Horne and religious freedom
I was dismayed that people had forgotten Tom Horne’s previous stint as superintendent of education and voted for him again last November. I had hoped he would quietly disappear after his campaign malfeasance in 2017 (using his AG’s staff to work on his re-election efforts). When he previously was superintendent of education, he destroyed Mexican American studies programs for local high schoolers, made numerous racist statements and publicly supported sex offenders. People must have short memories.
Now he has criticized a school district for voting to cut ties with a Christian University and its “biblically informed values.” He has conveniently forgotten two things — our country was founded on freedom of religion, and that includes freedom for all beliefs as well as freedom from religion. Public schools have already been undermined by certain faith-based groups that advocate that only their beliefs should count.
Bonnie Gibson
Foothills
Arizona water crisis
I agree that a multitude of input opinions will help steer common sense solutions. Here are some:
Change the laws that affect water usage for mining operations
Change residential zoning codes. Require hot water re-circ pump, low-flow toilets and shower heads, etc. New construction gray water requirements?
Luxury tax on swimming pool and fountain water? Require pool covers.
No residential or commercial lawns
Cover the canal
Start PSAs about what individuals can do: Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth, and don’t rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Use cooking water to water vegetation, fix leaking faucets/toilets/irrigation, etc.
Tax credits for rainwater collection
Weekly (small) single-topic articles in the paper: What shrubs use less water, preferred trees to plant, the PSA stuff mentioned above, low-water usage appliances/toilets/shower heads, the most water efficient way to use your washing machine/dishwasher/garbage disposal, etc.
Sherry Tanko
Green Valley
Cause and effect
For years, green energy activists have hounded and sued the energy companies because their drilling activities may negatively affect the greater sage grouse and the caribou migration in Alaska. The effect of drilling activities was so negative that extinction was inevitable. Interestingly, the off-shore wind turbines are now being blamed for the death of many whales in the last week. What a conundrum! Now, we will see if what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. I am guessing that because green energy is so crucial (I joke for those who take me literally), the whales and the various birds will be sacrificed for the greater good.
Loyal M. Johnson Jr.
Oro Valley
How to pay $0 in AZ income tax
While I don’t claim to be offering financial advice, based on some quick calculations, it appears the majority of Arizona residents can avoid sending any income tax to the state of Arizona simply by taking advantage of the following tax credits:
1) Public School Tax Credit (Form 322), 2) Contributions for Qualifying Charitable Organizations (Form 321), 3) Contributions to Qualifying Foster Care Charitable Organizations (Form 352), 4) Contributions to Private School Tuition Organizations (Form 323), and 5) Switcher Individual Income Tax Credit (Form 348).
These programs can create $2,343 in tax credits for individuals and $4,683 for joint returns. This means that individual incomes up to $82,747 and joint incomes up to $165,425 would owe no state income taxes if these tax credits are properly applied, which includes the contributions not being deducted on the federal return. These tax credit programs allow taxpayers to send their “tax” money to the organizations they choose instead of letting politicians decide how to spend it.
Tony Kuyper
Foothills
Ugly in public
All over America, people are realizing that it is becoming OK to hate in public. Laws are being proposed and passed to hate gay people, transgender kids, immigrants, opposing ideas and even books. If you are a hater, the Republican Party has a place for you!
They can’t do anything except get tax deals for the rich, so it is all about getting political power for them. One way to get power is to take it from marginalized people and give it to authoritarians. Daddy knows best, so let him figure it out.
I dream about a government that has both sides working for the best for everybody. It could work.
Robert McNeil
Midtown
Is burning next?
The GOP, in general, and the Arizona Republicans in our state’s legislature are scaring me to the point that I fear for the survival of our republic. They have voted to ban books from all K-12 schools whose contents include alternative lifestyles and/or refer to individuals with a pronoun other than ones associated with their gender at birth. Is book burning next? They reject anything related to the LGBTQ community when it is obvious that those lifestyles are not inherited. If they were, the gay and lesbian trait would have ended centuries ago. A child as young as 5 does not profess to be the opposite of their anatomical being because they were recruited or were influenced by printed material.
Those same legislators are leading us back to Germany of the 1930s; history knows how that turned out.
Dave Glicksman
Northwest side
Fatal wrecks on Interstate 10
How many more people have to die before the Arizona Department of Transportation deems it necessary to install concrete dividers on I-10?
We hesitate to drive on I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix because of outdated medians and the dangerous conditions they create for motorists.
Bill and Gloria Nielsen
Northwest side
Fentanyl problem
Re: the March 12 article “The fentanyl problem is ours, not Mexico’s”
We tend to add more police, National Guard, and other law enforcement to stop the dangerous or illegal behavior. That can work in a place like a city neighborhood, where conflicts between people spiral into violence. But our problem with fentanyl can’t be solved that way. The demand isn’t driven by anger or conflict. It’s driven by addiction, which isn’t simple anger. Addiction can be an insatiable hunger that’s only quelled by more of the substance the person is addicted to. They’ll do whatever it takes. If law enforcement blocks one way for addicts to get their “fix,” addicts will find another way. I’m afraid that citizens whose only answer is more law enforcement don’t understand the desperation addicts have.
Tim Steller is right. “Suppliers would happily use other routes as long as we have a market to supply.” We need to help people end their addiction, not pursue their dealer.
Jerry Peek
Midtown
It’s time to expand March Madness
It’s time to let all 363 teams play in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. Do away with the conference tournaments that are injury factories. It would take three additional playing days to let every team participate. Seed the top 64 teams and let them have home-court advantage for the initial rounds. The first week would begin on Tuesday/Wednesday with the 50-plus play-in games, rounds of 256 on Thursday/Friday, and the round of 128 on Saturday/Sunday. This would make for more incredible upsets, emphasize the regular season more, reduce injuries from the three or four back-to-back games, and provide great incentives to host the first rounds. I ran national tennis tournaments with draws of over 256. It works.
Don Dickinson
Oro Valley
Vote with your dollar
I have to chuckle when conservatives describe liberals as “woke,” intending to be derogatory. If you are not “woke,” then you must be asleep — asleep to reality and individual rights.
Walgreens seems to be asleep now that it has decided to stop dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone in 20 red states. Mifepristone has been a legal, FDA-approved drug for 23 years, and Walgreens should provide it to their customers as a pharmacy! The attorneys general in these red states bullied Walgreens with threats. This is clearly more government overreach, which conservatives used to cry against constantly.
I am disappointed that Walgreens caved to pressure. In turn, my family and I expressed our dismay by transferring our prescriptions elsewhere. I encourage you to vote with your dollar as well!
Sandy Caster
Oro Valley
Public education
Re: the March 12 article “Lawmakers jeopardize future of Arizona schools.”
Thank you to Heather Mace for her guest opinion piece for clarifying what legislation the Arizona state Legislature would like to impose in its culture war crusade versus its actual job: That is to provide adequate financial support to promote student success and benefits to our state. Legislators like Wadsack, Hoffman, and Kavanagh refuse to do their job. They do not represent their constituents or the interests of anyone beyond the narrow-minded and intolerant with a desire to impose their own misguided and dangerous ideas on the rest of us. They must not be allowed to succeed.
Paul Simon
North side
Bike lane bane
I am all for bicycle riders in Tucson. The exercise and clean air it promotes are important. I think the bike lanes on the right side of the street are a great idea. It gives bike riders their own lane and prevents cars from going into oncoming traffic to give bikers proper space. However, more than a few times, I have had to steer my car close to oncoming traffic when cyclists choose to ride two or three across in the bike lane, putting them into the car lane. I have observed that they are talking to each other while riding two or three. I suggest that they start their ride at a coffee shop and talk about what they need to talk about. Then they should ride single-file in the bike lane, ending their ride back at the coffee shop so they can talk more.
Richard Bechtold
West side
Medicare Advantage is advantageous
Re: the March 2 article “Privatizing Medicare wrong way to go.”
For my wife and myself, it is. We are both healthy. We take advantage of the Giveback provision that reduces our Medicare premium by $3,000 annually. We each order over-the-counter supplies for $80 every quarter. Use the free gym membership four or five times each week. Our prescriptions and PCP copays are $0. Traditional Medicare requires 20% copays for doctor’s appointments. Prescription reimbursements are not included in traditional Medicare. If you want to visit a preferred doctor, ask which Advantage plans they participate in and decide which plan is in your best interest.
An editorial and a prior letter to the editor were both written by doctors. In 2007, Advantage reimbursement amounts were materially less than Traditional reimbursement rates. More recently, Advantage reimbursements have approximated Traditional reimbursements. Be mindful of potential bias.
My wife and I will likely continue enrollment in Advantage plans, barring Republican trashing of Medicare.
James Abels
Midtown
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