Keep multinationals out of our elections
The Russians are out of line. But they don’t influence America’s affairs nearly as much as multinational corporations. There are a handful of companies in the S&P 500 with no foreign business. As a group, though, those 500 corporations generate approximately 43% of their revenue outside the United States.
If foreign influence of American elections is against the law, those companies and any other organization with international interests should be precluded from donating to American politicians, parties and PACs.
Walter Ramsley
East side
Better schools,
not more tax cuts
Re: the March 7 opinion “Employers desperate for more investment in education pipeline.”
People are also reading…
Shelley Watson and Christine Thompson, representatives of nonprofit, nonpartisan groups, have written a beautiful column explaining how a high-quality public education system can lift individuals, their families, and Arizona businesses up from our current, low-wage, high-poverty condition. They report that a recent poll found that voters identify education as the top issue and 3 out of 4 agree that “the entire education continuum needs more funding.”
The teachers strike in 2018 caused Gov. Doug Ducey and the Legislature to raise Arizona teacher pay from No. 50 among the 50 states all the way up to 49th! Now that public education is so flush with funding, Republican state Reps. J.D. Mesnard and Ben Toma are proposing another major round of tax cuts to reduce Arizona’s “budget surplus.” There is no budget surplus, as long as Arizona’s education funding remains stuck at the bottom of the nation.
Brooks Keenan
Oro Valley
Sanders wants to wreck
the Democratic Party
Bernie Sanders is a terrible choice for president. Bernie is leading a revolution against the Democratic Party “establishment.” In the past, Sanders ran as a Liberty Union Party candidate for Senate and for governor of Vermont. Their platform called for legalizing all drugs and government ownership of the “means of production with worker control.” In 1980, Sanders was a presidential elector for the Socialist Workers Party, which was founded by the Marxist Leon Trotsky.
Sanders appointed Democratic Socialists of America Honorary Chairman Cornel West to the Democratic Platform Committee in 2016. West later defected to help Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Sanders refused to speak against voting for Stein, who took over a million votes from Hillary Clinton.
Is it any wonder that moderate Democrats are flocking to Joe Biden? We have a choice between common sense and decency, or a radical leftist who wants to “Bern” down the Democratic Party. If Bernie becomes the candidate, he’ll go down in flames and take the rest of the party with him.
Robert (Bob) Allen
SaddleBrooke
Does anybody care
about national debt?
Re: the March 4 opinion “Why the national debt has yet to resonate with my classmates.”
Evangeline Mathis, a university student, wrote a provocative column concerning the national debt, in which she laments that her generation does not seem to be concerned about the ever increasing debt ($23 trillion, growing currently at $1 trillion per year). Yet, as she points out, it is her generation, and those to follow, which will be saddled with the burden of repayment.
She also notes that the interest payments this year will approach $500 billion. That is money which could go to important government functions such as defense, education and health.
Mathis: Welcome to the club. It is not just young people. Our president and Congress ignore the problem, as well. They even embrace tax cuts knowing future generations will pay for our extra cash.
Our young citizens learn from their elders. Our leaders should be ashamed.
Jim Greene
Oro Valley
Trump is
the real hoax
President Trump likes to use the word “hoax” when condemning any scenario he doesn’t deem to his liking (global warming, coronavirus, cozying up to dictators, white supremacy, defending the NRA). For what it’s worth, in my own opinion, the real hoax is in the Oval Office masquerading as president of the United States! We have a chance to end this nightmare on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020!
Herb Stark
Downtown
‘Comportment’ test will matter, but it shouldn’t
Re: the March 8 editorial endorsement “Biden should be the Democratic nominee for president.”
The Daily Star’s Editorial Board endorsement of Joe Biden was expected, actually automatic. However, the inclusion of the word “comportment” as one of Biden’s characteristics is worth a comment.
There is nothing whatever in the constitutional requirements for a president to live up to any standard of “comportment!” I suspect a review of the 40-plus predecessors to Donald Trump will identify many different personal behaviors.
Yet, even as I question the use of that term in an endorsement, I regret that comportment is probably the main characteristic that will likely doom President Trump’s re-election. In spite of the notable successes of his administration, economic and international, it is regrettable that his tweets and rough talk will likely do him in.
Too bad the Constitution didn’t include “must be a nice guy” as one of the standards for the top dog.
Chuck Josephson
Midtown
Vote like your life depends on it
Bernie Sanders may not be the ideal candidate to lead a “revolution,” but after 20 years of globalization and “free trade,” four years of Donald Trump and now the coronavirus, if you don’t think we need a “revolution” you haven’t been paying attention. The immediate threat is coronavirus, magnified many times over by the money worship and free-market ideology of those who now run the American health-care system.
Next comes global warming and climate change. Even if your children survive the coronavirus, it is increasingly likely they won’t survive climate change. Again, the root of the problem is money worship, or the desire to protect the profitability of the industries producing most of the CO2 cooking the planet.
Nothing is going to change without a revolution in the political and economic systems that have produced the likes of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. When you next vote, vote as if your families’ lives depended on it. Because they do.
Steven Lesh
East side
Reading Seed
looking for coaches
I am a reading coach with the Literacy Connects Reading Seed Program. One of the highlights of my week is spending 30 minutes with each of the second-grade students I coach. The Reading Seed program is actively seeking new coaches. The important focus of this program is sharing your love of books and reading with students who just need a little encouragement.
There is no requirement to teach reading. Although I am a retired librarian I am not a reading teacher, nor do I have the qualifications to be one, but it is so much fun sharing “Dragons Love Tacos,” or “Green Eggs and Ham” with these eager young readers. Being a reading coach will bring a new dimension to your life and give a lifelong gift to the students you coach. Find out more at Literacyconnects.org
Susan Husband
Midtown
Socialism
and ‘free stuff’
One of the leading candidates for president is an avowed socialist. Between him and the other Democratic candidate, they are promising a lot of attractive “free stuff” (free education, free medical care, forgiveness of college debt). Now just where does the money come from to pay for all of this free stuff? It comes from taxes to the federal government, which are generated by working people earning taxable income.
Now imagine you have graduated with a “free” marketable degree and enter into the work place, earning a living, and paying taxes. This tax revenue is then used to pay for “free stuff” for those who are younger than you. And, as promised by a certain presidential candidate, your taxes will go up and your take-home pay will be reduced to pay for those coming up behind you. Revelation: Your “free stuff” isn’t so free now is it?
Warren Wright
Oro Valley
