No migrants from Costa Rica?
While Arizona and other border states have seen many migrants from most of Central America and Mexico, why haven’t we also seen migrants from Costa Rica? Maybe because Costa Rica is a democracy, doesn’t have a repressive, authoritarian government, has no standing army, and has not been invaded by the U.S. in over 100 years. Coincidence? You tell me.
Kirk Astroth
Northwest side
I love my hybrid electric car
Re: the April 30 letter “Biden’s coercion of Americans.”
A letter writer claimed President Joe Biden was coercing Americans to buy “unwanted expensive electric vehicles.”
What coercion? I get 99 miles per gallon in my Toyota RAV4 Hybrid and never have to worry about gas prices. It charges up overnight at a cost of $10 per month for electricity. Driving green is saving me a ton of money. Also, I’m reducing my carbon footprint and cutting the pollutants that a gas car would emit. I feel good about that.
People are also reading…
There are 358 free charging stations in Tucson alone, meaning I’ll never run out of juice. There are 16.5 million electric vehicles on the road today, and sales are breaking records.
The average cost of a new gas vehicle today is $48,763, but only $39,040 for a hybrid vehicle. So I’m not being coerced by Biden. It is the viewpoint of the letter writer that is forced.
Larry Bodine
Foothills
How does Thomas still sit on SCOTUS?
With almost every day bringing another revelation of the favors and gifts and sweet deals bestowed upon Clarence Thomas, how is it that the sane half of our nation is not howling loud and long for him to resign? This man makes Al Capone look like a guy who paid his taxes! Really Clarence, just go. Take your wife of the same ilk with you.
Patrick Lane
North side
Which party is fiscally responsible?
The debt ceiling was raised four times under Donald Trump, supported by both Democrats and Republicans and with no outcry by Republicans about the national debt. That debt increased by some 5 billion dollars under Trump, yet no concern was shown by Republicans. When Democratic President Joe Biden lowers the deficit and helps average Americans, all of a sudden, the national debt is a crisis. Over the entire history of our country, from Washington to Biden, three Presidents have raised one-half of our nation’s debt, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Trump. The last President to have a balanced budget was Democratic President Bill Clinton. One can agree or disagree with their policies, but you can’t disagree with fiscal facts. So which party is more fiscally responsible? The 14th Amendment, Section 4, of our Constitution clearly states that the national debt must be paid. To default will be catastrophic.
Don Ries
Southeast side
What compromise did TEP make?
In these opinion pages, TEP employees, TEP’s friends, and Nikki Lee claim that a grand compromise was struck to advance Prop 412. How is a new tax that can be used to cover what would otherwise be TEP’s responsibilities a compromise? How is it anything other than an extraordinarily huge gift to TEP? TEP gets to claim that it’s doing something for the climate or for the community when it’s not doing anything at all; taxpayers are. The fact is TEP brought nothing to the table and some in the City are attempting to provide cover. Stop aiding TEP by allowing it to mix disparate issues like climate action and undergrounding. The city has power. Use it to get real, unfeigned compromise. The fact that this agreement had no public process tells you how “compromised” it really was ... A good agreement can withstand public scrutiny and pass without an astroturfing campaign by TEP and its gullible friends and politicians.
James Murphy
Midtown
Calling out Ciscomani
Re: the May 3 article “First 100 days.”
What you want in America is to end the opportunities that made it possible to become what you are. Your party is doing everything it can to end democracy in America. If you and your party get your way, we will soon be an autocracy, like Russia, which would benefit the few, like you.
The fallout of your anti-human legislation means more gun violence on innocent people than days in the year. Less mental health and social services for desperate American citizens and Veterans. The stripping of long-held rights of American women and vulnerable LGBTQ. The Tax cuts the MAGA Republicans support, support the most wealthy of Americans.
Also, in the same issue, the shocking surprise that you don’t want judicial reform.
Maybe had your father immigrated to Russia, you would have a true appreciation for democracy.
What’s gone wrong in America is greed.
You are a puppet for the rich and powerful. You don’t represent the majority of the 6th congressional district.
Robert Walker
East side
Close the firing range permanently
The firing range on Mt. Lemmon highway should be closed permanently. Why? you ask.
1. It’s on national forest land.
2. Spent cartridges left as garbage (I guess they are fit enough to shoot but not fit enough to pick up their trash).
3. Ricochets do happen (one missed me several years ago).
... and last but not least, as it recently became truly a “firing” range
4. Idiots like the one who started the major fire several days ago.
OK, not all shooters are guilty, but it only takes one to create irreparable damage.
Close the firing range for good. It benefits few and damages many.
Dennis Winsten
Northeast side
Personal responsibility
Re: the online article “How many deaths will it take before Biden forcefully addresses the fentanyl crisis?”
As a liberal Democrat, I see this as the typical American refusal to accept responsibility for drug use and death. Our national narrative is that drug users are victims who have no personal responsibility or agency. China, Mexico, and our government are responsible.
The real victims are Mexicans. Americans buy drugs from ruthless and violent drug cartels. To maintain their control, 30,000 Mexicans are murdered every year. More than 100,000 people have disappeared. In the last decade, 100 journalists were murdered. State and Federal governments and police have been corrupted all to meet the desires of Americans.
American drug users were aptly described by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. “ (They are) ... careless people (who) ... smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their ... vast carelessness ... and let other people clean up the mess they made.”
Susie Morris
Midtown
Which is it, Ciscomani?
Re: the May 3 article “First 100 days.”
In his local opinion, freshman GOP Rep. Juan Ciscomani, CD6, touts his work representing southeastern Arizona. He serves on the powerful Appropriations and Veterans’ Affairs committees and states in his column: “I am committed to strengthening Medicare, Social Security, and benefits for veterans.”
Yet, in a near party-line vote, he opted in favor of Speaker McCarthy’s budget deal. On deeper analysis, this deal will reduce benefits by cutting 81,000 jobs in veterans health services, followed by backlogs for disability claims and outpatient visits. This is not how we care for those who sacrificed for us.
Which one is it, Congressman?
Karen Harris
Northwest side
Prop. 412 power lines
I am voting “no” on Prop. 412, but not because of rejecting the undergrounding of power lines. Burying them instead of 110-foot towers will benefit the entire community, not just we in the “elite” areas near Campbell Ave. Tucson sprawls with bleak boulevards of visual clutter, power lines visible everywhere, unkept properties and trash-strewn freeways. Making our city more aesthetically pleasing, not less so, benefits everyone; burying these lines is essential and should be supported by all. Also, the UA will be served by them and should have a major interest in maintaining the beauty of its campus, thus, should have financial skin in this game.
Brian McCarthy
Midtown
In favor of Prop. 412
All of us being serviced by Tucson Electric Power Company would probably like to see our electric lines buried.
Back in the day, we mothballed our wonderful historic trolleys in favor of a “modern” streetcar. We installed mile after mile of overhead electric lines, enough to blanket our fair city, in order to accomplish this.
I am not a fan of the “modern” streetcar, and nothing is free; someone has to pay for it. The riders should have to pay something to ride, perhaps not a lot but something, and the same goes for our city buses. We all wind up paying for these services, well, except for those who don’t.
But I digress.
The question is: How many people living in neighborhoods now want their electric lines buried and paid for through the passing of Proposition 412 voted in favor of the “modern” streetcar?
With that being said, I’m voting in favor of Proposition 412.
Bill Kendall
Downtown
