Letters: Legislators’ actions speak louder than words; No extra burden for Ferguson Township residents

Legislators’ actions speak louder than words

I have been at a loss to understand why our current Republican legislators at the county, state and national levels have been unwilling to speak the truth about this election, namely that the election was fair and Trump lost. Even if the votes they complain about had gone the other way, Trump still would have lost. He lost by over seven million votes.

I think the best explanation is to understand that Trump is a bully, with a history of belittling anyone who disagrees with him. He calls them derogatory names, like “Little Marco” for Marco Rubio, and “Lyin Ted” for Ted Cruz. He denigrates their service, saying, “McCain isn’t a hero, heroes don’t get caught” (John McCain’s plane was shut down over North Vietnam). He mocks people with disabilities, and bashes anyone who doesn’t go along with his lies in social media (quiet now, but not forever). Trump threatens people who refuse to do his will, as seen in his call to the Secretary of State of Georgia. He has even belittled Vice President Pence, who stood by him for four years, but in the end chose the Constitution over Trump’s ego.

The only people who would be strong enough to go against this man, knowing all of this, would be people of substance, of integrity, and of courage — people who value the truth over even keeping their jobs. So I can only read the motivations of these legislators in their actions, which speak louder than their words.

No extra burden for Ferguson Township residents

Soon, everyone in Ferguson Township may be handing over more of their hard-earned dollars.

Thanks to the township staff and the board of supervisors, an ordinance dealing with stormwater is soon to be voted upon.

The new ordinance would affect residences, businesses, farms, churches, retail stores and their parking lots, cemeteries, etc. In other words, everyone

I, and many others living in the township, seriously question the need for additional taxes or fees.

Governments, big or small, should be responsive to those under its jurisdiction, being more concerned with the welfare of people, rather than making it more difficult for people to live.

Everyone in the Centre Region should be concerned, for if the ordinance passes in Ferguson, I believe the entire Centre Region will be looking into doing the same.

I’m asking the board to please reconsider — no extra burden on residences, farms and businesses.

Keller’s two historic votes

Representative Fred Keller cast two historic votes recently. Each time, Keller emphasized what he was against, but not so much what he voted for.

On Jan. 6, violent insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol in an anti-constitutional effort to subvert the Electoral College. Hours later, Keller voted against certifying state election results, meaning he voted for subverting Electoral College procedures. He voted to undermine voters’ electoral power in states and make politicians like himself judges of whether state electors are valid.

A week later, Keller voted against impeachment of the president for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. This, too, was a vote for political interference with the Electoral College — a vote to say that refusing to accept legitimate election results is excusable.

Importantly, Keller risked disenfranchising voters who voted for him as much as those who didn’t. He voted to decertify Pennsylvania’s election results as a whole.

We should note Keller’s position on his own election underlying these votes. Pennsylvanians completed a single ballot for all November elections. The congressman essentially claims to be elected by ballots that he says might have been fraudulent. His position seems to be that the part of ballots for his election were legitimate, but the part of those same ballots for another candidate’s election were not.

No wonder the congressman preferred to emphasize what he voted against — realizing what he actually voted for raises serious questions about his willingness to defend free and fair elections.