Letters to the Editor | Jan. 2, 2026

I applaud The Inquirer for last Sunday’s Opinion section, which was made up entirely of an editorial documenting the damage done by Donald Trump over the past 11 months. In 2025, we learned once again how important a free press is to inform our citizens about the path Trump’s administration is taking. The most recent episode of CBS News’ Sunday Morning disappointed me. In its year in review, no mention was made of the three large protests: “Hands Off” (three million people), “No Kings I” (five million people), and “No Kings II” (seven million people). Why were these peaceful demonstrations not mentioned? I believe CBS fears retribution by Trump. A free, informative, fact-based news media is so important to maintain our democracy. Shame on CBS for its cowardly bowing to Trump — first in suppressing the 60 Minutes report on the inhumane treatment in an El Salvadoran detention center, and then by not mentioning our peaceful protests.

Marie Kania, Media

Thank you for your recent editorial that comprehensively details the most egregious of Donald Trump’s corruption. It was masterful, given the overwhelming volume of material that you had to sort through.

Yet, Trump is only one person. Most Senate and House Republicans have done nothing to fulfill their Oath of Office to support and defend the Constitution. There are too few Republicans willing to do the right thing. Their near total obedience to this corrupt regime — and not to the Constitution — has enabled the near collapse of our democracy. Why? Most of them seem to want to hold on to their piece of the financial pie and cling to the power they have but refuse to use.

The Constitution clearly outlines many paths to dealing with the corruption of this administration, but most Republicans continue to enable and obey MAGA Mike Johnson’s abuse of power, rules manipulation, and time wasting. Chaos enables corruption, and the majority of Republicans at the local, state, and federal levels like it. They think that if they bend the knee to Trump, they’ll be safe. They are so ensconced that even though they don’t believe the GOP rhetoric, they willingly play along and spew it to constituents.

Let’s hope the coming elections continue to reestablish the ideals of our democracy by voting out all politicians — Republican and/or Democrat — who have lost their sense of right and wrong or played along. Let’s hope a younger, idealistic generation of politicians emerges from this chaos, because the GOP has sunk so low that it protects rich pedophiles without a thought of the victims. After these heinous crimes were exposed publicly, it finally moved a few Republicans to denounce Trump’s actions, even though they had fully enabled him up to this point. Still, too few were moved, and still others who knew the details before the public disclosures but chose to look the other way.

We appreciate newspaper journalism. Other mainstream media outlets do not cover issues in depth, and many have capitulated to the current regime so much that they can no longer be trusted.

H. Tunney, Huntingdon Valley

Dec. 26 was my 67th birthday. The weather was cold and bleak, like the year had been. Unlike during Donald Trump’s first term, the major news networks, along with many of the nation’s top newspapers, had fallen to Trump’s authoritarian bullying, or had hopped onto the oligarchy bandwagon for the goodies. Universities, top law firms, and business titans paid coin to join the gravy train, or at least not to be run over by Trump’s retribution railroad. But on my birthday, The Inquirer stood tall and published “The Damage Done” online. Maybe it is weird that an in-depth piece detailing the breadth, depth, and speed at which Trump is destroying our country and the institutions that should be protecting us felt like a gift. But Philly has grit, and our paper has gravitas. The Inquirer understands there is risk in speaking out. The risk of remaining silent is greater.

Lynn Strauss, West Chester

The Inquirer recently reported that the state of New Jersey was moving to raise its minimum wage to $15.92 per hour. A just and modest increase from $15.49 per hour.

Recently, the city of Santa Fe, N.M., moved forward with a proposal to increase its minimum wage, as well. Something that caught my eye is that the article about it in the Albuquerque Journal mentions that Santa Fe has, since 2003, mandated an automatic increase in minimum wage, which occurs every year. I personally think this would be a fantastic policy for the city of Philadelphia to investigate.

For decades, Philadelphia was the poorest big city in America (that honor now belongs to Houston, I believe). Nonetheless, as a city that is still fairly poor, Philadelphia still has a huge section of its population that holds positions that pay minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour in Pennsylvania. Now, one could debate what parameters go into determining the increase of that minimum wage, but I think it is beyond doubt that a policy that automatically increased minimum wage and tied it either to inflation, Consumer Price Index, or some other parameter would benefit literally tens of thousands of Philadelphians.

The “Fight for 15” movement started in 2012, and every year that goes by means inflation makes that $15 an hour worth less and less. (Thankfully, New Jersey is inching toward $16 per hour.) A great deal of time and political capital is spent fighting for or against one-time increases. If a schema for automatic increases could be agreed upon, it would save our political energy (which is pulled in so many directions these days) for figuring out other problems. Perhaps an automatic system could even be considered business-friendly, as it would allow businesses to plan for and budget for small increases over time instead of lobbying against their own workers in pursuit of preventing big wage jumps.

In New York, Zohran Mamdani was right to tap into the issue of affordability and wages as a universal problem in our great American cities. Now is the time to get creative about how to address that problem here in Philadelphia.

Alex Palma, Philadelphia

Nick Elizalde, my grandson, was shot and killed at his high school football game on Sept. 27, 2022. That year, 516 homicides were recorded in Philadelphia, and 51 school shootings in the U.S. In 2024, we saw 84 school shootings nationwide. The U.S is the only country in the world where the leading cause of death for children is guns.

On Dec. 13, two students were shot and killed at Brown University. Donald Trump shrugged. “Things can happen,” he said. One day later, Providence, R.I., Mayor Brett Smiley assured residents that they are safe. No, Mayor, they’re not. Americans aren’t safe. Not in Providence, Uvalde, Newtown, Blacksburg, Parkland … Not in schools, places of worship, theaters, our front porches. We’re killed at home and away. Murdered on buses. In cars. Like Trump, we shrug. We may tell ourselves, “It can’t happen here.” Friends and neighbors become statistics. By continuing to support elected officials who fail to act, we accept the carnage.

Following rare mass shootings, New Zealand, Norway, and Canada banned assault weapons. Sweden limited access to semiautomatic weapons. After the Dec. 14 murder of 15 people on Bondi Beach, Australia will strengthen its gun laws to include limiting gun ownership. Why not here?

In Delaware County this year, the council took bold action and banned untraceable ghost gun parts and machine gun conversion devices. Why not your county?

In this election year, demand more from lawmakers. Vote only for those who support commonsense solutions to gun violence. Vote all others out. It’s too late for Nick, but maybe not for the folks you love.

Marge LaRue, Aston, laruehouse@verizon.net

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