Tucson Speaks Out: April 12

Federal government correction

The U.S. is over $36 trillion in debt and during the past 40 years, more than 90,000 businesses closed and with them millions of jobs went overseas. We will be bankrupt if this direction is not corrected. The major changes Trump is making have the left going insane. The most important is addressing China and getting parity in tariffs. Our trade imbalance with them is over one trillion dollars. We have the largest consumer population on Earth, no other nation can survive without participating with us. There is a stalemate now with reciprocal tariffs but China will finally have to accept the conditions the U.S. is making. No other politician in decades was willing to address this problem, Trump is doing it. All the criticism of him demonstrates that the media and the Democrats do not recognize the urgency of the restructuring. Gaining fair and free trade will be a windfall for us. The continued discovery or waste and fraud will ultimately reduce federal spending.

Bill Dowdall

Oro Valley

Finally, a Ciscomani town hall, sort of

Each week I call Rep. Ciscomani's office in Washington and speak to the polite young workers who answer his phone. After asking about the issue of the day, I request a town hall in Tucson. We've had none. Imagine my surprise April 9 when I received an invitation for a virtual town hall! Finally, I thought, Ciscomani will hear what we, his constituents, have to say! Unfortunately, the email was time-stamped 6:20 p.m. for an event that began at 6. Ciscomain still doesn't want to face his constituents, even virtually. But why the rushed town hall?. Then I received an email for a "People's Town Hall" with Sen. Cory Booker. Could this explain Ciscomani's last-minute meeting? Sen. Booker is holding a town hall because our Ciscomani won't. At this point, I'll take just about any member of Congress who shows us the courtesy of speaking with us. Thank you, Sen. Booker, for doing what Rep. Ciscomani seems to be too chicken to do — meet with his constituents.

Sue Sanders

Foothills

Resist with courage

When I attended the recent "Hands Off" demonstration at Reid Park, an apparent MAGA shouted, "If you don't like it, leave." I replied, "We are proud to exert our First Amendment rights." If she attended a nearby opposing demonstration, I would not question her right to do so.

MAGAs seek to quash the rights of others and even claim the right to attack the Capitol on January 6. Donald Trump pampers his MAGA foot soldiers and criminal associates with pardons and even speaks of rewarding them with compensation after they were convicted of their crimes. What an upside-down world we live in when violent criminals are called patriots.

Trump acts like a lawless gangster mob boss as he wrecks our nation in pursuit of retribution for losing the 2020 election. A quotation attributed to Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu, is applicable: "An evil man will burn down his own nation to rule over the ashes." Resist with courage.

Ronald Pelech

Midtown

Another nice mess

No, Donald, you don’t poke your friends in the eye.

You don’t levy high tariffs on a vulnerable auto industry and expect the Europeans to trade cheap.

You don’t threaten destructive reciprocal tariffs against the whole world, drive the S&P into the magma and wreck ordinary folks’ retirements! You don't say, “Cool!”, suspend for 90 days, but double down on China — our third-largest trading partner at $150bn a year.

And, no Donald, you don’t slap an extra 25% tariff on our two biggest trading partners — Canada, at $356bn, and Mexico, at $324bn!

Can’t you hear the people shouting? Prices set to rocket up — from avocados to Fords, productos de Mexico.

When you hear the blowback, like a dark-side double of Oliver Hardy, not lovable but loathable, you’ll be looking to dump on Bessent or Navarro, or why not Biden? Or even Obama? Then we’ll read on Truth Social:

“Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!”

Chuck Barrett

North side

Rushed process for District 5

The Pima County Board of Supervisors is moving too quickly to fill the District 5 seat vacated by Adelita Grijalva — and that should concern all of us.

This appointment will impact over 200,000 residents in District 5 and will have ripple effects across the entire county. Yet, the process appears rushed and lacking transparency. The application period was notably brief — from April 1 to April 7 — and the appointment will be made on April 15. Only three supervisors will make the selection, as the supervisor in District 4 typically abstains from voting on Democratic appointments.

Pushing through this appointment without ample community input sends the wrong message. Residents deserve a fair process that truly considers diverse perspectives. Taking more time would allow genuine vetting, public participation, and a better outcome for all of us.

This isn’t just about filling a vacancy. It’s about showing the people of Pima County that their voices matter, especially when it comes to choosing who represents them.

Irma Gastelum

Foothills

Who is Trump really working for?

Not the ordinary American people. He seems to be working for Putin. Strange how some Americans convinced themselves that the election was stolen, without viable facts, yet nobody can get on board with our president being an agent for Putin. Consider the facts. Most recently, he raised tariffs on almost every country, except Russia. Does that make sense? Russia currently has one of the world’s worst economies, as a result of its war with Ukraine and all the assorted sanctions. Just think how much Trump destroying all world economies, including ours, helps Russia out! By damaging our key government programs and putting our country in chaos, he helps Putin. He won’t say Russia invaded Ukraine or put U.S. support behind Ukraine, and he wants to weaken NATO. All things that benefit Russia. All of us should become concerned about who our president is really working for, before we get shafted for the benefit of his buddy Putin, and himself.

Mark Sensibaugh

Southwest side

AG acts on Social Security

Kudos to AG Chris Mayes for taking action to help our citizens receive help with problems with the staff-depleted Social Security Administration. The Trump cuts to the Social Security Administration make no sense when the agency has to serve more people than ever, when their administrative costs are an enviable 1%, and fraud estimates are less than 1%. The "common sense" approach would be to find the waste and fraud, cut it, and prosecute the offenders. Instead, DOGE lies about people 150 plus years old getting checks with no evidence. Very publicly prosecute these cheats. The AG has set up a website to report any problems with receiving checks, changing data or any other problem. The website is: www.AZAG.gov/socialsecurity. I tried it, it works. Thank you, Attorney General Mayes.

Don Ries

Southeast side

Governing by 'instinct'

Do we want to be governed by a president who changes the course of the domestic and international economy because people, in his words, "Were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.” "Yippy" is the word to describe economic disaster? Do we want to be governed by a man who is making decisions literally by the seat of his pants, "citing the jittery market" and saying he was acting “instinctively, more than anything else.” Can we afford "instinct" to be the guiding principle for our present and future?

Rita Pollak

Oro Valley

Tariffs' cost

"Transition Cost"? Really, Trump? To whom? You and your billionaire supporters? Certainly not the retired seniors who do not have multiple years to recover their losses in their retirement savings with your "transition cost." You are really a "piece of work." I am not sure how you sleep at night.

Vicky Smith

Marana

Boonstra's accomplishments

I would like to thank Ford Burkhart for remembering my late sister, Sandy Boonstra, for her accomplishments as "Girl Athlete of the Year" in her junior and senior years at Catalina High. She also went on to earn her U of A blazer and U of A blanket. She was quite a gal.

Virginia Boonstra La Bar

SaddleBrooke

Follow park rules

I encourage Tucson Run Club members to follow the Parks and Recreation rules for taking dogs into Tucson Mountain Park. There are THREE notices at the entrance of Tucson Mountain Park Sarasota entrance that prohibit dogs in this park. There is one other sign at an entrance further west in Tucson Estates 11. I saw a male runner with a giant Dalmatian and a tan full-size poodle running in the Tucson Mountain Parks trails at 10:15 am on April 9. Please respect park rules.

D. Christiansen

Southwest side

Mayes represents the rule of law

A recent letter blasted Kris Mayes for not representing all Arizonans. Huh? She is beholden to the Arizona Constitution, not to Republicans or Democrats -- and charged specifically by Section 41-192, which mandates the Attorney General's responsibilities. Perhaps the writer should spend some time reading that long list of duties. No line of text there charges her with representing political ideologies. Nothing in the Arizona Constitution charges her with following orders from anyone. She interprets the law, she does not follow what others think. Only legal precedents influence her opinions. She doesn't check her ideology playbook before she renders an opinion. She campaigned on issues that revealed how she interprets those laws not on how well she bends to the will of those in power.

She’s one of our country’s best examples of what our founding fathers intended when they mandated separation of powers. Maybe the writer forgets just what separation of powers truly means. I can see his predicament; there is no good example to follow anymore.

Rick Rappaport

Oro Valley

A bigot or a coward

I am disgusted and appalled that University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella sent a letter to Arizona's Senate president announcing steps he is taking to shut down DEIA activities. The U of A president could have gone to court, as other university presidents have done with success, to block enforcement of the blatantly unconstitutional federal executive order and threat from the state legislature to impose unconstitutional restrictions on funding. Instead, Garimella meekly capitulated. He is now promoting homogeneity, inequality, exclusion, and inaccessibility. Perhaps he is happy about this, in which case he is an uncaring, haughty bigot. Perhaps he is unhappy about this, in which case he is a hypocrite and a coward. Either way, I have no respect for him.

Amelia Cramer

Downtown

Space X Waste

Musk has $13 billion in contracts with SpaceX. Is anyone from DOGE looking for fraud and waste there? Musk and Trump cut 60,000 federal employees who provide services to average Americans. What benefit is space exploration to average Americans compared to education, medical, medical research, food insecurity, environmental quality, etc., etc.? $13 billion being spent on space exploration. Space exploration does not feed or care for one American.

Richard Bechtold

West side