The opinions shared are those of the authors alone and are not endorsed by the Newtown Democrats.
Since our last update, we’ve had many great additions to local papers from our letter writing committee. Here’s some of the latest published letters from our letter writing team led by Steve Cickay. A note, where a subscription is required to read the letters page, we’ve included the full letter below.
“Finally, A Town Hall in PA-01” (Inquirer) by Steve Cickay, Newtown
“On a recent Sunday in May, 2025, history was made in Levittown. I, along with about 300 concerned citizens, filled a packed auditorium to experience a fundamental feature of our democracy, a free town hall led by a representative of Congress. We haven’t had such an event here in our PA-01 congressional district in years.”
“Cutting Medicaid will devastate the less fortunate” (Bucks County Herald) by Carol Sundeen in Lower Makefield.
My father’s first wife was very sick. At that time, there was no Medicaid or Medicare, and the expenses for her illness devastated my father’s savings and drove him into debt. His first wife died at the age of 35 leaving a husband and an 8-year-old son.
Fortunately throughout this time my father had a job and eventually he married my mother. Together, they worked to get my father out of debt. They sold their nice house in a nice neighborhood and bought an old farmhouse without running water but with two acres of land, fruit trees, grapevines and space for a large garden. Throughout the summer, my father would spend every evening after his job working until dark on his garden. His labors provided much of our food.
Eventually my mother went back to school to earn a bachelor’s degree and taught for a number of years. My parents finally got out of debt but never from the pain and humiliation of it. Until their deaths, they scrimped and saved and vowed they would never go into debt again. Everything was bought with cash and only necessary purchases were made. (I was the only kid in school who didn’t have a television.)
My parents were fortunate because both were able to work and my mother had her education. I have to wonder how those on Medicaid or Medicare could survive without these benefits. How could they work if they were sick? But most of all I have to wonder about those who voted for Trump’s Big Wonderful Bill. How can those who have everything they need vote for a bill that would be so devastating for those less fortunate than themselves? It’s definitely not the Christian way or the American way. It’s cruel and shameful.
“Business of law” (Inquirer) by Dana Rollins, Langhorne
In March, the Trump administration issued an executive order targeting the powerful law firm Paul Weiss. Days later, Paul Weiss rolled over. An email from the firm’s chairman explained the decision to forfeit $40 million in pro bono work to Trump instead of mounting any sort of defense. Eight other big law firms also capitulated to similar threats, including Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins (the two largest law firms in the world).
Paul Weiss feared a protracted fight would put them out of business. Billable rates for these large firms approach $3,000 an hour for senior partners, and $1,000 an hour for associates. Perhaps that’s what these firms are committed to protecting — not the law, but the business of law.
It may have been a bottom-line business decision, but it’s a branding nightmare. One has to wonder: Do these attorneys lack the acuity to recognize extortion when they see it? Is this how lawyers should react to a full-frontal assault on the Constitution? Will potential clients ever trust that they’ll be vigorously represented in court when these capitulating law firms are too timid to stand up for themselves? If this was a business decision, perhaps they should find another business.
“Don’t play politics with antisemitism” (Inquirer) by Martin Raffel
I write in response to the controversy surrounding Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran’s accusation that Commissioner Bob Harvie’s remarks on the 80th anniversary of VE Day during a May 7 commissioners meeting were antisemitic. The accusation is completely baseless.
I watched what Bob Harvie said about World War II and the greatest generation, which fought to defend civilization itself. As the proud son of a B-17 pilot who flew 50 combat missions over Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944 and won the Distinguished Flying Cross, I found Harvie’s remarks to be appropriate, timely, and even moving.
“Deficit explosion” (Inquirer) by Tom Taft, Chalfont
The forever promise of Republicans has been that tax cuts would generate so much economic growth that the government would take in more dollars than it would have through increased taxes. They do not even pretend that this claim has ever proven to be true, and now they are just pushing to make Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent because … well, actually, they do not even give a make-believe answer anymore. The 2017 tax cut was labeled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and it was supposed to pay for itself with increased taxes from all of the growth. It did not happen. All it did was add at least $1 trillion to the deficit, and now they acknowledge that the 2025 version will add a few trillion dollars more to our national deficit. Party of fiscal prudence and restraint? Absolutely not.
“Kennedy stands out above (below?) all the rest” (Herald) by Lynda Mintz, Bensalem
Of all Donald Trump’s cabinet appointees, one stands out above all the rest. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a national disgrace. I say this as a retired nurse. He is not a doctor or a research scientist; he is nothing more than a believer in conspiracy theories. Caroline Kennedy, who is mum on most issues, felt the need to speak out and warn us about his dangerous beliefs.
He does not like vaccines and, as the head of Health and Human Services, I feel they will become less available and more costly. Maybe one day insurance won’t cover it. As we know, research has been cut on Alzheimer’s, childhood cancer, diabetes, and infectious diseases. RFK Jr. has somehow found money to study the relationship between vaccines and autism, a study that has already been done and has been well respected. He just didn’t like the results. He wants his study to include blind trial. This also has already been done. Some people would get the real vaccine, and others a placebo. This is unethical and unnecessary.
RFK Jr. thinks that chemtrails are being sprayed by the Pentagon to harm citizens. The white streaks behind planes are condensation trails made of ice. We have decades of proof that childhood vaccines are safe and highly effective. Make no mistake, people will get sick and die due to the policies of this department, many of them children. It already happened in Samoa with a measles outbreak.
Let’s not wait for it to happen again. He must go!