Letters to the Editor | July 16, 2026
Inquirer readers on congressional absences and the passage of the Pennsylvania budget.
Stalled progress
In the push to pass another late state budget, quality has been sacrificed. The product is more noteworthy for what it does not do than for what it accomplishes. It does not:
Increase Pennsylvania’s archaic minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which has not budged since 2009.
Provide a reliable funding mechanism for essential public transit.
Reap tax dollars from legalizing the use of marijuana.
Tax skill games.
Sell off the state liquor stores to garner hundreds of millions of dollars.
Eliminate the state’s unique and cruel death (inheritance) tax.
Hike state taxes on tobacco products to discourage use and boost revenue.
Finally end the ridiculous ban on automobile dealers to conduct business on Sundays.
Eliminate price-fixing on dairy products, which keeps prices artificially high and out of step with neighboring states.
I find little to smile about in the new state budget.
Oren Spiegler, Peters Township
Firing four-star generals
Why doesn’t Congress demand to know why Pete Hegseth is gutting our military leadership of the best and the brightest, like Gen. Christopher Donahue? It isn’t patriotic; it’s idiotic.
Penny Stanger, Phoenixville
Dream job
I would like to know where else one can go to land a job like those in Congress.
One can be AWOL and not owe anyone an explanation, be absent for an indeterminate amount of time without being held accountable for that or what might have transpired during their absence, lose any salary, or be penalized in any way for not coming to work.
No one pushes back, questions what is going on, or insists on getting an explanation. One won’t be replaced or demoted, and whatever inconvenience your absence might have caused is of no consequence.
When the question does arise, perhaps a “Further information will be forthcoming” might be issued, but that means just about as much as no information. You can be totally incommunicado without any fear of retribution, censure, loss of a position, demotion, or cut in pay. You can just show up when you are good and ready, with no concern as to whether your absence has caused problems for the others who do show up every day.
When the rest of the government shuts down, these folks remain unscathed, as their paychecks just keep coming. There is always an impending “recess” that seems to come at the most convenient times. It doesn’t matter how much work needs to be done, nor how serious the matters at hand might be — when Congress is scheduled to leave town, that’s what they do. Everything else can just wait.
Sounds like nice work if you can get it.
Barbara Kotzin, Cheltenham
Shameful dismissal
The dismissal of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy case is just another nail in the coffin of justice and another bitter pill the American people are forced to swallow by the present U.S. Department of Justice. It is a loathsome decision, and one that should be quickly overturned by another court.
Carol N. Wright, Malvern
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