Rizzo family thanks Joe Gale
It goes without saying that 2020 has been a turbulent and trying year for our nation and its people.
Nearly every major U.S. city has suffered destruction and unrest at the hands of radicals fueled by a hatred of America and a hunger to erase its history. An example that hits close to home is the ongoing effort to remove Philadelphia’s Christopher Columbus monument.
In fact, as we approach the annual October celebration of Columbus Day, Columbus himself is not the only historic figure of Italian descent who has been targeted in the City of Brotherly Love. Another man whose legacy has been smeared and tarnished is that of my late father, former Police Commissioner and Mayor Frank Rizzo.
Back in May, anarchists brazenly vandalized and desecrated a statue dedicated in his memory as thousands watched on television in horror. Then, days later, Mayor Jim Kenney appeased this lawless and violent mob by removing my dad’s bronze sculpture in the cover of darkness.
At home and at work, Frank Rizzo was the same man. He never pretended to be somebody else. He was a no-nonsense straight talker who believed in law and order. He was the embodiment of strength. A guy’s guy who was larger than life. Indeed, for many decades, Frank Rizzo proved he was literally bigger than either political party by winning mayoral primary races as both a Democrat and a Republican. My dad was a true populist: It was the people who enabled an Italian-American kid from South Philly to go from beat cop to the top spot in City Hall.
This summer, as communities across the country were burned, looted and devastated by rioting criminals, we were reminded that our republic needs leaders like Frank Rizzo more than ever.
And in my search for people like my father, I have found only one person other than President Donald Trump who has the courage and toughness to speak the truth, defend history, uphold traditional values and demand law and order. That man is Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale.
When Philadelphia was under attack, Commissioner Gale had the leadership skills to talk openly and honestly about those who torched police cars, destroyed private property and terrorized innocent families. Joe Gale was also the only elected official in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the guts to address the failures of Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, who ordered law enforcement to stand down as the city burned. For his candor, Commissioner Gale has been the victim of reprisal and revenge on multiple fronts. In addition to having his home surrounded by protesters on three occasions, he faces bogus impeachment charges by partisan state legislators in Harrisburg.
My family and I are proud of Joe Gale and we encourage the people of Philadelphia and its suburbs to follow and support Joe in his role as Montgomery County commissioner and whatever lies ahead for him in the future. I have no doubt my father would also be proud as he looks down upon us from heaven.
God Bless America and Happy Columbus Day.
Frank Rizzo
Former Councilman
Play ball and shut up
Gee, I used to go to a ball game to watch people run, jump and score points. Now I have go with my political agenda on my sleeve. What started out as a speech about racial disparity became a political diatribe of Lurie’s political agenda. He didn’t have to say “Trump” or “the President.” The insinuations were there. I’m surprised Biden didn’t pop up at the end and say, “I approve this message.” Maybe you can tell me the best way that COVID should have been handled. The world tried many different systems to fight the disease, and none of them seemed to work. Maybe our country’s problem was the civil war between the two political parties. Which is still going on, and people are dying. Enough of the politics in sport. It’s time to play ball and shut up, especially the NBA. If the media are so concerned about equality and slavevy, why aren’t they writing about the NBA’s Red China connection. Oh, don’t forget Nike and the other sneaker companies using slave labor. Mr. Social Awareness, LeBron James, is a slave owner by proxy, and the media just bow to him and ignore his slave connection. Get some guts, and write about that.
Richard Donofry
East Torresdale
Address climate change now
I’m a constituent in the 174th District, under Rep. Ed Neilson. I’m a senior at Julia R. Masterman, and for my civics class, I have to research my representative and their stances. Just to note, my opinions here are my own, and are not reflective of Masterman’s attitudes in general.
While doing research, I noticed that he focuses primarily on labor and education. While I believe that those issues are important, there are a few other ones that seem a bit more pertinent. I’m very happy that he takes the education of the city’s students seriously, takes steps to address the problems and suggests solutions. It’s also good to hear that he focuses on both small changes to certain schools and legislation that affects all the schools in the district. Public school students like us experience firsthand the state of our schools and it means a lot to see our representatives pushing for legislation that improves our education.
However, I believe that Rep. Neilson should be addressing climate change more often in his legislation and his campaign. We only have about a decade to make radical changes to our legislation until climate change becomes irreversible. In July of this year, he voted to block a carbon tax, a decision that was influenced strongly by fossil fuel/coal companies and trade unions in the city. He stated that he voted to block it in hopes that a compromise can be made to protect jobs.
I hope that a compromise can be made soon, but I hope that he can step up and push hard to anything that can protect our environment or at least slow down the impending climate catastrophe. This issue is very important to me but it’s not a core component of his campaign, so I am looking forward to seeing more efforts from him this year to address it.
Xin Yang
Julia R. Masterman High School
Keep your hands out of Social Security
On Aug. 8, at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, President Donald Trump announced his first step to defund Social Security. He announced his administration would delay the payroll tax that funds Social Security. Since then, President Trump stated that if he’s re-elected, he’ll eliminate the tax altogether.
The Social Security chief actuary, who plans and directs estimates and analyses for Social Security, has clearly stated what will happen if Trump’s plan becomes a reality. Eliminating these payroll contributions would end Social Security, making it unable to pay any disability benefits beginning in 2021 and unable to pay any retirement or survivor benefits beginning in 2023. It would destroy Social Security and, with it, the financial stability of generations of retirees, surviving spouses, children and people with severe disabilities.
Sixty-five years ago, we as a nation made a commitment to honor the dignity and independence of senior citizens and disabled citizens not because it was convenient, but because it’s the right thing to do for them, their families and America’s future generations. Since we made that promise, the program has paid dividends for us all. Rather than tearing these programs down and leaving older Americans to fend for themselves, we should be strengthening and expanding these programs.
House Democrats are actively opposing President Trump’s plan. As a member of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, my colleagues and I introduced H.R.8171, the Save Social Security Now Act, which bars the Treasury Department from implementing the payroll tax deferral and H.J.Res.94.
If President Trump is re-elected, it will become increasingly difficult to fight Trump’s attacks on Social Security. This is why we must support Joe Biden for president. As Trump wages a war on Social Security, Joe Biden will stand up for our seniors by strengthening Social Security and Medicare, make nursing homes safe and be prepared for pandemics like COVID-19. Rather than playing with American’s retirement, Joe Biden has committed to increasing Social Security benefits and will pay for it by raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000.
Social Security is a promise we made to American workers that they would be respected in retirement. Seniors have spent their lives working to keep our economy strong and to protect our nation because of this promise. Joe Biden understands that it is the working- and middle-class Americans that built this country and that they deserve to retire with dignity.
This election day, Social Security is on the line. Vote to save it. Vote for Joe Biden.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle
A scary thought
Biden says Trump is trying to scare Americans. You know what scares me? Biden as president. Four-trillion-dollar tax increase, free healthcare for 11 million illegals, open borders, electric cars and pushing the red button at 3 in the morning, thinking it’s his alarm clock. I hope there are thousands of Democrats out there who are as fed up as I am. They blame Trump for all the chaos. It’s the Democrats who are not stopping the trouble in their own cities. So if you want all this good stuff, vote for Joe Biden. After all, it’s only Joe.
Fred Wollner
Holmesburg
Wake up, people
I would like to add to the great letter from Rus Slawter Sr. in the 9/23 issue of the Northeast Times. How disgusting it must be to be in the service and have a draft dodger for a commander in chief. I’m glad I didn’t have to have him as my commander when I was in the service. He claims he likes the military but he sold out our allies, the Kurds, and failed to investigate the rumor of a bounty on our troops overseas because he said Putin wouldn’t lie. To the Vietnam veterans, thank you for your service even, though Trump called you suckers and losers. How about all the people he screwed when he filed for bankruptcy, even though he was a millionaire. He is a moral midget and has no respect for anyone, especially women. Not even for his own wife. Who else would say in an interview, on tape, that he can molest women because he is famous. If the spineless Republican senators in Congress would do their job that we elected them for, we wouldn’t be the laughingstock of the world. Oh, did I mention the great job he’s done with COVID-19. And unless you are an American Indian, all our descendants were immigrants. He likes to play the tough guy but he is nothing but a coward and a racist. I could go on and on. Please, people, wake up. Make America great again, that’s a joke. Look around and see America now.
Vince Mosiniak
Torresdale
Satellite voting office works well
I dropped off a mail-in ballot last Tuesday at the satellite voting office at George Washington High School. The volunteers, our neighbors, treated everyone with respect: As a sheriff’s deputy guarded us, we all stood in line, showed our applications, filled out our ballots in private, and put them in secure drop boxes. Everyone was patient, respectful and careful. Nothing “bad” is happening in Philly.
When Donald Trump said, “Bad things happen in Philadelphia,” he insulted our neighbors who work hard to run our elections from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. every Election Day. Northeast Philadelphia has equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, Trump lovers and Trump haters. For years, I have seen my neighbors in Ward 63 come out and hold safe, respectful elections, getting to know one another and counting every vote.
These days, it seems like politics is a screaming match (like that awful debate). Republicans and Democrats are at each other’s throats. No one wants to listen. Families are breaking apart. Here in Northeast Philadelphia, we respect each other. We are doing it right. Hearing Donald Trump insult us made me see red.
While I was in line, a Trump poll watcher came and asked to come into the polling place. The volunteers said they agreed election integrity is very important, but they would have to check and make sure she was allowed in. In the meantime, they asked her to stand 20 feet away from the door with the other poll observers who were volunteering.
The Trump supporter was respectful and was treated with respect by everyone there. As it happened, she was not allowed to come in and had to poll watch from outside. That’s it.
Well, I got inside — and all that went on was a good, American election carried out by our neighbors. When Donald Trump says, “Bad things happen in Philadelphia,” he’s not talking about Jim Kenney, Larry Krasner or the city commissioners.
He is saying that you and me and our neighbors are sabotaging the election. That is a lie.
Whoever you support, go out and vote.
Julian R. Lutz
Fox Chase
