Capital gains have already been taxed
Re: the March 21 article “How to grow middle class — and it’s not the minimum wage.”
Ethan Orr’s comments are well thought out and balanced. But he makes one error in logic. The reason capital gains and dividends are taxed at a lower rate than wages is that those incomes have already been taxed.
An investor can receive a dividend after using what’s left of his taxed wage income to buy a share of stock. Same for a gain on a purchased share.
Without investors willing to take risks and invest in America’s growth machine, where would the capital to create new products and new jobs come from?
Tom Bassett
Green Valley
Be careful what
you wish for
I note many letter writers are calling for an end to the 60-vote cloture rule in the U.S. Senate. Be careful what you wish for, for someday the shoe will be on the other foot.
But, more importantly, we should consider political change. Change is constant, a value to be cherished by all. But at what pace? I believe change should be gradual, small steps.
Then when a unit of change is found to have unfortunate side effects, it can be easily modified or reversed. The filibuster rule was designed to prevent sudden lurches either to the right or the left.
Sudden lurches are almost certain to bring unintended consequences that are difficult if not impossible to correct. Witness the current “challenge/crisis” at our southern border.
Gilmore Tostengard
Oro Valley
Politicians ignorant of firearms culture
Have any of our elected politicians read the supreme law of the land, our U.S. Constitution?
I believe very few have. The bills before the Senate and others that have been proposed are in direct violation of the Second Amendment. The worst part is when these politicians talk about guns, they don’t know what they are talking about.
Another bill that is proposed will allow gun manufactures to be sued when their product is used unlawfully. That is tantamount to suing the vehicle manufacture if their product is used to injure or kill people.
More unconstitutional gun laws will only affect lawful gun owners, not criminals.
John Crooks
Northwest side
Stop the zoo’s
land grab
Thousands of lovers of Reid Park’s Barnum Hill and the south duck pond have signed petitions and written requests to stop the zoo from a land grab of this treasured part of Tucson’s central park.
As a retired Arizona educator and 30-year resident of Julia Keen Neighborhood, I truly appreciate my morning dog walk, seeing wild birds at the pond and hill to start my day.
I remember when a beautiful green area of the park with a soccer field was fenced in and an elephant enclosure was built, to the surprise of those who live in the neighborhood. We still miss those 7.5 acres that were taken at that time.
This unjustified land grab by the zoo has to stop! There are other alternatives for the zoo that do not include taking precious historical and cultural heritage, cutting down dozens of huge mature trees and fencing the area off to the public.
This would be an irreplaceable loss for Tucson.
Les Toczko
Midtown
Make every day World Water Day
Re: the March 22 article “On World Water Day, let’s recognize value in sustainability.”
What? I’ve never heard of this!
It should be obvious to all of us living in this beautiful desert with Tucson’s water scarcity that we might better understand this vital source and receive real education on water, rather than reading about water reform — an increase in water charges, the gross water usage of construction and mining — so that a real impact can be made with all of us.
Water is life for all living beings — plants, animals, all of us.
I call for the city of Tucson to create a World Water Day every day to heighten our awareness on water.
Nancy Reid
North side
Biden letting
border crisis fester
During this border surge of migrants, the Mexican government just released new COVID-19 death statistics putting the country second in deaths to America, with a third of the population.
Mexico revised their death toll up by a whopping 60% to 321,000, of that number, 27,000 died in March. Mexico now has more COVID-related deaths than Brazil, which has double the population.
These alarming numbers come as thousands of migrants are coming to America from Central America, spending days transiting through Mexico. Many, especially the children, are not tested for COVID at Border Patrol facilities.
Over 100 children have tested positive when later moved to other DHS facilities. We all know of the overcrowding at these places and the potential for COVID spreading.
All of this occurring at a time when COVID cases and deaths in America are ticking up again and the CDC director is worried about a fourth wave. Why does Joe Biden not stop the surge, especially during a pandemic that he claims is his No. 1 priority?
Jonathan Towers
Marana
Zoo expansion
betrays voters’ trust
Proponents of Reid Park Zoo’s proposed expansion talk about lack of trust from construction companies. The zoo’s plan betrays the trust of many Tucsonans who voted for Prop. 203 in 2017.
The will of the voters was to fund improvements and maintenance to the existing structures and fund field trips. We didn’t vote to sign away as much of the park as the zoo wanted, nor did we vote for the zoo’s vision to create a “world-class zoo” in the middle of residential neighborhoods.
Tucson’s world-class zoo, the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, exists without affecting established neighborhoods, cares for animals that thrive in our climate and also provides free field trips.
The expansion would result in irreparable damage to Reid Park and to the zoo’s public image. Prop. 203 expires in seven years and voters are unlikely to trust the zoo with more tax money after it steals free green space from Tucson’s Central Park.
Jessica Flax
Midtown
Phony Finchem looks for a new job
Re: the March 31 article “Rep. Finchem showing interest in running for AZ secretary of state.”
This is a very sad commentary on the state of politics in Arizona. I wish this were an April Fools’ joke, but it is a nightmare. What qualifications does Mr. Finchem have to run the largely administrative office of secretary of state?
Being a proud member of the Oath Keepers, a domestic terrorist group, and other right wing conspiracy groups, hardly adds to experience on a résumé.
Currently, thousands of voters in Arizona Legislative District 11 are signing recall petitions to remove Finchem as their state representative.
Wake up, Arizona. People like Finchem are dangerous to all of us. He is a phony, like the faux leather jackets he likes to wear.
Jeanne Herstad
SaddleBrooke
‘Assault weapon’
a meaningless term
Re: The March 30 article “First step to gun control: affirming 2nd Amendment for self-protection.”
In his editorial, David Anderson mentions four different times “a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons.” He doesn’t realize, as most people don’t, that there is no official criteria for what constitutes an “assault weapon.”
Basically, semi-automatic assault weapons are only cosmetically different than any other type of semi-automatic weapon. Any semi-automatic weapon shoots only one bullet at a time, so the shooter must pull the trigger each time to fire a bullet.
There are anywhere from 15 to 20 million so-called “assault rifles” in this country today. Banning assault rifles would necessarily mean banning all semi-automatic rifles and would thus render the Second Amendment, of which Mr. Anderson claims he supports, meaningless.
So good luck to Mr. Anderson in his quest to confiscate his 15 to 20 million so-called “assault weapons.”
David Pearse
Foothills
Inequities
are inevitable
It’s understandable that “born losers” would favor policies that attempt to achieve equal outcomes. But a society benefits from preserving rewards for capable individuals.
Some people are more intelligent than others and have better judgment. Should society take from them in order to make up for the shortcomings of others?
In a fair society, which strives to provide equality of opportunity, inequality of outcome is inevitable. It may be unfair that some people are born with greater capabilities than others, but evolution achieves progress because of these inborn inequalities.
Any society that seeks equality of outcome is therefore on a path to regress. Social activists cite inequalities as evidence of unfairness, and often this is the case. We should never be indifferent to the suffering of others.
Compassion demands that not only should we eliminate victimization and strive to restore equality of opportunity, but we should try to provide a minimum level of personal welfare to those who cannot achieve it on their own — for whatever reason.
Bruce Gary
Sierra Vista
What if Rosemont
ruins our aquifers?
Re: the March 30 letter “Water should be Rosemont’s downfall.”
For the last several months, there have been a number of articles in the Daily Star describing a variety of issues associated with the present and future availability of water in Pima County.
A recent letter pointed out the excessive amount of water that the Rosemont Copper mine would use. While this is a salient point, there is another issue that was not touched upon, namely, the distinct possibility that the aquifers that sustain several cities located near the proposed mine site could be polluted to such an extent that those cities would no longer be able to to function.
We also know what would happen next. Rosemont would be taken to court in an effort to force them pay for the remediation, if that was even possible.
They would then follow the predictable path that other companies have followed by declaring bankruptcy, leaving us with an expensive mess to try to remediate.
Gerry Maggiora
Foothills
