Tucson Speaks Out: June 24 letters of the day

I just read another letter writer complaining about gas prices and complaining again, that’s it’s Biden’s fault. Luckily for me, I was fortunate enough to be forced to take economics while at the University, and I learned what causes things like inflation and rising fuel prices. It’s too bad that the letter writer didn’t get the same great education I got at U of A. The former prez came into office with a great economy. He wrecked it. He cut taxes for all his rich friends and the current modest estimate is that if we continue his tax cuts, our deficit will increase by $3.9 trillion. Economics can be daunting, but if you don’t understand them, don’t complain about it. The letter writer clearly doesn’t understand it, so she’s saying, (like all Trumpettes) costs were down under his administration. She’s wrong of course.

John Bingham

Northwest side

Returning to the scene of the crime

Donald Trump met with GOP senators and representatives on Capitol Hill for the first time since Jan. 6.

I guess what they say is true: Criminals actually do return to the scene of their crimes.

James Nesci

East side

The second anniversary of Dobbs

June 24 is the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court — the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the ending of 50 years of the right to have an abortion. The results have been disastrous.

A 10-year-old child had to be taken to another state to end a pregnancy from rape.

Women have died from sepsis or been forced to carry non-viable fetuses (unable to survive after birth) to term. Some women were brought literally to the brink of death before they were allowed to get an abortion, and some are no longer able to bear children because of it.

Donald Trump boasts of being the one responsible for the end of Roe v. Wade. Now, 21 states have bans or restrictions. If he becomes president again, he will make the abortion ban national.

Women: In self-defense, vote for Joe Biden and reproductive rights.

Men: Protect your wives, sisters, daughters, mothers. Vote for Biden.

Jennifer Dawson

Midtown

Gifts to federal employees

As someone who was an ICU RN for the federal government for over 30 years, we were told gifts could not exceed the $20 range. Clarence Thomas accepted one vacation that was valued at $500,000 from a Republican donor, among other gifts, making a mockery of the system. Alito has also exhibited partisan behavior. The Supreme Court used to be the most independent and respected branch of government. There needs to be term limits and a real code of ethics.

Craig Miller

Northwest side

Ciscomani and Garland

I am disappointed in the performance of Attorney General Merrick Garland. His delay in aggressively prosecuting Jan. 6 defendants, particularly leadership, allowed the insurrectionists to regroup and gain control of a political party.

But the idea that the Republican majority House of Representatives held him in contempt because a transcript of President Biden’s interview was not accompanied by the audio tape is crazy, or purposefully evil. Garland is an institutionalist attempting to restore the long-respected Department of Justice before it was corrupted by leaders like William Barr.

Republican leaders, a number of whom defied lawful subpoenas from the January 6 subcommittee, brought a shameless contempt citation to the floor. My representative, Juan Ciscomani, voted to hold Garland in contempt. Unforgivable. He needs to be replaced in November.

Barry Kirschner

Midtown

Watchdog tamed

Somehow, Robert Robbins maneuvered to get the ABOR financial watchdog John Arnold to report to him as Chief Operating Officer of the U of A. Of course Arnold is happy since he will get more than a $200k/year raise to $550k/yr. Does anybody see an Old Boys Network at work here?

Gerald Lavallee

Southeast side

Justice Jackson’s ‘expensive gifts’

A recent letter writer seems quite outraged that Justice Jackson reported earnings from a book deal and a gift of Beyonce concert tickets.

The letter is a shallow attempt to create some sort of false equivalency between Jackson and the investigative disclosures by ProPublica of the gifts Justices Thomas and Alito received. However, the writer lacks some important context, either out of ignorance or deliberate omission.

Setting aside the fact that Jackson voluntarily disclosed the gifts and the other two did not, Beyonce doesn’t have any cases before the court. The “gifts” that Thomas and Alito previously failed to report, are far more “lavish” and have come from billionaire activists determined to sway the Court’s opinions.

Also, book royalties are allowed under the current outside income rules of the court. A fact that Justices Barrett, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Sotomayor have previously taken full advantage of.

While I am accustomed the kind of hypocrisy illustrated by the letter in question, I can’t wrap my mind around four concert tickets costing $3,700.

Glen Vann

West side

Definition of a Democrat

Re: the June 12 letter “Definition of a Republican.”

The writer must also have a definition of a Democrat. It should go something like: A person who believes the government should be run by a career politician who never created a job, never ran a business or served in the military, but made millions along the way; who fought for segregation when it served his purpose and eulogized a high-ranking member of the KKK; who stole classified documents and stored them in multiple unsecure locations but is too incompetent to be held accountable; whose foreign policy decisions led to 13 dead service members and billions of dollars in assets left for the Taliban; who opened our borders to millions of unknowns, criminals and terrorists and an unending supply of fentanyl; who “lost” over 85,000 children in this country illegally; whose policies led to record high inflation and soaring costs; who freezes like a statue, wanders away and can’t figure out where to go next without help.

Denise Walker

Midtown

War on women

We are experiencing a war on women. The Texas GOP platform is calling for abortion patients to get the death penalty. Republican Senators introduced a bill to create a government-run website to collect pregnant women’s data, and a new report shows how abortion bans have empowered domestic abusers, now able to wield the power of the state to force their victims into pregnancies they can’t escape.

Women and men are now experiencing a war on birth control, with anti-abortion activists manipulating data so that it won’t show how abortion bans kill women. Republicans are spending millions of dollars to stop voters from having a say in their own freedom over their bodies.

Last week, Republicans made their birth control stance very clear, blocking federal legislation to protect access to contraception.

Republicans are fighting to deny women life-saving emergency abortions. Forcing a 10-year-old girl who has been raped or a woman carrying a dead fetus to give birth is no freedom at all.

Rachel Rulmyr Ed.D.

Oro Valley

Oxygen reform

Many of us take breathing for granted, but some people have to worry about every breath. In fact, there are 300,000 people in Arizona who are living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and some are required to be on supplemental oxygen.

Unfortunately, many of these people — especially those enrolled in Medicare — face challenges in getting the right type and levels of oxygen. As the State Captain for the COPD foundation, and a practicing pulmonologist in Tucson, I work with people facing these issues every day. This is why I am asking for Juan Ciscomani to co-sponsor the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform SOAR Act, legislation to ensure that everyone has access to the right type and levels of oxygen that they need to live normal and active lives.

Supplemental oxygen requires special equipment such as compressed oxygen using a tank, liquid oxygen, oxygen concentrators and portable oxygen concentrators.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to live a full and healthy life. Please join us in helping Arizonans breathe easier.

Felix Reyes

East side

Out-of-control spending for vouchers

Dear Editor:

Re: the June 1 article “Critics question school voucher spending ahead of budget crunch.”

Wow! The article in the Star (June 1) said money handed out to students to pay for schooling (the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program) had increased from 12,000 students to 75,000 students now. It has turned into an unsustainable economic monster. My mama used to say when beginning a new project or program, “You’ve got to start out like you can hold out.”

Too bad they didn’t follow her advice!

Beverly Rutter

Midtown

6th Congressional District

In the race for the 6th Congressional District between incumbent Republican Juan Ciscomani and the Democrat challenger candidate Kirsten Engel, how long will it take if Ciscomani loses for him to proclaim the election was stolen and the system was rigged in the manner of the Egocentrically Bombastic Felon Former President? Bet it will not take long!

Find out by voting for the superbly qualified Kirsten Engel. Do the right thing!

Stuart A. Ulanoff

Oro Valley

Presidential race

To the Editor:

There is no denying that in the last two presidential races plus the current one, a number of colorful characters have emerged. But between Hurricane Hillary, Incompetent Joe and Felon Donald, I’ll take the felon any day.

President Biden falsely claims that inflation was 9% when he first took office yet I recall that it was a mere 1.4%.

Pinocchio Joe has some explaining to do!

David Tulanian

East side

Desert farming must adapt to climate change

Re: the June 16 article “Farm subsidy programs discourage water savings.”

Thank you for your recent article by Tony Davis. I read this after a recent road trip from Tucson to Santa Barbara, where I drove through hundreds of miles of farmland in Arizona and Southern California.

The temperatures were 100-plus degrees and the desert was blanketed in green fields of alfalfa, corn, melons, orange groves, grape vines, olive trees and more. Most of these crops are high-water crops and I was amazed to see old sprinkler systems and water-pools in the fields — both outdated irrigation practices.

The author writes that the Crop Insurance Program has paid $6B to farmers between 2017-23. Yes, we need to support our farmers, but we must also encourage them to adopt more aggressive water-saving methodologies and drought-resistant crops into their plans.

The author states that “farmers are on a collision course with climate change.” Take a road trip through the Southwest and you will see it for yourself.

Carla O’Hara

Northwest side

Strange bedfellows

Ruben Gallego and Juan Ciscomani both have excellent track records when it comes to constituent services. They get jobs for your kids. They help small companies win government contracts. They straighten out zoning problems, tax problems, benefit problems, problems with foreign governments — all kinds of problems. Granted, one’s a Democrat; the other, a Republican. Lots of people think that’s all that matters. Actually, it doesn’t matter at all. Vote for the “Best Players Available.” This season, it’s Gallego and Ciscomani.

Walter Ramsley

East side

News sources

Re: the June 20 article “Mainstream media still matter.”

I’ve argued that Trump supporters are good citizens but often misinformed. Consequently, I was thrilled by the column by Jeff Hartman, who presents evidence that people who rely on digital websites and social media for their news tend to support Trump, while those who rely on newspapers overwhelmingly support Biden. I read The Daily Star and the New York Times every day. They both provide a system of fact-checking and information verification. And they tell you if they make a mistake. Most importantly, they cover topics that impact my life. When I turn to digital, or FOX news, I find they are mostly ignoring topics I care about (global warming, international news) or presenting highly biased, often fraudulent opinions from scurrilous, even criminal sources (Bannon, Guiliani). Please, Trump supporters, take the time to look at sources that care about truth.

Cheryl Lockhart

Foothills

Honor our heroes

I just read another LTE where the letter writer criticizes our president for being “lost in his own world.” The first paragraph of his letter made complete sense that we should honor our Heroes of the Greatest Generation. He doesn’t seem to realize that the former and now GOP candidate, thinks these heroes were “losers and suckers.” I believe that the ones that are lost in their own worlds are the letter writer and the GOP candidate that don’t really care about our country. As a Marine Officer and Veteran of Operation Desert Storm, I take offense with someone who thinks military service is for losers and suckers. My mother and father met on Oahu on Dec. 10, 1941 while both serving in the Navy. Neither of them were a sucker or a loser. But both would never vote for someone that made these claims about Veterans.

John Bingham

Northwest side