Letters to the editor - Friday Sept. 22

Re: the Sept. 19 article “Latest health-care plan gets support from Ducey.”

The governor announced his support for the Graham-Cassidy bill, which would gut the Affordable Care Act. This bill would eliminate Obamacare subsidies and federal funding for Medicaid expansion, which would result in many Arizona citizens losing health coverage. It would modify Obamacare’s regulations regarding pre-existing conditions. This will allow insurers to charge higher premiums for sicker Americans who could then find themselves priced out of health policies.

The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, and we spend significantly more on health care per citizen than any of the developed nations. Nevertheless, we still have 29 million Americans without health coverage.

Instead of devoting their efforts to depriving additional Americans of health care, our elected politicians should be striving to provide coverage for all our citizens.

Stuart Sellinger

West side

Re: the Sept. 20 article “Trump insists on ‘America First’: Who will follow?”

The analysis of President Trump’s address to the U.N. was — as usual — an angry, distorted piece by an Associated Press writer filled with hate for the president.

I watched the address live and could see the reactions in real time. The speech was one every American could be proud of, but these days, the hatred toward our president seems to be worked into the reporting of every event and speech.

Hatred eats away the soul of each person it inhabits. Hatred has gained a foothold in the press. I watched our president declare his passion for our great nation. I saw his passion for other nations. I saw the president look evil in the eye and give it a name.

I am proud to be an American and proud President Trump is the leader of our nation. I believe the greatest threat to our nation is not from the outside, but from hatred in the hearts of our press and spewed freely in print and on TV.

Leigh Anne Thrasher

Midtown

Re: the Sept. 17 editorial “Requiring job to get AHCCCS a bad idea.”

Two additional factors that impact the poorest among us from getting and keeping jobs are access to affordable housing and reliable transportation. Losing either often means a loss of a job. Without housing, finding a place to sleep supersedes anything else to be done that day. Without transportation, arriving on time is often not an option. Given that often up to 80 percent of this group’s income is spent on housing alone, there is no way to pay for health care.

Without access to health care, illness is put off until the person ends up in the emergency room, with taxpayers footing the bill. Ultimately, we can pay up front and keep people well or pay more at the back end, when they end up in emergency care.

It is immoral to add one more burden on our state’s poor just to catch a few who might take advantage of the system. Access to affordable health care should be something none worry about.

Sherry Steele

Foothills

Re: the Sept. 19 article “Study: Tax dollars enriching Arizona charter-school operators.”

The attempts of the Arizona Charter School Association director to justify related-party transactions and no-bid contracts for charter schools ring hollow. What responsible homeowner would not get multiple bids before replacing a roof?

Soliciting bids for a contract, especially when the vendor is a relative, is only common sense. More important, when they are doing it with tax dollars, the taxpayers deserve accountability! The state of our charter schools is a travesty and just another attempt to destroy our public schools.

Bruce Hilpert

North side

As an out-of-state Arizona football season ticket holder, I have some questions for the University of Arizona students and people of Tucson — where have you been? I fully realize I am fortunate enough to live in California and still make it to Tucson for a majority of home games. Attending both the NAU and Houston games, I was dismayed seeing what appeared to be over 15,000 empty seats (announced attendance was in the 43,000 range). What was really surprising was a half-empty Zona Zoo section. Yes, it was sweltering, and yes, the games kicked off after 7:30 p.m., but what else was going on that would cause students to decide to sit this one out?

Tonight sees a ranked Utah team coming into Arizona Stadium. Is it possible that we can finally see a packed Zona Zoo and full stadium overall? We know Utah’s fans will be there; will Arizona’s?

Ken Muscutt

Salinas, Calif.

Attention federal and state legislators. The bank that issued our Visa card called to say that a merchant’s files may have been compromised, so they issued us a new card and number. We have six automatic payments charged to that card each month. We had to notify those companies of the new number to avoid having rejected payments resulting in late fees and interest.

We asked who the merchant was so we could avoid doing further business with it until is security improved. Visa said because of confidentiality, it wouldn’t tell us. Visa protects a careless merchant while the cardholder’s credit is potentially compromised. How about the rights of cardholders to avoid doing business with merchants who are not responsible with their security?

Dave Glicksman

Marana