What party responsible for national debt?
The Republicans are refusing to fund our outstanding debt by trying to hold future budgets hostage. Under Joe Biden, the debt has grown at a rate of 8.79% so far. Under Donald Trump, it grew 40.43% due largely to an unfunded tax cut. Under Barack Obama it grew at 69.98% and under George W. Bush 105.08%, the latter due to another tax cut at the same time as starting two wars. Under William J. Clinton it grew 31.64% and under George H.W. Bush 54.39%. Under Ronald Reagan, who coined the phrase, “tax and spend” Democrats, it grew a whopping 186.36% due to an unfunded tax cut that was supposed to spur the economy and lead to increased tax revenue. Didn’t happen. Under Jimmy Carter it was 42.79%. It’s easy to see with real statistics which party is most responsible for the national debt and the enormous income inequality plaguing the nation.
Sean Bruner
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West side
City-run electric utility
Re: April 30 article “Tucson to study creating city-run electric utility; TEP opposed” and “This Tucson artist loves to be gaslit.”
Interesting articles on the front page on Sunday. First was the study on creating a city-run electric utility. Right below that article was in depth coverage of a resident who lights his home solely with kerosene lamps. If the first issue comes to pass, we may need the information in the second article. Please include another article on ice-boxes. I am sure I do not want my electric supply run by the same organization with a track record of abysmal performances maintaining streets.
David Germain
East side
Bad manners in democracy
Re: April 30 article “Pima board meetings a wasted GOP effort.”
Tim Steller’s coverage of the April 18th meeting was disturbing. Since when have bad manners been a way to be a participant in a democracy? Name calling, unfounded accusations, interruptions, threats? A “court of admiralty” was part of one of the comments from the peanut gallery in their turn to speak. Defined it means “Admiralty court, also known as maritime court, is a court that exercises admiralty or maritime jurisdiction and hears civil cases related to admiralty or maritime law.” We are not on the high seas or even that close to them so I don’t understand using that term in reference to society collapsing. The whole article was an upsetting account of what a meeting should be like or about.
Christie Cummins
Midtown
NO on 412: unfair to middle and low-income families
Proposition 412 is a prime example of the collusion of corporate interests and political elites. If our city government was serious about improving the environment and the public good in Tucson, they would stop supporting projects which widen our socio-economic divide.
City ratepayers should not be saddled with the cost of underground power lines that only serve to increase property values for already predominantly wealthy homeowners. These property owners should be paying increased rates for TEP’s increased services. Also, given existing city ordinances, TEP was aware of codes, and could have budgeted to pay for these underground lines themselves.
Government is subsidizing TEP and the “underground coalition” by passing off these “undergrounding’ costs to all ratepayers, the majority of whom, gain nothing but increased fees. Passage of proposition 412 will lead to increased profits for TEP, increase property values for wealthy homeowners, and increased energy bills for middle and low-income families. I’m voting “NO” to ensure TEP and the “underground coalition” pay their fair share.
Joshua Reilly
North side
Lack of meaningful policy
Re: April 30 article “Lawmakers try to block internet porn access for minors.”
My thanks to the Star for this article. It documents Republican Senator Wendy Rogers’ continued lack of meaningful policy objectives as well as her lack of interest in doing her job. “Protecting the innocence of children” is a job for parents — not the state. Additionally, I don’t believe there is any Constitutionally acceptable way to accomplish Ms. Roger’s supposed objective. Why isn’t she focusing on finding meaningful solutions to Arizona’s real problems such as lack of meaningful gun control; worst ranked K-12 educational system (48th out of 50 states in per pupil funding and 49th out of 50 for teacher pay leading to 49th out of 50 for graduation rate); lack of affordable housing; or the need to change the way Arizona uses water in light of the CAP cutbacks. Arizona’s future depends on our Legislature focusing on real problems, not imaginary ones.
Dean Hahn-Carlson
Rio Rico
Kelly should take a stand on Oak Flat
While Senator Kelly positions himself as a champion for water conservation in Arizona, and benefits greatly from the Native American vote, he has turned a blind eye to the environmental and cultural catastrophe planned for Oak Flat. A recent protest at the White House urged the Biden administration to hold off on permitting this public land giveaway to a foreign mining company. Tribal and Congressional leaders joined religious freedom and environmental activists in united opposition to the mine. But Arizona’s most powerful democrat has refused to speak up for a legitimate environmental impact study, and has ignored the efforts of Apaches to protect their sacred site. Without Kelly a Congressional remedy is unlikely.
If Senator Kelly believes that short-term jobs are more important than clean air, having water for future generations, and the ability of all people to have religious freedom, then he should say so. His silence on this issue is arguably more offensive than the bigoted Paul Gosar, as Kelly positions himself as someone who actually cares.
Dwight Metzger
South Tucson
President Biden’s life expectancy
Since Nikki Haley is running for president, she has been making statements about President Biden’s age. She has opined that he will not live to the end of his second term at age 86. Since I have been in the life insurance business in Tucson for more than 40 years, these kinds of comments catch my attention. According to information published by a major U.S. life insurance company, Mr. Biden’s odds of making it until 86 are 79% based on his health being reasonably good but certainly not perfect, which seems to be the case. This life expectancy is premised on hard actuarial data, not pure conjecture like Ms. Haley’s. Here is another piece of pure conjecture: The odds of Mr. Biden living through a second term are at least ten times those of Ms. Haley becoming president.
Richard Patterson
East side
Griner a great athlete but clueless
Brittany Griner has proven she’s a great athlete and appears to be a kindly soul. No responsible democracy would sentence anyone to nine years imprisonment for a trace of cannabis oil. But American athletes and business people who go to Russia to make money need to understand that today’s Russia is a repressive dictatorship. Not even its natural born citizens have any reliable rights.
At a time when the U.S. and Russia were on different sides in the war in Ukraine, Griner cluelessly violated Russian law. It gave Russia an excuse for an international incident and resulted in the release of Viktor Bout. He is known as “the merchant of death” for his record of supplying weapons to terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa. When the next terrorist incident occurs, we will have to wonder whether Viktor Bout was responsible.
Brooks Keenan
Oro Valley
