Re: “In Arizona, relief along the border now that Trump is back in charge,” March 9 commentary<\/p>\n
It\u2019s great that Arizona Rancher John Ladd has less stress because of border issues. I\u2019m not sure he knows his relief could have started a year earlier. A solution to the border crisis was ready to be implemented and could have helped him 12 months ago.<\/p>\n
After months of negotiations, Sen.James. Lankford (R-Okla.), Sen.Chris Murphy (D- Conn.), and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) unveiled a bipartisan $118 billion border bill in February of 2024. It focused on Congress funding critical solutions facing border officials, border towns, and border residents like Ladd.<\/p>\n
Neither Republicans nor Democrats got everything they wanted, but it did concentrate on making the border more orderly, secure, fair, and humane. About $650 million was allocated for the border wall and $4 billion for hiring new asylum officers to reduce backlogs. It required the president to shut down the border if the number of migrants hit specific thresholds. It sped up the process for deciding asylum claims and authorized migrants to work while waiting for their claims to be adjudicated.<\/p>\n
Republicans got funding for the border wall. Democrats got increased border personnel. Ranchers, like Ladd, got relief.<\/p>\n
But it didn\u2019t happen. Then-candidate Donald Trump squashed the bill because he wanted the border problem to continue. His candidacy was more important than anything positive for our country.<\/p>\n
Instead, Ladd had another 12 months to stress out, and there is still not a permanent solution. There is still a backlog of asylum claims and what\u2019s being done now is certainly not fair or humane.<\/p>\n
Ronald Fischer, Lakewood<\/em><\/p>\n Re: “Families need to learn there is no such thing as a free lunch<\/a>,” March 9 commentary<\/p>\n Before she rolls out the tired clich\u00e9 that there is no free lunch, we\u2019d ask columnist Krista Kafer to dig into the facts around a current legislative proposal allowing people who use the Supplemental Nutrition Program (food stamps) to spend that money on restaurant meals.<\/p>\n As planned, the program would allow people who are 60 years or older, are living with a disability or who are unhoused to participate. These are the very individuals who are most likely to struggle to shop and prepare home-cooked meals.\u00a0And nothing in the proposal is an expansion of benefits.\u00a0The only change is an expansion of\u00a0where\u00a0the\u00a0dollars\u00a0they receive\u00a0can be spent.<\/p>\n And before we all buy into Kafer\u2019s \u201ceating out on other people\u2019s dime\u201d mentality, just a brief note that this program will allow a direct reinvestment into small businesses and local economies around the state. The Colorado Restaurant Association<\/a> notes that every dollar spent in local restaurants contributes $2.21 to the state economy, and every additional $1 million spent generates 16.8 local jobs.<\/p>\nLet\u2019s get the facts straight on the need for food<\/h4>\n