Sounding off: Borders, elections, abortion, turnpike among week's letter topics

Our borders are not ‘open’

I’m sick and tired of all this “open borders” claptrap. Our borders haven’t been open since 1883. Instead, there is a mess at the border, and it’s been that way for decades. In 2006, a bipartisan group in the Senate drew up a reform plan, but Republican House members torpedoed it, and immigration reform has been a joke ever since.

The first joke was President Trump’s border wall, which (don’t laugh) the Mexicans were going to pay for. Then Trump prankster Stephen Miller decided to scare off immigrants by separating them from their children. Ha ha. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the National Guard to the border to stop the immigrants but to no effect. He was only joking.

Now the Republican governors of Texas, Arizona and Florida are shipping immigrants unannounced to blue states — sending a middle finger to states that regularly support their requests for federal disaster relief. Yuk yuk.

The Republicans will never support immigration reform because they can’t afford to. Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion on Roe v. Wade showed them what happens when the dog finally catches the car. As in a Roadrunner cartoon, the car blows up in the dog’s face.

The punchline to all of these jokes is the same. The Republican Party no longer knows how to govern.

Robert Supansic

McKeessport

***

Republicans are the threat?

President Biden has defined MAGA Republicans as semi-fascists who “do not respect the Constitution … do not believe in the rule of law … refuse to accept the results of a free election … fan the flames of political violence … (and) threaten the very foundations of our republic.”

So now I know who are the MAGA Republicans. They are:

• Antifa and BLM, which took to violence, defied the law and attacked police.

• Georgia election denier Stacie Abrams, who has yet to concede her 2016 gubernatorial election.

• Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who said, “We have to kill and confront that movement,” speaking about “extremist” Republicans.

• Vice President Kamala Harris, who said the Supreme Court took away a “constitutional right” and compared the court’s abortion ruling to slavery.

• Sen. Chuck Schumer, who warned Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch that they would “pay a price” if they voted to roll back abortion rights.

• Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who voted to recommend commutation of a convicted murderer’s sentence.

• Rep. Charlie Christ, D-Fla., who called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “DeSatan.”

• Nevada official Robert Telles, a Democrat, who was arrested for the politically motivated killing of journalist Jeff German.

• James Hodgkinson, the Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign worker who shot Republican legislators playing softball.

• Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who called for threats and harassment of President Trump’s supporters.

• Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who told Georgia Democrats, “When they go low, we kick them.”

• Democrats who pay for ads supporting far-right Republicans.

To paraphrase Pogo, Biden has defined the enemy and they is us.

Tom Cerra

Latrobe

***

Oz’s changing views on abortion

Dr. Mehmet Oz has questioned John Fetterman’s physical health once again (“Oz releases health records to spotlight Fetterman’s stroke,” Sept. 23, TribLIVE), as if a person must have a perfect health record to serve in the Senate. But moral health is more of an issue, and that’s a real problem for Oz.

He has had at least four different positions on abortion since 2019, from favoring a woman’s right to choose to considering abortion at any time to be murder. The later position was stated to an audience of supporters and could soon change. It seems that Oz can make up new positions on matters of importance at any time. What we can really expect of him, should he be elected, is what we see with Republicans running at any level who will take a hard line against a woman’s right to privacy when it comes to decisions about her body.

In fact, Many Republicans are in favor of spying on women in multiple ways in order to hunt them down if they are even thinking about dealing with health problems associated with abortion. Consider that Oz has referred to abortion at any time as murder. In some parts of the country, Some Republicans in office have already proposed bills that would charge women accordingly. There is no statute of limitations for murder. From some statements Oz has made, it seems he would be fine with imprisoning a huge number of women for simply making the best choice available to them and their families.

In my opinion, Fetterman stands for individual rights and freedoms and Oz cares only about getting elected.

Robert J. Reiland

O’Hara

***

Questionable debate timing for Fetterman/Oz

If ever there was a uniquely ill-timed federal Senate position scheduled debate, we can point this out with the Oct. 25 Fetterman/Oz debate. By that date, is it safe to assume that most Pennsylvania mail-in ballots will have already been sent out and returned? Because the Senate federal position open for a poll vote is Nov. 8, a mere 14 days later, all mail-in ballots are to be received by that date. Who is fooling whom?

Marian Szmyd

Penn Township, Westmoreland County

***

Solving turnpike debt problems

The editorial “Turnpike debt problems must be Harrisburg priority” (Sept. 12, TribLIVE) was spot on: We need a solution to the state’s longstanding transportation-funding shortfall.

The report by Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor confirms that our agency continues to meet our commitments to customers — even as we emerge from a pandemic that drastically impacted our operations, traffic and revenue while continuing to shoulder the hefty financial burden of Act 44.

One of the audit’s main findings was that the turnpike has taken on significant debt because of Act 44 — $8 billion in all — to pay PennDOT $450 million annually to support non-turnpike transportation needs across the state.

While those payments have recently been reduced to $50 million annually — and we have managed debt efficiently and controlled operating costs — paying the accrued debt will require ongoing toll increases for decades.

The turnpike is vital to the commonwealth’s economy, linking families and friends while accommodating cross-state commercial traffic; so, the annual, obligatory toll increases are among the most difficult votes commissioners must make.

DeFoor recommended that the turnpike and state legislature work together on measures to further relieve our organization from the resulting debt-service obligations — and release turnpike travelers from these incessant, mandatory toll increases.

We at the turnpike will continue to work with the General Assembly to find creative, innovative solutions to mitigate the financial burden on our customers because of Act 44. Our commonwealth needs to maintain a safe, reliable and growing ground-transportation system to power our statewide economy.

Mark Compton

Harrisburg

The writer is CEO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

***

Any regrets after 63 million abortions?

We can’t believe that over 60% of Americans think that abortion should continue as before. Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than 63 million God-created babies in the United States have been killed. We wonder how many mothers, years later, regret having an abortion?

Lou and Peg Hoetzlein

Harwick

***

Vote for politicians who follow Constitution

We should be grateful for President Trump. He laid bare the ineptitude, corruption, propaganda and authoritarian leanings of government, collusion with such things by Big Tech, and the general stupidity and authoritarian inclination in a large portion of the public. Don’t forget the 81 million votes for Joe Biden.

The scale of the problem was unknown prior to this. We know the situation now. We know we can’t rely on any of these institutions, and we’re better off for it. It’s better than thinking you know the score and being dreadfully wrong. Immigration; school curricula; overspending and the inflation that always follows it; defunding police; our voting system; energy — the liberal path forward is all out in the open.

The Constitution provides a good guide for governance. We must vote for politicians who follow it.

Don Carrera

Penn Township, Westmoreland County