Letters to the Editor | Dec. 11, 2022

The Editorial Board made a strong case for restoring the expanded child tax credit, which reduced overall child poverty by nearly half. Social programs are much maligned by many as wasteful spending on undeserving recipients. But this temporary expansion of the benefit helped 60 million children, whose parents spent the money on basic necessities such as food and utilities — not drugs, as U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin wrongly claimed. What segment of the population is more innocently vulnerable than children? If the program cost is too high, reduce the income threshold and design a program for the truly needy that could lift an estimated 121,000 children out of poverty in Pennsylvania alone. Gandhi’s maxim is worth repeating: “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”

John Groch, West Chester, grochjohn@hotmail.com

Just read that the Phillies agreed to a $300 million contract with Trea Turner. Also, Justin Verlander just signed for almost $90 million for two years, and the PGA just gave Tiger Woods a $15 million bonus. These ridiculous salaries pertain to all of the entertainment industry, not just sports. What an interesting contrast as I read recently that more people are fighting hunger and poverty in our area than ever before. Perhaps John Middleton and his gang should send some of his so-called “stupid money” to people in need and not to a baseball player making hundreds of thousands of dollars a game. I stopped attending games about five years ago due to the high costs and quite frankly do not miss it. So long.

Michael Laurenzi, Media, mlaurenzi01@verizon.net

As a centrist, I wholly agree with Jennifer Stefano’s call for fiscal conservancy, but her column is a bit disingenuous. Her statement that for “more than a decade, Republicans have abandoned fiscal responsibility” belies the facts of history. The Republican Party has abandoned fiscal conservancy for nearly seven decades — going all the way back to Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Reagan administration posted the highest deficits, in real numbers or as a percentage of GDP, in American history. This was repeated by the George W. Bush administration and the Trump administration. The Clinton administration is the only administration since World War II to publish a balanced budget. Finally, her column fails to mention the hard reality that a balanced budget cannot be achieved without either raising taxes or goring the sacred bull of defense spending. This will only be achieved by a balanced budget amendment; anathema to Democrats and seemingly a political third rail to Republicans, too cowardly to live up to the fiscal principles they lay claim to. God help us.

Michael Cahill, Phoenixville

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