Letters: Choose character for a better America; Taking credit for the ‘Trump tax’

Choose character for a better America

I have children and grandchildren. My deepest desire is for them to be healthy and be able to lead happy, meaningful lives. Frankly, though, I worry about whether that is possible in an America where the value we place on qualities like civility, honesty and integrity has been diminished.

Lying has been normalized to the extent that it is making truth harder to discern, sometimes even negotiable. Verbally attacking and demeaning others because they hold differing views is OK, too, even when it might lead to physical violence. Has disrespecting, misleading and mistreating people become an acceptable part of everyday life now?

I can’t tell if our politics is driving our beliefs or if what we believe is being reflected in our politics. One thing is for sure. If our politics are laying bare what is in our hearts, it isn’t pretty.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. I mean, the choices that have led us here, personal and political, have been just that ... choices. And better choices would give us a better America.

So, in one of the most consequential elections in our nation’s history, why not prioritize the quality of a candidate’s character? Elect those who offer openness instead of deceit, civility instead of hostility, cooperation instead of division, and integrity instead of corruption.

The choices we make in November will determine the character of this nation’s leadership. The character of our leaders will determine the quality of life for us all ... and very soon.

Taking credit for the ‘Trump tax’

When the U.S. government sent stimulus checks to American families during the COVID pandemic, former President Donald Trump took the unprecedented step of putting his signature on the checks.

If Trump wins a second term, he says he will impose large tariffs on importers of foreign goods. Economists almost universally agree that most of the cost of the tariffs wouldn’t be absorbed by foreign companies, they would be paid by American consumers. Estimates for the cost that will be paid by average family range from $1,700 to $3,900 a year.

So, here’s an idea – in the same way that Donald Trump took credit for the stimulus checks, he should also take credit for the “Trump tax” that will hit your wallet if he becomes president. Here’s how it would work. Whenever you look at a product at Walmart or any other store, the price tag on the item would show the original price, the Trump tariff added to the item, and the total price.

When you check out at the register, the receipt you get would add up all the Trump tariffs for your current purchase. Walmart and other big retailers could even do us all a favor by tallying up the total amount you paid due to Trump tariffs at the end of the year. The final receipt, like the stimulus checks in 2020, would bear Trump’s signature.

American consumers want truth in advertising. Why not give Donald Trump the credit for his tariffs that he deserves?

Trump’s juvenile insults

In a recent speech in Erie, former President Donald Trump called his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, “mentally impaired.”

It’s a curious criticism of a candidate who had defeated Trump in a nationally televised debate. Independent polling done in the days following the debate showed most voters thought Harris won – and it wasn’t especially close. ABC News, for example, found that 58% percent of voters believed Harris won, compared to 36% for Trump.

Since then, Trump seems shaken. Lacking a coherent critique of his opponent or her policies, he results to calling her a “dumb person.” It is not the smartest or most creative insult on record – and it does nothing to demonstrate that he has the vision or maturity to lead our country.

After being out-witted by Harris in the first debate, Trump called for a rematch on Trump-friendly Fox News. Harris agreed. However, Trump lost his nerve and backed out, refusing to debate his “dumb” opponent – even on friendly turf.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time Trump claimed that a highly qualified female candidate was stupid. Last year, he called his own former U.N. Ambassador and Republican primary challenger, Nikki Haley, a “birdbrain,” sending her a bird cage to illustrate his childish insult.

It’s disturbing to see Donald Trump repeatedly hurl juvenile, grade-school insults at women, especially at the Vice President of the United States. Trump’s ugly and immature behavior says far more about his character than about hers.

The Florida fiasco

Let’s not be like Florida. Apart from hurricanes, Florida has fallen on hard economic times. Its agriculture is suffering significantly. According to The Florida Policy Institute, the state’s immigration law has cost $12.6 billion this year alone.

Why has this happened? Very simply, when unauthorized immigrants left Florida because they were afraid of rigid new enforcement of immigration laws, there was no one left to pick the crops. Farmers are now wondering whether they can keep their farms if the situation continues. Towns that were economically vibrant because they provided lodging and goods to immigrants became ghost towns. The result is that produce has become more expensive, so Florida cannot compete with states that do not have such immigration enforcement.

Florida is an example of what might happen to the U.S. if Trump is elected president and starts deporting every suspected unauthorized immigrant he can find.

Throughout the country, there would be no one to pick the crops. There would be less produce at the supermarket, and that produce would be more expensive. According to FarmProgress.com, agriculture accounts for 30% of U.S. jobs. Can we afford this risk?

Casey represents interests of Pennsylvanians

At the time of the Hamas massacre in Israel, Republicans in the Senate had blocked the confirmation of four crucial Ambassadors — Israel, Egypt, Oman and Kuwait. The State Department’s top counterterrorism envoy position had been sitting empty for more than two years; the top human rights envoy position had been been unfilled for the entirety of the Biden administration, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had not had a top Middle East official in nearly three years. Nominees for all of these positions were held up by Republicans in the Senate. Moreover, Republicans had allowed one of their own to block the promotion of 422 senior military officers.

Why should Pennsylvania send another Republican like Connecticut carpetbagger Dave McCormick to the Senate to contribute further to the problem?

I’m voting for Bob Casey who has always represented the interests of Pennsylvanians.

Think of your future when you vote

Could the election of Donald Trump cause you to lose your farm or your business?

If you don’t believe it, ask Florida farmers. Florida’s punishing 2023 anti-immigration law dealt a blow, not just to the workers but to the owners of the farms whose bottom lines were crushed by the loss of labor. The effect of the law was immediate.

The fact is that without unauthorized immigrants, there are very few farm workers left “... [B]erries are going to become an item that’s going to be a luxury, not something people buy every time they go to the grocery store like they do now,” Fidel Sanchez, owner of Sanchez Farm in Central Florida said in an NPR story. “The government doesn’t seem to care. Maybe they think the crops are gonna pick themselves.”

If Trump wins and starts his crackdown on immigrants, who will harvest your crops? The U. S. Department of Agriculture estimates that nationwide 40% of farmworkers are unauthorized, and there are even more in Pennsylvania. Will you see your produce rotting on the field? Can you survive the economic blow? Or will you be forced to sell your farm?

Not a farmer? Unfortunately, the shortage of workers is not just impacting agriculture. According to the newamericaneconomy.org, foreign-born workers comprise more than 50% of labor in construction, personal care, housekeeping, hospitality, and textile businesses. Crippling national immigration policies will flatten your bottom line.

Think about it. Think of your future. Protect yourself this election.

Takac delivers for constituents

A while ago one of Paul Takac’s staff members stopped by our house and asked if we needed anything. When I mentioned that I needed to mail my mother’s request for a handicap placard, the staff person volunteered to take care of it for me and then made sure the placard was delivered to my then 97-year-old mother a few weeks later. That kind of constituent service impressed me and that’s why I, a registered independent, endorse state Rep. Paul Takac for re-election in House District 82.

Casting a vote on character

Last month, retired 76-year-old Judge John M. Cleland of McKean County, Pennsylvania broke his decadeslong practice of not taking sides in politics. His intelligence and evenhandedness had helped him win three elections to 10-year terms in a ruby red part of the state.

Cleland is an expert judge not only of legal matters, but of character. His belief in the critical importance of character inspired him to deliver an eloquent and stirring speech that broke with his long tradition of neutrality. He told a bipartisan audience that the 2024 election is not about policy disputes; this “election is about character.”

The judge said that America’s greatest leaders have displayed traits such as honesty, civility, empathy, courage, generosity and trustworthiness. Donald Trump has none of those traits.

Judge Cleland said that Donald Trump’s “factual misstatements are so frequent, so inaccurate, so exaggerated, and so easily fact-checked” that he is “either lying or he is incompetent.” He reminded listeners that Trump was found liable of sexual assault and has bragged about similar acts; he is on trial for allegedly taking highly classified national security documents; and he was convicted of tax fraud with the trial judge noting he showed a “complete lack of contrition and remorse.”

I was moved not only by Judge Cleland’s eloquent speech, but for his courage.

Would you tell your children to model themselves after Donald Trump? I along with many Republicans, Democrats and Independents will be casting my vote on character – for Kamala Harris.

Trump’s agenda would cut Social Security benefits

A new independent report released recently concluded that Donald Trump’s proposals to eliminate taxation of Social Security benefits, end taxes on tips and overtime, impose tariffs, and expand deportations would result in a 33% benefit cut in 2035.

This conclusion isn’t surprising. As president, Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare programs by billions of dollars every single year he was in office. Trump called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” and has dismissed Social Security and Medicare as bribes for the American people.

As a senior who paid taxes for decades to earn my Medicare and Social Security benefits, I am beyond outraged!

Even worse, just this year, Trump said “there’s a lot you can do ... in terms of cutting” Americans’ hard-earned benefits. Trump has called for privatizing Social Security and supported raising the retirement age. Trump wants to let Big Pharma charge whatever they want, making drug companies richer, while raising costs for seniors.

It’s a stark contrast with Vice President Harris, who will always make sure that seniors who have paid into Social Security and Medicare can always count on getting the benefits they worked for.

Kamala Harris is the only logical choice for president.

Takac has earned a second term

I’m writing in support of one of Pennsylvania’s most outstanding Representatives, Paul Takac. Paul is committed to serving every resident of the 82nd District.

He has shown us that we are his priority. His door is open, phones are answered, and he meets with all who ask. He’s opened satellite offices in underrepresented parts of the district. He has helped deliver millions in grants to our region: Conservation and environmental grants, Rails to Trails, consumer protections, EMS funding, and for housing. Paul helped to secure 7 million new educational dollars for our local schools, and 10 million dollars for farmers through a first-of-its-kind grant for farming innovation. He has supported consumer and veterans’ protections, and economic development projects.

While his opponent spouts rhetoric designed to stoke fear and mistrust, Paul does the work, talks the talk, and walks the walk. He has been awarded seats on both the Education and Agriculture Committees. These seats are normally unavailable to freshman legislators like Paul because of their inherent importance to our state. Yet because of Paul’s character, work ethic, leadership, and his reputation as “the real deal” he earned them in his first legislative term.

His opposition focuses on open borders and protection from illegal immigrants as some of the biggest challenges facing our district. But Paul knows better. Every day he works on solutions to real challenges that face our farmers, first responders, home owners, health care workers, businesses, educators, students, and everyday citizens. His priorities are our priorities. He has earned a second term.

Principles matter

“Attack, attack, attack.” “Deny, deny, deny.” “Never admit defeat.”

Imagine framing these slogans, and hanging them on your child’s bedroom wall. Not exactly the principles most parents want their children to follow, but they’re exactly the principles that guide Donald Trump — learned first from his father Fred (who was detained in Queens in 1927 while attending a KKK march), and later from his mentor, Roy Cohen, who taught him to “attack, counterattack and never apologize.”

We see Trump practice those principles every day of his political life.

He uses them to justify calling his political opponent “lazy,” “dumb as a rock,” and “mentally unfit.” He uses them to belittle and silence anyone who disagrees with him.

He attacks prosecutors and judges to delegitimize and discredit the charges brought against him — and to rally his supporters.

He uses them to justify the violence he encouraged in 2020, and hints he’ll do again if he loses this November.

As you consider your vote for president, imagine how these “values” will play out if Trump wins. He’s already told us that he’ll prosecute his enemies, dismantle international treaties and alliances, and roll back climate initiatives necessary to mitigate weather disasters like hurricanes Helene and Milton. Most horrifying of all, he suggested to a group of Christian supporters that there would be no need to vote in four more years.

Are these the values you want for our country — or to pass onto your children?

If your answer is “no,” you must vote for Kamala Harris.

PSU wrestling and Trump

I am outraged and ashamed that Penn State wrestling team members appeared with Donald Trump.

His rhetoric and views are 180-degree opposite of the views that I hold as a proud Penn State alum.

Penn State stands for ideals that are to be admired and should not be lowered by association with a man who spews hate, racism and lies every time his lips move.

Commit to peace, justice as you make your voice heard

Our peace church tradition at University Mennonite Church reminds us of the importance of being a good neighbor. We believe that civic engagement provides us with a pathway to live a life of love, peacemaking, and service to all, especially those who are most marginalized. Our congregation is dedicated to addressing systems of injustice, and we know that civic participation is essential to our work.

Our sacred scriptures remind us of Jesus’ call to care for those in need, to offer love in a world of hatred, and work toward a broader welcome for those on the margins of society, reminding us that we must work for change in our local community and beyond. It is through the guidance of our faith that we are committed to work for peace, love our enemies, and strive for the healing of our earth and all of creation.

This year, amid increasing polarization and division, we are called more than ever to be engaged civically, to actively participate in the betterment of our community. We recognize this as a commitment we have as people of faith, and as members of our greater community.

We encourage all people of faith and conscience to consider the different ways in which we engage our community. As we vote and engage, our voices are committed to peace, justice, creation care, equality, and should be heard — not just on Nov. 5, but each and every day.