Letters to the editor - Wednesday, November 8

The day after the U.S. House announced the proposed federal tax overhaul, I eagerly went out to the curb to gather my Daily Star and see what the plan says. I am greeted by the headline: “Wealthy favored by GOP tax plan.” OK, need I read more?

After all, I’m just like the rest of us who hate those rich folks. But I continue. The subhead says: “Many middle-class benefits could dwindle over time.” Wow. I guess there is no reason to believe that there is anything of merit in the bill, so I stop reading. My question to the Star: Is your headline news or opinion? Think about it.

Jeffrey McConnell

West side

It is with disgust that I heard about the New York terror suspect’s statements of “Long live ISIS!” and “I am proud of my actions.” Murder is totally against Islam. The very word Islam means peace. In the Quran (5:33), it states that to kill one person unjustly is like killing all of mankind.

How this person can defend his deeds as being done in the name of Allah is beyond me. To shout Allah-o-Akbar — God is the greatest — while mowing down innocent pedestrians and bicyclists is repulsive. How dare he defame Allah’s name!

As a devout Muslim, I try to believe God is love and I should love all His creatures. As an Ahmadi-Muslim, I believe “Love for All, Hatred for None”. But in times like this it is hard not to hate. But I trust in God. May He have mercy on us all!

Nusrat Kathleen Aziz

Southwest side

I grew up in rural Idaho. Guns were part of our culture. We learned respect for firearms early. I used a shotgun, rifle and pistol for competitive shooting as well as for hunting, so I am no dummy when it comes to firearms. Firearms can be deadly. We also learned to drive early, being farm kids. We learned respect for any mechanically powered machinery. This machinery can be deadly.

An immigrant took one of those deadly devices and killed eight people and injured a dozen or so more. A citizen took one of those deadly devices and killed seven times as many as the immigrant and injured far more. The hue and cry in the vehicle attack is for extreme vetting of immigrants, and I am not opposed to that. My question is, why is there no hue and cry for extreme vetting of those who purchase firearms?

Gerald Schwartz

Northeast side

Re: the Nov. 2 online article “Ex-Tucson councilman, Steve Leal, recovering from heart attack.”

I have known Steve Leal since 1970. He emailed me last Wednesday to listen to his radio show to give feedback on the transmission quality. I wondered why he wasn’t on the air. At the end there were a sympathetic few words for Steve from the people who had done the show. What had happened to him? I Googled his name and the city of Tucson that he has given so much to and saw that he had had a heart attack but was stable now.

I was inspired to say a few words about Steve, as he has been such a special person to me. Just knowing that he is here on this Earth, I am so grateful. He is the person whom I consider to be the most brilliant creative mind that I have ever known. He has never forgotten what is important, never condescended like so many in politics do, and he is the person that you want on your side. Get well fast, Steve!

Catharine Gunderson

Santa Cruz, Calif.

The new tax bill promises to add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the coming decade. Maybe I’m wrong, but I look at paying taxes like paying rent to live in our country. When I hear someone proudly stand up and announce, “I haven’t paid taxes in 16 years,” I hear, “I haven’t paid rent in 16 years.” That leads me to believe we have two welfare systems: one for the richest billionaires and another for the very poorest in our country. Who gets to pay for these two welfare systems? You guessed it — the middle class.

This used to work, but with the shrinking middle class, it just doesn’t anymore. We really need to get rid of these welfare groups. If I can believe what I read about the Republican bill, it isn’t the wealthy who are going to pay. It is take from the poor and give to the rich.

Kay J. Van Houten

Northwest side

Again justice delayed. Republican leaders in Congress decided last week not to bring up legislation to protect “Dreamers” until 2018. Already 22,000 of the 800,000 young people are at risk of immediate deportation. Unable to get together the $500 and multiple papers in the incredibly short 30 days the Trump administration gave them to reapply, they no longer have DACA protection to remain in the U.S.

Dreamers have jobs, are in school or are in the military fighting for us. Our government promised them protection and in return they offered up their names and addresses. We owe them our protection. Sens. Flake and McCain should lobby Republican leadership to immediately bring up and pass the Dream Act!

Sara Busey

Green Valley

What number will do it? 60? 42? 34? 32? 94? That is how many people were killed in mass shootings over the last five months. Since January, 530 people have been killed, more than 1,600 wounded. Certainly the 20 children killed in Newtown was not the persuasive number, and since then thousands of people have been killed in mass shootings.

None of these massacres have persuaded legislators to even consider gun-safety legislation. The NRA will scream gun control, and gun sales will go up like they always do after these killings. There doesn’t seem to be a number that so far has moved the dial on gun laws. I’m beginning to think there will be no sensible gun legislation in my lifetime. Is it possible, then, that the number is infinity?

John D. Kautz

Midtown