We must all protect the San Pedro River
Please help save our San Pedro River, the last free-flowing one in the Southwest.
That danger the river now faces is the proposed border wall across the river and the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.
This section of the wall will cross the SPRNCA at the border, causing ecological devastation by stopping the free flow of water, causing debris buildup and flooding, while preventing wildlife from crossing.
A slew of environmental laws has been waived to move this project forward.
If you feel a grievance about this bad governmental decision, please assemble with Cochise County citizens and other Americans to exercise your constitutional right, as stated in the First Amendment: “The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.”
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Jeff Sturges
Sierra Vista
Trump better than FDR? Don’t make me laugh
Regarding the recent letter suggesting President Trump would have been a better World War II leader than Franklin Delano Roosevelt: the idea that Trump would have gotten us involved earlier than did FDR to help England and France is absurd.
At best, he would have been a Charles Lindbergh-like isolationist who admired Hitler’s autocratic accomplishments. At worst, he would have been friendly and submissive to Hitler, as he is with Vladimir Putin today.
Rick Klumpp
Oro Valley
If the Senate won’t do it, voters must oust Trump
President Trump will not be removed by a Republican controlled Senate. The evidence is overwhelming, but they don’t care that he tried to use a foreign government to win this year’s election, because that is how they roll.
Throughout history, conservatives have used gerrymandering, poll taxes, literacy tests, purged voter registrations, reduced polling stations and even more direct forms of fraud to disenfranchise citizens who might vote them out of office.
Cheating to win is enshrined within their dogma. This is just the latest example of their dishonesty and cowardice.
That is why Trump is their champion. He cheated in business and now he cheats in politics. He said last week that, “Honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material.” A blatant admission of their obstruction.
Why should we expect them to suddenly do the right thing? If they don’t, we must do it in November; ditto for McSally.
Rick Scifres
Green Valley
A private border wall will have repercussions
My reaction to reading about the Arizona House Committee on Federal Relations voting that private landowners can build their own private border wall without permits, was “BASTA!”
What about the repercussions to other property owners and their community?
This political group, the Republicans, want a wall they recognize is a “deterrent,” not the fix. It’s ironic that they care about private property when their national leadership is currently condemning private property across the Rio Grande Valley to build the border wall that depends on a Border Patrol agent to be there to apprehend any climbers or tunnel diggers.
I wonder, can those property owners use their GOP endorsed guns to defend their property from the stupidity and fear of the government? What about the neighbors to private border walls in Arizona? I’m sure they fear for their private property, too.
Janay Brun
Midtown
Medicare seems headed toward chopping block
While the nation is glued to the impeachment trial, President Trump was in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual economic summit. CNBC asked Trump if he intended to put entitlements (i.e. Social Security and Medicare) on the table.
While in 2016, he said he wouldn’t cut them, now he says they are going to put them on the table for review.
Arizona has a lot of senior citizens who depend on Social Security and Medicare. These people paid into both Social Security and Medicare for many, many years. To cut these would harm thousands of vulnerable people who are old and many in poor health.
Pam Farris
Oro Valley
What would’ve Trump said as past president?
Having just read famous quotes from former president’s like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, and a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I wonder how President Trump would have said things? Would Washington say it’s fake news that I cut down the cherry tree?
Would Lincoln have said, “before I free the slaves I need a favor first?” How about FDR and “We have nothing to fear but immigrants?”
For Truman there’s “If you can’t stand the heat, eat at McDonalds and the bucks stop in my pocket.
If Trump were Kennedy, he might say “Ask not what you can do for your country but what you can do for me.”
Trump as Dr. King might say that “A man should be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the color of his hair.”
And of course, from the golden rule of Trump, “do onto others before they do unto you”. Or would Trump say, like Theodore Roosevelt, “If I could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of my trouble, I wouldn’t sit for a month.”
Clyde R. Steele
Oro Valley
Gun show ‘loophole’ not backed up by stats
There have been three opinion editorials in the Star recently on the gun show “loophole” and more specifically the Pima County Fairgrounds Gun Show.
This alleged loophole is a centerpiece of the left’s argument on gun shows and gun control.
An explanation of the loophole is one can legally purchase weapons at the show from private parties without going through a background check. This is true.
The Star has devoted print space for these opinion pieces. One might think it would be valuable to print some statistics on the weapon crimes committed by persons who bought weapons at gun shows and those who bought at the Pima County Fairgrounds Gun show.
Nationally in 2016, .07% of gun involved crimes were purchased at gun shows.
Presumably, some went through background checks, rendering the left’s argument moot.
Mark Wurz
Northwest side
Trump’s fate should be decided by voters
The approval rating of Congress is approximately 25%. During the impeachment trial, Congressman Adam Schiff said “The president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box for we cannot be assured the vote will be fairly won.”
I trust the vote of the American people far more than I trust the folks in Congress like Schiff. The election is nine months and a few days away.
The Senate should let the voters decide President Trump’s fate.
Jerry Bouwens
Northeast side
New cuts to Medicare hinder physical therapy
As a physical therapist, I know how important physical therapy is to helping members of our community address injury, reduce chronic pain, and prevent falls.
Despite the incredible value of PT, a newly planned Medicare cut to physical therapy payment will reduce our ability to meet the needs of vulnerable seniors in our community and across the United States.
As we continue to confront national health challenges, like the opioid crisis and the epidemic of elderly falls, patient access to physical therapy services must be prioritized.
I hope Congress and the Trump administration will work with therapy stakeholders to stop these deep cuts before they go into effect in 2021.
Teri Flanagan
Foothills
