Sinema tanked voting rights
Now that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has killed voting rights legislation, I’m sure she must feel exceptionally proud. She won’t be getting my support during her next primary.
Sinema says that the filibuster improves bipartisan ability to pass legislation and mitigates divisiveness, yet with the filibuster rule already in place, little of this has happened. How can she possibly explain that away? The right to vote is the crux of our democracy, yet she blithely allows it to die in favor of an arcane Senate rule that doesn’t even accomplish the things she says she wants.
I’m saddened and fear for our country’s health. Sinema is part of its demise and darker days ahead.
Paul Emmert
Marana
Trump’s 2020 election claims
The difference between what’s true and what’s false is important to me. If Donald Trump were to say “pigs can fly,” that wouldn’t make it so, even if some people believed it. You have to show it, not just say it. Unless he could show some flying pigs, it ain’t true.
Trump is saying that he won the 2020 election. To make it better, he began to say he “won in a landslide.” Some people believe him, and that seems to be good enough for him.
But his people had more than 60 chances to show it in a court of law, and they had nothing to show. Absolutely nothing. The judges issued scornful opinions. Even more people who knew what they were talking about, such as Attorney General William Barr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and many others, said the election was free and fair. It takes more than just saying what you want — you have to show it. That pig don’t fly, Donald.
George Yost
Vail
COVID bill does not go far enough
As someone currently recovering from COVID-19, I am disappointed that Rep. Quang Nguyen’s bill, HB 2043, has missed several key groups of people who should be subjected to large fines under his bill. HB 2043 awards damages of $500,000 paid by an employer who denies a religious exemption when requiring an employee to get vaccinated as a condition of employment. Nguyen, please add these classes of persons who should also pay large damage awards due to their actions:
1. Persons who make false statements concerning COVID or vaccines.
2. Unvaccinated adults who may have infected others by their negligence in following CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID.
3. Unvaccinated adults who become sickened with COVID, and take up hospital beds that could be serving other patients.
Rep. Nguyen, please amend your bill to include these groups of people who owe damages due to their negligence. Maybe I wouldn’t be suffering from COVID if those groups of people had been discouraged from exposing me and others to the virus.
John McConnaughey
Oro Valley
More Finchem folly
Arizona’s Republican legislators are sadly among the leaders in wanting to enact laws restricting voter rights. The latest example is HB 2596, which would virtually ban all mail ballots, limit voting to election day and allow the Legislature to decide whether to accept or reject the election results.
Ordinarily, instead of just writing a letter to the editor, I’d contact my state legislator to object. Unfortunately, my state legislator is Rep. Mark Finchem, one of the GOP sponsors of the bill. Finchem, of LD11, is a member of the Oath Keepers and a continued vocal supporter of the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Even more unfortunate, he is a Trump-supported candidate for secretary of state — the position that oversees the state’s election process.
I hope that Arizona residents who live outside of Finchem’s district will contact their state representatives to keep this outrageous bill from ever being passed. Thank you in advance!
Karen Schickedanz
SaddleBrooke
Biden’s nomination plan
President Joe Biden, keeping his campaign promise to Rep. James Clyburn, will be nominating a Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. He is not looking for the best qualified person, but choosing a candidate based on gender and race.
In 2003, President Bush nominated Janice Rogers Brown, a black woman from Alabama, to the D.C. federal Court of Appeals. At the time, she was a sitting California Supreme Court justice. In 2003, Senate Democrats, including Biden, Obama and Schumer voted to block her appointment using the filibuster. Brown was a conservative and both Biden and Obama took to the Senate floor arguing against her confirmation. Democrats blocked her appointment for two years using the filibuster until she finally was confirmed in 2005. She remained on the D.C. Court of Appeals until retiring in 2017. Biden and Senate Democrats again used the filibuster to prevent the confirmation of Latino Miguel Estrada to the same D.C. appellate court.
Pamela Newsome
Northwest side
ACC votes down updated energy rules
Re: the jan. 27 article ‘ACC votes to reject guidelines for clean energy.”
Gobsmacked to read the article. The Arizona Corporation Commission voted against modernizing our state’s energy rules and as a result, Arizonans will see higher utility bills, and dirtier air and water in the coming years. The ACC sided with out-of-state, investor-owned, for-profit utilities to the detriment of local Arizonans. Many thanks to commissioners Sandra Kennedy and Anna Tovar for voting for the updated rules. The votes against the updated energy rules range from a total denial of man-made climate change to “let the market lead the way.” Arizona’s embrace of these backward policies continues to cement our state’s position of leadership in the race to the bottom.
Karl Schaeffer
Oro Valley
Simplistic framing of fare-free transit
Re: the Feb. 2 article “Tucson considers making fare-free transit permanent.”
Sam Kmack, in the opening paragraphs of his article presents a surprisingly narrow view of the costs and benefits of public transportation. Kmack’s statement that free public transit is worth “the cost of a tank of gas” to “typical riders” reflects a simplistic understanding of the diverse and significant value of a transit open to everyone.
While the article goes on to address somewhat wider aspects of the issue, Kmack still focuses primarily on the financial aspects of fare-free transit. He ignores the role Tucson’s system has in reducing traffic congestion, improving transportation safety and shrinking our region’s carbon footprint. Does anyone in Tucson want more cars clogging busy roads, increasing driving hazards and pumping more emissions into the air? Fare-free transit is clearly related to all of those concerns.
We would hope the Arizona Daily Star reports on this developing issue in a manner that reflects its complexity and its importance to the entire community.
Drew Colenbrander
East side
Voting changes
I’m 88 years old and frightened about potential changes to voting regulations and laws in my and your country. We each own America!
I variously have registered as a Republican and a Democrat. I voted in every election, sometimes across party lines. Even when candidates I voted for lost, I saw the result as valid. I was often unhappy with performances of some winning officials — even those I voted for.
I want my children, grandchildren and their offspring to select their representatives. This is central to being American.
Mail-in voting and automatic registration are and have always been important for me. More important as I age.
Many proposed changes claim to reduce fraudulent voting. They don’t. These efforts do restrict voting for many groups. Rural, urban, Black, disabled, aged, Hispanic, Native American and many, many others. Which groups are restricted matters so much. Voting by every group and individual enhances our country. Restrictions can not be risked.
Marion Leonard
Northeast side
AZ senators and voting rights bills
Regarding federal voting rights bills, Republicans and the heroic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are correct to oppose them. We should count ourselves lucky. Sen. Mark Kelly, where are you? Voters must assume you oppose voter ID requirements, support ballot harvesting and that you are OK with ballots being received after voting day for an ill-defined length of time. Please speak out otherwise. Arizona deserves better.
Bruce M. Prior
West side
