Not all Republicans created equal
Kudos to Speaker Rusty Bowers who testified before the Jan. 6 committee in Washington D.C. He described in detail how he stood up to Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, who asked him to call a special session of the House in order to invalidate Arizona’s certified President Biden electors. He said if he had to cheat he didn't want to win.
Kudos to Liz Cheney of Wyoming, vice-chair of the committee, who has worked to uncover the truth to support democracy, the Constitution, and the peaceful transition of power.
Compare these two to Congressman Andy Biggs, who asked Speaker Bowers to sign a petition to negate the certified electors. Or Paul Gosar, who offered pardons to those who participated in the breach of the Capitol. Or Mark Finchem, who spoke at the rally in Washington to declare a stolen election and who was at the east entrance of the Capitol as the insurgents entered the building.
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Remember these extremists when it’s time to vote again.
Leadawn Anderton
Southwest side
Who controls prices?
Prices can increase when demand exceeds supply or when the money supply exceeds the value of available goods and services. The first premise is not inflation. The second is. However, both are the result of policy decisions. The president's policy decisions discouraged oil and gas production. The president's policy decisions resulted in spending trillions, financed largely by printed money. With Fed policy at the time the result was inflation. Perhaps a better understanding of economics would discourage letter writers from parroting Democratic talking points. Or perhaps a dissertation on the value of money as a commodity would help, but I doubt it.
Bradford Adair
SaddleBrooke
Roe v. Wade overturned
How neat ... the Supreme Court is going to feed, clothe, nourish and provide all these children with loving homes. They are indeed setting a pristine example of a "Right To Life!"
Bill Riordan
Sierra Vista
Truth still matters
If you have watched the hearings from start to finish, there is little doubt that you are now even more convinced that Donald Trump was ruthless, cunning and evil in his quest to remain president. Hearing the witnesses whose names have little meaning to us speak of all they have lost as they remained loyal to the Constitution, rule of law and to their own conscience has been a real testimonial to their determination to keep our democracy safe by not caving into Trump’s unrelenting pressure. It may be Pollyannish, but I sincerely hope that by having these hearings televised, the Trump pawns will get the guts to come forward and speak in unison of the atrocities Trump has spearheaded to stay in power. Courageous people are the ones who are showing the world that evil does not have to win over good … that there is a way to end this horrible chapter in our country’s history by telling the truth.
Cathey Langione
Marana
TEP proposed rate increases
Re: the June 18 article "TEP seeks rate hike of 12% for next year."
Tucson Electric Power is asking the Arizona Corporation Commission to approve raising residential and business electric utility rates. Residential rates would go up by 12%, or about $14 a month, and small business rates about $40 a month (which likely would be passed on to customers). TEP says it needs the raises to pay for investments in "renewable energy," solar and wind projects. I wanted to thank Democrat progressives for this. They demand companies go "green" with renewables, then the incurred costs are passed onto consumers like me. Their "transitioning" from petroleum and associated attacks on the industry have driven up the price of gasoline to double what it was on Nov. 3, 2020. Diesel is over $6 a gallon and used most by commercial transport trucking companies. A result of that is higher prices for all kinds of goods, i.e. at the grocery store. My point here is that progressive Democrats and their demands for renewable energy is financially hurting Americans.
Amanda Blakely
Vail
Breaking up is easy to do
Texas GOP plan to let voters vote for Texas to secede from the union. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Jeff Aronson
Northeast side
The unborn have a voice again
The Supreme Court has finally overturned Roe v. Wade. I have read many commentaries on the issue of abortion and most contend that women have unlimited rights. Rights have never been unlimited, they extend only to the point at which one’s rights interfere with another’s rights. The issue that seems to be ignored on this topic is the unborn child. Anyone who has studied embryology, as I have, understands that the embryo that is created at the point of conception instantly begins developing into a full human being, it is never just a clump of cells. A simple ultrasound confirms this. Every cell is programmed. Only a few weeks after conception, this child already has a beating heart, a brain and ability to feel pain. This child has the right to life just as its mother does. That right to life is what the Constitution guarantees, not a right to kill a child. We have a moral obligation to take care of the most innocent among us.
Sharon Reynolds
Sierra Vista
Death with dignity
Re: the June 24 letter "Die with dignity.'
I agree with the letter writer.
I had a similar experience taking care of my mother, husband and brother who all had to live through months of suffering, to say nothing of the indignity of having to depend on another loved one to take care of their every need, including changing one's diapers.
There may be hope for better laws with an organization called "Compassion & Choices" that deals with end-of-life decisions. (CompassionAndChoices.org, also Google: "Doctors for Dignity"). They focus on public education and legislative work at the federal and state levels. Eleven states have already passed "death with dignity" laws and I would hope that a state like Arizona, where we put a lot of value on personal freedoms, will work toward having similar laws here. For a qualified, terminally-ill patient to have a release from relentless pain and suffering is certainly a freedom worth pursuing.
Judy Willmott
Green Valley
Rolling back the clock
In an opinion written by Clarence Thomas, he writes that reconsidering of other decisions on contraception access, gay marriage and privacy in sex should occur in the Supreme Court. He should be mindful that interracial marriage was only allowed by the Supreme Court in 1967, a scant few years before Roe.
Turning issues back to the states in the Supreme Court only serves to further fracture our union. The Texas GOP platform has one item clearly claiming the right of Texas to secede. I feel that a civil war is not far into our future, as we have lost the spirit of what Americans are. Truth is an afterthought or openly denied by a growing number of us. Liberal and conservatives blame the others for destroying the country. We are headed for rough waters.
Jeff Rayner
SaddleBrooke
Supreme Court decisions
Can't yet believe the willingness of U.S. Supremes to endanger the lives of women with their Roe v. Wade and handgun law decisions that affect everyone. Thousands of lives lost, millions of dollars spent fighting for the same rights in the Middle East and yet here we are in the U.S. back in "Taliban/fundamentalist times." I think I would like to see an increased whip for passing the ERA, elevating HIPAA to cover women's medical needs and fewer thoughts and prayers. I have always felt empowered as a woman, yet these decisions hit me in my heart. It goes beyond life in Texas where in the ’80s I could only find one dealership that allowed me to test drive a car — this was settled law. In a time of political turmoil, and GOP-controlled legislatures this opens Pandora's box even further.
Mary Andersen
East side
Let the one without sin cast first stone
I, a Christian, consider the fetus (an unborn child eight weeks after conception) in the womb and the child in school equally sacred. They need nurturing environments to help them grow to their full potentials to love and serve others. Such environments must be filled with love and truths instead of fear and lies. Each mother-to-be must have prenatal care and safe birth; each child must have full medical care, economic security, and quality education. Before such conditions happen, women in difficulties must have the right to choose their solutions, including abortion. Criminalizing abortion is pure hypocrisy! Haven’t we been exploiting and killing people in our economic “progress” and wars? Haven’t we been protecting the gun industry and those feeling the need to carry a gun at the cost of children’s lives? We can build the nurturing environments only if we elect honest and compassionate candidates in all levels. Amen.
Ke Chiang Hsieh
Midtown
Theocratic triumph
Score: Theocracy one, democracy zero. Soon to come: An ever-widening gap. It appears to me that the theocratic agenda afoot since the ink on our Constitution was barely dry is coming to fruition. With the reversal of Roe v. Wade the door has been opened wide for the unabashed assault on virtually all constitutionally protected rights to privacy that offend the non-secular sensibilities of the ideologically secured majority on the now discredited Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas has as much as declared so and has wasted no time in inviting all comers to an open docket now that a pattern of execution has been unashamedly established. I defy anyone to clarify how the crux of the conflicts that, likely, will soon be before the court is not fundamentally one of secular versus non-secular ideologies. This up and coming onslaught of audacious judicial activism will render the First Amendment guarantee of separation of church and state enfeebled if not defunct. The court is open for business.
Robert Gavlak
Midtown
Justice Thomas is an unethical fool
Recently, Clarence Thomas failed to recuse himself from a Supreme Court case involving the question whether his wife’s emails should be disclosed. His clear conflict of interest rendered his participation in that case unethical.
Now, he has filed a concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, in which he foolishly argues there is no such thing as substantive due process, a long and well-established principle under the due process clause of the Constitution. Substantive due process is a primary basis upon which the Supreme Court ruled that married couples can use contraception and same-sex couples can marry. It also is a primary basis upon which the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia that laws barring interracial marriage are unconstitutional. Applying Thomas’ argument, racist anti-miscegenation laws would be reinstated, and his own marriage would become void in the Commonwealth of Virginia where he and his wife live.
Amelia Cramer
Downtown
The height of arrogance
Stare decisis is a Latin term meaning to adhere to decided cases. In American jurisprudence it is an often-applied legal doctrine obligating courts to follow judicial precedents when ruling on similar cases. It has been a fundamental part of American jurisprudence for decades, if not centuries. Simply put, courts normally follow precedents established by previous decisions.
Roe v. Wade was decided nearly 50 years ago and has been followed by American courts ever since.
By overruling Roe, six members of the Supreme Court have imposed their personal political and religious beliefs on the majority of Americans who do not concur in their conclusion, and they have forsaken judicial integrity in favor of a political determination, demonstrating that they believe themselves to be better, smarter, and more able jurists than their predecessors.
Regardless of which side of the abortion rights issue you take, their decision represents the height of arrogance!
Barry Corey
Foothills
Same issue cropping up again
The Dred Scott, Supreme Court Decision in 1857 was considered the worst decision rendered by the Supreme Court until the recent Roe v. Wade decision. Four years after the Dred Scott decision, the United States was engulfed in a civil war. The Dred Scott decision allowed states to determine if slavery was allowed in their state, and we now have the same issue. Allowing states to determine who can receive an abortion. “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”
Chris Costello
SaddleBrooke
