Build Back might bankrupt
President Bidenβs βBuild Back Better Actβ should be called the βBuild Back Bankrupt America Act.β
The $3.5 trillion would be paid by taxing Americans or growing the national debt. The bill would add over a trillion dollars to the national debt and trillions of dollars of taxes on every American.
This will result in gas and electric bills soaring and the value of a dollar decreasing exponentially. This bill would be the largest expansion of the welfare state since Lyndon B. Johnson with a βtax creditβ with no work requirement effectively making it a universal basic income with more Americans dependent on the federal government.
The bill's packed with unnecessary government controlled programs such as a βCivilian Climate Corpsβ and the electrification of the U.S. Postal Service vehicle fleet. It also attempts to grant amnesty to 8 million undocumented. The bill is far removed from infrastructure or rebuilding America.
Jack Tirrell
Foothills
Stop putting our children at risk!
Our children and their schools continue to pay the price for Arizonaβs poor leadership during the pandemic.
Arizona is the only state in the Southwest that never had a statewide mask mandate, even during the worst of the pandemic. Our neighbors of all different political stripes got the memo that masks work, but the political ambition of Gov. Doug Ducey and Mark Brnovich stopped them from doing the right thing.
Not only do they oppose mask mandates, but they want to keep federal money from any school district that has mandated mask wearing. This money was set aside for Arizona to safely operate schools post-COVID. This puts our childrenβs health in danger and further underfunds their schools. All of this at a time when many of our children have fallen behind in their learning due to issues caused by schools closed for a year due to COVID risk.
Ducey and Brnovich need to stop their selfish political charades and support solid health procedures and the funding required to implement them.
Marie Nibel
Foothills
IRC gerrymandering
Re: the Dec. 15 letter "The IRC is failing Pima County."
I want to thank the letter writer for giving readers a heads-up on the Independent Redistricting Commission's gerrymandering through LD17 map 10.0. She clearly outlines the ways in which this map fails to meet their own requirements. We were urged to go to irc.az.gov to support LD17 map 9.0 which does meet all requirements. I did so immediately and it only took a minute. I hope all others who care about our democracy do the same.
Sally Reed
Northeast side
Presidents' use of teleprompter
Re: the Dec. 13 letter "Unemployment rate is a joke."
I couldn't help but laugh at the letter writer's comments regarding President Joe Biden's inability to read anything without the help of a teleprompter. Trump never mastered the correct use of the teleprompter, and stared at it while he read verbatim what was on it. She also inferred that Biden lied when he mentioned the "great economy" and failed to link the unemployment rate and the jobs numbers. Trump couldn't convey a complete sentence without lying, and continues lying to the public today. She also says that the "Build Back Better" plan would add $2 trillion to our debt, and yet fails to mention Trump's huge tax cut for the corporations and the rich which added $2 trillion to our debt, which she probably profited from. In Trump's term there was little that was directed to help the poor and disenfranchised in our country, but it seems that Biden, although far from perfect, is attempting to correct the last four years.
Pamela Heskett
East side
All kinds of sewage
Re: the Dec. 16 letter "Sonoran sewage around the clock."
I admit I also took note of the heavy coverage given the Sonoran sewage problem. But, it is important. I'm not sure what the holiday season should have to do with reporting disturbing news. Choosing what news you want is like choosing what history you want. The letter said "in America we are trying to bring good news to the country." Well, that would be very nice, and the more good news the better, but a lot of America's news is far worse than the sewage storyΒ β an attempted election coup, a deadly insurrection on Jan. 6, an ongoing deadly virus that is being politicized and yet another school massacre by a disturbed 15-year-old whose parents gifted him the weapon. Think the parents of the murdered and wounded kids are feeling like celebrating America and the joyous Christmas season? If you put on your dark rose-colored glasses, you might be able to ignore sewage, Sonoran or other varieties.
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
