When it comes to President Biden’s recent State of the Union address, it’s amazing how so many lawmakers have gone insane and forgotten their politeness during the president’s address. Hearing these words from Mahatma Gandhi may help all members of Congress.

Re: February 5 article “Tucson needs partners focused on more than revenue.”

Through innovation and investment, Republic Services is committed to promoting recycling and circularity. Nationwide, only about one-third of America’s waste is diverted for recycling. Plastic is often downcycled into fibers and plastic blocks instead of being made into new bottles and jugs, and glass is either downcycled into fiberglass or shredded and used in construction. These downcycled applications have few options for further recycling. We are committed to keeping things recyclable longer in a circular economy. This reduces the need for virgin materials and helps protect the environment. Republic will open its first polymer center in the country later this year to process plastics from markets such as Tucson, making plastics more circular. Supporting a circular economy is difficult, but achievable with investment and commitment. Republic Services has the infrastructure and a focus on sustainability that impacts real change.

Manager of Republican Services in Tucson

Re: February 5 article “Help find solutions to Arizona’s water crisis”.

We offer the following suggestions regarding water use in this very dry state. Gone are the days of adopting Xeriscape’s landscaping guidelines and requiring golf courses to significantly reduce their water consumption. Arizona has over 370 golf courses (over 6,000 holes), all of which need to keep generating tourist income. But not everything has to be green. We will also challenge all eateries to stop serving water unless a patron asks for a glass. Note that we Michigans have stepped up water protection and have not seemed very kind to rescuing desert dwellers.

Snowbirds staying in Marana

Thank you, Sheriff Dunnells, for testifying to elected officials in Washington on behalf of Cochise County. Thank you for sharing the “reality” of the border crisis. This affects Cochise County as a whole and must be addressed. After shaming two county superintendents who made us a nation’s laughingstock after the recent election, my admiration for Sheriff Dunnels has grown and we can be proud of our county officials again. He’s done a great job in that position and I’m proud to call him our sheriff.

Recently, TEP had to drive past our property to access a utility pole. The truck ravaged the desert and smashed the traffic light on the driveway…but…the next day a landscaper came out to fix the desert and replace the lights in the driveway. TEP employees were professional, courteous and competent. TEP, thank you as always.

Re: Letter dated Feb. 7, “Taking Profit.”

The answer to the writer of the letter that Republicans “want to cut Social Security” is not true. The truth is that some Republican wants to reform Social Security to keep him solvent and not have to pay only his 77% of his scheduled benefits starting in 2034. That’s really what’s happening because the federal government uses Social Security taxes for general purposes and provides Social Security Trust Fund Treasuries in return. Since 2010, Social Security has had an annual cash flow deficit. This meant that Social Security had to use common tax funds to help pay Social Security beneficiaries. So there is no real money in the Social Security Trust Fund like there is for example in a bank account.

Living on LD 17, Marana to Mezcal, we are three Republicans represented in the Arizona Legislature, all members of the Liberal Caucasus. All three recently voted against raising the education funding cap, which would lead to widespread and severe budget cuts in Arizona’s public schools, by denying funds allocated in the 2022 state budget.

His refusal to raise the funding cap to allow the budget to be fully implemented violated lawmakers’ pledge to uphold Arizona law and the Arizona Constitution, as noted by Republican Rep. David Cook. Republican Rep. Rachel Jones justified her “no” vote by saying, “I wasn’t in the legislature that promised me that money last year.” Does being a member of LD 17 mean that I am free to ignore all laws that LD 17 representatives have not voted for or agreed to? Sounds like a “chaos caucus” to me.

Inflation control laws save lives.

The Democrats really did something for the people of Arizona by passing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In 2023, Medicare Part D beneficiaries will get essential vaccines free, insulin users will be capped at $35 a month, and drug companies will be forced to pay more if they raise prices faster than inflation. You will be punished.

Seniors in Arizona have long been used by pharmaceutical companies to charge high prices for life-saving drugs. IRA provisions take power away from price extortion and save our money and lives.

No Republicans in Arizona’s congressional district voted for the IRA. Only Democrats did. Now, Republicans want to repeal a major provision, making the false claim that the “drugs provision is very dangerous” and deliberately hindering life-saving treatments.

As a Medicare beneficiary, I’ve already seen savings in prescription costs. We applaud the Democrats who helped pass the IRA. The time is long past for Republicans to do more for Arizonans.

I was told that today’s Republican Party is not your parent’s Republican Party. That’s an understatement and I don’t understand why the press continues to call today’s Republicans conservative.

The secretive Republican so-called “Liberal caucuses” in the Arizona Legislature are determined to tell women, teachers, and “others” what they can and can’t do. It reminds me of the Taliban, not the Republican Party. My parent’s Republican Party believed in local autonomy and democratically elected school boards.

Republicans today are not conservative. Conservatives like former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake have long been kicked out of the Republican Party for not marching in step with the new autocratic Republican Party. The media should be more accurate in calling today’s Republicans authoritarians.

So Tucson is fortunate to have another professional golf tour thanks to the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour. Great golfers like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson come into play. These players and the field as a whole receive hefty rewards for their efforts. Additionally, all players were paid just to join the new tour, and Phil Mickelson apparently got paid his $150 million. Of course, these players made a ton of money on his PGA Tour, but gave it up for Saudi money. I think it’s easy to ignore the fact that Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered while his fiancée was waiting outside the Saudi consulate. It’s also easy to ignore the fact that Saudi women are second-class citizens and are not allowed to marry, divorce, travel or even get a job without the permission of a male guardian. This is called “sport washing”. This tour was designed to give Saudi Arabia a better look at the rest of the world. I call it BS.

Arizona’s newly elected public education superintendent’s solution to the 55% cut in CAP’s water quota is to gut the public school curriculum to make Arizona an even less desirable state to raise children. It seems to be to do. They need to look to another state to reduce the population of thirsty Arizonas while retaining just enough CAP water for our most lucrative building block, the 5 C’s. Is Arizona a Go-Fund-Me for Public Libraries?