Free bus service is communism
Today I learned that Sun Tran will continue to be fare-free thru June 2022. This is communism, plain and simple. I urge Gov. Doug Ducey and our Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to defund the city of Tucson now. Communist Mayor Regina Romero and her thieving crew on the council must be stopped now!
Please help!
Dan Wilson
Midtown
What are they trying to hide?
I always thought that pleading the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination was akin to a tacit admission of guilt. We are now seeing former top government officials and advisers taking this step regarding the Jan. 6 rebellion. If they are not pleading the Fifth, they are simply refusing to appear before the investigating committee. They are relying on executive privilege, even though a number of decisions have been handed down, including some by Trump-appointed judges, ruling that there is no executive privilege applicable. Do these people, including some sitting members of Congress, have no shame? What are they trying to hide? They obviously feel that they are above the rule of law that the rest of us must follow. How long would it take for law enforcement people to be knocking on your door if you refused to appear before a congressional investigating committee?
Martin Greene
East side
Not only the Fed affects inflation
Re: the Dec. 22 letter “Inflation.”
The author’s claim that “inflation is the result of deliberate government action” seems to be more about blaming the government than explaining the root causes of inflation.
The author mentions M2, a measure of the amount of liquid assets held by the public. Our central bank, called the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), tries to control these liquid assets in the best interests of the economy. The FRB tries to stimulate growth in output (gross domestic product) while controlling inflation.
It is important to recognize that factors other than the central bank affect inflation, like people having an abundance of liquid assets (built up before we had large-scale vaccination capability) to buy products that are in short supply.
To sum up, the Federal Reserve Board is only one factor affecting inflation.
Walter Mann
Marana
A list of Biden’s myriad disasters
The Biden administration just released a list of its accomplishments for his first year in office. Now it’s time to list his disasters for the year. Let’s start with the border. About 1.7 million encounters with undocumented entrants were reported by the Border Patrol since February of this year. I think some undocumented entrants believed Biden had invited them to come. Biden almost immediately halted border wall construction, canceled Trump’s asylum agreements with Central American countries and ended Remain in Mexico. In August, Biden unilaterally and hurriedly withdrew our troops from Afghanistan, resulting in a bomb blast killing 13 American troops and 60 Afghan civilians. Our drone attack killed a family of 10 including seven children. The Biden administration negotiated a nuclear submarine deal with Australia that blindsided and angered France for leaving them out. The Biden administration’s support of critical race theory in public schools has created anger among parents across America. I believe Biden’s Democrat partisan passed $1.9 trillion stimulus bill from March has “stimulated” a 39-year-high inflation rate.
Daniella Constantini
Sahuarita
Value humans as much as pets
It’s sad to see more and more makeshift human shelters wherever I go in Tucson. Dogs and cats without a home are rescued and sheltered. What about our brothers and sisters?
Are there agencies coordinating help for those who want assistance? I am willing to help with practical solutions — tents, toilets, storage lockers, protected places for sleeping. I want to work with others who envision humane solutions for humans as well as pets.
Anne Kessell
Northwest side
McKale is not COVID-safe
Re: the Dec. 5 letter “Mask mandate at McKale farcical.”
I concur with the letter writer who complained of the complete lack of enforcement of mask requirements at McKale. When I emailed about this, the response was “we will be increasing our communication to attendees about the mask requirement through public service announcements and through staff who will be re-enforcing expectations.” Unfortunately, this is not the reality and McKale is not a COVID-safe environment. As a result, I no longer use my season ticket to men’s games. At a recent women’s basketball game, friends and I left our season seats because of unmasked patrons around us. We relocated to the uppermost seats in McKale to feel safer. We three ladies sat there — masked and alone — until security personnel arrived and informed us that we were not allowed in that section of the arena. It was enforcement, but not the kind we expected.
Mari Carlos
Foothills
Subscribers pay for four days off
As a long-retired newspaper boy, I can’t help but laugh about all the fuss about our poor newspaper delivery person needing four days off. Thinking back over 60-some years, I wonder if anyone delivering the paper today could cope with what newspaper boys went through delivering the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. We worked seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. No one drove us around, we walked behind a newspaper cart. Neither snow nor rain nor heat kept us from our appointed rounds. If we happened to be caught out in the rain — too bad. Snow so high to push our carts we had to walk our route. Vacations, holidays, sick days (forget about it). Even one letter writer to the Star worried about the poor editors, reporters, photographers and staff needing four days off. Checking with a former reporter for a Chicago paper all I got was a good laugh. Let’s be honest here: This was all to save money for Lee Enterprises.
Clyde R. Steele
Oro Valley
Bowl sponsor is unsuitable
After the Arizona Bowl game was canceled because of COVID-19, Star sports columnist Greg Hansen noted that this was an obvious loss for Tucson. Arizona Bowl Board of Directors Chairman Ali Farhang said that the sports event “gives net proceeds to local charities, creates a significant economic impact and shines a spotlight on Tucson.”
While there are advantages for Tucson in hosting the Arizona Bowl, it is appalling to have an event title sponsor who purportedly supports statements that suggest that domestic violence and crimes against women are OK. This serious societal problem, which has become more prevalent during the pandemic, is nothing to joke about.
I strongly urge the Arizona Bowl Board of Directors to scrutinize their sponsorships and decide if their lead title sponsor is appropriate for future bowl games. The Pima County Board of Supervisors is to be commended for stepping back from their support. There is an opportunity for others to reconsider as well.
Carol W. West
Northeast side
Talking points straight from TV
Re: the Dec. 5 letter “Steller is a partisan liberal.”
A letter today caught my eye. The writer was finding fault with Tim Steller for a recent column. As a Republican with 70 years’ voting experience I found some of the claims baffling. No one, for either party, wants less integrity in our elections nor less identification. The writer goes on to fulminate about undocumented immigration when it’s known that the undocumented from the south create fewer problems than citizens born here.
Later on, the writer expressed ire about inflation and foreign policy, leading me to suspect that she has never read a paper, instead just watching dim bulbs pronouncing on TV.
Dennis Davis
East side
