What’s the answer?
Simple question asking for a simple answer from Sen. Mark Kelly: “Why did the hiring of 87,000 IRS agents arrive before President Biden’s request to recruit 100,000 police officers? Looking forward to your response.
Walt Johnson
Foothills
Colorado River aqueduct
California draws water off the Colorado River through an aqueduct that runs from Parker to Los Angeles. Southern California has many more millions of acres of farmland and many more millions of people using the water from the Colorado River than Arizona, Nevada and Utah. California has 2,000 miles of coastline on the Pacific Ocean. I believe the federal government should assist California to get their water from desalinization of the Pacific Ocean and leave the Colorado River water for the land-locked states (Arizona, Nevada and Utah). I’m just saying.
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Richard Bechtold
West side
Finchem’s lies
Mark Finchem claims he would not have certified the election of Joe Biden as president in 2020. The reason: he has not met anyone who voted for President Biden. It seems there are only two ways that could be true. He never meets anyone, or he only meets Republicans. Yet he has been a member of the Arizona House of Representatives since Jan. 5, 2015. Since there are many Democrats in the House, and it is unbelievable that none of them voted for Biden, Mr. Finchem must have a terrible memory, or he is lying. Which is it, Mr. Finchem?
Donald Ries
Southeast side
Hamadeh omitted details
Re: the Sept. 15 article “Hamadeh omitted details on father’s immigration history.”
I am a 30-year Navy pilot, two Vietnam combat tours, who always obeyed active-duty military rules to never discuss politics due to rank. Accordingly, I will always be an Independent voter. I appreciate the diligence of the Arizona Daily Star and the Arizona Republic in questioning the GOP selection for Arizona attorney general after he, with Donald Trump’s endorsement, prevailed over five opponents in the August primary. Ironically. It is clear that Abraham Hamedeh has perfected escaping that he was born in 1991 while his father had illegally overstayed his visa. Given the facts in this article the Arizona GOP should remove Hamedeh as choice for Arizona AG. Trump too, should recant his endorsement. Our state deserves a person of integrity for our attorney general!
Eldon Stephen Wilson
East side
Lying to the voters
The Fascist Republican Party has a new political ad and it’s a total lie. The IRS is not hiring 87,000 agents. This is a bald-faced lie. I am a retired letter carrier, a federal employee. My newsletter I received mentioned that social media is spreading lies about hiring armed agents. The true fact is they are hiring 81,000 employees by 2031, customer service phone reps., etc., not agents, as those lying Fascist Republican Party claim. When will they stop lying and trying to overthrow my United States government! There are a half-million WWII vets, 38,000 Korean vets, over 58,000 Vietnam Veterans and Middle East Vets KIA protecting our democracy. I am a 60% disabled Vietnam Veteran. Please vote Blue. God bless America!
David E. Leon
Vail
Ward made it easy
By now, we’ve all received and thoroughly read the Arizona 2022 General Election Publicity Pamphlet. Who doesn’t love to read 300 pages of legalese, capital letters, strike-outs and underlines.
Each of the 11 initiatives, referendums and proposals are presented in full legal text, followed by “for” and “against” letters.
I was able to simplify the daunting process by searching for the name “Kelli Ward” among the letters. If Kelli Ward is for a proposition, then I know to vote against. If Kelli Ward is against a proposition, then I know to vote for it.
Simple and done.
A big thank you to Dr. Ward.
Dennis Huber
Green Valley
MIA: Theater reviews
The other evening I attended the Rogue Theatre’s timely and telling production of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat. Unusual for The Rogue, there were a considerable number of vacant seats. I wondered why? Then I recalled I hadn’t seen a review of the play in the Star. Now I learn the Star no longer will be reviewing Tucson theater. What a loss: a loss to the cultural community and equally, a loss to the city’s economy. We may not always agree with a reviewer’s opinions, but theater reviews are one of the ways we decide what to see, and from the point of view of the theater company, how we spend our discretionary dollars. What a loss all around.
Lynn Ratener
Northeast side
Vote crazy!
The most important issues facing our country are the following, in my opinion:
1. Getting to the bottom of Hunter Biden’s laptop. I’m hearing that they will find not only a Chinese lithium battery but maybe some old chewing gum.
2. Holding Hillary Clinton accountable for her emails.
3. Figuring out how the Democrat demons stole the election from Donald Trump. I suspect the simple reason is that they voted for President Biden in huge numbers and this is totally unacceptable!
4. That the midterm elections have been stolen already and Kari Lake and Mark Finchem have evidence this is true from the Cyber Ninjas. They found the evidence at the bottom of Hunter Biden’s laptop, trust me.
Things like global warming, the war in Ukraine, fixing the disaster called our health care system, funding schools so they don’t create new Herschel Walkers, and so on really don’t matter!
Vote Republican. Vote crazy!
Michael Seibold
Midtown
E-edition
Due to my eyesight, I have been reading the e-edition for years. Everywhere I go people are on their phones reading whatever. Reading the e-edition of the newspaper is no different from that. The cost of ink, paper and delivery drivers has risen to the place where a print edition of the newspaper is rapidly becoming too expensive to maintain. I appreciate the extra comics, the latest sports scores and other features only available in the e-edition. It is inevitable that printed material will become too expensive for most of us. Having an e-edition makes it possible for me to continue reading the daily paper as I have all my life. Thank you.
Bette E. Bunker Richards
Northwest side
Gas prices
My wife and I took a road trip to California this summer, at times paying over $6 a gallon for gas. We had heard of the gasoline supply issues purportedly due to the war in Ukraine. Upon our return, I noted gas prices plummeted to just over $3 a gallon. I did not hear anything about a sudden increase in gasoline supplies. My deduction is that gasoline companies were taking advantage of increased demand while people were on summer vacation. No wonder one of those gasoline companies is named Atlantic RICHfield.
Chris Pinhey
Foothills
Want someone who cares?
It takes a special person to be a foster parent. A person must care deeply about children and their community. I know, because I spent time in foster care as a child.
Now imagine a person who would care enough to foster (and eventually adopt) four children. That’s how much Brian Radford, candidate for Arizona State House representative for LD17, cares. He’s a lifelong Democrat who’s spent years in public education and social work. He’s seen from the inside what happens when our state fails to provide adequate resources in schools or for inmate rehabilitation.
Brian cares about issues that matter: affordable health care, quality education, decent jobs, a secure water supply. He also cares about the rights Arizonans have lost —women lost the right to control their own bodies and voters lost their permanent early voting rights.
If you want someone who really cares to represent you in the State House, I urge you to vote for Radford for Arizona House LD17.
Teddy McGraw
Oro Valley
Martha’s Vineyard
An excerpt from an email I received from a friend who is a resident of Martha’s Vineyard. Just had to share it.
I’m guessing the first questions you have are about news flashes. When you hear that it takes a village, be advised Martha’s Vineyard is pretty good at that. It took two or three hours for the island to get the job done. More food, clothing, drug items than needed. In fact, enough for a few more planes if they too dropped out of the sky. The Spanish Club at the high school provided translators, restaurants cooked classy Spanish meals, the hospital got them all inoculated, phones were given to each family so they could call home. You name it -it was thought of, even babysitters so the exhausted parents could go for a walk. The Gov got here with his usual hurricane staffing and helped move the ones who wanted to get closer to Boston. Really amazed and pleased at what got done in jig time.
Carol Rohr
Oro Valley
Can’t trust the data
The CDC and President Joe “the pandemic is over” Biden’s gaslighting is astonishing!
The Star reports all Arizona counties have low levels of COVID-19, based on the CDC’s clever change in reporting. Cases are undercounted due to home or no testing. Would people consider boosters, masking indoors and limiting gatherings if they were given correct data?
Even mild or asymptomatic COVID can increase risks for blood clots, cardiovascular events, early Alzheimer’s and diabetes. It’s not a cold or the flu. The best way to avoid these risks is to avoid COVID and especially getting re-infected.
Everyone seems “over” the pandemic, but without honest data, we are left to fend for ourselves. And how’s that going? With the equivalent of 9/11 deaths now happening every week, is this really our new normal?
Patrice Hatten
Northwest side
Logic of being pro-abortion
Editor,
Morally, are there actually pro-abortion people who also consider themselves Christians?
The real answer is responsible birth control in the first place.
Richard Byrd
Bisbee
Suicide prevention and support
As part of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Community Walks, I will be walking on Oct. 8 at Reid Park to promote the importance of suicide prevention. I won’t be walking alone. I will be joined by many who share my dedication. These walks support suicide loss survivors, and our movement is growing.
Like many, I walk because suicide has affected me personally. Losing my son Zach in 2015 changed my life’s path.
Since then, I have dedicated my time to educating others about suicide prevention and mental health.
Our goal is to spread awareness of what is currently a leading cause of death in the U.S., and let others know they are not alone. Please help us ensure that mental health is looked upon with equal importance to physical health, and continue to bring hope to those affected by suicide. We need you — together we can stop suicide.
Gina Gillis
South Tucson
Engel for Congress
Tucson and southeastern Arizona need a Congressional representative who has legislative experience, energy and smarts. We need someone who cares about people. That’s Kirsten Engel. She worked hard in the Arizona Legislature to support public education, defend reproductive freedom, expand health care and protect voters’ rights. She will do the same as our representative in Congress. Kirsten Engel knows water and will be a strong and effective voice to protect our water resources and our environment. She’s a fighter for people and for Arizona’s future. I’ve known Kirsten Engel for more than 10 years: she is an independent thinker who will work across the aisle while fighting for real Arizona solutions.
Karl Flessa
Midtown
Constitution is an ethical guide
Re: the Sept. 26 letter “Archaic anti-abortion law is bad for Arizona.”
The letter writer, a naturopathic doctor, is onto a legal truth. He supports abortion, a medical procedure, as part of a woman’s right to personal autonomy, up to the time of viability. That is in fact the basis of Roe v. Wade, which was reversed in June.
I am a retired attorney. Abortion opponents complain that Roe “invented” that right, since “abortion” doesn’t appear in the Constitution. But neither, for example, do “AK-47’s” or the “internet.” Yet, the Second Amendment has been cited for decades to justify personal possession of weapons of war, and the First Amendment to protect internet usage.
The Constitution, written 250 years ago in the era of muskets and town criers, isn’t exhaustive. That tiny document is an ethical guide, intended to evolve with the society using it. Accrued experience, wisdom, and a dedication to justice flesh out its meaning.
The right to abortion is no more “invented” than the right to AK-47’s or the internet.
Regula Case
Midtown
