Letters to the Editor | April 14, 2025

As the April 15 tax deadline approaches, we should remember another norm that has been lost during the Trump era. It used to be that presidents annually released their tax returns so they could be scrutinized by the press and public alike. This disclosure communicated that taxes were a shared burden by all — from the president down. Donald Trump never releases his taxes, and his loose observance of most laws and procedures suggests he will never pay his fair share — if anything at all. Who will investigate him? His handpicked IRS commissioner?

The Republican Party is generally hostile to the role of the IRS in terms of enforcing payment of taxes. Many IRS agents have been fired, thus making it more difficult to scrutinize the more complicated and time-consuming returns of wealthy GOP supporters. Republican legislators pretend fiscal deficits are caused by excessive spending only — as if revenue shortfalls aren’t part of the deficit equation. The American people need to wake up that we need more compliance with the tax system, not less, and leadership on this won’t be coming from Trump.

William Strong, Wayne

Despite the publicity over a Villanova student who allegedly filmed a sexual assault of a fellow student, and whether he should walk at graduation, one question remains unasked: Why was he permitted to remain a Villanova student in the first place? While, for whatever reason, he was not charged as an accomplice to a felony, his alleged complicity in the assault should be grounds for immediate expulsion. Villanova is proud of its Peace and Justice Education Center, but how can the student who was assaulted find peace when someone involved in her desecration remains on campus? Where is the justice in that? As a Villanova alum, I am ashamed of my alma mater.

Steve Freind, Havertown

In almost a decade on the job, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has had only one town hall that I know of. Instead, he occasionally has surprise telephone (I call them “telephony”) town halls where he tightly controls the time and the agenda. On one such recent call, his duplicity was on full display. Fitzpatrick agreed with a constituent who was outraged by members of the Trump administration using the unsecured Signal app to discuss imminent battle plans and the inclusion of a journalist on the chat. He wholeheartedly agreed with the constituent and said: “Anyone with half a brain knows you can’t use Signal for secure info. It is a failure. A [sensitive compartmented information facility] should have been used.” Fitzpatrick, who is on the House Intelligence Committee, then promised an investigation.

Yet, the very next day, at the Intelligence Committee hearing, he failed to raise the issue and ask tough questions of national intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard. Instead, he asked a question about an ordinary security issue. What he did in the small telephony town hall was say one thing to show the voters he was a good guy on their side, and the very next day, in a very public venue, he did the exact opposite: absolutely nothing. Afterward, he even titled his newsletter, “Fitzpatrick Asks Pressing Question In House Intelligence Committee Hearing.” Shameless!

Steve Cickay, Newtown

State Rep. Craig Williams has introduced an amendment to a solar bill that would ban net metering. Net metering is how folks with solar panels are reimbursed when they send extra electricity those panels have generated back to the grid. This amendment makes no sense to me. The utility pays for the electricity generated by pollution-spewing power plants as well as wind or solar farms. Why shouldn’t it also pay for the power generated by rooftop solar panels? Rooftop solar owners still pay fixed distribution costs on their bills. So they are not getting a “free ride.” And every kilowatt-hour created this way leaves some natural gas or coal in the ground for future generations.

William Weible, Johnstown

April is School Library Month, but sadly most School District of Philadelphia schools have no library or librarian to celebrate. Only five schools have a librarian, and most are part time. The Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians was working with the district on a federal grant to develop a long-range plan to bring back librarians to all 218 schools. However, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have decimated the Institute of Museum and Library Services that administers the $150,000 grant, and it appears no grant funds will be forthcoming.

This administration’s assault on library funding and programs will stifle learning, growth, and access to information needed to make financial, medical, and career decisions by our citizens and students. Loss of federal library funding also means we may lose Access PA, which enables statewide interlibrary loan, and the POWER Library, a collection of digital resources free to all Pennsylvanians, and widely used as sometimes the only library resources students have when their schools have no library or librarian. School libraries, library resources, and trained instructional librarians are essential components of a child’s learning journey — something every child deserves. Don’t let this administration deny our students their right to learn and handicap their futures.

Debra E. Kachel, Philadelphia

There is a long list of politicians and elected officials who have called for the reduction of government waste over the years. It is apparently much easier to say than to achieve. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan established the Grace Commission, a group of CEOs and private sector experts tasked to uncover wasteful spending and improve government efficiency. While some savings were realized (predominantly through executive orders), most of the commission’s recommendations never gained traction because they were effectively blocked by the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2008, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were adamant about the need to cut waste. Again in 2010, Schumer was quoted as saying, “We have to eliminate the waste, fraud, and abuse from Medicare.” President Barack Obama announced an initiative and assigned Vice President Joe Biden to head what he called the “The Campaign to Cut Waste” in 2011. The effort resulted in about $17.6 billion in savings by cutting payment errors for programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Pell Grants, and food stamps, but it did not go nearly far enough. It avoided making the tough decisions because politicians have too much invested in their own agendas, special interests, and fear of political backlash to effect any real change.

A Washington outsider is needed to perform such an analysis, and that is exactly what President Donald Trump has tasked Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency with. Musk and his team are uncovering an alarming amount of fraud, waste, and ridiculous spending. Some of the most egregious findings were outlined in Trump’s address to Congress. It is difficult to understand how anyone could defend them, but DOGE is now facing the same type of opposition Reagan did. The American people would be much better served if Democratic legislators worked for their constituents rather than worrying about Trump’s approval rating and fighting him at every step. Complete opposition to the current administration doesn’t benefit anyone, and eliminating any waste of our hard-earned tax dollars should be a unifying issue for all.

Mark Fenstermaker, Warminster, [email protected]

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