Tucson Speaks Out: June 24

As I sort through information deciding how to vote, I check the sources. Saturday I received an attack flyer in the mail on a CD7 primary candidate. In its disclaimer it says “Paid for by Tucson Families Fed Up Pac (520) 305-9912 and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee” with a return address of 1830 E Broadway, Ste 124, Box 130, Tucson AZ 85719-5967.

I learned FEC registration was June 12, 2025, the treasurer is Jennifer May, and the address is PO Box 15320, Washington DC 20003. Jennifer May is the founder of Next Level Partners, LLC, described by Linkedin as “focused on compliance and accounting for political organizations including candidate committees, leadership PACs, issue PACs, joint committees, and 501c(3)/c(4) organizations.” The return address on the flyer is a Tucson UPS store.

What I don’t know is who is funding the PAC. Don’t trust a source that does not disclose its funding to the public! Dark money must be outlawed.

Kay Davis

Southwest side

War

Let me understand, Iran does not have nuclear weapons but we believe they may soon have them. We, of course, have many nuclear weapons and that is fine, just no one else. Somehow, we believe that we may decide who has what and when they may have them. So now the self-described peacemaker (AKA Trump) made war on Los Angeles and Iran in a one-week period. What’s next, Canada or Paris? This man wants and needs war to satisfy his ultra ego. He will not be satisfied until we are in a larger conflict and he can have his weekly fireside chats to explain his Big Beautiful Fight. Can no one, with the interests of our country in mind, stop this never-ending train wreck?

Philip Reinecker

East side

Bombing Iran

For years, under the administration of Biden and Obama, we have seen a lot of talk from the leaders of Iran and various terrorists, wishing for the destruction of Israel and the US. Saturday night, President Trump made an international statement regarding what the US will accept regarding the Iran support of terrorism and the threats of destruction of others.

The question is simple, why can’t everyone in the world live in peace? The loss of peace is the result of leaders and activists pushing murder and death of others. So, where do the terrorists get the money to continue the terrorists’ activity? Do you think there is still money left over from the $1.7 billion that Obama delivered to Iran? We rely on the government to protect the citizens from criminals and illegals, so why do liberals want to give freedoms to criminals and illegals. Each citizen has a right to feel safe, not only at home but in the real world, but alas.

Loran Hancock

Northwest side

TEP fiddles while Tucson burns

Tim Steller’s column combined with Bruce Plenk’s Guest Opinion (Sunday, June 22) should give readers a much better view of the bigger picture of higher and higher electricity rates, the picture that shows Tucson being painted into a corner.

TEP has never been and never will be this so called “partner” that has Tucson’s back in facing the devastating effects of rising temperatures and diminishing water resources. TEP’s communications team is second to none in spinning straw into gold, making their steady stream of blah blah shine like the sun they’re so averse to using for our electricity needs.

Their parent company Fortis’ CEO David Hutchens (UA graduate by the way — we’re turning out leaders who turn against us) earned over $15,700,000 in 2024 from salary and bonuses.

Let them eat cake comes to mind — or whatever you want to substitute for cake that’s brown and indigestible.

Rick Rappaport

Oro Valley

30% rate increase in 4 years?

I think one of the inherent problems in having a literally foreign owner of a local business, in this case, Canadian Fortis owning local TEP, is how easy it is to miscalculate what the local business’s customers are willing to put up with. If TEP’s current 14% rate hike were to be approved, that would make a total of a 30% rate increase in four years. That would absolutely lead me to vote against renewing/extending TEP’s current franchise and lead me to support either a City TEP buyout or condemnation. I hardly think I would be alone in that reaction to what Fortis/TEP is doing here.

Michael Price

Midtown

Criminal deported?

An article in the 06/22/2025 edition of the Arizona Daily Star told of Teresa Alvarez being deported in April of this year. She lived in the U.S. for 48 years, since she was 16 years old. According to the article she worked 40 years as a nursing assistant, adding to our economy and making our country a better place. She is one of the “criminals” that has been deported. Where is the justice, the compassion, that in the past was the United States of America? This kind of treatment of a person like this is sinful. I agree that if an individual is truly a criminal, and not a U.S citizen, that person does not belong here. But a person like Teresa Alvarez, working and adding to our quality of life, whether here legally or not, should be praised and rewarded with citizenship rather than being rounded up and banished from the only life she knows.

Warren Popa

Southwest side

Our Constitution

First, let me say I am totally against the bombing of Iran. Diplomacy, if allowed to work could have accomplished more. But this is not a LTE about that, it is about how our Constitution is perhaps, fatally flawed in this fast-moving world.

Our Constitution says, in Article 1, only Congress can declare war, but that has not been the practice for decades, Congress never declared war against Vietnam, under both Republican and Democrat presidents. No war was declared in Bosnia/Serbia when we bombed it under Clinton. We did not declare war under Obama when we sent our troops to Pakistan to find and kill Bin Laden. We did not declare war against Iraq when we invaded it under Bush, on the basis of a lie.

And now we have not declared war against Iran, and probably never will, after we invaded that country with our planes and bombs.

Howard Strause

Foothills

Disaster timeline

First, Marco Rubio took on the unprecedented dual role as Secretary of State and head of the National Security Council (NSC). Then the NSC was stripped of policy experts who used data to inform diplomatic and security decisions. In March, Intelligence Director Gabbard testified to Congress that, “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon.” Despite previously working on an Iranian/Israeli peace deal, President Trump authorized US strikes in Iran. Gabbard later revised her statement, but sources within the intelligence community confirm that there was no new information. Most recently, JD Vance claimed that, “it was our intelligence that motivated us to act.”

This leaves US citizens with a heightened terrorism threat in the hands of a newly appointed 22-year-old with no threat prevention experience as the head of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships. This is a disaster in the making.

Jean Meconi

Oro Valley

The cost of illegals

In 2022, there were an estimated 8.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. workforce. Biden and Mayorkas, who purposely ignored our immigration laws, allowed some 15 to 20 million illegals in during 4 years. That leaves 10 to 12 million illegals living off the taxpayer. If this is untrue, why were cities crying for more federal money to handle the burden? Another liberal complaint is that Trump spends all his time golfing. But not a peep from liberals during the 40 percent of his presidency that Biden spent on vacation — attempting to hide his mental decline. And liberal complaints about Trump not ending the Ukraine war on day one. But at least he is pushing for talks and communication. How often did Biden speak with Putin? Never. Just kept shoveling money to Ukraine with no accountability, and letting the war drag on. Seems TDS is alive and well.

Dan Rusciolelli

East side

Iran bombing

I thought President Obama entered us into the Iran Accords years ago for the purpose of determining Iran’s progress in developing “the bomb.” Later President Trump, during his first term, pulled the U.S. out of the Iran Accords without any explanation I can recall, except to Make America Great Again (a meaningless, absurd catchall phrase if there ever was one). It appears to me now that the recent bombings directed by President Trump could well have been avoided had he kept us a member of the Accords in the first place. We have just thrown the ball into Iran’s court and who knows what retaliation we will suffer due to Trump’s earlier irresponsibility. But as always, I am sure his thoughts and prayers are with us.

John Riley

Oro Valley

Let’s join in

It’s an old story. Perhaps it’s Donald Trump’s latest desperate distraction from sinking poll numbers and millions protesting his authoritarianism and use of the military against citizens. Or maybe it’s because of his absurd trade wars and his obscene budget proposal. So let’s bomb Iran. Benjamin Netanyahu has been lying regularly since 1992 about Iran’s imminent nuclear threat. It’s taken over 30 years for him to find a weak and ignorant president to intervene on his behalf. He found his tool in Donald Trump, who was so obviously and easily manipulated into action. Iraq 2.0? After the U.S. attacks, the head of the IAEA said, in his last report “he indicated very clearly that we (IAEA) did not have elements to prove Iran had planned or systematic efforts towards a nuclear weapon.” And remember, brilliant Trump backed out of the Iran nuclear deal. So now, what’s the plan? Typically with Trump, there isn’t one. All in on another war?

Stanley Steik

Midtown

Budget bill

The tax cuts in the current budget bill are paid for by taking Medicaid health insurance away from 11 million people (according to the Congressional Budget Office) and by borrowing money.

Throwing people off health insurance, borrowing trillions, adding to the national debt and loading our children with a larger national debt burden to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy is immoral.

This current legislation steals money from the next generation by adding trillions ($2.4 trillion according to the CBO over 10 years) to the national debt in addition to taking healthcare away from millions of people.

Although my taxes would be lower with this legislation, I don’t want lower taxes at the expense of our children and people on Medicaid — it is blood money paid for by other people’s healthcare and a larger national debt. This bill is not conservative, is not moral and is not right. We are better than this and we can do better.

Keith Shelman

North side

Who supports terrorism

Blowing up churches, schools and hospitals; depriving people of food and killing children by exposing them to the cold; herding people into “safe zones” and then bombing them; assassinating scientists in a foreign country — these are acts of terrorism. And who supports such activities? The United States does. Our President may call Iran the biggest supporter of terrorism in the Middle East, but he would be wrong.

John Prugh

Foothills

Path to 2028

Trump’s joining Israel in bombing Iran without Congressional approval raises frightening possibilities. He exaggerates threats to increase his power — immigrant invasion, protests in Los Angeles, Haitians eating pets, etc. He broke a serviceable treaty with Iran in his first administration and has now lost patience with diplomacy. I remember George Bush starting the Iraq war because Saddam Hussein was a “bad guy” and non-existent WMDs. Now its Iran’s Ayatollah Khameini and nuclear weapons (so far domestic). Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu has stayed in power in Israel as a war Prime Minister by killing 55,000 people in Gaza and attacking Syria and Iran. Trump thinks that starting several wars could help reelect him in 2028 to an unconstitutional third term as a wartime President (not a dictator or king) like Franklin Roosevelt in WW2, regardless of the damage to the U.S. and loss of American lives.

Tom Van Devender

North side

Real government actions

I am just amazed that members of Congress have let another sitting president take a war action against a country that has not directly attacked the United States. With Bush, it was weeks of weapons of mass destruction talk, which were never found. Now with the lie of consideration on his lips, we hear the attack on Iran was in planning for months. At least Bush had Congressional agreement for his attack. Where is the balance of power that a small, angry, easily persuaded, weak man is to take an aggressive action without a clear and present danger? Even his own security advisor said he was wrong and was summarily silenced. It is time that this person be removed. Do your job Congress and get this ludicrous and absurd excuse for president gone.

Charles Hammond

Northwest side

Social Security

In the Green Valley News there was lengthy article on how our Social Security program would soon run out of funds. It didn’t mention the cap.

The cap is set at $176,100 for 2025. Once someone has earned that much they no longer have to contribute to the fund.

Jon Winkelried earned $191,044 in two hours as CEO of TPG Inc. in 2023. After that he no longer had to contribute. While that was the top CEO pay in 2023, the average CEO of the S&P 500 made $17.7 million. The poor fellows would have to work 21 hours before they reached the cap. Then they could keep all that hard-earned cash without the SSA deduction.

This doesn’t seem to bother our elected officials. It bothers the hell out of me. Please let our congressmen know if it bothers you.

Ray Omdahl

Green Valley

Masks undermine our democracy

ICE agents in masks have become disturbingly routine. All over the country, LA, Phoenix, NYC, Chicago, Tucson, ICE agents have been wearing masks: ski masks, surgical masks, balaclavas and sunglasses on sworn officers of the US government. There is no uniformity and it undermines sound policing practices. Masked agents can confuse both bystanders and ICE targets, which then will result in unnecessary violence by people interfering with enforcement actions.

The rationale: officers are identified, placing them and their families at risk. But not only criminals are being targeted and now impersonating agents, are kidnapping innocent people, assaulting and robbing them at gunpoint.

Law enforcement jobs with the assumption of risk: the overwhelming majority of police officers, sheriff’s deputies, FBI, corrections officers who deal with prisoners do not wear masks, nor do judges and prosecutors who administer our laws. Because these are public employees have such power, their roles require full transparency. The public’s need for accountability strongly outweighs any reasoning for their use of masks.

Margarita Bernal

West side

Democrats and ballpark billionaire

Half of the Democrats in the AZ House of Representatives voted to give $500 million to a ballpark owner worth $1.2 billion. Is it any wonder why the Dems have problems? Our border district LD21 is mostly working class and fixed income, yet Consuelo Hernandez is voting to give tax money to a billionaire owner. And Alma Hernandez repping Pima county also thinks that $500 million is better spent on a ballpark. With all the problems in S. AZ that legislators have to deal with, what are they messing around with this kind of giveaway? And those Dems in LD 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 17, 22, 24, 26 what’s the matter with these people that they can’t see through PR BS? New leadership is badly needed for Democrats.

Fred Miller

Bisbee

War with Iran

Donald Trump unilaterally started a war with Iran. He didn’t even consult with Congress. He was persuaded by Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu. If this war will involve American ground troops, it would only be fair that DOD Secretary Hegseth commission Donald’s two oldest boys, Donald Jr and Eric, as First Lieutenants, and that they be involved in the ground fighting. This might redeem their father’s name for the medial deferment he received during the Vietnam conflict.

Jerry Lujan

Oro Valley

The constitutional limit on the president

Section 8 of Article II specifies that the President is to be designated Commander in Chief when called upon by Congress. When not called upon by Congress, he lacks the authority to engage the United States in a war. That is the job of Congress.

Mr. Trump has authorized a military attack on Iran, an act of war, without any Congressional declaration of war. Iran has not engaged in any overt attacks on the United States like Japan did at Pearl Harbor. If is far-fetched to say that Iran is at war against the United States. Mr. Trump has therefore initiated a war without the necessary and sufficient provocation required, or with the say-so of the branch of government that the Constitution designates for that task.

If this is not an impeachable offense, then nothing is. Mr. Trump is not a king. This nation was conceived as a democratic republic, not a monarchy, where kings could start wars at their whim.

William Winkelman

Southeast side