Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Letters to the Editor | April 28, 2024

Inquirer readers on forcing the sale of TikTok, staying home as residents grow older, and the sheriff's office poor performance.

A TikTok content creator sits outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company or face a ban.
A TikTok content creator sits outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company or face a ban.Read moreMariam Zuhaib / AP
    by Letters to the Editor, For The Inquirer
    Published 

Inside job

It is interesting to me that Congress is forcing TikTok to sell because of national security concerns, saying that China could use the platform to spread propaganda and misinformation. At the same time, the former publisher of the National Enquirer is testifying on how he worked with Donald Trump to use the platform to spread misinformation and pro-Trump propaganda. Why is the threat from within not considered a matter of national security?

Stefan Keller, Philadelphia

Staying home

Thanks to The Inquirer for covering the important work that Rebuilding Together Philadelphia is doing to make repairs to help low-income homeowners stay in their homes safely. AARP found that eight in 10 older adults want to stay in their homes as they age, but many report they need support — such as home modifications or assistance from other individuals — to do so. Readers should be aware that home care services, particularly home health aide and home nursing care, are a vital part of this equation.

Hundreds of Philadelphia-area residents currently struggle to access care at home due to chronic underfunding from state Medicaid budgets. When at-risk residents can’t access the support they need to stay at home, they are often forced to access health-care services in hospitals and nursing homes — which take them out of their own homes and into facilities that cost states and taxpayers more. Legislators in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware are making budget decisions through June 30, and ought to be aware of how important their support and funding affect their most medically fragile and vulnerable residents.

Dave Totaro, chief government affairs officer, BAYADA Home Health Care, Mount Laurel

No shame

His name is Nicolas Elizalde. Nick, my grandson, was the 14-year-old boy shot and killed at his Roxborough High School football game on Sept. 27, 2022. Though Nick’s not named, the recent editorial “More of the same” notes that in 2022, a sheriff’s deputy was arrested and charged with reselling two of the guns used in Nick’s murder, as William Bender, Ryan W. Briggs, and others have repeatedly reported. I appreciate the light they continue to shine on the corruption that is Sheriff Rochelle Bilal and the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office and am sickened by images of Bilal with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, the effusive praise by City Council, and the literal embraces by Democratic Party officials at President Joe Biden’s recent campaign event in Philadelphia. My family wept on Thanksgiving. Bilal waved to crowds from her float in the parade. Bilal trading cards? Mascot Deputy Sheriff Justice, an antidote to bullying? Really? Nick deserves better.

Marge LaRue, Aston, laruehouse@verizon.net

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 200 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.