Hastert deserves the maximum penalty

The treatment of Dennis Hastert by our judicial system is nothing short of hypocritical. How can a man who at one time was third in line to govern our nation as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives be afforded anything less than the maximum penalty for his actions, no matter how long ago his “transgressions” occurred?

Now Hastert, like all deadly mobsters going to court, has an ailment fostering sympathy, in addition to an army of high-priced lawyers at his command. How did a simple schoolteacher who became a “public servant” amass $3.5 millions in hush money while still being able to support his family in high fashion and style? Now all of a sudden has deep religious convictions and devotion to his family that make serving hard time extraordinarily difficult.

Bob Pritchard, Homer Glen

A doozy

Madeleine Doubek’s hit piece on House Speaker Mike Madigan in Wednesday’s Sun-Times was a doozy. Doubek showed her true colors despite persistent claims that she is nonpartisan. She chose to ignore Gov. Bruce Rauner’s totally incompetent pretense at being governor, his insistence on helping his corporate pals by killing the unions, his inability to pass a clean budget, his total disregard for the poor, the sick, and the vulnerable, his draconian gutting of higher education, and the fiscal deterioration he has wrought on Illinois.

Silvio Anichini, Edgewater

Curious votes

I find it curious that public sector employees continue to vote in the very same people who have raided and squandered their pension funds. These government workers have faithfully paid into the pension system only to be told the pension funds are not there and taxes must be raised to pay them. Seems to me there’s a leak somewhere.

Mike Simon, Glen Ellyn

Term limits

With the Senate refusing to consider Merrick Garland’s nomination, this is a time to push for term limits. If Congress didn’t have the potential of being a lifelong job then the senators might be more concerned with doing their duty and less concerned with holding onto their seats.

Joseph Walther, Lake Bluff