Letters to the Editor | May 12, 2026

A recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University shows Sen. John Fetterman has a 73% approval rating among Pennsylvania voters — Republican voters, that is.

Fetterman voted to approve the nomination of Kristi Noem as the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement became a national embarrassment in Minneapolis, he doubled down and was the only Senate Democrat to approve continued funding for ICE. More recently, he was the key committee vote on advancing Markwayne Mullin to become the new head of Homeland Security after Noem’s departure — a vote that a vast majority of Democrats opposed.

Later, he was the lone Democrat who voted against the Iran war powers resolution that attempted to rein in Trump on the Iran war debacle.

Fetterman is a known Trump darling who is actively being recruited by the Republican Party.

I say let him go: He would make a perfect MAGA presidential candidate in 2028.

Greg Nowell, Narberth

The sudden interest in assessing taxes against unoccupied real estate in New York City, and which may spread to other cities, including Philadelphia, will not help undo the problem in our country — the uber-wealthy have created an entire ecosystem that only serves their interests. This is plainly evident in trends that have popped up in last 10 years: excessive money printing by the Federal Reserve, an entity managed by elite bankers, and which understands that the excess dollars flow into the highest level of our economy, barely trickling down; cryptocurrency, a class of money for mostly the rich, and that almost certainly will implode requiring a federal bailout; overpriced technology stocks that are out of reach for common investors; inflation, the elevated prices absolutely benefit the producers, large conglomerates, with no gain for the consumers; and, finally, sky-high real estate prices that always become a safe-deposit box for the affluent, not a pragmatic investment for building out a family or community over time. Taxing super-expensive real estate in cities will cement the unshakeable fact that the Gilded Age is here to stay, at least for another 10 or 20 years. It would be a label, not a salve for a budget shortfall. The waterfall for the wealthy and the gurgling tiny stream for the other 90% are not the same body of water, and a politician cannot take from the waterfall to fill the stream. The waterfall and stream should be a giant lake of opportunity for everyone, and be taxed, spent, produced, and consumed from the same trough.

Dimitri Karapelou, Media

History repeats itself as a “mysterious American” offers $200,000 to any Greenlander who signs a “Become American” annexation petition. This is the same “beads and trinkets” diplomacy used to strip Native Americans of their land. Yesterday’s theft used empty promises and hard liquor; today’s attempted land grab offers a bribe.

Greenlanders — you who are nearly 90% Indigenous Kalaallit, Tunumiit, and Inughuit — don’t sell your birthright.

Do not trust any American, especially those emitting the stench of MAGA imperialism.

Rosamond Kay, Philadelphia

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