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Letters to the editor

Shrink our government

Arthur Keller Beavertown The Democrats are for big government, wasteful spending, and lots of entitlements — the bigger the better. Let’s look at the 4-year Biden-Harris spending binge to grow the federal government. Employment in their government grew by 709,000 in 2023, 299,000 in 2022 and 392,000 in 2021 or by nearly 1.5 million people. They increased the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion more than what the Congressional Budget Office projected for 2021-2024, their policies led to the highest inflation rate in 4 decades (up 20% since Jan. 2021) and reduced worker’s purchase ...

Stoop diplomacy

Carol Eberhard Lock Haven Stoop: a small raised platform, typically accessed by a few steps, leading to the entrance of a house or building. This can also be called a porch. People have them, but no one is out there, many times there aren’t even chairs on them. We live in troubled times. Even a “hello” is considered a threat and often met with a silent stare. The small niceties of social interaction have been lost in the digital ear bud world. I get it. I am guilty. It is all too easy to go to my secluded back yard and avoid everyone. I encourage you to “touch grass” ...

Save public media

Kelly Hastings Mill Hall The current administration has indicated that they want to eliminate all funding for America’s public TV and public radio stations, going as far as taking back funds that Congress, in bi-partisan votes, had already appropriated. The vast majority of federal funding goes to local public media stations like WPSU, which are some of the last local media, particularly in rural, remote and underserved communities throughout the country.  As a Board member for WPSU, I know that Federal funding for public broadcasting is an irreplaceable investment in local ...

What Americans are losing

Martha Young State College It’s tempting to tune out the shock and awe strategy of Trump’s second administration, but to do so is foolhardy. The American way of life is disappearing. Thanks to federal cuts to universities and other research agencies, much of the nation’s cutting-edge medical research is screeching to a halt. The impact on patient care will be devastating—and long-term (consider that 1/3rd of all cancer medicines currently in use were discovered by academics). To make matters worse, this administration is also actively pushing medical misinformation. Safe ...

Folder backbone

Sam Stea Cogan Station For heaven’s sake, Mr. President, don’t bluff then fold at first go around. You did that with Vladamir Putin on Ukraine, then you turned around and did it with President Xi of China about this tariff business. Live up to that backbone you’re so proud of, otherwise we are all headed for hell in handbasket. If you’re going to bluff, don’t come out pounding your chest, because that’s a sheer giveaway that you’re dealing from a far weaker position than your opponent. But...why don’t you already know that? Given that your book “The Art of the ...

We need to protect Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry

Mary Haupt Bellefonte As someone who lives and works in Pennsylvania, I believe in preserving what makes our state great—our natural resources and our communities. Our natural gas industry isn’t just about energy; it’s about jobs, supporting local projects and ensuring affordable energy for families like mine. Recently, there have been discussions about changing how things operate, and I’m concerned about the potential impact on our state’s prosperity. The Impact Fee, which is a unique tax imposed on natural gas wells drilled here, has been crucial since its inception ...