Letters: No true leadership in Trump administration; Lessons from Declaration of Independence
No true leadership in Trump administration
The fact is, there is no true leadership in the Trump administration or the Republican Congress.
Trump is an amoral narcissist who has surrounded himself with sycophants. As with all narcissists, he has no thoughts of leadership for the good of the nation, only thoughts of glorifying and promoting his own image and desires.
The current sycophantic Republican Congress is beholden to Donald Trump, having willingly ceded significant constitutional powers to the Trump administration, eroding Congress’s influence and authority at the expense of the needs and wishes of their own constituents.
The Trump administration’s staffing and cabinet picks demonstrate a total disregard for traditional qualifications and expertise. Trump chose highly controversial appointments to shock and overwhelm the system, thereby straining what the system could tolerate. Loyalty and ego-stroking is the priority; incompetence is the result.
National security, the economy, education and 80-year relationships with allies suffer and all manner of oversight obligations disappear. We’re embarrassed as a nation by battle plans shared on social media, A-1 (sauce) confused for artificial intelligence (AI) by the Department of Education, and aggressive retaliation against anyone who dares to question Trump administration choices.
Chaos has been the unifying theme of the Trump government. Agencies have been butchered and institutional memory has been gutted. Trump’s economic policies deliver huge benefits to those who want for nothing while harming average Americans.
We are less safe, less prosperous — and the U.S. is no longer seen as a force for good in the world.
Lessons from Declaration of Independence
Straight from our Declaration of Independence, the founders of the United States declared independence from England’s King George III for, among other things, the following reasons:
“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good”
“He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.”
“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners”
“He has obstructed the Administration of Justice”
“For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world”
“For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by jury, For transporting us beyond the Seas to be tried for pretended offenses”
“For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments”
“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us”
After enumerating these issues, they asserted that “A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” The same can be said of a President. And, by the way, King George III by all accounts was mentally ill, exhibiting manic phases of mental illness. Hmmm.
‘Big beautiful bill’ includes ugly energy policy
EnergyInnovation.org has examined the impact of the proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill” on Pennsylvania. They found that:
• Its proposed termination of clean energy tax credits undercuts 109 PA clean energy projects with a combined investment value of $4.81 billion.
• It would increase annual energy bills for Pennsylvania households by $1 billion in 2030 and $2 billion by 2025. Why? Greater dependence on fossil fuels and higher fossil fuel prices.
• The bill would cost our state’s workforce nearly 23,000 jobs by 2030 and about 37,000 jobs by 2035 as new investment in domestic energy and manufacturing falters.
• Annual gross domestic product (GDP) in Pennsylvania would be $3.6 billion less than what otherwise might be expected in 2030 and $6.3 billion less in 2035.
Congressman Glenn Thompson voted for this bill, which passed in the House of Representatives by one vote. It is now before the U.S. Senate. If the Senate passes the bill, Mr. Trump will sign it and it will become law.
Bad energy policy is only one of many problematic aspects of this malign legislation that will add $3 trillion to the national debt by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But it should be more than enough reason for our senators, David McCormick and John Fetterman, to vote against it.