Government spending
It is time for government to control spending, like all Americans are forced to do.
Many households prepare yearly budgets based on anticipated spending and expected income. If spending exceeds income, a reduction of spending is needed. Options include using funds from savings, borrow additional funds, which is never good, or find second employment, which is not good for the family.
Business must face the same situation. If projected expenses are more than anticipated sales, their options, are raise the prices of manufactured products, which adds to inflation, reduce expenses or close the business. Neither of the options is good for economy.
Government has their own approach. If budgeted expenses exceed the anticipated income, they refuse to reduce expenses. The easy way out is to increase taxes or raise the national debt.
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Many politicians forget they are elected by the people and work for all Americans, not just a few and themselves.
Henry Sheetz
Oro Valley
Freedom to Vote Act
I never imagined elected representatives in the U.S. Congress would pass legislation trying to change who gets to vote. But as it happens, there have been 31 different bills recently passed in this country to do just that.
Examples: Limiting the number of drop boxes for mail-in voting, reducing the days that voters can vote or complicating requirements for qualifying to vote. Of course, the wording in the bills never says, “We want to keep the poor and people of color from voting,” but, the devil is in the details.
Currently, each state can make their own voting laws. The Freedom to Vote Act would change that and set common standards for all aspects of voting, like standards for voter identification and standards for early voting and preventing state election subversion. I support this bill. It needs to be passed.
Anne Dalton
Northwest side
Senator Sinema
Our country needs effective senators and house members. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s obstructionist, non-communicative behavior is damaging to our country. Senators carry a special responsibility to rise above the noise and cooperatively sort out what is best for the country. Some might say her refusal to state where she stands indicates she is adopting a position of strength. My opinion is that she does not know where she stands for lack of expertise, study, knowledge and experience.
Stating her position as, “I’m standing in front of the elevator” is sickening. Her behavior causes people to lose faith in government. If that’s her desired legacy, she should share that in the next election.
I would hope to never say this to a United States Senator, but it’s time she quits playing childish games and grows up into the type of leader we thought we were electing. I hope she will show us that she is better than her current behavior.
Frank Hagel
SaddleBrooke
Letter to Sinema
As a Democrat, I am devastated that you have become a roadblock to the crucial bills which embody the President’s and the party’s promises to America. You continue to stand in the way of progress on these bills while offering no ideas or suggestions as what changes in the bills would meet your approval. You appear to be flippant and insincere, if not totally out of your league, when you do appear in public.
The fact that you cozy up to big Pharma while arguing against lowering drug costs for Medicare recipients is a terrible look. Six years may seem a long time, but trust us, many of your former supporters will never forget or forgive your torpedoing the most important legislative work Congress has undertaken in generations.
Please, Sen. Sinema, work in good faith for your party and country, and begin living up to the promise we saw in you when we worked for and voted for you.
Peter Frank
SaddleBrooke
Prop 206 will not fix Tucson’s poverty problem
Supporters of Prop. 206, the Tucson Minimum Wage Act, have said that the initiative is meant to address the root causes of poverty rather than forever providing a band-aid. Unfortunately, Prop. 206 does not tackle the causes of poverty and will only exacerbate Tucson’s growing poverty rates. We are already seeing that the prices for basic goods and services have gone up as inflation rates have risen due to the pandemic.
Prop. 206 will only make matters worse. Mandating higher wages for employees in addition to the onerous provisions that will increase costs and red tape for businesses will further raise prices for groceries, services, childcare, and care for older adults. This will negatively impact those on fixed incomes and single-parent households.
It will affect the most vulnerable and the people it is meant to help. Proponents mean well, but Prop. 206 is flawed and will do more harm than good. Please vote no on Prop. 206.
Roberto Moreno
North side
Build Back Better project
Though Congress faces obstacles in passing President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, as a Marine Corps veteran, this bill is critical, and its climate provisions are a national security priority. The climate crisis will have a destabilizing effect on our planet, as it causes migration and conflict over waning resources.
In Arizona, longer drought seasons are choking waterways we rely on, leading to shortages statewide. Heatwaves have led to the deaths of over 400 people in 2020 in Arizona, potentially doubling in the next 20 years in cities like Phoenix and Tucson, ranked two of the fastest-warming cities in the US.
Increased temperatures mean higher electricity bills and use and power outages, leaving millions without air conditioning.
Now is the opportunity to act. Seventy-one percent of people back investment in climate action. It’s time for Congress, including Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, to uphold this promise to Arizonans and the American people.
Selina Lemley
South side
