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4 | MAY 12, 2022
SOAP BOX “Short Circuit,” May 5 Cover Story
It appears that the state tax offices and the county tax offices are not putting forth the effort needed to provide information on the program known as “Circuit Breaker.” Had I not lived in an Episcopal Church-owned building with a building coordinator, I, too, wouldn’t have known about the renter refund/rebate program. As a retiree with no dependents, living on Social Security and a small annuity, my finances are such that I have not paid federal or state income taxes for the past 12 years. The tax offices practically don’t know that I exist. I would fall through the cracks like so many others. This article was good, but it is the only one I have seen in four years of Utah residency. No daily newspaper—
when there was still such a thing— ever covered the topic, and likewise for senior citizen-oriented publications. Nothing. Will legislators do anything to correct the problems pointed out in the article? Not likely. Witness the debacle with the food tax increase in 2019 and 2020. The poor are disenfranchised, whether they are seniors or working stiffs. GEOFFERY LOEBEL
Salt Lake City
What’s Next for Republicans?
Now that the GOP is hellbent on doing away with a woman’s right to a safe abortion, and Republican govenors are wanting to ban books and to eliminate voting rights, what comes next? Will the Southern states try to reinstitute slavery? We must remember that the former
@SLCWEEKLY slave states were the ones that put Trump into the Oval Office. Widespread poverty, poor educational systems and rampant meth use further define the Bible Belt states. Outside of the South, the two most backward conservative states are Idaho and Utah. And in these two states, white, Mormon, Republican males rule. At least Utah has Salt Lake County to partially buffer against the more Trumpian rural areas. However, the conservative, mostly white, allmale Republican Mormons hold all of Utah’s seats in the U.S. House and Senate. Even Sen. Mike Lee—the “constitutional scholar” who was among those supporting the attempted overthrow of the U.S. presidential election—will probably be reelected by faithful voters. TED OTTINGER
Taylorsville
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“‘D’ Is for Donkey,” May 5 Private Eye
I’m a Democrat, but we need to be strategic right now. JEANNE POSTVANDERBURG | Via Facebook I’d rather see Sen. Mike Lee out. Dems won’t win, and writing-in someone who said, “Don’t vote for me,” is literally wasting your vote. ERIN BAIN | Via Facebook Sounds like a great way to get Mike Lee, a vile and corrupt man, reelected. Sometimes, you just gotta vote strategically. MATT STARLING | Via Facebook Conservatives are subhuman creatures hellbent on fortifying the patriarchy with brutal and brain-dead policies. They need to be removed by any means. GAIUS GRACCHUS | Via Facebook Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!
THE BOX
What’s the first cause you got politically active in (i.e., marching, protesting, writing to your representatives)? Katharine Biele
I was out of the country for much of the women’s movement and Vietnam. When I came back as a journalist, political action was frowned upon. Thank you, alternative journalism, for freeing me to speak out— especially during the big march in 2017 in Washington, D.C., for women’s rights. Sad, isn’t it?
Bryan Bale
The first rally/march I remember attending was at City Creek Park across from Temple Square in 2015. In June of that year, the Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage and, in response, the LDS church implemented a policy barring children “whose primary residence is with a couple living in a same-gender marriage or similar relationship” from being blessed or baptized until they turn 18, leave their parents’ home and disavow same-sex marriage or cohabitation. The rally was billed as a “Mass Resignation” from Mormonism and was organized as a protest against the new policy, with lawyers and notaries on hand to help facilitate the church membership resignation process for hundreds of attendees.
Scott Renshaw
In all likelihood, though the years get blurry, it was related to university divestment from South Africa in the 1980s. How silly we were to think opposing white supremacy would eventually become noncontroversial.
Benjamin Wood
20 Is Plenty—slower speeds save lives!
