Letters to the Editor April 5

What is the governor of Arizona thinking when he lifts COVID mask mandates? Perhaps a political move (since most states with anti COVID mask laws seem to be governed by Republicans) than concern for the citizens of the state. I am registered Independent.

John Trojanowski

SaddleBrooke

Democrats, media pulling all the strings

“A broken system inherited from the previous administration.”

A “humanitarian issue.”

Nancy Pelosi fabricated these accusations during an interview with the mainstream media. We all know that the current border crisis was created by President Biden.

Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government that is the real ruling power of the country. The Biden administration systematically deployed the entire range of today’s media to rouse the population to fanatical assent.

Public opinion is a force to be managed by experts trained to do the all-important work. This work cannot be fully implemented unless the Democratic propagandists have full support from their media allies.

The manufacture of consent is a necessity throughout the public sphere. Democrats will say something like, “Republicans always lie, Democrats always tell the truth.”

In the real world, Democrats create lies, and the mainstream media distributes them.

Rafael Polo

Oro Valley

A more intelligent use of COVID masks

After comparing California to Florida shutdown strategies and resulting COVID deaths, I’m not sure anybody can call themselves an expert on what we should do.

However, it is my opinion that we should not force people who are fully vaccinated to wear masks in public or anywhere else. This also should go for anyone who has had COVID and no longer has it.

This was recently the subject of a debate between Dr. Rand Paul and Dr. Fauci in Congress.

The reason COVID deaths are asymptotically approaching zero here in the U.S. is because the lion’s share of the people it kills are now vaccinated. That was the intended purpose of developing the vaccine.

Full disclosure: I am an old person who is sick and tired of wearing this stinking mask!

Gary Blakely

Green Valley

Dr. Christ defies logic, and maybe her oath

Dr. Cara Christ, Arizona’s top health official, defied all logic with her statement in which she basically said, “Go out in public, behave as you will, and don’t worry if you get sick or cause others to get sick, we have plenty of hospital beds available.”

This shows a total disregard for the safety of individuals and those they contact.

If I said to my diabetic patient, “Don’t worry about your sugar consumption, we have plenty of hospital beds,” or told my lung cancer patient, “It’s OK to smoke, we have plenty of hospital beds,” I would lose my job and quite possibly my license to practice nursing.

A social contract with the community means that I will behave as best I can, to protect my health and well-being and those I have contact with. I don’t know what social contract Dr. Christ follows or if she can recall the Hippocratic Oath.

Steve Gottlieb, RN

Midtown

Republican Party strays from principle

So about those blatantly oppressive, strict, voter suppression laws being passed by Republican-controlled state governments throughout the United States: It seems we are witnessing a last, desperate, gasping grab for power by a seriously compromised political party.

It is bound for oblivion, as it follows Donald Trump down a rathole of dishonesty, deceit and blatant hypocrisy. What ever happened to the principled GOP of Barry Goldwater and John McCain?

Clifford Schneider

East side

Biden and Harris work to unite us

Re: the March 25 letter “Biden is already dividing us.”

I see the examples the letter writer uses to show how President Biden is dividing us actually show him uniting us. When Biden and Kamala Harris meet with Asians, I see this as a demonstration that they consider Asian Americans (and any other minority) to be just as important to this country as white Americans.

As far as dividing us by increasing our taxes, if I was making over $400,000 a year, I don’t think I’d object to paying more taxes to help our country in these difficult times.

And the tax on gasoline: a small price to pay to fix our deteriorating infrastructure and help unite Americans around the idea that we need to reduce our use of fossil fuels if we are to slow down the catastrophic effects of climate change.

I think Biden and Harris are doing a great job in uniting this country and making it great again!

Kenneth Cohn

Northwest side

Deaths on border belie Biden’s narrative

On March 20, Border Patrol agents found a migrant mother from Guatemala and her 3-year-old boy unresponsive on an island in the middle of the Rio Grande River.

Agents provided CPR, and the mother and boy eventually recovered in a Texas hospital. The woman’s 9-year-old girl was found dead from drowning in the river. The family was attempting to enter the United States undocumented.

I blame this tragedy squarely on “migrant” President Biden, who is causing this child endangerment. People throughout Central America believe him to have given the green light to come here, and they are now coming by the thousands.

As of March 26, there were over 18,000 migrant unaccompanied children in Customs and Border Protection custody. Where is the outrage at Biden by migrant rights activists over the girl’s death?

This little girl’s journey ended tragically and totally negates those who now say that danger on the border is being overblown.

Janis Newman

Foothills

Mask up to stay up on the virus

Pima County has made great strides in reducing the amount and spread of COVID-19 virus and getting people vaccinated. Now is not the time to lift mask mandates, and I applaud Pima County for its stance to continue the mandate.

Yes, great progress has been made but what is wrong with continuing such a simple measure for a while longer? Everyone already has masks, and they are cheap and available for free at many businesses.

At times they can be uncomfortable, but the same could be said for corrective eyeglasses required for driving, seat belts, shirts and shoes in restaurants, dogs on leashes, etc. Masks are good for you, your family and everyone else.

With virus variants developing and spreading, we need to continue to mask up! Let’s not lose ground.

Randall Smith

Foothills

Finchem wants to oversee our elections?

Increasingly, it appears the Arizona Legislature is overrun by overly ambitious and arguably self-serving career politicians masquerading as selfless public servants.

First, David Gowan, who got caught with his hand in the travel expense cookie jar in 2016, is angling for a big bump in per diem. And now, Mark Finchem, one of the architects of the Arizona GOP “stop the steal” clown show, wants to be the overseer of our elections. What could possibly go wrong?

Sheldon Clark

Vail

Creative 2nd Amendment interpretation

In view of these ever increasing mass shootings, let’s take a real close look at the Second Amendment.

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Fact: self defense, hunting and assault weapons are not mentioned. However, a militia is defined by Webster as the whole body of able bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service in an emergency.

Therefore, shouldn’t all gun owners, and by definition men only, be subject to weapons and militia training (well regulated) and on U.S. government call to assist in combating the emergency created by these shootings?

The Founding Fathers neglected to include women more than once; it took their protest before the 19th Amendment gave them the right to vote. Do we need another amendment to include them in the right to bear arms?

Chuck Cabrera

Northwest side

Biden’s conflicting border message

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the Biden administration is encouraging families not to send migrant children along the dangerous border. But the Biden administration’s own policy of allowing most families and unaccompanied children in contradicts this message.

The Biden administration is providing ICE with $86 million to place migrant families in hotels along the border. Imagine that message filtering back to Central America and encouraging more to come.

Mayorkas previously said he expected a 20-year high in undocumented immigration, then later said the border is secure and closed.

Wonder if he knows that drug cartels are taking advantage of Border Patrol resources being shifted off the border and away from highway checkpoints to dealing with the thousands of migrants in holding facilities being processed?

The Biden administration has an accommodating attitude toward families coming across the border making doubtful asylum claims. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of suckers around the world have been waiting patiently for years to immigrate here the legal way.

Tony Domino

Northwest side

Biden’s $2T tax increase will affect everyone

Joe Biden plans to raise taxes by $2 trillion through increasing the corporate tax from its current 21% to 28%. It used to be at 35% until the Trump tax cuts reduced it.

Even at 28%, the corporate tax would be higher than China at 25% and the European Union average of 22%. America will become less competitive.

Under Trump’s tax cuts, corporations repatriated over $1 trillion into the American economy. Corporations pass along higher taxes to consumers in the form of raising costs on all kinds of goods and services.

Increased taxes will mean less research and development and lower wages for employees of these corporations. Biden plans to raise income taxes on those earning over $400,000.

Many operate small to medium sized businesses. You really think they will not increase the costs of their goods and services to offset the tax increases? Gasoline is already at $2.95 a gallon, $1 more than on election day.

Arizona voters just raised state income taxes on higher earners.

Gusher Adams

Midtown