Allow researchers to do their jobs
When I caught COVID, I thought it would be a rough couple of weeks and life would return to normal. I had no reason to think that now, months and months later, I would still be feeling the long-term effects of this horrible illness. I am still struggling with weakness, fatigue and trouble breathing.
I am not alone. Across the country, there are so many Americans experiencing the same thing. Despite long COVID’s prevalence, however, there is very little research and understanding of it.
So, when I heard that Congress was considering price-setting measures that could further hamper research into chronic illnesses, I was pretty upset. People like me desperately need to get back to normal, we need our pharmaceutical industry to help get us back on track. These policies could keep scientists from being able to uncover cures.
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People are suffering from long COVID, and we need our leaders’ help. We need them to say no to price setting and say yes to innovation and research.
Briana Osuna
Midtown
Roe v. Wade
In the 49 years since the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion rights have been under constant attack. Despite the fact that the Roe decision became a constitutional right across the U.S., Arizona, among other states, has created new laws making it harder for women to seek an abortion.
Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law making any abortion performed by a physician after 15 weeks a felony. Other obstacles include a mandatory 24-hour waiting period, limited access to abortion clinics, and abortion pills administered only by medical doctors.
Republican legislators are willfully endangering the health and safety of Arizona women with their so-called “pro-life” agenda. It is baffling that our state government is taking away reproductive rights and simultaneously denying resources to help raise a child. Women are not just vessels for a fetus. Bringing a new child into this world is a very personal decision and long-term commitment. Please vote for pro-choice legislators in 2022.
Bobbi Zimmer
Midtown
Guns over people
Could one of the anti-gun-safety crowd please address two simple questions? First, explain why guns were banned at the recent NRA convention in Houston; second, please provide a definition of “well-regulated militia.” Many thanks in advance.
Ralph Fregosi, PhD
Northeast side
Hypocrisy at its best
The president has been adamant about not inviting dictators from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the Summit of the Americas. On the other hand, President Biden is planning a July trip to Saudi Arabia, not exactly a poster boy for human rights. Is it possible this administration is more than willing to overlook the abysmal treatment of minorities when precious oil is involved? Just wondering.
Charles Schultz
Northeast side
Reasonable firearms legislation
Regarding the myth that the concept of individuals owning weapons of war is expressed in our Constitution — it isn’t. But don’t take my word for it. How about the one and only time the concept was endorsed by the Supreme Court, in 2008 in Columbia v. Heller? In a prior case, Judge Warren Burger expressed in his dissent, “The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American people by a special interest group that I have ever seen in my lifetime!” Supreme Court 1990. Judge Burger is well aware that nowhere in any deliberation is the right of an individual to own firearms ever discussed. In a desperate attempt to secure enough votes to ratify the Constitution, as it was unpopular in the South, the hotly debated concept of slavery was adopted and the states allowed to maintain militia beyond the chain of command of the U.S. military is the Second Amendment.
Robert Cozad
Oro Valley
Guns and insurrection
Chaos is very real in the U.S. today. The nation and Biden are in the grips of dealing with: the invasion of Ukraine, resultant inflation, high food and gas prices, continuing efforts to control COVID and the increase in mass shootings, to name just a few. However, I am not directly blaming the NRA, nor the Second Amendment, but guns — especially assault weapons — are to blame. There are more guns than people in this country, and that is not a good thing.
Now this chaos is not the worst since Jimmy Carter; how do we define what happened on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol? It was an egregious attempt to overturn an election and our constitutional democracy instigated by our previous president. Yes, it is true that the killers at Uvalde and Buffalo did not have NRA cards on them, but many of the insurrectionists of our U.S. Capitol certainly were wearing Trump MAGA hats. Enough said!
Chuck Cabrera
Northwest side
Core values
Respect for others, belief in democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. Full stop. Pretty basic. We can disagree on everything else, but fundamentally, l thought Americans shared basic, core values. I want well educated, smart people in positions of power to figure out how best to move us forward for the greater good. Name calling, undermining democracy by claiming everything that doesn’t go your way is “rigged,” bullying, threatening and assaulting police officers on the steps of the Capitol are un-American.
Do I love high gas prices and ridiculous inflation? No. But I recognize the world is complicated. I’m grateful we have professionals in place working on the issues. And yes, I’m one of the 80-plus million that voted for Biden and deeply resent anyone trying to negate my (mailed-in ballot) vote.
Susan Miller-Pinhey
Foothills
Tenth Amendment
The United States of America is composed of approximately 330 million diverse people distributed over 3.8 million square miles in 50 states.
Some states are conservative, some liberal. Some are congested and some wide open.
Does anyone remember back in the 1970s when the federal government instituted a national 55 mile per hour speed limit? People couldn’t really go much faster than that because of congestion back east but substantially increased driving times in the west.
The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states that any power not specifically granted to the federal government is reserved to the states.
States issue driver’s licenses and are responsible for enforcing traffic laws. Why should they not be responsible for speed regulations?
With all the diversity between the states, it is time for state governments to take back more power. If people do not like the laws in one state they could always move to another.
Thomas Wenzel
East side
Protecting federal judges
In light of the arrest of an armed man outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, we obviously need to find a way to remove the temptation to try to change the makeup of the Supreme Court (or any Federal Court). Here’s a fast, simple solution that should draw bipartisan support:
If any sitting federal justice were to be murdered, his/her replacement would automatically be nominated by the Senate leader from the party of the U.S. president who originally nominated him/her. Let’s remove the temptation for a rabid activist to change the makeup of any federal court.
Finally, let’s enforce the existing law that makes it a federal crime to threaten any sitting justice. And yes, I think that would include Sen. Schumer’s “You won’t know what hit you” rant against Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing.
Bud Snyder
SaddleBrooke
Please realize what matters most
Having been viable now for some 70 years (my 70th birthday is this September), it is getting easier to see what is wrong with the human race. We haven’t figured out how really evil war is; it’s always about taking from others. Man’s (meaning almost exclusively men) fascination with weaponry has become almost idiotic; faster and better ways to kill. We are born with a death sentence already, so why do we find better ways to hasten it? As for the cost of fuel: Consider that the current greed may just be aimed at putting a politician in power that will enhance the wealthy; it’s always about the money. As for when real life begins; that is still a mystery to most, but science seems to believe it’s about 24 weeks after conception; that’s viability outside mom’s womb. What is wrong with us? We can’t seem to see what is right there in front of us. Please just realize what matters most. Respectfully, with love and peace to all.
Paul Gelsinger
Northeast side
Carbon dioxide emissions
We are not killing the planet. We are killing our ability to live on planet Earth. Earth is a planet orbiting the sun, not some manufactured product that can be destroyed by humans. Earth was here before humans and will be here after we make it impossible for human life to exist here. Look at the dinosaurs. Earth didn’t die after a meteor hit; dinosaurs did. Perhaps then the motto should be “We are killing ourselves” rather than “We are killing the planet Earth.”
Nancy Kabat
Foothills
The better option
Re: the June 8 letter “Help me out here.”
The letter writer asks if someone will explain if they are satisfied with their vote for Biden. I’ll try. I’m one of the 81 million (not 80) who voted for Biden. He was not my first choice. I did not vote for him in the primary. But he was infinitely better that the other option.
Am I better off now? Most definitely.
Do I love his policies? No.
Why are his numbers tanking? Because he’s too moderate for the progressives and too liberal for the Republicans.
Finally, there is far less chaos today than just two years ago. All patriotic Americans are keeping track.
Steven Brown
Midtown
Gun laws
Really? With all the gun violence that continues and we can’t somehow do anything to pass meaningful laws. We need to start at the grassroots political system and have people re-examine who we need to elect nationally. We are pathetic compared to the other human and compassionate democratic countries. Why not here?
Mary Schneider
Northwest side
Who controls prices?
I tire of people blaming Biden for inflation. Since when does he or any other president control what we pay for gas or other consumer goods? These prices are controlled by corporate leaders who I think do not like Biden’s approach to taxation of wealthy corporations. They are willing and able to increase prices at the drop of a hat. How much time elapsed between the news of a Russian attack on Ukraine and the meteoric rise in gas prices? Let me tell you, it was hours. Certainly not enough time for existing inventories to be consumed, causing these suppliers to buy shortage-priced stock. They saw panic arising and gouged us at the pumps immediately. It serves them well to blame Biden, weakening him with us as he is a threat to them. More profit for them and security with one stone.
Jeff Rayner
SaddleBrooke
A question of courage
There’s a new pandemic sweeping our nation. Its name is cowardice. From the halls of Congress to the police in Uvalde, Texas, people waving guns can’t find the intestinal fortitude to actually take a stand against gun violence.
The idea that guns are the solution to threats has been disproven tragically by inaction of gun-bearing public “servants,” the Uvalde police, who despite ample training in active shooter response, didn’t have the guts to put themselves between children and an armed madman.
And the idea that our elected representatives at every level put the public’s interests before their own is a joke. State and national elected representatives are too cowardly to end this pandemic. Those who try are ostracized.
This means we must act, putting aside our own selfish defense of the gun industry and giving support to anyone who will advocate for sensible gun control. Don’t be a coward. Let’s end this pandemic.
Ella Suagee
Benson
Deniers seeking election jobs
Hmmmm. Candidates who see election fraud everywhere are now seeking to become election workers. I see the Republican Party is taking a serious new look at voter suppression with a history lesson, after all, a quote often attributed to Joseph Stalin says: “Those who vote decide nothing. Those that count the vote decide everything.” One more reason to never vote Republican.
Richard Govern
Foothills
