We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor on issues of interest to East Valley residents. Submissions should be no longer than 300 words, factually accurate and original thoughts of the writer. Please be brief and include name, address, city and phone number for verification. Letters and call-in comments may be edited for clarity and length.
SCHIP
—
Convenient omission
I read Rep. Harry Mitchell’s column (Oct. 18) and was impressed with his knowledge of the facts concerning the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. He was quick to point out the error made by Tom Patterson stating that at least half of the new beneficiaries of the expanded program would be families who are currently insured.
However, he failed to tell us what the real number is. Is it 45 percent or 5 percent? Just how many of the new beneficiaries will be from families that are currently covered by private insurance? The number must be considerable since Mitchell conveniently omits it from the discussion. Sometimes what people don’t say is more important than what they are saying.
Patrick O’Connell
Gilbert
WOMAN LEADERS
—
Depends on the woman
Apparently Mary Richards (Letters, Oct. 17) has her heart set on a female president for the next term. While I don’t care much for the choices she listed, I could live with a woman president along the lines of Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir.
What I don’t want is someone who is intent on buying the presidency by promising funds from the treasury for newborns, payments to taxpayers for their retirement, or expanding SCHIP to cover people who are otherwise able to afford health insurance. This would be the first step of many on the road to national health care, and believe me, you don’t want to go there. Her comment two years ago in San Francisco — “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” should tell you everything you need to know about this candidate!
Jim Peasley
Chandler
Clinton had her turn already
Mary Richards’ Oct. 17 letter questions why we can’t have a woman president. My response is that a woman president can be elected and serve as well as a male president.
Many large companies have women presidents who are highly respected, trustworthy, intelligent, and so on, and do a fantastic job of running the company. However, a woman doesn’t become the president until she has proved that she can handle the job. Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, and many American Indian tribal leaders are excellent examples of successful, respected female leadership.
I would be delighted to vote for a competent woman for president, just not Hillary Clinton. Have people already forgotten her last term in the White House and her statement, “We are the president”? That alone should bar her from running, since she’s already been the president for eight years, just under the name of her henpecked husband, Bill.
Helen Keith
Tempe
IMMIGRATION
—
Bush not acting presidential
In my 77 years I have made a few mistakes, but the biggest mistake was voting twice for George W. Bush. Having worked in both the Democratic and the Republican parties has given me an insight on how politics works. However, in the past few years the litany of working against the very fiber that makes America great has become outlandish in both parties.
Here are just a few things that President Bush could have done to correct a wrong:
Remember the incident where the two border patrol personnel tried to apprehend a Mexican drug trafficker on the Texas border and shot him in the rear? They were just doing their job, but they have to spend two years in prison while the drug traffickers go free. Bush could have interceded and kept the border patrol guys out of prison.
Again, just lately, some small-time judge stopped the building of the border fence because the Sierra Club protested that it hurt the environment. Bush could have put his foot down and said, “No, keep it going.”
I guess as president of the United States, you are allowed a few mistakes. But, Mr. Bush, these are only a few you have made.
We in America have shown our disgust when illegal immigration is mentioned. When the phones in Washington rang off the walls during the latest immigration bill being voted on, it should have told the president and Congress how America feels. He can’t be that dumb, but apparently Bush still does not get the message. Bush and others in America appear to have another agenda. Let’s take back America and get out and vote.
Richard W. Prior
Mesa
DEMOCRATS
—
As smart as donkeys
Where’s the benefit to our country when a Democratic Party-dominated Congress is trying to pass a bill chastising the Turks for Armenian “genocide” that occurred in 1915 — 92 years ago? The answer: none! It’s nothing but a mean-spirited attempt to anger a good ally.
Are Democrats so stupid as to think that most Americans will not recognize this attempt for exactly what it is?
Jim Thompson
ahwatukee foothills
VALLEY OF THE SUN
—
Quality of life is gone
The “better life” we were searching for in the 1990s led us to the Phoenix area from the East Coast, and for several years we all rejoiced at the improved quality of living to be had for all. More than eight years later, we’re scratching our heads with dismay, heartbroken that this city and its leaders have failed to maintain the distinctive features that elevated the Phoenix area above the rest of the country.
Gone is the beauty of the desert, paved over with cement and asphalt giving way to strip mall after strip mall. Too many of our roads are under endless construction for repairs, resulting in closed lanes and traffic build-up.
The cost of living here has risen dramatically, and wages have not kept up. The quality of life is gone.
Phoenix used to have a certain character, a western flavor. Now you can pick it up and plant it smack in the middle of Indiana or New Jersey, and it would fit right in. We’re searching for the next place to live. Arizona has become a giant disappointment that just seems to get worse each day. The state slogan should be “the West’s most Eastern town.”
Jonathan King
Phoenix
