Tucson Speaks Out: Nov. 6 letters of the day

Being a caregiver to a parent with type 1 diabetes is not without its challenges. My father has had the disease for years, and it’s now gotten to the point where he has to use a wheelchair more than 60% of the time because his feet have become too swollen to walk on due to his condition. On top of that, he relies on a variety of prescription medications to help control his symptoms.

When I found out that some of the methods used by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) — essentially, healthcare go-betweens that control 80% of the prescriptions available on the market today — are working against patients like my father.

Fortunately, some in Congress are working to do that. Legislation introduced in the House — the Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act — would address this and other issues by increasing transparency into PBM practices and holding these groups more accountable to patients.

Janelle Etzel

Foothills

HELP Copays Act is what Arizonans need

Congress needs to do something more to address the high out-of-pocket costs Americans pay at the pharmacy. Having lived my entire life with asthma, I rely on prescription medication multiple times a day to live a somewhat normal life — and millions of other Americans are in my shoes.

That makes it all the more upsetting to know that patients could be paying less in out-of-pocket costs for the prescriptions they need — if only pharmacy benefit managers played by the rules or had any rules to begin with. While they control 80% of the prescriptions available on the market today, Pharmacy Benefit Managers have little to no oversight.

Current legislation in Congress — the HELP Copays Act — would help address the issue by passing commonsense reforms of Pharmacy Benefit Manager practices. Senator Sinema should take a stand for all Arizonans, particularly those who rely on prescription drugs just to live a normal life and support these efforts.

Cindy Nash

Downtown

Tucson’s streets

I have been riding bikes in Tucson and Pima County for over 15 years. Just a few years ago, I would not ride my road bike on many of the streets for safety reasons, i.e., bad roads. That has totally changed. Almost all of the roads I ride have been repaired or repaved; what a difference. I thank the taxpayers for paying for the repairs and the administrators and elected officials for making them happen.

I do wish motorists would stop littering, clean up after crashes and secure loads. All of this stuff ends up in bike lanes. In one week, I had two flat tires as a result of riding over trash from cars. We can do better.

Howard Strause

Foothills

New Congress

I don’t understand why some of the more sensible Democrats don’t change parties. The Democratic party has lost its soul to Biden and the extremists. After years of rewarding the most extreme members with committee posts and power, the party has become totally dysfunctional. Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, and Omar care more about being on CNN and raising money than actually doing their job. The Democrats in the House have become a joke and an embarrassment to our country.

Dale Knight

Oro Valley

Joe must go

There is no other way to avoid the tragedy of another Trump administration. Just about any halfway sane, competent candidate could defeat Trump. That goes for lackeys like Keri Lake as well. But it looks like the geniuses who run the Democratic Party have concluded questioning Biden’s political competence is tantamount to questioning their own.

Biden’s failure to recognize he and Harris are no longer electable is proof enough that he no longer has the best interests of the country in mind. His requests for billions for bombs for Ukraine and Israel suggest he is seriously out of touch with the moral sentiments of people the world over who believe in peace, freedom and the right to life.

It is past time to end the geopolitical Great Games with Russia and China. It is past time to end the malign neglect of the Palestinian people. It is past time for Joe Biden.

Steven Lesh

East side

Intersections

A recent Letter to the Editor quoted a local TV station regarding the dangers at Craycroft and Grant. There is a lot of traffic but also many distractions. Pedestrians crossing to TMC, sometimes moving slowly, as well as panhandling going on in the median. Surprised one of them hasn’t gotten run down! Panhandlers used to be at Craycroft and River until Pima County placed a sign on River discouraging panhandling. Suddenly, they went away. The city should consider signs because they do work. Dangerous intersections and distractions do not work well for a safe intersection. And don’t need a study to figure it out.

Dave Locey

Foothills

What happened to his Christian morals?

I no longer consider myself a traditional Christian, but I do recall lessons from the years of Methodist Sunday School I attended. Lots of very reasonable directions for living a decent life. One from the Ten Commandments was “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” In other words, don’t lie. Now, it is obvious that any reasonable person knows that Donald Trump did not have the election stolen. Even if you really really wanted him to win, all investigations point to the fact that more people legally voted for the other guy. Mike Johnson knew that. He lied. He lied because his allegiance was not to the Christian morals he vocally espouses, but to Donald Trump, to massaging his voter base, to what he thought it would take to keep his cushy job. Not to the Constitution of the United States, which he swore to uphold. This individual has no right to sit in the seat he now occupies.

Carolyn Niethammer

Downtown

Funding the government

It takes money to operate a government. The government is mostly funded by tax revenue. There are tnree ways to bankrupt the government. 1. Spend too much. 2. Don’t make enough revenue. 3. A combination of both. The Republicans complain about overspending, yet they constantly cut revenue to operate the government. The Republicans give out tax breaks like Halloween candy to the wealthy. The middle class never benefits from these tax cuts. Then the Republicans want to fund Israel and Ukraine, but they want to take the money from the IRS budget. It’s the IRS that is responsible to collect tax revenue. It is strange that the Republicans complain about overspending while they continually cut revenue sources and cut the agency that ensures everyone pays their share of tax revenue. Strange? One more point about spending too much. When billions of dollars are spent to arm Israel and Ukraine, the money never leaves the USA. We are the largest arms dealers in the world. Money spent right at home.

Richard Bechtold

West side

Justice too long delayed is Justice denied

MLK Jr. knew plenty about Justice delayed. His words are never more appropriate than for describing the Trump Trials.

But to be ironically fair to Judge Aileen Cannon, perhaps she is delaying the “Stealing Top Secret Documents and Hiding them in a Mar a Lago Bathroom” case for as long as possible in order to spend that time gaining some actual trial experience before she hears the case.

Just sayin.

A. Lawrence Glynn

East side

Bible detective at work

The newest Speaker of the House urges us to get all our political guidance from the Bible. Well, the New Testament has several prophecies about an Antichrist, who will appear just before the endtime, posing as a leader of believers. He will deceive and lead astray many. I think I know who it is: He gave himself away when he referred to one of the books in which he is foretold as “Two Corinthians.” Such a sly Satanic clue, avoiding the name just slightly, could only come from one person (he also held the Bible upside down, a devilish gesture). Can you name him?

Herbert Schneidau

Foothills

Term limits

It seems our elected officials won’t do anything right because it might affect their individual power, the power of their party, or their getting reelected. What a sorry mess this country is in. We need to set term limits to two years so that we can correct election mistakes in a relative short amount of time. That way we can ensure that people we elect will do what is good for the country and not only their party.

Hal Brown

East side

Tax money used for ...

Question: What’s the difference between American slaves before the Civil War ... and Palestinians today in GAZA?

Answer: Nothing

PS: And your Federal tax payments are being used to send more weapons to Israel ... Think about that.

Sue Thompson

SaddleBrooke