Is campaign finance a black hole?
The 2020 elections are over right? So why am I still getting requests for donations from political parties and elected officials? Were my campaign contributions put to good use or were they just sucked into a bottomless black hole?
Our political system is warped by big money donations. The cost of the 2020 elections set new records, reaching $14 billion.
We can plug this wasteful black hole by urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment allowing states to restrict campaign spending. This is not a partisan issue, all elected officials must spend inordinate amounts of time raising money. Then they must serve their donors instead of serving constituents!
Contact Reps. Debbie Lesko and Andy Biggs, and Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, plus your state and local representatives. Urge them to support a bill to pass a constitutional amendment to limit money spent to influence elections
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Wendy Anderson
Foothills
Sen. Sinema, help eliminate the filibuster
Democrats have a slight advantage in the Senate and their hold on the House is only slightly more solid. There will be a midterm election in just two years that could put both of these Democratic majorities in jeopardy.
The only way for Democrats to keep — or even expand — their majorities is to show voters they have used these two years productively to enact legislation that provides tangible benefits to the American people. Voters fully expect Democrats to deliver on their promises regarding the pandemic, economic stimulus, climate change and the environment
Unfortunately, Mitch McConnell and Republicans will do everything they can to block Democratic accomplishments. They will use the filibuster shamelessly to try to keep Democrats from enacting anything. That is why this relic of the past needs to be eliminated.
I urge our senior senator, Kyrsten Sinema, to join with other Democrats to eliminate the filibuster and allow them to do what voters elected them to do.
John Covert
East side
Free speech
for pots and kettles
Re: the Feb. 23 letter “Free speech — but only for some?”
I am not sure who they were alluding too, but talk about the pot calling the kettle black. And I reference the seven Senate Republicans facing censure in their home states’ for voting to impeach Donald Trump for his roll in helping to incite the capital insurrection.
Incidentally, the House of Representatives should have included in their charges Trump’s attempt at threatening election officials in all the contested states, but that is another matter. Why are Senate and House members not allowed to vote their conscience and do what is morally right?
Apparently both parties have the tradition of trapping their members to vote the party line. We need to do away with the two- party system and make everyone run as an independent.
Joe Malberg
Marana
Conservative thought is not being censored
Conservative political thought is not being censored. George F. Will, as conservative a commentator as there is, has free and easy access to any and all media platforms.
When Donald Trump relentlessly repeats that, in spite of the rigorous conclusions of the election officials in all 50 states, he won the election, or when a media company repeatedly tells its viewers that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., those are not debates about political philosophy. They are examples of mass brainwashing.
When media companies broadcast allegations that, contrary to all evidence, a voting machine company and a software company changed Americans’ votes, that is not a debate about political philosophy. It is a case about to be litigated as alleged, damaging defamation.
Media companies are not censoring political thought. They are struggling to find ways to avoid being used for mass brainwashing and defamation.
Brooks Keenan
Oro Valley
What is Biden doing about border issues?
Re: the Feb. 23 article “US Border Patrol officials start releasing migrants into Yuma.”
The Arizona Daily Star had an article stating that Yuma and other border crossing locations are experiencing a new influx of migrants and are finding their facilities overwhelmed. With COVID-19 being a complicating factor, how can this problem be addressed?
The new administration attacked the Trump administration relentlessly regarding its policies towards asylum seekers, and while I can see that many practices seem heartless, I wonder how this very serious issue can be addressed in both a humane and practical manner?
Patricia Ridinger
Northwest side
Lessons about living on minimum wage
Re: the Feb. 23 letter “Minimum wage history lesson.”
The letter writer says that “low-income workers, a single parent with two children, for example, can’t live on” the minimum wage. Actually, a single person can live on the minimum wage, since the poverty level for a single person is $12,760 and, as Mr. Peck points out, a minimum wage worker working full-time would make $15,080 a year.
As for the single parent with two children, he or she wouldn’t be able to live on the minimum wage, again as the letter writer points out. The solution there is not to become a single parent with two children while trying to exist on the minimum wage. The solution is to have children only after you get educated and get married, not to have taxpayers support you and your two single children.
David Pearse
Foothills
Get rid of people who make Tucson ugly
I am a native of Tucson, I was always proud of the fact that we had a beautiful city, but not anymore.
This city looks like one big garbage dump to those visitors driving through our city on I-10 or through city streets. Riverbeds full of trash and camps of homeless people in almost every corner of our city. God-fearing Tucsonans like myself think that it’s time we cleaned up our own house before welcoming undocumented immigrants into our fold.
We have plenty of locals that need help first. Many residents over the age of 75 still haven’t even got there COVID-19 shot yet, and are not scheduled until middle of March for their first one. Any and all people entering our country undocumented at this time should be getting medically cleared to do so, along with DNA samples and fingerprinting taken.
Time for a better mayor, city council members, Pima County administrator and county supervisors who care about us.
Dave Mattausch
North side
Postal Service problems persist
Based upon my most recent experiences, I have seen a dramatic decrease in first-class mailings. After going to my local Tucson post office and paying for extra stamps for a letter to my aunt in Connecticut, it took that correspondence 14 days to arrive in Waterford.
Yesterday, I received a first- class card from my brother in New London, Connecticut, which was posted six days ago, arriving here on Feb. 22. At Christmas I spent money shipping a priority package which I was told would take two days; it took five days.
The dramatic slow down has begun. I am an avid supporter of the USPS, and I vote through the mail, as many of my family and friends do. We should be very concerned with this issue.
Pat McElreath
Northwest side
City deserves thanks for roadside cleanup
Thank you, city of Tucson, for cleaning the roadside along Fairland Stravenue, between Olsen Avenue and Edmundson Avenue. This road borders the Union Pacific Railroad siding and the Pueblo Gardens neighborhood.
The furniture, trash, construction refuse and even dead animals were eyesores and nuisances. Signs erected warning of fines for dumping seemed to have little effect on the litterers. Those placards were often damaged or destroyed.
I hope this new look will endure and help dissuade further debasement of this roadway in my neighborhood. Good job!
Kevin Heiderman
South side
Making abortion illegal won’t end it
Re: the Feb. 25 article “Bill to outlaw genetic abnormality abortions advances.”
I strongly oppose Senate Bill 1457 and urge this bill be rejected. Making abortion illegal will not end abortion, it will only make it more dangerous. More women will die.
Instead, I urge Arizona lawmakers to treat women as rational actors who are fully capable of making difficult decisions on their own. If Arizona really intends to “protect women,” fully empower them and respect their decisions.
Robbie Brewington
Sierra Vista
2020 really was something
Will 2020 be remembered as the Year of Waiting?
We waited to get tested for COVID-19. We waited to get vaccinated, to vote, to be buried. We waited for food, water, toilet paper … we are still waiting.
Will 2020 be the year noted for the deaths of innocent minority people and the half-million COVID fatalities?
2020 will be the year of chaos in politics. A twice-impeached president. Mob rule in Washington, D.C.
It could also be remembered as an almost apocalyptic weather year. Bitter cold. Scorching heat. Floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes.
2020 was the year we learned to do without, to be alone, to be isolated. We learned to live with virtual schooling, working and worshiping. We became pioneers in a not so brave new world.
We lost old friends and made new ones, and discovered new heroes.
What will you remember about 2020?
Valerie Golembiewski
Southeast side
No room for hate in this Dem’s party
A writer recently stated that she left the Democratic Party because they were haters. As a grassroots volunteer and active member of the Democratic Party, I have yet to work alongside a hater.
The people I know are too busy advocating for election reform, women’s rights, affordable health-care, living wages, quality public education, environmental protections, humane treatment of immigrants and racial equality. They give endless hours of their personal time.
There is no room for hate because they stay focused on changes that will benefit all citizens and protect our democratic processes. Members of different political parties may not see eye-to-eye on every issue, but hate accomplishes nothing.
Karen Harris
Northwest side
Restore voter confidence by telling the truth
Re: the Feb. 24 letter “How Republicans can restore voter confidence.”
I respect and laud the author’s suggestion that, instead of pushing for voter restriction laws to restore voter confidence, Republicans could simply tell the truth about the “Big Lie”: Arizona and other elections were free and fair, with no proof of extensive fraud. This is confirmed by vast numbers of Republican election officials, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, along with his attorney general, as well as Supreme Court justices (many appointed by Trump) and judges in 60-plus court cases.
At first I thought the writer was a bit naïve, since Arizona Republicans are actually using “voter confidence” as a red herring. Their true intent is to get GOP candidates elected by making it harder for targeted groups to vote.
Then I realized this is the exact, real truth she exposed! Right on! Those interested in truth do not favor voter suppression.
Adrienne Kleiboemer
Foothills
You need to plan better on minimum wage
Re: the Feb. 25 letter “Minimum wage doesn’t pay the rent.”
I fully support a $15 minimum wage, but I strongly disagree with the letter writer’s contention that a $35 minimum wage is required because that would result in a sound budget for a parent living in an average apartment.
A minimum wage is intended to provide minimum support, enough to protect someone from dire circumstances. It is not intended to enable someone to support children and live independently in moderate accommodations.
In order to achieve that goal, you need the help of the other parent or a job that pays more than minimum wage. Until then, you can delay having a family and/or share your home with others.
Scott McKinzie
Northeast side
