Letters to the Editor | Dec. 9, 2022

It’s really shameful that socialism is being used derogatorily to slander opponents, for example, by mayoral candidate Derek Green against fellow candidate Helen Gym. Such usage shows the ignorance of the word by the user and the need for more classes in social studies, not less (I’m looking at you, Pennridge School District). Indeed, most Americans can’t name the three branches of government, let alone know that citizens in Europe and Scandinavia have “socialist” safety nets that far exceed our own. Hunger has grown in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with the demise of the expanded child tax credit, just another “socialist” program that helped reduce poverty in the richest nation on Earth. Socialism gives us Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Section 8 rent subsidies, and the Affordable Care Act. And yet our ignorance, stinginess, or greed make it acceptable to use socialism negatively and undermine support for such government programs that help us be our neighbors’ keepers.

Mary Goldman, Philadelphia

Columnist Jennifer Stefano argues that what we need are small government and free enterprise. Sounds great, but what does that mean? Everything is open for profiteering, including education. Even more than current campaign finance rules permit, we would hand over government to large, often multinational companies. ExxonMobil earned $20 billion in profit in one quarter, while the price of gas went way up for average consumers. Profit is their goal, even if it means destroying the planet and harming their consumers’ health. How can we trust them? They hold the knife that is killing the middle class. Stefano’s Republican Party represents these businesses. Ask yourself, if you are an average American, who represents you?

Mitchell Rothman, Merion Station

Jennifer Bilotta points out that rising network retransmission costs are mostly responsible for her company’s latest rate increase on TV and internet services. She goes on to claim that the 3.8% hike this month — coming just a year after Comcast’s previous 3% increase — amounts to “about half of the most recent rate of inflation.” To her credit, she stops short of citing the usual corporate canards about exploding fuel prices and broken supply chains as justifications. After all, it would be difficult to equate brick-and-mortar obstacles with digital services. But Comcast has a much more existential problem. Between 2016 and 2021, more than 50 million adult viewers abandoned pay TV, according to recent studies. And projections are that fewer than half of U.S. households will have cable TV subscriptions by 2023. That leaves Comcast with a dwindling subscriber base composed largely of older people who haven’t mastered the ins and outs of “cord-cutting.” Some of these seniors go all the way back to Prism, Comcast’s first incarnation, and almost all of them now live on fixed incomes. Any company that relies on escalating fees from a loyal but shrinking minority is bound to face dark clouds ahead. Maybe it’s time for Ms. Bilotta and her colleagues to consider updating their business model instead.

Anthony Nannetti, Philadelphia, giacomo747@icloud.com

Recently I read about the Pennsylvania Society’s annual big bash, held every year in New York City. For many years I have read about this event, and I have always wondered: Why can’t this function be held in Pennsylvania? Philadelphia would be an ideal location since the city has many fine hotels that could host the occasion, plus some of the finest restaurants in the country.

Think of all the revenue that would stay here rather than going out of state. I am sure all the waiters, bartenders, and bellhops would welcome all the big tippers, and I am sure many retailers would benefit from the increase in traffic that this event would generate. I think it is time to make this affair truly a Pennsylvania happening, and not just some party that uses our state’s fine name.

Mike Silverman, Willow Grove

In Tuesday’s Opinion section, columnist Will Bunch and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg opined about the state of labor and health care. Bunch laments that railroad workers are not worthy of paid sick leave. Bloomberg documents the shortcomings of our health-care system, which is unable to meet the challenges of the pandemic, recurring flu season, and seasonal outbreak of children’s respiratory virus. Both tie together the ongoing shortcomings of our economic and political system. Those who run railroads and elected representatives do not have the capacity to meet the reasonable request of railroad workers. The health-care system has no capacity when people are in need of lifesaving services.

Joel H. Beldner, Glenmoore

Helen Ubiñas wrote a great column (“Seeking new mayor with a real commitment to accountability”). She is spot on with her comments about our MIA mayor and about lives lost to gun violence. Philadelphia has wasted millions of dollars on crime prevention programs and initiatives that have produced little measurable results. Ubiñas’ column speaks the truth about a lack of commitment to fighting gun violence. Let’s elect a mayor who will measure effectiveness by how many lives are saved, not how much money has been allocated.

Donald Janssen, Lansdale, timbertree1942@gmail.com

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory in Georgia was another indication that Trumpism and election denial is a losing strategy for Republicans. State after state rejected these fringe ideas and voted for democracy. The expected “red wave” barely trickled ashore, with Democrats gaining in the Senate and the House left with GOP control so slim that likely speaker Kevin McCarthy will have his own “Manchin” problem times 10. Republicans had some good issues in the midterms that resonated with people in almost every state. Inflation, immigration, and gas prices should have catapulted Republicans into full control of Congress. However, the GOP ran terrible, unqualified candidates who did not pass the smell test for moderate Republicans and independents. Given that the electorate just rebuked Republican extremism, I was naively expecting House Republicans to learn from the results. But instead of talking about lowering costs for consumers or addressing the southern border, they are talking about Hunter Biden’s laptop, investigating the Jan. 6 committee, and impeaching the Homeland Security secretary. Americans want their elected officials to lead and govern. In the next two years, the Republican House will receive many proposed bills from the Senate. Failing to vote on them, defeating them en masse, or diluting them to irrelevancy will be seen by the American people as an abdication of their constitutional duties. The American voter is now closely paying attention to what candidates say, do, and stand for. Democrats cannot wait for Republicans to continue to run the same play and expect a different result.

Andrew M. Rosen, Philadelphia

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