Letters to the Editor

The Threat of a Federal Gov’t Shutdown

Dear Editor:

The most recent threat of a federal government shut down reminds me of “Stuck In The Middle With You” by the band Stealers Wheel. The lines “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you” perfectly sums up the chaos and gridlock in Washington.

The government shut down and furlough of non essential federal government employees is not the end of the world as we know it. This year, Christmas and Hanukkah falls on Wednesday, December 25th and New Years on Wednesday, January 1st. As a result, federal offices will only be open four days both weeks. There is always the traditional holiday party when little work takes place. Most offices are open with a handful of staff as most employees take off either Christmas, New Year’ week or both. The President issues an executive order allowing dismissal of federal employees several hours earlier then their scheduled departure time both Christmas and New Years Eve.

Supervisors with a wink and a nod will let employees skip lunch and leave one hour earlier, before the official dismissal time. Some Presidents declare the day proceeding Christmas or New Years a paid holiday and close down offices. Most employees previously planned to take off the week of December 25th and or January 1st Many have use or lose annual vacation leave that exceeds the maximum 240 hours that can be carried over from one year to the next. Supervisors ask for volunteers to come in so offices are open with limited staff. Phones and computers are silent. Most customers served by agencies are also on vacation during the same time period.

Even when furloughs take place, Congress has ended up retroactively paying federal employees for the days they could not report to work. Don’t believe the hype of elected officials who demagogue on this issue. The White House, Senate and Congressional offices will all also be managed by skeleton staff during this time period. Life will go on. Social Security, Medicare and other federal government benefit programs will continue to be paid out.

Sincerely,
Larry Penner

Praising Rep. Jennifer Wexton

Dear Editor:

Throughout her three terms in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton has been an unwavering champion for children, families and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a result of the principled and forceful advocacy of Congresswoman Wexton, and notwithstanding the cruel indifference of some in Congress, the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 is now on its way to President Biden’s desk. After years of transformational public service, there is no more fitting way for Rep. Wexton to conclude her time in Congress than by securing life-saving and life-sustaining funding for children with cancer in America.

Jennifer’s strength and perseverance through health challenges continue to be an inspiration to us all. House Democrats thank her for her courageous and compassionate service. Jennifer will be missed in the halls of Congress as a colleague and as a friend. We continue to keep Jennifer and her family in our prayers and wish her the best in the next chapter of her journey.

Sincerely.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries

UN Asks Court to Rule on Gaza Aid

Dear Editor:

Showing again its duplicity on humanitarian crisis, the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted for a resolution seeking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

They did not comment on the Palestinians who raped and slaughtered Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, nor did they call for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages trapped in Hamas’ dank tunnels.

The resolution–submitted by Norway and backed by 22 states highlighted only the humanitarian situation above ground in Gaza. It demanded Israel comply with whatever the ICJ decides is now ‘international law’.

Argentina, Czechoslovakia. Fiji, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua-New Guinea, Paraguay, Tonga and the USA voted against this blatantly antisemite resolution. 22 states held their noses and abstained. To their shame, 137 sycophants supported it.

Sincerely
Len Bennett, Author of ‘Unfinished Work’
Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA

Political Leaders Bankroll Regime that Honors Killers

Dear Editor:

In addition to the very disturbing news that a Columbia professor named Joseph Massad, who it has been reported praised the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, has been selected to teach a course on Zionism, there’s been other very shocking news about what has happened at Columbia earlier in the semester. Recently Bari Weiss, the journalist who authored the 2019 book How to Fight Anti-Semitism, mentioned in her column (thefp.com/p/bari-weiss-the-old-world-is-not-coming-back) that Columbia University students held a “memorial event” for the late Hamas terrorist leader, Yahya Sinwar on campus on Veteran’s Day. That’s outrageous, and the Columbia administration should have prevented this event celebrating a criminal mass murderer.

But let’s be clear: for the past thirty years, America’s elected leaders have been using our tax dollars to finance a regime that has made honoring dead Palestinian Arab terrorists one of its major activities. Since 1994, successive U.S. presidents have sent a total of more than $10 billion to the Palestinian Authority, which names streets, parks, and schools after dead terrorists—including murderers of American citizens. The Palestinian Authority also provides hefty monetary rewards to the families of terrorists.

So yes, it’s horrific that a Palestinian Arab terrorist was honored on the campus of one of America’s elite Ivy League universities and that they are having an extremist professor teach about Israel. But it is even more troubling that America’s political leaders have bankrolled a regime that honors such killers day and night, in its schools, media, and other public venues—thus raising an entire generation of young Palestinian Arabs who view terrorists as heroes and want to emulate them and murder Jewish Israelis.

Sincerely,
Moshe Phillips
National Chairman
Americans For A Safe Israel, afsi.org
New York, NY