How corporations
cut tax burdens
Recently there has been a lot if controversy concerning corporations and their "fair share" of taxes.
I have seen letters that complain that corporations pay little or no taxes. No one seems interested in why they pay low taxes.
Charitable donations are tax-deductible. Nonprofits like the Red Cross, Catholic Charities and Gospel Rescue Mission among others are dependent on donations for survival. These organizations help the poor and displaced people better than most government agencies.
Corporations also hire people, lots of people that also pay taxes.
How much of a "fair share" do poor people pay? Many of them get Medicaid and government financial assistance. Who is paying their fair share?
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Thomas Wenzel
East side
We need to scrap
the 60-vote rule
I have long believed that the 60-vote rule to pass a bill in the U.S. Senate is profoundly undemocratic. It has long needed to be abolished. It allows the tyranny of a minority to suppress the will of the majority. Getting rid of this bad rule is a crucial part of the reform our government so desperately needs.
I also hope that Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly will vote for passage of the For the People Act of 2021. Protecting and increasing voter access to the ballot box is fundamental to our democracy. Having to stand in long lines on election day is an inconvenient and antiquated way to do business and it needs to go the way of telegraphs and buggy whips. Voting by mail is a huge improvement.
John Mcconnaughey
Oro Valley
This loser won't
stop complaining
Since when does it seem like a crime to voice one's opinion? Silencing Rep. Liz Cheney is a prime example. Donald Trump lost the election fair and square, but yet he still is whining and complaining. He will never accept defeat. Give it up, Donald, and admit it. Welcome the new president. Joe Biden has done more for this country since he has been president than Trump did in four years. We are supposedly a republic, but yet Biden has to overcome numerous obstacles.
Ms. Cheney had the nerve to stand up and voice her opinion and she was silenced. This is a crime.
Let's all try and make America great and not the laughingstock of our allies. Trump is a crook and needs to pay for his crimes and not hide.
Peter Monteverde
Southeast side
Painful lessons
about segregation
When the United States continues to support Israel, we are underwriting the ethnic segregation and extreme Trumpism-like sentiment that is happening now with the Jim Crow-like control Israel instills over the Palestinian people. Today, a friend said, "If Hamas left Israel alone, there would be peace. If Israel leaves Hamas alone, Israel would be destroyed."
Let us remember that Americans said the same thing about Blacks and Native Americans, and that was South Africa's sentiment with apartheid. Continuing to push Israeli occupation by displacing Palestinians out of their homes and holding them as second-class citizens is both inhumane and an act that the United States cannot continue to support with billions of our tax dollars.
Emery Nicoletti
Northeast side
Migration to US
depresses wages
Re: the May 12 letter "Immigrants bolster American workforce."
The writer should be aware of some things. America legally allows about 1 million immigrants into the country annually. There are still millions of Americans who have not returned to the workforce since COVID began. In part because of the stupidity of Democrats in Congress and Biden for passing a $1.9 trillion partisan stimulus bill that included $300 weekly unemployment benefits through September. That is in addition to normal state unemployment benefits.
Small-business owners are looking for employees, but some report they cannot find any because of this lucrative unemployment federal benefit that provides an incentive not to work. It is believed to be a reason for April's dismal jobs numbers.
If thousands of migrant adults coming here illegally are granted asylum status, they will eventually be given work authorization, creating more competition in the job market and putting downward pressures on wages. Two bad economic situations created by Democrats and Biden.
Shane Foster
East side
Our love of beef
has steep price
Re: the April 22 letter "Beef ranchers care for land."
Contrary to the statements made by these ranchers, the grazing of cows in the increasingly drought-stricken Southwest is neither sustainable nor environmentally sound.
The grazing fees paid by the ranching/cattle industry are minimal and in no way compensate for the water depletion, soil erosion, wildlife extirpation (wild animals killed for posing a "threat" to cattle), or the costs to human health.
Nor do they mitigate the horrors endemic to slaughterhouses.
Results from research conducted by both private and governmental agencies/organizations have stated that cattle are the No. 1 agricultural source of greenhouse (methane) gases worldwide.
The touting of beef as a superior source of protein is in direct conflict with current nutritional studies; a plant-based diet can provide all the nutrients necessary for human beings.
The consequences for humans, animals and the environment all make beef definitely not "what's for dinner."
Deb Thompson
East side
GoFraudMe drive
enriches Trump
One would think that the result of our presidential election is based solely on the vote of the American people, that the candidate who gets the most electoral votes is the winner. Whether the loser concedes or not shouldn’t make any difference — it’s the people, not the candidate, who decide.
But Donald Trump has discerned that, by not conceding, he can turn a defeat into a money faucet. He says, donate to me to fight this fraud, but not to the GOP, write your checks directly to Donald Trump. Talk about GoFundMe, this amounts to GoFraudMe. Absolutely incredible that so many Republicans have fallen for this sham. They talk about “moving on” after January 6, yet they cannot move on after November 3, 2020.
James Torrey
West side
Some thoughts
on a third party
Re: the May 19 opinion column "Independents are part of the problem"
I would like to preface this letter by writing that Jonah Goldberg is one my favorite columnists. However, I disagree with his opinion that independents "are part of the problem."
How can you belong to any party that you find morally bankrupt? A friend of mine once told me that everyone should choose a candidate of their choice, regardless if they are a member of either major political party. This vote would express your displeasure with the choice of major party candidates. Some might say that your vote was wasted, but they are not believing that we live in a true democracy.
The growing number of independents is a sign for the need of another party to emerge. History tells us that political parties have been formed before. If there was an alternative to the major political parties, then there would be a real choice of candidates for voters.
Victor Panizzon
Northwest side
