Progressives around Iowa are showing up on the opinion pages of their local papers. Here is a sampling.
Again and again Gov. Branstad shows his arrogance as he continues to look out for the wealthy in the state of Iowa but ignores those who are less fortunate (I think that includes the majority).
He refuses to listen to anyone, choosing his own road. A road I hope leads to a dead end.
He must have some wealthy Republicans in his back pocket who feed that arrogance time after time as he vetoes a tax credit for the working poor and the extra dollars needed to keep IWD field offices open.
What will be next?
Nancy Landes, Mount Pleasant
Those who are outraged that the picture of Michele Bachmann in Newsweek makes her look crazy may want to consider this: Maybe she is.
Don Paulson, Letts, Iowa
To the editor:
As I write this, our country’s financial crisis has not been resolved, and Governor Perry of Texas has not announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.
A newspaper reports that Perry is waiting for “a call” before entering the nomination race. I was an elder in a local church when Perry was born and believe that a call can come from either darkness or light. Tea Partiers and Steve King seem to have embraced the policies of Coolidge and Hoover which I thought had disappeared.
I have followed the career of Senator Grassley, even when he was in the Iowa Legislature. I have given up on him.
On a positive note, many Republicans are now retaking their necessary and historical role of seeking restraint and fiscal responsibility by government. It is sad to note their lack of action during the eight years George W. Bush was president.
We went from a balanced budget under Clinton to the present financial mess.
Before his death, the Republican opponent of Roosevelt in 1936 said that Roosevelt saved the country. President Obama is the best hope for our country at this time.
Bob Holdefer, Knoxville
To the Editor,
Republican Michele Bachmann has been going around the country pretending like she is opposed to “big government,” while at the same time she enjoys hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm subsidies from “big government” (our tax dollars). Her husband’s medical clinic also receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicare/Medicaid payments from “big government” (our tax dollars). These monetary figures are from recent news articles.
Also, Bachmann pretends to oppose President Obama’s stimulus money, but she applied for that money for her state as well.
You get the message here, don’t you? Big government is OK for her, but not for the rest of us.
Is she a phony, or what?
Max L. Tipton, Newton
Keep Dave Loebsack In Washington
The National Republican Congressional Committee is conducting robocalls in Iowa and elsewhere falsely telling voters that House Democrats have an addiction to big government spending.
Specifically, during calls to Iowa’s Second district, the NRCC unwisely blamed Rep. Dave Loebsack for voting against the recent balanced budget amendment, “Cut, Cap and Balance.” The reason Loebsack rejected House leader John Boehner’s legislation: the Republican plan called for deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid after 2012.
But Loebsack’s vote proves his loyalty to his constituents by upholding Social Security as he has told us he would many times. Conversely, by targeting their own legislation, it is Republicans who foolishly draw attention to their hidden agenda, shining an unwanted light on their continued attempts to cut entitlements.
Looking back, Republi-cans have no interest in a balanced budget. In 2000, President Clinton provided a $230 billion budget surplus to the Bush administration. That surplus quickly evaporated when Bush unnecessarily invaded Iraq, created tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of middle class taxpayers, put Americans out of work by sending our jobs overseas, bailed out the wealthy corporate felons who underwrote the subprime mortgage mess causing families to lose their homes. They also tried to privatize a solvent and self-funded Social Security program.
Loebsack will never vote to cut Social Security. Keep Loebsack in Washington.
Ellen Ballas, Iowa City
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