Letters to the Editor | June 23, 2026
Inquirer readers weigh in on the iconic sports playing fields of the River Wards and the prospect of a bailout for U.S. auto makers.
No auto bailouts
No one is talking about bailing out Ford or General Motors today. But the conditions that led to the 2009 taxpayer rescue are quietly reassembling themselves — and Americans deserve to have this conversation before we are once again handed the bill.
Both companies are struggling to keep pace with Tesla domestically and increasingly competitive Chinese automakers globally. Meanwhile, the federal government is rolling back electric vehicle mandates and weakening fuel economy standards at the urging of oil and gas lobbyists — policy shifts that artificially extend the relevance of internal combustion vehicles rather than forcing the adaptation these companies urgently need. This is not a free market. It is a system rigged to protect companies that have repeatedly failed to innovate, sustained by politicians whose campaigns are funded by the very industries they regulate.
The jobs argument for protecting these companies is not without merit — but it cannot serve as a permanent shield against accountability. Bailouts do not save jobs forever. They delay the reckoning while burning public funds and rewarding poor decision-making. Companies like Tesla built a competitive EV business without that safety net. Penalizing them by rescuing their less disciplined competitors is neither fair nor good policy.
The time to draw this line is now — before the lobbying intensifies, before the headlines turn dire, and before Congress is once again asked to choose between a bailout and a collapse. If Ford and General Motors cannot compete in a market they had every warning and resource to prepare for, the answer is accountability — not another taxpayer rescue.
Kevin Ahern, Chalfont
Cinder ball field
Kudos to Matt Breen for his article on Fishtown’s “cinder soccer field.” It is a site that has legendary status in the history of local athletics — and not just in soccer. Lord knows where a softball would go when a line drive skidded on those loose cinders. And base runners would never slide into second base.
The cinder field ranks right up there in Kensington lore with the softball fundraiser at Scanlon Recreation Center on Venango Street, where a New York Yankees outfielder named Babe Ruth once played for the Ascension Parish Catholic Youth Organization team. Keep the great stories coming, Matt.
Gerard J. St. John, Drexel Hill
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