2 weeks Ago
Divided citizens ignoring economic threatAs Americans are choosing sides and fighting each other, the wealthy and powerful are funneling wealth away from the bottom 99% toward the top 1% and stripping away our social safety net. A report from the Federal Reserve shows at the end of 2024, the top 1% of households owned 31% of the nation’s assets, up from 23% in 1989, while the bottom half slipped to 2.5% from 3.
5% in the same period.U.S.
life expectancy is lower than almost all other high-income countries. Our middle class has shrunk by about 10% over a 50-year period, while the percentage of lower income people has increased.Despite more than a $1 trillion budget deficit and a $35 trillion national debt, Congress is preparing massive tax cuts for the wealthy, with a few crumbs for the rest of us.
Corporations, special interests and billionaires will have more money to spend on buying elections and tearing up consumer and environmental protections. Rather than join together against the real threat to our health, prosperity and liberty, we are being egged on by profit-driven media to be at war with each other while our pockets are being picked. If we choose to stay divided rather than to join together to protect our interests, the consequences for our nation will be dire.
Karen EnnisWeisenberg TownshipTrump’s work process seems chaoticPresident Trump seems to be running the country by trial and error. He imposes sky-high tariffs and then waits to see what happens. He fires thousands of federal employees and then waits to see what happens.
He tries to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and then waits to see what happens. He gets rid of the U.S.
Agency for International Development and then waits to see what happens. How bad could it possibly be?Contrast that with what Joe Biden did to address the COVID-19 crisis. Biden called all the stakeholders together, developed a plan of action, assigned roles and responsibilities to implement the plan, and then implemented the plan.
That’s how large corporations deal with issues/problems. Trump seems to be acting more like a mafia don than anything else: barking out orders and going after his perceived enemies. What could possibly go wrong with that approach? I just hope we don’t have another COVID-19-type crisis while he’s still in office.
James F. VillaumeAllentownColumn on DEI misses the pointResponding to a recent column in The Morning Call on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, remember that the opposite of diversity, equity and inclusion is uniformity, inequity and exclusion — a 1950s America that President Trump clearly wants to return to. One example that Pete Buttigieg recently used to explain multigenerational effects of exclusion is redlining, where black families were excluded from buying homes in areas where property values were rising, creating huge disparities in wealth for future generations.
At the start of President Trump’s real estate career, testimony revealed, rental applications from Black families were marked with a “C” for “colored,” So it should be no surprise that he’s at the forefront of this movement to erase history and move back to a world dominated by wealthy white males.The op-ed writer said DEI is about “equal outcomes,” but it’s more about creating equal opportunities, something Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln believed was at the heart of our experiment in democracy.Anyone with basic math skills can look at disparities in our education system and its ties to future income and see that such grossly unjust gaps are deeply rooted in unequal opportunity.
Chris LangBethlehem President not living up to his campaign promisesSo President Trump said on Day 1 of his administration he was going to bring down the price of eggs, the price of groceries, free the hostages in Gaza, and settle the war in Ukraine because he and Putin have “an understanding.” What did we get? The retail cost of eggs and other groceries remains high, some of the hostages are still somewhere in Gaza, the war in Ukraine is raging, our allies hate us and the stock market took a nosedive because of his tariffs. Now he wants to apply tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
Will anyone be able to afford their medicines? Cancer treatments? Without the intervention of our feckless House of Representatives, we are doomed. Call your representatives and complain. The next phase of Trump’s plans are tax cuts for billionaires and likely Medicaid/Social Security cuts for the rest of us.
Rosalyn MetzgerHanover Township, Northampton CountyAmerica needs more caring and cooperationCensorship, confusion and chaos will not make America great. I would suggest three more powerful words: caring, cooperation and critical thinking.A government that cared for people, would obey laws, respect the Constitution, and work to ensure the welfare of all life on our planet.
It would serve everyone and respect all human rights. It would only deport people after due process and not to notorious prisons. It would invest in science to protect our health and welfare.
It would protect our natural environment and transition to clean energy to create cleaner air, safer water and more space for wildlife.A government that valued cooperation would invest more in peace than in war. It would respect allies and fair-trade agreements.
It would engage with the global community to address climate change, prevent famines, epidemics and more wars. It would negotiate treaties and reduce the nuclear threat.A government that believed in critical thinking would encourage people to read, learn, explore and question.
It would encourage free speech, dialogue and support a free press. It would support and value education.A government built on caring, cooperation and critical thinking would have no need for censorship, confusion and chaos.
Debra OrbenSpringfield TownshipWithholding funds from colleges a sad moveIt is sad that a man like President Donald Trump who is so woefully uninformed about so many things should try to impose his will on our nation’s colleges and universities by withholding funds.Daniel GasdaBethlehemELECTION LETTERS Letters to the editor about candidates and issues in the May 20 primary election must be received by 10 a.m.
May 12. Election-related letters will not be published after May 15.The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week.
Submit a letter to the editor at [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.
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