Hypocrisy in Florida
On Sept. 24, even before Hurricane Ian hit Florida, and within hours of being asked by Gov. Ron DeSantis, President Biden declared a state of emergency and ordered federal assistance to state, tribal and local agencies.
On Sept. 28, Gov. DeSantis asked President Biden to grant a Major Disaster Declaration, providing a wide range of federal assistance programs for his citizens, plus requesting the president to grant FEMA the authority to provide 100% federal cost share for debris removal and protective measures going forward (Gov. DeSantis official website).
All this from a Republican governor bent on dismantling federal government agencies if he becomes president in 2024.
How hypocritical that as a newly elected Congress member in 2013, now-governor of Florida DeSantis was one of the 67 House Republicans who voted against a $9.7 billion federal flood insurance assistance package for the victims of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. Now, DeSantis says, “We all need to work together, regardless of party lines.”
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Rita Pollak
Oro Valley
Kudos to Davis
Re: the Sept. 25 article "Ex-Tucsonan, 'Eco-warrior' Foreman dies at 75."
So not only has Tony Davis kept us abreast of the continuing challenges to our local and regional water and electricity supply, he has recently provided a well-researched article on the life and times of local activist Dave Foreman who recently passed. The quality of this reporting is what gives me hope, fading though it may be, in what can be expected when I read the Daily Star each morning with my coffee. Being an old geezer it is an actual piece of paper in my hands.
Michael Judd
East side
A warning
If you really want to witness the final demise of the Great American Democracy, vote Republican!
Thad Appelman
Northwest side
Random thoughts
A recent letter writer suggested that, if Donald Trump was still in office, he would have assisted Russia in their Ukrainian invasion. You think that because Trump could converse with world leaders he would have backed them in war? I contend Vladimir Putin never would have invaded if America had a strong leader.
Another letter writer criticizes Trump by saying "Our state and nation need people who have their head screwed on right." Apparently the writer hasn't listened to the current president speak or watched him try to ride a bicycle.
Other letter writers criticize the Supreme Court decision on abortion. Folks, all the court did was correct a bad decision from the past. Even liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Roe v. Wade was a bad decision. Apparently, you folks don't understand the Constitution. These matters are state matters, not the federal government's decisions.
Alan Cross
Northwest side
Transparency needed
at Pima College
Re: the Sept. 30 article "Group wants PCC chancellor's resignation."
Pima College Chancellor Lee Lambert’s public relations team hailed PCC’s “award-winning programs” in responding to demands for his resignation by People4PCC. Are those awards based on thorough research?
Forbes recently listed PCC as a top Arizona employer. Was that award well-founded? Writing in PCC’s student newspaper, Makyla Hays, president of the Pima Community College Education Association, voiced deep concerns over a lack of transparency by Lambert.
Hays wrote in part: “I am concerned that in June, the board voted on new employee salary structures without hearing public comment first … I am concerned that the Chancellor has decided to answer expressions of employee concern with a widespread touting of the Forbes top Arizona employer report and public messages to employees with instructions to not be negative, minimizing legitimate employee concerns at best and discouraging them from speaking up at worst.”
Hays’ inside-the-campus knowledge is far more credible than Forbes.
Raul Ramirez
West side
Authoritarian
government
It seems to me the Republican Party seeks to demolish democracy and establish authoritarian rule in the U.S. But I worry that they haven’t thought their plans through. It’s a lot more than just owning the liberals. For a preview, they can just turn to their own Bibles, 1 Samuel 8. Choose your version.
When the people demanded a king to rule over them, Samuel warned them what a king would involve. The people would be assigned jobs at the king’s pleasure, their daughters would be cooks and bakers and soldier’s wives. You will take up arms whenever the king desires. The king will take your wealth and your family and you will have no say in it.
But the people insisted, and so God granted their wish, warning. “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
I fear that we have chosen the path of the Israelites.
William Penrose
Oro Valley
MAGA patriots
Re: the Oct. 10 letter "Who are MAGA Republicans."
I read a delusional letter where the writer claimed some Democrats were MAGA and the MAGA people were patriots. Trump lied over 30,000 times, dodged the draft, doesn't pay taxes, cheats on all his wives, sucked up to Vladimir Putin and other dictators, and most importantly tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power. His behavior and that of the insurrectionists was treasonous, modern day Benedict Arnolds. I rarely agree with Lindsey Graham but when he asked why more insurrectionists weren't shot I think he was right. I hope the writer realizes he belongs to a cult.
Craig Miller
Northwest side
FDR vs. Trump
Re: the Oct. 10 letter "Who are MAGA Republicans."
I almost choked on my breakfast as I read this letter saying MAGAs include Democrats and Independents, that they are true flag-waving patriots and Donald Trump, like FDR, cares for the middle class. Dems and Independents are not MAGAs, period! It was MAGAs wielding the American flag when attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6. That is patriotism? Wheelchair bound, FDR, would never, ever, make fun of a handicapped person. FDR brought Social Security and more for the middle class. Trump gave the uber rich a tax reduction and began divisiveness in the country like never seen before. Trump's "philosophy" is all about him. Your "last hope" was a complete failure.
Jerry Lujan
SaddleBrooke
Why would you vote
against Prop 308?
On this coming ballot is Prop 308 which would give DACA "Dreamer" students a reduction to pay only 'in-state' tuition, it would make it affordable and thereby possible for them to go to college. It requires that students live in Arizona for two years and graduate from an in-state high school. These young people are as bright and motivated as can be. They are exactly who we want and need to live and work here in Arizona. They are the future. Why would anyone not want that? Why would anybody vote against that happening? The only reason possible is if they have no room in their heart for another soul.
Paul Simon
Northwest side
Vote for Kuby,
Kennedy
Re: the Oct. 10 article "ACC's Peterson wrong about energy."
Do you want clean air and water? Do you want your children and grandchildren to live in a Tucson that is not only doing something to lessen the effects of climate change but also is creating many more family wage jobs than we now have? Vote for Lauren Kuby and Sandra Kennedy — you get both these dynamic family and job-centered candidates with your one vote!
Mike Carran's guest opinion was a relentless factual refutation of the fossil fuel dogma that Lea Marquez Peterson robotically spewed out. Peterson is the past; her guest opinion is the dogma of an era gone by and she is just flat out not properly responding to the climate change world we now all live in. We cannot dig, drill and burn our way out of climate change but that is exactly what Peterson sees as Tucson's future.
Kuby and Kennedy see the world differently. They see the future and not the past. Vote them into the Arizona Corporation Commission for a healthy, livable Tucson.
Rick Rappaport
Oro Valley
Abortion
Like lemmings, those in the religious right have careened over the precipice of eternal damnation. Having exhausted their credibility with Christ defending the callous, insolent miscreant they helped elect, they now stand accused (by King Solomon) of being abominations. (Proverbs 17:15)
The false prophets of the right cackle with glee as Barabbas takes a seat on the Supreme Court, belying the fact that the Messiah is the original bleeding-heart liberal. The inane crusade against abortion is now an offering of Cain, because any victory would be tainted by their Faustian bargain.
Because these incorrigible apostates vote with the same blind, misguided zealotry that drives ISIS, Democrats and Independents must put up a united front to oppose them, otherwise, the USA will become a heretical theocracy like Iran!
Note: This letter was written after Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed in October of 2018.
John Balsbaugh
Midtown
Banana Republicans
I’m still trying to figure out what happened to my Republican friends — and to good Republicans in general. They used to champion true patriotism and personal integrity. They were willing to put their lives on the line to protect our country’s hard-fought, hard-won system of self-governance — democracy.
Now, with the blessing of today’s official Republican Party, a deplorable number of candidates have turned into Banana Republicans, essentially hoping to change our system of free and fair elections — our democracy — into a dictatorship.
Ironically, brave citizens in countries around the world — Ukraine, Iran, even Russia — are flooding the streets, protesting dictatorships at great peril to their lives, demanding freedom to vote for self-governance.
Please, Republicans, this is the time to remember your historic patriotic values. Defeat election-deniers to protect our own precious right to vote.
Beverly Goodwin
East side
Are you kidding me?
The only thing that former newscaster and governor "wanna be" Kari Lake left off her list of promises is "a chicken in every pot." She proposes to bring sustainable fresh water to Arizona (how?), provide homes for the homeless (how?), reduce inflation (how?), eliminate the crime wave in our state (what crime wave?, how?), assure high-paying jobs for our high school graduates (how?). Apparently, she learned a lot about solving complex political problems as a Phoenix news host for 27 years. If you believe those promises, I have an oceanside condo in Tucson to sell you — cheap!
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Health care needs
to work for us
Watching my three girls grow up to have families of their own was one of the biggest blessings of my life. That’s why I’m speaking up about the recent Medicare negotiation bill. I see this political move as potentially hurting my family’s access to care.
With Medicare negotiation as the new law of the land, the U.S. healthcare system is destined to look more like that of socialized countries where there is more government, less competition, and less access to innovative new treatments. Longer wait times for medicines and fewer options could soon be a reality for families in the U.S., including mine.
I wish Congress had used this big bill as an opportunity to help all patients, not lower costs for a select few and tradeoff cures for others. Capping out-of-pocket costs or regulating greedy middlemen would’ve been more impactful.
Veronica Gomez
Sahuarita
Our military now
endangered
The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and National Guard will not make their recruiting goals this year and likely next year. Wokism has infested the military. Defense Secretary Austin just ordered the renaming of several military installations with any ties to the Confederacy. Installations included long standing and historic Fort Benning and Gordon in Georgia; Forts Lee, A.P Hill and Pickett in Virginia; Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Rucker in Alabama, Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Hood in Texas. Navy ships will be renamed. The Biden administration is allowing HIV infected persons to serve in combat zones. Physical fitness standards have been lowered. Critical race theory and gender neutrality are being taught. Kelisa Wing, the Pentagon's diversity, equity, and inclusion chief of the department's Education Activity, teaching K through 12, is under investigation for numerous anti-white comments she has made. A witch hunt was done in the military hunting for white extremists, few were found. President Biden and Democrats pose threats to our military's combat readiness.
Claudia Wilson
Midtown
