Food indeed tied to our security
Re: the Oct. 11 article “Nutrition and food security are vital to national security.”
I am the former board chair of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. I was heartened by Mr. Zahner’s piece arguing that “nutrition and food security are national security issues.”
Another clear linkage between food and national security directly affects those who make the utmost sacrifice for our country — food insecurity among military families. Policymakers in Washington must make the child tax credit permanent and remove barriers to federal assistance programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. These programs are proven against poverty and food insecurity, and continued investments make us all safer.
Now there is a bipartisan, commonsense solution, backed by leading anti-hunger groups like MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, being considered in Congress as part of the annual defense bill. This proposal will ensure that children in military families—those most likely to enlist for future military service themselves — do not struggle with food insecurity and diet-related conditions that could make them unfit to serve.
Addressing military hunger is a matter of mission readiness, troop retention, and future recruitment. Arizona’s congressional delegation must support the Military Family Basic Needs provision.
Liz Kanter Groskind
Foothills
Prop. 206 full of bad ideas
I believe Prop. 206 wage manipulation will certainly increase cost of living. Higher cost of living hurts everyone, hitting the hardest those people on fixed incomes, people on the lower end of the wage scale and small businesses.
Not only will Prop. 206 hurt the economy and the poor, it will never end. Read it for yourself: Each year the minimum wage increases, forever! Even during a recession/depression, Prop. 206 tramps on.
It creates a new division of city government, just what we don’t need, leaving the taxpayer ultimately on the hook.
Jurisdiction is added to an already overburdened city court, yet it’s the new bureaucrat who imposes fines — hefty shut-down-a-business-forever fines. Furthermore, it allows for “interested party” litigation, with a 30% bounty to help entice said litigation, and prohibits an employer from requiring an “employee to possess a valid Social Security number”. It seems the devil really is in the details.
Prop. 206 is bad, very bad. It helps no one and costs everyone — vote no!
Mike Sacco
East side
Sinema blind to AZ’s needs
I find the actions of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema comically out of step with her constituents. Arizona has a higher than average percentage of senior citizens, many on multiple medications, yet she votes to retain high drug costs. Our planet is dying yet she chooses to retain an old-fashioned procedure that requires a supermajority to pass any legislation that would, among other things, add thousands of jobs and a cleaner environment to combat climate change. Remember 115 degree days in Phoenix? She has reversed her position on environmental issues and opposes a $100 billion legislative bill directly aimed at environment improvements. Sinema, can you say town hall?
Robert Cozad
Oro Valley
Natural immunity helps only some
Re: the Oct. 17 article “Let natural immunity serve as proof.”
Renee Schafer Horton spent a few hundred words on the glories of “natural immunity” from COVID-19 as opposed to the move to give everyone the “too-new vaccine.” It’s all well and good to talk about the benefits of natural immunity, that is immunity due to having caught COVID-19 and survived. But what about the 700,000 plus Americans for whom natural immunity failed because they died? What about the hundreds of thousands who will not die or be hospitalized because Americans got the shot? Horton blithely glorifies this concept without a consideration for all who died or, due to age or serious medical conditions, lived in fear of this coronavirus.
Jeffrey St. Clair
North side
Freedom to Vote Act protects you
Voter suppression legislation in various states and ongoing attempts to erode previously secure elections now require federal protection.
There currently exists no bipartisan willingness to solve this issue. Congress has delayed passing national standards for elections to protect our democracy, due (mostly to) Republican senators’ lack of support.
The Freedom to Vote Act is designed to protect all people’s voting rights, end partisan gerrymandering, and eliminate the undue influence of dark money on politicians. If senators of either party oppose these federal protections, it is likely due to the receipt of dark money for their re-election campaigns. Their opposition is a sure sign to vote them out of office.
The only way federal voting rights legislation will pass is through temporary suspension of the filibuster for this most important constitutional right. Urge Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly to support suspension of the filibuster and pass the Freedom to Vote Act. The future of our democracy depends on these federal guarantees.
Barbara Reuter
Southeast side
Another Tucson ‘urban renewal’?
I have lived in Tucson for 61 years, worked in community planning here for 30, and have never heard or felt the ugliness I have heard and felt these past months. This is the result of our city trying to push through a one-size fits all “Accessory Dwelling Unit” proposal that is supposed to solve serious local issues based on what other cities are doing.
It reminds me of when the city tore out its heart in a downtown barrio and called it “urban renewal.” A time when city leaders wanted to be part of a national movement and failed to understand how that movement could negatively impact Tucson. That will forever haunt us.
We are told we don’t have time for in-depth consideration of possible impacts or alternatives, that it’s OK, it’s what other cities are doing. That hasn’t served us well in the past. We can’t stop moving ahead; we must move ahead respectfully. That should be the Tucson way.
Marilyn Robinson
Midtown
