Letters to the Editor | March 3, 2023

President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan does not eliminate college loan debt. Instead, the plan transfers the student loan debts from people who owe the money to people who did not sign any documents, receive the funds, or attend any college classes made possible by the loan. That is the president’s plan.

Fred Walker, Wyndmoor

Despite alleged consultation between officials at the city and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, an outrageous debacle ensued this past November. A transplant surgeon had to literally run half a mile to rescue a donor liver arriving urgently from New York for a severely ill patient. This medical miracle mission was completely obstructed by a traffic jam caused by the Dietz & Watson Philadelphia Half Marathon. Outrageous. Police presence should have been immediately summoned, the marathon interrupted, patrol cars with sirens and flashing red lights or even motorcycles dispatched. Instead, there occurred a most inept overall response. Adding to all of this, months later we get an Inquirer story that is not a serious, critical evaluation of what happened, but merely a flippant, almost humorous human-interest story. Shameful indeed.

Richard Buckwalter, MD, Warminster

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ brand of governance should scare the daylights out of anyone concerned about our democracy. He uses the power of his office to target and punish those who do not agree with his policies. If, God forbid, this man becomes president, will publicly opposing his policies make you a target of the federal government? IRS audits? FBI investigations? It sounds more like Russia, not America. I am pretty sure this is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind.

Stefan Keller, Huntingdon Valley

In her column about the increasing violence directed at police, Jennifer Stefano appears to blame criticism of law enforcement from the left. “It should not be a surprise that at a time when anti-law enforcement rhetoric from the left is at an all-time high, attacks on police are increasing,” she writes. Not only is this a category error of confusing correlation for causation, one might as easily have swapped “anti-enforcement rhetoric from the left” with “the easy availability of legal and illegal guns” to draw a more reasonable conclusion. Stefano cited the FBI report that provides statistics for 2021 on lethal violence directed at law enforcement officers, but the report makes clear that due to insufficient data, the motives of the perpetrators of violence against officers cannot be determined in many cases. What we do know is our country is awash in guns, many possessed illegally, and the greatest assault on law enforcement since 9/11 was committed on Jan. 6, 2021.

David Dee, Rose Valley

Jonathan Zimmerman’s call to challenge students even under trying circumstances, like the COVID-19 years, was gratifying to me as a retired teacher. Of particular interest was his remedy for procrastination, which requires students “to produce small amounts of work on a regular basis, instead of something big that they can put off until the end.” In order to keep students engaged with weekly reading material, I assigned short essays in response to a relevant prompt. Every essay had an impact on the student’s grade; missed essays were costly. This practice increased my workload considerably, but it also amply rewarded me with students’ lessons and insights which, I hope, will be lasting.

John Groch, West Chester, grochjohn@hotmail.com

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy provided Fox News host Tucker Carlson access for analysis to security videotapes of the U.S. Capitol from Jan. 6, 2021. We know not where, nor by whom, this analysis of the reportedly 40,000 hours of surveillance camera video would be done. We do know that it would be useful information to any bad actors that may be hankering for a redux of that failed breach of Capitol security, and we know that analyzing 40,000 hours of tapes requires a long time — time when many persons could gain access to that process, be they politically motivated insiders or foreign adversaries.

Wayne Williams, Malvern

Here we go again. Now the Editorial Board gets behind the renaming of Taney Street. Granted, that U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857 is well documented, but remember, it was 1857 — America has evolved. The Inquirer itself published an op-ed by Mitchell A. Orenstein that more or less proves there was no evidence that Taney Street (where I currently live) was indeed named after Justice Taney. Furthermore, the city has 500-plus homicides, and cops are being killed. I don’t think renaming Taney Street should be at the top of anyone’s “to-do” list. Also, on a side note, as a retired postal worker, the name change won’t be as “minor” as some suggest it will be. If anything, I think researching Justice Taney is actually a “teachable” moment, and looking back on history is a good thing. But as mentioned (per Orenstein), no hard evidence has been found regarding this matter. In today’s world, people sadly just want things and history to simply disappear.

Joe “Jake” Dunphy, Philadelphia

Reporters have exposed corruption, misconduct, and abuse by Philadelphia police for decades. Officers have filed false disability claims, lied in court, failed to show up for work but still claimed compensation, beat and gassed protesters while not protecting businesses from looters, illegally pocketed anti-violence grants, failed to solve violent crimes, engaged in sexual assault and harassment, committed assault and battery, and even murder. Philadelphians and the people of Pennsylvania are very concerned about public safety. Mayoral candidates are making it a top issue. But what isn’t being discussed is the inability to manage police. Mayoral candidates aren’t offering solutions. Gov. Josh Shapiro hasn’t outlined how he will make law enforcement effective. Doing the same thing we have done for generations will not keep us safe. Mass arrests, incarceration, and long mandatory sentences, or attacking District Attorney Larry Krasner for his commitment to justice, will not make us safer. Close supervision, strict accountability, adopting best practices, constant community engagement, extensive training, and thorough screening of police recruits is a start. Union contracts and laws must be changed to protect us.

Rob Baker, Ambler

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