Use the money for education
I cannot believe that our lawmakers want to squander our tax dollars on a border wall. Our school teachers are the lowest paid in the nation. $700 million is enough to bring their pay closer to the national average. That will help alleviate the shortage of teachers in Arizona and help pull the quality of our educational system out of the national basement.
Anthony Mendoza
Foothills
Yes on the Rosemont Mine
Re: the Feb. 13 letter “Rosemont Mine is health threat.”
One letter writer wrote “This mine must be stopped if we want Tucson to survive and thrive.” Are the letter writer and other opponents going to stop using their smartphones, electric and hybrid vehicles and any other modern device that uses minerals? We need minerals, which means we need mines. Do we want to be dependent on China and Russia? We’re now seeing the reality of dictators like Putin. We can’t depend on suppliers from totalitarian countries which abhor democracy. I want clean air and water too, and I think we can mine safely and protect our environment. Most of all I want the United States and our democratic partners to survive and thrive. That means mining our own minerals. That means “YES” for the Rosemont mine.
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James Tuthill
Oro Valley
Trump incoherent on Ukraine
The United States, and the world, is in a perilous state as Russia wages war on Ukraine. President Biden, acting in concert with our allies, is responding with strong sanctions. It is a time for national unity.
But former President Trump is having none of it. Instead, one day, he said this wouldn’t be happening if not for a “rigged election” putting the wrong man in the White House. He applauded Putin’s actions, declaring a chunk of eastern Ukraine independent and sending in “peacekeepers,” as “genius” and “pretty savvy.”
Maybe Trump took note of the flak he got for that, because later he called the invasion “a very sad thing for the world.” But he insisted again it wouldn’t have happened if he still were president.
Why? Because he’s a fan of Putin? Because of some agreement they made in one of their super secret meetings?
Things now look dire, but it’s hard to believe they’d be better under an incoherent and delusional President Trump.
Thomas Chulski
Green Valley
Ukraine needs our help
What kind of “civilized” world do we live in where the world watches a non-threatening country being invaded and does nothing to help. If people were shooting at me and I heard “Don’t worry we are freezing their bank accounts” I don’t think that would help me to stop the bullets. The rest of the world bows down to Putin now? He has broken international laws, yet no military response. Wasn’t it called appeasement when Europe allowed Germany in the 1930’s to invade countries without consequences in the hope of avoiding war? We know how that turned out. We watch it happen again hoping for a different result?
Nancy Kabat
Foothills
Nothing but bad choices
The United States has frequently joined with allies against rogue countries at different times; i.e. World War II, to deter aggression and remove outlaw governments. President Biden’s stance in preventing the United States from intervening in the Ukraine/Russia conflict is commendable; however, as the Russians invade Ukraine, they may continue to conquer and unite other countries that are no stronger than Ukraine itself. At what point will the United States and its allies take action to prevent Russia from acquiring weaker countries until it is satisfied and retreats behind its borders. If Russia is successful, it may consider annexing other countries despite their NATO status and countries unwilling to form a coalition now to fight this outlaw regime may pay the price of fighting Mr. Putin at a later date. Countries that fail to intervene in this conflict may regret their choice when Russia again appears at a time and place of their choosing and we are unprepared.
Richard Rebl
East side
Republicans and what they stand for
Re: the Feb. 24 letter “This elephant has critical legs.”
In this letter, the writer comes up with a fine list of some things he thinks Republicans stand for. Unfortunately, none of these things are mentioned in the 2020 Republican Party Platform. In fact, it has become quite clear in the last five years that Republicans do not support the Constitution or many of the other things he lists.
To me, the only thing Republicans stand for is the national anthem.
Steven Brown
Midtown
Reducing oil dependence
War in Ukraine. What can we do? Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels can have two important benefits. It can protect our nation from hostile countries and it can protect the climate against greenhouse gases. Who is to blame for higher gas prices, inflation and the lack of sanctions on Russian oil? It is our dependence on fossil fuels. This weakens the security of both the U.S. and the world. Until we can pass clean-energy policies that incentivize renewable energy, we will continue to experience a volatile oil and gas supply, a weakened national security and a climate crisis. For a clean and safe future we must insist our elected officials pass clean renewable energy policies. We must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It is the only solution for a safe and livable world.
Maggie Kraft
North side
Ducey is part of our problem
Gov. Ducey’s recent statement, saying that Wendy Rogers has his support for our state Senate, being that she is a fellow Republican, over a Democrat, is a glaring example of the trouble we are in as a nation. It is also a major reason why as the media has said, Democracy is in decline. We have become a nation that now places party loyalty in a more important place than loyalty to our flag, our Constitution, and our Statue of Liberty. Shame on us! I have never been prouder than I am now to be an independent who votes for the candidate and couldn’t care less about their party affiliation. Gov. Doug Ducey is one too many glaring examples of what’s wrong.
Bob Feinman
Foothills
Arizona public education
I just read a letter to the editor complaining about the Arizona education system being ranked last in the nation for its educational product. She blames the state Legislature for not funding the public schools. I think she is “barking up the right tree,” but that doesn’t identify the real problem. The Legislature is controlled by the members of a political party that I think is dedicated to abolishing anything with the word “public” in its name. They support charter schools because, by definition, they are private enterprise. However, the Legislature pays those schools almost as much state tax money per student as is designated for “public schools.” Why? Because they are trying to suck students out of public schools, therefore diminishing the functioning of those schools. I defy anyone in that party to deny this. Those of this philosophy would scream if the federal government discontinued business subsidies, now wouldn’t they?
Dennis Bourret
East side
U.S. needs to be energy independent
President Putin has threatened nuclear forces on alert to combat resistance in Ukraine. It makes no sense that the United States continues to purchase more than 600,000 barrels of oil a day from Russia at a cost of more than $100 a barrel. That is $60,000,000. Effectively, United States citizens are helping to finance Putin’s incursion into Ukraine. That does not come close to the $350 million Biden has authorized for Ukraine.
If the United States had remained energy independent, this fiasco could have been averted. I believe we have enough energy to supply the United States and sections of Europe.
Biden could be a worldwide hero through shutting off the money spigot to Putin, declaring energy resources in the United States reopened and with speed. That would cripple Putin’s financial abilities to wage war and hopefully bring his ambitions to a halt.
Terry Bishop
West side
Human life is relative
Spring 2020: a few hundred COVID cases and the country shuts down to save lives. Compare that to now. Masks off, no need to worry, cases are falling. The reality is that we are used to the deaths now…and it is all so ho hum. Even though levels are still high and a new variant (Omicron BA.2) is gaining steam, just the idea of cases falling is enough to relax safeguards. Do we care so little that we cannot be patient? We cared about our kids, our grandparents, the immunocompromised in early 2020. Not anymore. Perhaps we do not deserve a democracy if we care so little for one another. In this time of division, pervasive lies, racial injustice, and the loss of rational thought, a deadly contagious disease is just one more thing to ignore. Has human life really become so cheap?
Henry Wallace
Foothills
