Sinema continues to disappoint
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema not showing up to cast a vote for creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection of Jan. 6 is unacceptable. She claims to support bipartisanship in the Senate but not enough to show up to demonstrate it? Yes, it seemed the filibuster was inevitable. However, taking a stand, in person on the Senate floor, for creation of the commission would have communicated her commitment to finding out the truth of what happened on Jan. 6. She could have even curtsied, only this time, with a thumbs up.
And speaking of the filibuster issue, when is she going to admit that the GOP is not interested in bipartisanship?
I’m sincerely disappointed.
Leonard Thurman
West side
Calif. doesn’t have the answers
It’s happening again. Another shooting and once again the left in Congress is calling for more gun laws. It seems though, that the places where most of these shootings are happening are the places that have these same laws that the left is calling for. Weapons banning, magazine limits, comprehensive background checks and registrations are the law in California. Yet San Jose had a shooting.
Think about this for a minute. These laws have been in California for many years. These laws are not slowing the crime rate there. If they are not working there, what makes you think they will work nationwide? The answer is, they won’t. To the criminals, you are a joke. They laugh at new gun laws because they only make their “workplace” safer for them. Open your eyes, people. Learn.
Steven Barker
East side
Entering an era of minority rule
Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan commission to examine the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by a vote of 35-54. Using the filibuster, GOP senators representing barely one-third of the Senate and who are from states representing hardly 40% of the U.S. population were able to thwart the establishment of a commission that had widespread popular support.
It is clear this is the blueprint for how the GOP intends to approach virtually every initiative the Biden administration puts forth, ranging from infrastructure to climate change to voting rights. We are truly moving into an era of minority rule, fueled by the GOP’s use of gerrymandering, voter suppression and the filibuster.
Bipartisanship has no role in this Republican calculus. I urge Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to look at reality: There are not going to magically be 10 Republican senators joining Democrats to stop future filibusters. It is time to eliminate the filibuster now and get on with the Democratic agenda.
John Covert
Northeast side
Annexation not so appealing
Re: the May 30 article “Proposed water rate hikes don’t add up.”
Tim Steller did a great job explaining that there are no good reasons for the city of Tucson to implement a differential rate structure for Tucson Water customers in unincorporated Pima County. Mayor Regina Romero and Tucson City Council members should have the ability to solve the Water Department’s issues without stooping to creating inequities and implementing discriminatory practices. In these times when many are searching for ways to affirmatively address instances of unfairness and injustice, it is unfathomable that the city of Tucson is considering this discriminatory action. If the mayor and council approve any part of this “them against us” proposal, then their words in support of equity and justice will be proven disingenuous. Why would any resident of the unincorporated county accept annexation into a city led by officials who have demonstrated such unbridled prejudice?
Carmen Wiswell
Foothills
Meager pay keeps positions unfilled
Like many of the proclamations made by Trumpites, the relationship between unfilled jobs and increased unemployment pay is over-simplistic and deceptive. The most likely reason that jobs are hard to fill is the pay is inadequate compared to everyday living costs. The median hourly wage over the past 40 years has grown at a rate less than real inflation, which means most Americans are not making any financial progress.
Secondly, many of the hard-to-fill service jobs were filled by women with children. Child care has been insufficient and unaffordable for decades, especially during the summer when schools are not open. Many of the folks unemployed during the pandemic have joined the “gig economy.” They are no longer available for traditional jobs. The pandemic itself has impacted the workforce with both loss of life and those suffering “long COVID,” which keeps them from the workforce.
Kalvin Smith
Midtown
Only one party appears to work
This country has a two-party political system. I think we are all in big trouble because one of the two parties has no discernable interest in governing the country, only in winning and ruling.
The Republican Party these days seems to have no ideas on how to make America a better place to live. In the middle of a global pandemic, they couldn’t even come up with a platform to run on, except “All Trump, All The Time.” Since the elections, all the Republican leaders have done is promote the “Big Lie” about the election and try to take away people’s voting rights. Now they won’t even investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
I think the country needs two political parties to have a healthy democracy. I don’t see where a political party that has devolved into a personality cult for the most unpopular president in history can help this country in any real way.
Graeme Williams
Southeast side
A worthy plan for our water
As a Ward 6 City Council candidate who is passionate about innovative policymaking that meaningfully prioritizes sustainability and equity, I proudly support the Our Water Tucson proposal. A climate emergency was declared last year, and if the word emergency means anything, it means that urgent action is demanded now, and that business as usual is no longer acceptable. We cannot continue to subsidize the lifestyles of wealthy homeowners who are unwilling to pay their fair share, nor is it humane to make over 10,000 working families pay approximately $3 million in water debt that has accrued since the pandemic hit.
Courageous leadership is called for in this moment. Please vote in approval of Our Water Tucson. Let’s stop giving away our most precious resource for so little, and let’s bake into the policy that the revenue must go toward canceling the water debt, expanding low-income assistance programs and climate resiliency measures. Thank you.
Miranda Schubert
Downtown
Sinema fails Jan. 6 victims
The families of those killed and maimed on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol counted on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to have their back during the Senate vote to create the Jan. 6 commission. She failed.
Donna Johnson
Midtown
