Obvious that Trump
is Putin’s stooge
What a circus show we are witnessing, with Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Bill Barr and Co. It’s not a sideshow but the main act going on nonstop under the big top of GOP corruption. The lying, denying, spinning, and smearing escalating as the corrupter in chief explodes in rage after releasing his self-damning “perfect” extortion phone call to Ukraine’s president.
Flying-monkey Giuliani is sparring with the corrupt attorney general, while the high priest of corruption brings Pence into the fray. No one could make this stuff up, and its tremendously scary to think this is the low to which our country has devolved. The article “For help with Ukraine, Giuliani turned to unlikely pair of fixers from Florida” shows just how the Republicans operate.
It is so obvious Trump is Vladimir Putin’s stooge. Republican sycophants in Congress continue to rally around the wagons of corruption, folding to their fear of losing elections if they dare speak out against Trump’s treasonous behavior. Cowards all!
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Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Draining of swamp is still achievable
Let’s really drain the swamp.
1. Cap campaign spending. 2. Confine campaigns to 45 days. 3. Cap donations at $5,000 by individuals only. 4. Eliminate lobbying. 5. Establish term limits, thereby eliminating “career” politicians. 6. Forbid any candidate from employing or appointing a family member. 7. Pay elected officials a competitive wage while serving. 8. Require background checks. 9. Establish a bipartisan commission to perform performance reviews every year of each elected official and to publish the results.
This, and more, could happen. It would take the support of 75% to 80% of the population, but these are all achievable goals. The only folks opposed to this proposal would be those that are currently paying to assure political loyalty and to guarantee exorbitant return on investment for themselves and their families. None of us “regular folks” would object to any of these reforms.
Stephen Franz
Green Valley
Kind words
for Stegeman
Re: the Oct. 4 article “Stegeman resigns from TUSD board after 11 years in job that ‘wears on you.’”
Friday’s article about Dr. Stegeman’s resignation concluded in a very unprofessional and biased manner.
Dr. Stegeman has worked diligently for 11 years for TUSD. The author took a quote from a political rival who has done nothing but cause separation and ineffectiveness with the board. At no time did Dr. Stegeman acknowledge “that he is just not the best representative for the district.”
Ending the article with this misinformation is a disservice to Arizona Daily Star readers and a very unfortunate insult to a man who has given up so much of his time to improve our failing district.
I have worked as a guest teacher for TUSD for 18 years. I have seen Dr. Stegeman a least a half-dozen times at my schools or in my classroom.
George Youngerman
East side
If only Prop. 409 tied pay to performance
Re: the Oct. 12 article “Prop. 409 helps secure a fair wage for Tucson’s mayor, City Council.”
The proposition is generally rational, but it is incomplete. Simply increasing salaries will not assure that taxpayers receive the stated benefits. Most incumbents believe that status quo performance is fine, although taxes, fees and utility rates increase chronically, many basic metrics such as average personal disposable income are static or declining. We do need greater diversity, competency, and use of taxpayer funds to create incremental and quantifiable taxpayer value, not more taxes, fees, and rates.
Defining quantifiable performance metrics and requiring achievement of goals to receive the additional compensation would be “win-win” and create a sustainable, dynamic and flexible management culture.
The published goals and measurement would also reduce political constraints, promote collaboration, harness community knowledge and guidance, accelerate results and improve accountability and transparency regarding city management’s true priority: how taxpayer dollars are being used.
Terry Finefrock
Foothills
How McSally can help:
Reimburse taxpayers
Since Sen. Martha McSally and other local Republicans are so in love with Trump’s record so far, they should be willing to pay for his unpaid city debt. And when Vice President Mike Pence or any other Trumpite comes to Tucson, they should be glad to pay the bill.
Thomas Jones
Foothills
3-year nightmare
taking its toll
Our country has been living with Donald Trump since he was elected in 2016. It has been a nightmare ever since that date. Well, he finally has broken my heart. I love my country. I’ve always been proud to call myself an American. Why can’t our government remove him immediately? He is a threat to our security. More importantly, if he remains in office we are doomed. It’s pretty basic.
Judy Nostrant
Midtown
Prop. 205 threatens federal grants to TPD
The Tucson Police Department receives more than $11 million each year in grants from the federal government. These grants fund crime lab positions and equipment used in offender prosecution, training for law enforcement investigations, extra officers in higher crime areas throughout the city, and narcotics investigations. They also fund the Records Management System needed for data collection, and public-records requests. Significant for our region, federal grants pay for Spanish-speaking detectives for sexual assault and domestic violence investigations.
If Prop. 205 passes, more than $11 million annually that TPD relies on to do their job and keep us safe would be at risk. What’s more, TPD would lose the cooperation of federal partners and lose access to their databases that help solve crimes involving missing children, human and drug trafficking, and internet crimes. With the loss of funding, TPD’s ability to investigate the most serious crimes in our community would be substantially limited. Prop. 205 would do more harm than good.
Salvador Aguirre
Midtown
Shameful whoppers flow from White House
Memorable Trump statements: “I’ll tear up Obamacare on the first day.” The ACA is still alive and doing well. “I’ll release my tax returns,” he said several times during the presidential campaign and several times since the election, and we are still waiting to see them.
“I promise, Mexico will pay for the wall.” Taxpayer monies were taken from approved Department of Defense projects to fund the wall.
“No quid pro quo.” It was confirmed in a telephone conversation between the U.S. president and Turkish president and reconfirmed by the White House on Oct. 17.
“In my opinion, I’m not going to make any money,” Trump said, speaking about having the next G-7 meeting at his Doral golf resort. Based on some of his previous statements, who would believe him on this last one? Frankly, I believe the next G-7 will really be a G-1 plus Putin, when the rest of the G-7 refrain from attending.
Jerry Lujan
SaddleBrooke
Major Guaymas port still worth pursuing
In 1965, a business development panel addressing economic growth for Southern Arizona briefly considered the potential of developing Guaymas as a major port, allowing for a lessening of the shipping pressure on Los Angeles. There would be rail linkages from Guaymas to the Bisbee area, where there would be a junction for rail links west and links east. Such an arrangement would address several major issues ranging from job creation to enhancement of transportation links.
Perhaps this is the time to think big and make an effort to address a number of related issues by looking beyond I-11. I left the area shortly after the November 1965 meeting, but from all appearances nothing was done addressing the possibilities.
William Hanne
Green Valley
