes in this party right now is nearly impossible but maybe, just maybe, there are some men and women of conscience. This is their greatest test.
Judy Hughes, Blue Bell
By example
In a time when the behavior of the federal executive branch grows increasingly divisive, we must reinforce, through action, values that endure beyond partisanship: reason, compassion, and resilience. Donald Trump’s recent policies — punitive immigration actions, attacks on democratic norms, outright lies, and deliberately cruel rhetoric — threaten the integrity of a nation meant to offer liberty and justice for all.
Stoicism teaches us to respond to injustice not with rage, but with clarity and steadfast principle. We do not control the behavior of others, but we control our response. To remain silent in the face of cruelty is to condone it. Compassion, far from being a weakness, is the strength to uphold human dignity especially when it is politically inconvenient. To recognize suffering, and act to relieve it. To act.
Meet anger without hate, but with unshakable commitment to truth and kindness. Resist policies that dehumanize with voices that elevate. Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” It is up to each of us.
Erich Eichensehr, Philadelphia
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