Sen. Pat Toomey's vote in favor of Betsy Devos' confirmation to the post of secretary of education reveals his priorities.

I wrote to Toomey on Jan. 11 to express my views on Devos' qualifications. His response arrived in the mail a few weeks later, and the letter was dated December 16, 2016.  Obviously, Toomey could not address my concerns because his response was written almost a month before my letter reached his desk.

I understand many other Pennsylvanians attempted to contact him regarding this post, but his phone went unanswered, and the option to leave messages was disabled.  E-mails were also ignored, save for an automated response acknowledging their receipt.  

DeVos' controversial ideology and lack of qualifications generated significant concerns among Toomey's constituents, whom he appears to have ignored. He could have weighed these factors and voted in support of public schools, but bowed to pressure from his party instead. 

I would hope that Toomey's vote was not influenced by DeVos' and her family-supported PAC donations of more than $60,000 to his campaign, but his vote suggests otherwise.   

Perhaps if I had enclosed a check with my letter, he might have at least taken the time to correct the date on his response.  

Richard A. McIntyre
Easton

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