Border agents get OK to act with impunity
It is a sad day for our country when our highest court of justice grants impunity to U.S. Border Patrol agents from their acts of violence and inhumanity.
Children still locked in freezing cages. Parents deported to countries they have never known. Teenagers violated in detention camps!
Now the Supreme Court has thrown out a Mexican family’s right to sue a Border Patrol agent who shot and killed their teenage son through the border wall into Mexico for no justifiable reason. The court ruling has sent a message that Homeland Security and its satellite Border Patrol agency need answer to nobody, not even the law of the land.
I thank Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the other three justices who dissented. Unfortunately, in this political climate, diplomacy has been replaced by unfettered violence.
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Susana Manzana
Downtown
Wrong man is in charge of US virus response
Last week, President Trump put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of containing the coronaviris. Pence in 2014 initiated a rapid expansion of an HIV epidemic in his state of Indiana. He closed the only Planned Parenthood that tested for the virus. He had publicly stated that condoms do not work and forbade needle-exchange programs. The latter has been been adopted in most states for decades. He is on record stating that smoking does not cause cancer.
This is a dark era indeed. Divination, seers and denial did nothing to stop the bubonic plague in the 1300s, nor will it today.
The current situation will not, of course, be as devastating, but the larger virus problem is the anti-science attack by the supporters of this current administration. There is no pill that will take care of that.
John Corbett
Foothills
Carbon tax on imports would help climate
Re: the Feb. 27 letter “Missing equations in climate discussion.”
Thanks to James Tuthill for his letter about two challenges to reducing carbon emissions, population growth and carbon emissions from India and China.
Population growth slows substantially wherever women are educated. Historically, carbon emissions were generated by higher rates of consumption in developed nations, not from poor countries.
However, coal plants continue to be built in China and India, possibly to power manufacturing for exports and dangerous levels of carbon from developing countries are a problem.
How can we incentivize clean and renewable energy everywhere? Carbon emissions in the U.S., India, China and elsewhere will plummet if we have a price on carbon that returns revenue to households.
A bill now in Congress – H.R. 763 – calls for a tariff on imported goods that are made with carbon intensive means. That’s a powerful tool that applies the American market economy to lead a global solution.
Ask Reps. Raúl Grijalva, Ann Kirkpatrick and Tom O’Halleran to support effective action on climate.
Jane Conlin
Oro Valley
National Popular Vote is a fraud
Re: the Feb. 26 article “Electoral College, Constitution are under attack.”
A contributor responds to my column by saying I should read the Constitution since an “amendment does not require approval of all three federal branches,” citing only Congress. I stand corrected regarding the executive branch. However, I disagree regarding the Judiciary.
If an amendment passed saying that only white male landowners could vote, would not the Supreme Court intervene? I think so.
The writer tells us that the National Popular Vote initiative is not “blatantly unconstitutional” because Article II allows states to choose electors any way they want. Maybe so, but the National Popular Vote is nevertheless a fraud. California is an NPV state and is expected to vote heavily in favor of the Democratic candidate. If our incumbent president wins the national popular vote, does any rational American of any political persuasion expect California electors to cast their 55 votes for Trump? I think not.
I do indeed want each state to follow the will of its voters, because America is a republic not a democracy. That’s our Constitution.
Jeffrey McConnell
West side
We must pay up
if we want better roads
Re: the Feb. 29 article “Lawmakers’ proposal to double Arizona’s gasoline tax is stalled.”
Our roads are in awful condition and we complain about them constantly, but what are we going to do about it? The proposal to borrow the money to fix the roads was rejected by the voters and now the Legislature has proposed an 18¢ increase in the gas tax to 36¢. That idea also appears to be headed for defeat.
Meanwhile, seven other states pay more than 60¢ per gallon in taxes and I’ll bet they don’t have our road problems.
It’s been almost 30 years since we increased the gas tax, so it’s no mystery why we don’t have the money to fix the roads. The gas tax is the obvious way to pay for road repairs. The users of the roads pay for the repairs. There’s no easy way to pay for the things we need and want. Let’s pay to fix the roads!
Loring Green
Foothills
Debate stage should have had American flag
Why is the American flag NOT displayed on the stage of a democratic presidential candidate debate? The red, white and blue background that is used is not the same. It doesn’t represent the true meaning of our flag, which is freedom and dignity. It also represents the life of an individual who has given military service. It is a sign of honor for real Americans.
Janet Wilcox
East side
Criminals don’t care about gun laws
Re: the Feb. 27 guest opinion by Mary Reed “Senate still holdup up vote on gun background checks.”
If the gun that shot Mary Reed was not legally obtained by the gunman, then could she explain how the proposed background checks she supports would have prevented her shooting?
Also, does she think undocumented immigrants or criminals like drug sellers and pushers are going to submit to background checks? I think not!
John Gascoigne
Downtown
Real danger is to do nothing on climate
Re: the Feb. 23 article “’Eye-popping’ study: Colorado River down 2 billion tons of water due to climate change.’
As California slips back into drought, this article should command our attention. Imagine the devastating effects on Arizona’s agriculture, real estate values and food supply should we not make prompt efforts to halt climate change.
The way forward is crystal clear. We need an orderly transition away from fossil fuels.
In Congress, House Bill 763 could begin that transition quickly. A rising fee on fossil fuels will incentivize cleaner energy sources and spur innovation in efficiency and storage solutions. Returning proceeds from the fee to all households will shelter the middle class and poor from rising costs.
A border adjustment will protect business and encourage China and India to enact their own carbon-pricing programs.
Solving climate change will not ruin the economy. Not solving it is the true danger.
Arizona U.S. Reps. Raúl Grijalva, Tom O’Hallaran and Ann Kirkpatrick should join the 80 other House members who have already co-sponsored HR 763.
Edward Beshore
North side
Test Chinese-made medicines for the virus
There have been outbreaks of the coronavirus of people who purportedly had no contact with anyone from a source country like China. One man with underlying health issues died in Washington. I assume he was taking medications for his pre-existing health problems. Two more cases were detected at a nursing home there — one a caregiver, the other a resident. Many nursing home residents are on daily medications.
Then I read that China manufactures a lot of drugs and medical supplies for U.S. based pharmaceutical companies. How are these drugs and medical supplies handled in China? What sanitary procedures are in place during their manufacture at plants there?
Could these cases of coronavirus be connected to medicines and medical supplies from China? The FDA and CDC should test medications used by these people for the presence of the coronavirus and sample pharmaceuticals now being imported from China.
Aida Reed
Midtown
Think of your vote
as hiring a president
If you were going to remodel your house and had to hire a contractor, would you hire the one whose resume includes a half-dozen bankruptcies and thousands of lawsuits? What if you found out he had been married three times and cheated on all of his wives, even paying off porn stars to keep quiet about his cheating?
Is this the kind of man you would entrust with a job like that? Is this the kind of man you would let date your daughter? If the man claimed that because he is a celebrity he can grab women wherever he wants, would you want him around your wife or daughter?
If your answer to any of these questions is a resounding “no,” why would you hire him to be your president? This amoral and un-Christian man belongs somewhere other than the White House. Jail comes to mind.
Gary Jones
Northwest side
Sen. Warren is best person to lead country
The long, graceless Democratic primary process is bewailed by some but has yielded the most detailed ideas about our country in decades.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has emerged as the best candidate with the ability to unite, not divide, Democrats. She has demonstrated a combination of smarts, planning, charisma, inclusiveness, and yes, plans. She has built a formidable intellectual infrastructure that informs her campaign with sensible solutions to many social problems.
Concentration of wealth is an addiction to accumulation and the real source of major social problems. She proposes a tax on multimillionaires and billionaires that would raise about $2.75 trillion over 10 years. Her advocacy has poked the billionaires hornets’ nest and many have attacked her relentlessly. (Look to the ultrarich for confirmation of who they fear most.)
When voting for Elizabeth Warren, you are voting for the best person to lead the country.
Fred Miller
Sierra Vista
Health-care article was packed with lies
Re: the March 2 article “Canada’s socialized system of health care shouldn’t be praised.”
It is mind-boggling that this author’s lies about Canada’s health-care system would be allowed to be published in the Arizona Daily Star without anyone checking the facts. As a health professional living in Canada for 14 years, I wish the U.S. would have the “socialized” health-care system that exists in Canada and much of the rest of the free world.
The author is incorrect when he reports long waiting times. People with urgent medical conditions are seen just as fast in Canada as in the U.S., and there are safety nets in place for those who cannot afford medications. I can personally attest to this.
There are urgent care facilities for people with non-threatening health conditions. The author also neglects to mention that in Canada you have free choice of who you want to see. Your general practitioner is the gate-keeper for specialists, not a restrictive for-profit health insurance company, as in this country.
Zachary Shnek
Northwest side
Canadian health system works very well for most
Re: the March 2 article “Canada’s socialized system of health care shouldn’t be praised.”
The column from the Heritage Foundation presents a grotesque caricature of the Canadian health system.
As a Canadian wintering in Arizona (the climate is certainly better) and the recipient of three joint replacements and a stent implant at zero personal cost, I can testify that the system works very well for the vast majority.
There are certainly problems, notably underfunding, which needs to be addressed, but the human suffering is far less than in the U.S.
The per capita cost is about one half of that in the U.S., and the system definitely does not leave us “worse off financially.”
David Gracey
Northeast side