Letters to the Editor | July 2, 2025

The Senate blocked a Democratic resolution that would have forced President Donald Trump to go to Congress for approval of further military action against Iran. Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution. Sen. Dave McCormick also voted to block the resolution. If senators agree with Trump, they should vote for his agenda, not give him a blank check. Congress makes the laws, declares war, regulates commerce, controls the nation’s finances through taxation and spending, and oversees the executive branch. That is what Fetterman and McCormick ran to do. It is what our tax dollars pay them to do. The resolution didn’t stop the president from future actions; it just demanded Congress approve such action, as per Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. By voting against the resolution, our senators told the American people that Congress is pointless.

Lynn Strauss, West Chester

For years, the power brokers of the world have been working and fighting with all their might against Iran and some other rogue nations to own a nuclear bomb (even though they introduced this wonder to some of these countries). Obviously, everyone should be against this piece of destructive equipment. But why do the U.S., Russia, Israel, and China (to name a few) have the right to own a nuclear bomb? After all, these countries are also run by unhinged men, happy to destroy anyone who does not agree with them.

Monika Hemmers, Philadelphia

State Rep. Napoleon Nelson’s op-ed describing his bill to limit social promotions for students not meeting grade level expectations sounds reasonable on its face. But it’s really emblematic of the adage, “Every system is perfectly designed to obtain the results it is already producing.” Waving a magic wand and declaring that all students must meet expectations to be promoted to the next grade won’t make it happen, any more than it did before social promotions. It’s merely an unfunded mandate that doesn’t address the basic question: Why do we still tie education funding, of all things, to local property taxes? And why, of all the incentives that can be offered to businesses to locate in their communities, is it always property taxes that get forgiven? It ensures the students with the least-educated family members get the least well-funded schools. You can complain that throwing money at a problem won’t fix it, but given that suburban professionals — normally willing to go to some lengths to limit their tax obligations — will pay massive property tax bills to keep their own schools in the elite tier, it’s hard to argue that starving schools in poorer districts won’t affect outcomes. Amend the bill to equalize school funding for all students in the commonwealth, and I’ll be on board.

Eileen K. Carpenter, Philadelphia

Our elected officials spend far more taxpayer time on trying to pass laws that put more and more dependence on revenue from what used to be considered “vices” (or even called “sin taxes”) than they do on solving our real problems. Just because people do it anyway is zero excuse for the government giving legitimacy to what was once considered criminal activity. Gambling does not produce new wealth. It is only recycled. In many places, it is called robbery with permission or theft with consent. By the way, our casino law was not about property tax reduction, but about saving a dying (cruel) horse racing industry. In my opinion, a shameful priority.

Using any drug unnecessarily is drug abuse. With mind-altering drugs, especially, why aren’t the mental health aspects and secondhand effects being considered when making these unnecessarily harmful decisions? Before any more gambling expansion or easy access to drugs, every member of the General Assembly needs to vote to do an independent cost/benefit study, and perhaps, when those results are in, if they are wise, legislators just may decide to repeal any and all laws legalizing gambling and repeal the pseudo laws approving drugs which haven’t been approved for legitimate medical reasons by the FDA.

Dianne M. Berlin, Manheim

Thank you, MAGA voters, for electing, not once, but twice, the most unstable, reckless, and unqualified person on the ballot to be president. And to all you voters who said they opted for Donald Trump as the lesser of two bad choices, I say stuff it in your hat. We had a white-hot economy, low unemployment, and a stock market that set records almost daily. Now, we live on the perpetual roller coaster that tosses and turns on Trump’s whim. Retaliation against blue states and cities that had the common sense not to vote for him. Federal agencies in chaos. A rush to arrest anyone with brown skin and send them off to some Central American gulag.

On top of that, he bombs Iran. I’m all for Israel defending itself, but Iran was its Pottery Barn. Trump’s lack of concern over Ukraine, an innocent country, being attacked by one of our biggest international threats is flabbergasting. In Ukraine, we have a proxy testing our weapons in real battle conditions with no danger of losing American lives. In bombing Iran, we have left ourselves open to retaliation, terrorism, and/or being dragged into another Mideast quagmire. I’m going out and buying a T-shirt that reads: “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kamala Harris.”

Jim Lynch, Collegeville

I am well aware of the fact that the U.S. is now being led by a person who is clearly attempting to destroy our long-held democracy in an effort to eventually become a dictator in complete control over our nation and all of us who live here. But I also must admit that the people whom I am more concerned about are those who know who this man is, and who know about all of the terrible things he has done — and still, these people have lost the spine that would be needed to stand up, admit the truth about our current president’s many negative traits, and push to have him replaced with a better leader. Someone who would be there for all of us so that our democracy could continue to push on for a better future.

What I witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021, was what came about when the president pushed for his supporters to attack our U.S. Capitol. Said supporters beat up police officers who were attempting to protect Congress, and made clear they were looking to actually kill people, like then-Vice President Mike Pence. I became mortified when only a very few people within the Republican Party actually stood up at that time and called out the president for what he had sadly caused to happen. I am not optimistic for our country’s future, but I am hopeful that eventually, enough current Republican representatives and senators will indeed stand up and do whatever is necessary to save our great democratic nation.

Ian Wachstein, Voorhees

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