Vaccines protect the vulnerable
Re: the Sept. 12 article βExperts: Biden mandate legal.β
In this article, Howard Fischer quotes our governor calling the Biden mandates a βdictatorialβ approach. I accept that as a verified statement and would like to remind the governor of some historical facts.
Early industrialists noticed that the market economy relies on a healthy workforce and healthy customers. Realizing that, governments created public health services with the power to enact laws. These are designed to protect the population, especially the weak, infirm, elderly and children.
Mandates to wear masks and submit to immunization precisely save the people, which COVID-19 affects the most. The arguments that these measures lead to autocracy are weak because autocratic governments do not care about the old, weak, and infirm. History offers enough samples.
One might argue that those who refuse to wear masks or get immunized unwittingly support a population selection favoring the young and healthy over the old, infirm and weak.
Uwe Manthei
Midtown
US betrayal is unforgivable
U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to push on with a chaotic evacuations from Afghanistan despite a suicide attack near Kabulβs international airport that killed scores of civilians and at least 13 American soldiers.
Pledging to go after the culprits, Biden said: βWe will not forgive. We will not forget.β
As a registered independent, and a veteran I will not forgive, I will not forget the way Biden handled our departure from Afghanistan.
The deaths of 13 American soldiers, the betrayal of all those who helped us for 20 years, the abandoning of our military weapons, the lack of planning and foresight, such incompetence. Shame on you Mr. President, shame on America.
I will not forgive, I will not forget.
Thomas McGorray
Northwest side
Wildcat fan on his couch
Last Saturday night I went to the Arizona Stadium expecting to see a football game and Iβm sure there was one taking place but there was so much stuff inserted at every possible juncture that it was impossible to get into any kind of flow and I can imagine that the players huddled on the sidelines were beginning to wonder why they were there.
There were many so media timeouts, acknowledgments of services rendered and recognitions of accomplishments, worthy though they might have been, it was more like a three-ring circus than a sporting event. I will continue being a Wildcat fan but in front of my TV where I have some element of control.
Stanley Curd
Midtown
Donβt repeat Kansasβ error
In the last legislative cycle, a slim Republican majority passed a flat tax that will cut revenues by an estimated $1.9 billion! Recall βthe Kansas experimentβ in which the 2012 Kansas Legislature, working from rosy job growth projections, passed a flat tax which by 2017 had nearly bankrupted that state.
The projected job growth did not materialize. Schools closed early β no money for staff. Roads and bridges crumbled β no money for maintenance. The Legislature had to vote to roll back the tax cut.
In an email exchange with Sen. Vince Leach, R-Tucson, I expressed concern about the effects of such a drastic cut. I can be as optimistic as the next person, but what if those projections are as disastrously off as they were in Kansas? It will take a challenging supermajority in our Legislature to overturn this tax bill. Find a place where you can sign the referenda to put this on hold until we can vote!
Margaret Nichols
Oro Valley
Taxpayer money out the window
So Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich just filed a frivolous lawsuit against the Biden administration over its recent COVID mandate which every respected legal expert says is clearly authorized under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Brnovich has filed to intervene in other statesβ βstolen electionβ suits. And Senate President Karen Fann is defending the βfraudit.β
There are many more examples of right-wing-based suits either brought or defended by our state Republican leadership. Does anyone know how much these suits are costing taxpayers? Is there any accountability at all? The Republican hypocrisy and ineptness in its use of taxpayer money is what keeps me maximizing my gifts to state tax credited charitable groups and public schools each year.
Gail Kamaras
East side
If only US was parasite-free ...
Re: the Sept. 16 article βBanner handling cases of ivermectin poisoning.β
After reading about the use of ivermectin to treat COVID, I reflect back to growing up in Wyoming. Local ranchers used an array of veterinary medicines; antibiotics for infections, vaccines to prevent infection and anti-parasitics to deworm. Following misinformation from conservative commentators and podcasts, many are now self-treating with an βoff the shelfβ dewormer, now resulting in overloaded ERs and ICUs.
Ivermectin apparently is effective on cattle, horses and βdelusionalβ elephants. After discharge from treatment, at least those users should be parasite-free. But the rest of us, after an exasperating four years, see the continued side effects of the worst parasite to ever infect America. Please be considerate of your fellow human being as we are all on this small planet together. Educate, vaccinate and vote.
Jonathan Schultz
Northwest side
Big money wins again
As a former Californian and nearly lifelong Democrat, I am deeply saddened by the defeat of Larry Elder by Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election. GOP candidate Elder strikes me as a man of integrity, who brought to the table a well-thought-out agenda for addressing the sorry mess that permeates California, exacerbated by Newsomβs leadership. Unfortunately, as is virtually universal in todayβs politics, the big-money vested interests call the shots. Sad, indeed.
John Newport
Northwest side
Voting rights need protection
Democratic senators just unveiled a new voting rights bill, the Freedom to Vote Act.
The bill was crafted in part by Sen. Joe Manchin, who had earlier opposed the more ambitious For the People Act.
As a voting rights advocate who spent months this year trying to defeat the Arizona Legislatureβs attacks on our right to vote, Iβve seen firsthand why Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema must do everything they can to pass this bill.
The legislation would ban partisan gerrymandering, make Election Day a public holiday, enact automatic and same-day voter registration, and more.
While a majority of the Senate supports the legislation, itβs unlikely that the Freedom to Vote Act will become law. Thatβs thanks to the filibuster, an outdated rule often used to stifle freedom.
But Democrats have the power to change the filibuster. And if Republicans donβt get on board with passing this bill, Senate Democrats have a moral obligation to bypass the filibuster. Our democracy depends on it.
Oscar De Los Santos
Downtown
