Comments on: Spending Labor Day with Republicans: An educational experience for all

By: alohapuna

alohapuna — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:31:06 +0000

Don, please explain how Geo. W. Bush made it more secure for us, specifis, no rhetoric please. Although their homes may be undamaged, thousands of young men and women have been sent overseas to their deaths. We devastated a country, destroyed their homes and killed or maimed thousands of innocent men, women and children in Iraq. What did that accomplish but to possibly spawn more terrorists in the children who saw their homes and familes destroyed.
Then not to mention the enormous drain on the U S treasury, greatly contributing to the flailing economy which has essentialy inflicted damage on millions of Americans. Conservatives whining about spending, but not during the Bush Administration, don’t like to bring Iraq or Afghanistan into the conversation.

By: pamela

pamela — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:19:05 +0000

Don, no, I don’t like what I see. We have wasted millions on TREO, MTCVB, and their failed development policies.I am all for marketing Tucson (which is what they are doing) but it is not working. TREO is chasing call center jobs because AZ can’t compete for jobs that require education– thanks to the AZ Leg. MTCVB has been selling sunsets,cacti and cowboys for years. There is no microinvesting that I know of. Small businesses struggle lalong and then are thrown out of business with continuous road-widening projects (something that is not done in the east).

Regarding vague messages from Rawson and Grinnell, the Dems’ messenging is just was vague on the city council level. Rothschild is somewhat more detailed.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:49:05 +0000

You can thank George W. Bush for the fact that, 10 years after 9/11, life at home is secure enough and undamaged enough that you can spend a holiday handing out stickers (“Healthcare Not Warfare”) that make it seem as if the real world’s dangers are imaginary.
You also seemed dismissive of Grinnell’s and Rawson’s ideas. So, don’t be surprised if we conservatives are dismissive of yours. (How long are we supposed to wait for your little cottage industries to grow big enough to employ more than just a few Tucsonans?)
This city has been run by a Democratic-majority city council for years. Take a look around—do you like what you see?
Last year I convinced the government agency I support to hold its semiannual conference here in Tucson. As I drove the advance party by the Ronstadt Bus Station, one of my colleagues pointed to all the empty storefronts and said in disbelief “This is your downtown?”
I like your idea about subsidizing cottage industries with microgrants—but that only goes so far. It’s not enough to have businesses that you approve of—we need enough businesses, of large enough size, to provide a stable employment base.

By: kane O

kane O — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:26:47 +0000

Pamela, thank you for writing this piece.

By: Jim Hannley

Jim Hannley — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:15:13 +0000

Well done, Pamela! Why continue to fund TREO? Cronyism? What have they produced for their $1M/year funding? I’ll bet they would be hard pressed to find a total of $1M in new revenue for the City or County since they started up. It is also amusing to read how neither Grinnell nor Rawson have any idea (or desire?) to address the shameful amount of poverty in our city.