DOJ makes a power grab
The Supreme Court “Chevron ruling” holds that judges, and not federal agencies, are responsible for resolving regulatory “ambiguities.” A corporation can now file a lawsuit to release them from regulatory obligations, claiming they don’t understand it. A new breed of lawyers is hatched, the “regulation chasers.” And a new breed of federal judge — the amateur scientist/engineer/physician/mechanic/chemist.
If a door flies off a 737, you get the likes of Clarence Thomas ruling in the case, who can drive a new $250,000 RV but knows nothing about aeronautics. If someone was a whistle-blower about a safety issue and claimed retaliation, you have the likes of Justice Kavanaugh deciding if they were harassed. If a company starts dumping chemical waste that seeps into a residential area, it’s the likes of Judge O’Connor, whose practice is to grant delay after delay after delay while the neighborhood is slowly poisoned.
Enough! Get Democrats into the Senate and House. Impeach SCOTUS.
Cindy Doklan
Midtown
Former President Donald Trump, right, and his wife, Melania, arrive Saturday for a Republican fundraiser in Palm Beach, Fla.
This is where the money goes
Eighteen thousand dollars a month is paid to Melania Trump’s personal stylist from Donald’s Save America PAC. Trump, who has reminded us all that he is “very rich,” begs for his followers to send any amount of money they can. So, to all of you MAGA folks, don’t complain about grocery or gas prices. You obviously have money to throw away for important items like a personal stylist.
Mary Zimmerman
SaddleBrooke
Heat island effects of urban areas
Re: the July 14 article “Buildings, pavement make Tucson 7 degrees hotter.”
The recent article on the heat island effects of urban areas, which showed that Tucson’s temperatures are 7.5 degrees hotter than surrounding open areas, suggests that the city should take steps to mitigate those effects. One thing we could do to mitigate the heat island effects would be to remove the acres of blacktop on unused retail parking lots and replace them with native trees. I have in mind two lots in particular, at the northwest corner of the El Con Mall site, and an disused overflow lot southeast of Park Place. The pavements at these two sites are no longer maintained because the space is not needed for parking. Malls just don’t attract the volume of shoppers that they did in pre-internet days. I’m sure there are other sites that could be repurposed as urban forests. I would also make in mandatory that new parking lots have trees to shade cars in hot weather.
William Scurrah
Midtown
Inflation and climate change
As we swelter through another record-breaking summer, I reflect on the inflationary costs of doing little to curb our addiction to hydrocarbon fuels. When temperatures soar so does the use of energy attempting to make our houses and businesses comfortable. That accelerated use of energy creates demand for more gas which in turn creates inflationary pressure on a finite resource. Yes, there is more oil to drill but it becomes a more expensive venture requiring more sophisticated (and destructive) methods. The world population has increased by over a billion people since 2010 and that creates increasing demands on energy. More demand equals higher prices. Increasing climate-related disasters are also inflationary. The materials and manpower needed to constantly rebuild one hurricane after another make those resources more expensive. And again, that effort requires a huge amount of energy. Now, we are seeing that once-habitable land will become too expensive (insurance) or simply too dangerous to rebuild on. What happens when 120-degree days become commonplace?
Kalvin Smith
Midtown
Someone is stupider
Boys go to Jupiter to be more stupider. Girls go to college to get more knowledge.
I read in the July 16 newspaper that the case against Trump was thrown out by Judge Cannon. After this trial was conducted the past three years, it was determined Mr. Smith’s office was improperly funded by the Justice Department and the Judiciary because it violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
Did this clause just happen last week? The Judicial system been milking the taxpayers for all legal fees expended with this fruitless endeavor. Everyone gets paid because somebody did not know about this Constitutional Appointment’s Clause.
Why did it take so long to figure this out? It must have been a boy because this is stupider than can be. In fact, government agencies suing each other over “turf” wars costs the taxpayers who knows how much? This goes on from the federal government down through the state, county and city level.
Am I stupider?
Ed LeGendre
East side
What happened?
In 2016, J.D. Vance accurately declared Trump a “fraud.” (Trump U, Trump Charity) He subsequently had these things to say regarding Trump: “America’s Hitler,” “idiot,” “unfit for our nation’s highest office,” “I can’t stomach Trump,” “I find him reprehensible” and “Trump is a moral disaster.” Vance also declared himself a “Never Trumper.”
Vance now claims that it was the media that caused him to say all those negative things. The media’s reporting of Trump’s criminal behavior and subsequent impeachments, prosecutions, and convictions? Without a plausible explanation for the turnabout from a rational mindset like Vance has experienced, this could be the result of a stroke. He should schedule a physical examination.
Rick Cohn
West side
Hate speech
The United States has a volatile political climate, and the Arizona Daily Star’s editorial board is complicit. President Biden called on the country to tone down their rhetoric. For some time, you have published letters to the editor, cartoons, and editorials that demonize former President Trump as a Hitler or Mussolini. While it is an opinion section, opinions like this are hate speech and should not be published anywhere. Publishing the Cagle cartoon showing Hitler’s Mein Kampf and implying it is equivalent to Project 2025 is a perfect example. Have you read either? To make such a comparison is irrational, yet you publish as if it’s reality. A Wall Street Journal editorial says, “JFK and Martin Luther King were demonized as threats to America before they were assassinated.” That is happening on your editorial pages. Along with President Biden, I urge you to please do your part by being sensitive to, and curtail publishing, vehement rhetoric; it poisons our society.
Jerry Knoski
East side
Remove Trump’s Secret Service protection?
Re: the July 17 letter “Attempted assassination of Trump.”
This letter was filled with the usual right-wing projectionism when it comes to which party is responsible for the incitement of violence that has been taking place in our political discourse.
Among some of the complaints regarding the treatment her apparent favored candidate is receiving, she seems to take issue with the fact that Trump is being referred to as a “felon.”
I completely understand. If my preferred candidate was a convicted felon, I wouldn’t want everyone to know it either. That is probably why I do not support or vote for convicted felons.
The writer is also annoyed by gratuitous comparisons to Hitler. Unless, of course, Trump’s VP pick J.D. Vance makes them?
However, the most egregious bit of misinformation in her letter is regarding HR 8081, the “Disgraced Former Protectees Act” which would remove Secret Service protection for felons only if they were sentenced to a year or more in prison, and not while one is out campaigning.
Glen Vann
West side
Downtown offerings
Re: the July 18 letter “Downtown mayhem.”
The letter writer is not wrong in his assessment of weekends downtown. I’d like to point out something a bit more specific. Downtown businesses cater to one audience only on weekend nights: those who focus their entertainment on alcoholic beverages and loud music. Just try finding a place to grab a quality bite after a show at the TCC. Depending on when the final curtain falls, you’ll either have to leave downtown completely, or get in just under the wire. Kitchens don’t stay open, but there’s plenty of booze to be had! If you’d like to talk about the show or game you just enjoyed (or didn’t), good luck getting through the noise. I’ve no problem with those who enjoy a clubby atmosphere, but it would be nice if downtown provided something for everyone. The TCC Music Hall seats over 2,000 people who are already parked downtown, and events usually employ a hundred or more additional people, some of whom would like dinner after a night’s work.
Paula Redinger
Downtown
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