����ֱ��

The party for workers?

This Labor Day, we should ask: What has the Trump administration really done for American workers?

The reconciliation bill cuts Medicaid and food assistance, harming low-income workers, and ends ACA insurance subsidies. Trump’s Department of Labor reversed overtime and minimum-wage protections, opening the door to wage theft. Enforcement of laws against discrimination, exploitation of foreign workers and child-labor was sidelined by a massive reduction in staff, and the National Labor Relations Board rendered inactive, without the required quorum to function.

The administration weakened workplace safety enforcement and shifted focus away from punishing companies for violations; cut funding for worker training, organizing, and job support; reversed efforts to improve unemployment insurance; and eliminated collective bargaining rights for many federal employees.

Trump’s corporate tax cuts rewarded outsourcing — giving companies a 50% tax break on foreign profits, and his administration awarded over $115 billion in federal contracts to those shipping jobs overseas.

For a party that claims to support workers, the record tells a very different story.

Barbara Hall

Midtown

The issue of crime

Mr. “Safer Sidewalks” went over the top with his ludicrous exaggeration of the D.C (or any “liberal” city) crime situations. “Decades of feeling unsafe?” Citizens “cowering” in the streets? Only, of course, in blue cities, according to the letter writer. Let’s recap: Of the 5 cities with the highest murder rates per capita, 3 of them are Memphis, St. Louis and New Orleans. Smaller cities with the highest homicide rates are Jackson, Mississippi, Little Rock and Baton Rouge. Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest murder rates per capita. Statistics indicate that Houston has a higher crime rate than D.C. I ask you, Mr. Hancock, why are there no federal troops deployed in these violent places? Trump does not have troops in DC to address crime. He is, as usual, retaliating against his perceived “enemies.” Convicted felon Trump has never had a decent-minded, non-self-serving motivation for anything he’s done in his entire misspent life.

Hope Gastelum

East side

School threats case

Apparently, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover is leaning in favor of protecting potential school shooter rights, instead of protecting students from being shot or stabbed.

Daniel Hollander was arrested and detained for entering a school with a gun and a knife and, in his own words, admitted to going to the school “to cause harm to the children.”

It seems that Conover’s office is going out of their way to show everything that law enforcement officers did “wrong” in handling this suspect, and doing everything possible to protect a potential violent child-killer’s rights.

If released, this monster will undoubtedly appear again and possibly carry out his original heinous intent.

Conover should lean a little more in favor of law enforcement, and a little less in favor of mentally incompetent psychopaths.

Daniel Egan

East side

Trump tough on crime?

The President has begun his military takeover of Democratic cities, citing his concern about crime affecting average Americans, even though his numbers may be exaggerated and likely out right fabricated. It is a fact that millions of Americans lost their ����ֱ�� and life savings due to “deceptive and abusive” practices that caused bank failures and led to the real estate crash of 2008.

Trump’s record of fighting white-collar crime since taking office includes the following actions:

1. Effectively dismantled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which was responsible for ensuring financial products and services offered to the public are “fair and transparent.”

2. Canceled over one billion dollars awarded to victims of fraud.

3. Pardoned people convicted of committing securities, bank, and healthcare fraud.

4. Pardoned people convicted of committing drug distribution and money laundering.

Trump cares about crime? Really? I don’t think so.

Bobbi Zimmer

Midtown

D.C. ‘out of control?’

An Aug. 31 LTE parrots Trump’s “out-of-control” depiction of Washington, DC law enforcement and then genuflects to the convicted felon’s assertion that every Democrat-led city has “experienced increases in crime.”

According to D.C. law enforcement statistics (mcdc.dc.gov), as of Aug. 29, 2025 homicides declined sixteen percent from the similar period in 2024, robberies fell thirty-one percent, and total violent crime fell twenty-seven percent.

These declines in crime continue a pattern from 2024 when total violent crime dropped thirty-five percent from 2023. During that same period homicides fell thirty-two percent, robberies fell thirty-nine percent.

These statistics hardly suggest an “out-of-control” law enforcement. Nor do the numbers support the assertion that “Every city controlled by Democrat administrations has experienced increases in crime.”

Doug Salerno

Foothills

Nobel envy?

Trump’s claims of “solving” 6, 7 or 10 wars are typical bombast that bear greater scrutiny. Rwanda and Congo are still fighting; India denies his role in negotiations with Pakistan; the war between Israel and Iran was ended by American bombing. We all remember how he ended solved the war in Afghanistan: He held talks without the Afghan government represented and agreed to surrender the country to the Taliban.

Meanwhile, his negotiations to end the war in Ukraine have failed miserably and he has taken no steps at all to end Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians. If Trump is counting on getting into heaven based on these results, I suspect his meager efforts will not outweigh his destruction of American democracy to win him an eternity in paradise.

Bruce Hilpert

North side

LA would have burned

An article in the Star claimed that the Homeland Security Secretary said, “I do know that LA wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action. That city would have burned if left to the devices of the mayor and governor of that state.” It’s entirely possible that more ridiculously inane statements have been made by our so-called leaders but frankly I don’t recall one. If anyone reads this and can make sense out of it I suspect your leanings are so far out of kilter you simply cannot differentiate between fact and fiction.

Philip Reinecker

East side

2nd Amendment

There is not one child who wants to die for your 2nd Amendment rights.

Not one.

Terry Louck

East side

Art imitates life

I’ve mentioned before that I was born in Chicago and came to Tucson fifty years ago on a dare. Having reached seventy-five, I have somewhat mellowed.

Last night I watched a fantastic movie called “Casablanca” and one scene rocked me.

In my mind I rewrote the dialogue between “Rick” and the “German officer”.

Indulge me... Officer: “What will you think if we come to Chicago?” Rick: “ Well ... Colonel Trump, there are certain sections of Chicago I would not recommend going into.”

Casablanca was nominated for eleven Oscars and won three.

Best Picture. Best Director and now I defer to Best Writing, adapted screenplay.

This movie was made in 1942 during a time of an attempted fascist takeover of the world.

Lest we forget it was a love story.

Thomas J. Plesniak

Midtown

Equality vs. equity

A decade ago distinguished economist Thomas Sowell wrote, “Civil rights used to be about treating everyone the same. But today some people are so used to special treatment that equal treatment is considered to be discrimination.”

Pause to think about his insightful statement that is even truer today as we begin dismantling the racist DEI infrastructure in our government, universities, and corporations.

Jeffrey McConnell

West side

Stop the madness

As citizens in grieving, we decry the tragic school shooting this past week in Minnesota. Two of our grandkids went to Annunciation School and lived only 2 blocks away. One of them attended grade school with the shooter. It will take years for those involved to recover from the shock.

We must not as a nation allow people to have access to military assault weaponry. and we need to stop glibly sending “thoughts and prayers” each time one of these incidents rears its ugly head anew.

We implore our honored senators and representatives to take concrete action regarding this horrible problem. Advocate for reform of the outdated Second Amendment. Champion policies that prioritize mental health screening and responsible gun ownership. There is no reason in the world for allowing assault style weapons into the hands of a mentally deranged person such as we saw in Minneapolis.

The time to act, dear Senators and Representatives, is now.

William and Yvonne

Kuhlman

Oro Valley

Good neighbor?

I cannot comprehend how a corporation, and even some locals, don’t realize that nothing supersedes the conservation of water in the desert. What becomes of economic opportunities when a faucet is turned on and there is no more water forthcoming? How can we endure an entity that would unnecessarily, profligately, waste that precious, life-giving resource just to reduce their building and operating costs?

Pardon my necessary yelling: This is a desert that is enduring a more-than-two-decade drought! Are you completely devoid of foresight?

If a corporation wants to wantonly and needlessly waste essential water to save money, then that entity should build and operate where there is sufficient water to engage in that behavior. Tucson is not that place.

Rick Cohn

West side

Heroes fought for freedom

I would urge politicians, especially those complicitly watching our country’s descent into authoritarianism, to visit our VA hospitals during a somber moment when a veteran’s coffin is carried out. Picture this: solemn music, nurses standing with hands over their hearts, patients at their doorways saluting, and the grieving family trailing behind their loved one who fought valiantly for freedom and democracy.

These veterans battled against authoritarianism and the dark specter of fascism that now threatens our freedom. Their sacrifices demand our respect and remembrance.

It is crucial for those in power to bear witness to the true cost of our liberties. Those suffering from war wounds, including the chronic pain caused by Agent Orange (presciently named), are not “losers and suckers,” but heroes. Let us cherish their legacy and ensure their sacrifices are never taken for granted. Our future hinges on our ability to truly honor and support those who fought for freedom. A dictatorship will eventually take your personal freedoms. Will you be complicit or heroic?

Louis Hollingsworth

West side