Letters: Cindy Axne, other politicians resist attempts to question them

Axne, other politicians resist attempts to question them

Regarding the Aug. 28 Register editorial on contraception proposals from Republicans: The piece concludes by saying that "voters should do their best to interrogate candidates for all levels of government about the substance of their views and refuse to let them hide behind a slogan."

I recently found out how difficult that can be when I attended a Cindy Axne town hall meeting in Waukee. I was hoping to be able to get a better understanding of why she voted the way she did on the "Inflation Reduction Act" and instead got a 30-minute showcase of slogans and selling points I had already heard on the national media. Nearly verbatim.

What was supposed to last an hour was 30 minutes of her talking at us followed by three questions, carefully screened I'm guessing, from the audience. At the 45-minute mark, she ended the town hall in order to meet with the two media members in attendance.

I would LOVE to be able to interrogate her and make her earn my vote. But that is just a dream, I'm afraid in today's political environment. No politician has the courage to face actual questions and actual voters anymore.

— Jeff Tobin, Waukee

Iowa can, and should, take care of its hungry families

We live in the richest country in the world and in a state that supplies food for our country's population. Yet we have thousands of Iowa families, many with children, who are food-insecure. They turn to our food pantries monthly to help meet the food needs of their families. In many families, one or both parents have jobs, many more than one job, yet they are unable to provide for their families' needs at times each month.

Our state has a current budget surplus of in the billions of dollars. Instead of using most of this money to cut Iowans' taxes, which will benefit the richest Iowans the most, I ask Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Legislature to earmark a meaningful portion of this surplus to our food banks and pantries to benefit those most in need of assistance. It is time for us to take care of our own people.

— James Marcovis, West Des Moines

Ernst and Grassley punch only down

I was taught that you can tell bullies by the targets they pick. Our two U.S. senators are picking on the little guys these days, rather than taking on the big ones with the big budgets and hundreds of lobbyists.

In 1990, Congress passed an act requiring 24 federal departments to undergo annual audits, to help ensure controls over expenditures were sound.

Since then, the Department of Defense (despite its current annual budget of $800 billion) is the only department that has NEVER had a clean audit. When I brought that up at a town hall, Sen. Joni Ernst said it would get one soon. Not really. The Defense Department itself predicts it might not be until 2027.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin received $75 billion in Defense Department contracts in fiscal year 2020, even though over 6% of the F-35s they build are grounded because of malfunctioning engines (per the Government Accountability Office).

So what does Ernst complain about? President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive $10,000 to $20,000 of student debt for people making less than $125,000. The cost is estimated to be $24 to $30 billion this year.

And Sen. Chuck Grassley? He’s going after the IRS, with a budget of less than $14 billion for fiscal 2020, reflecting a decade of budget cuts. Tax fairness is a popular issue for Americans. Hiring agents to audit taxpayers making more than $400,000 means the U.S. Treasury will be able to audit the wealthy and collect some of the $1 trillion that the IRS commissioner estimates is owed and unpaid annually.

When Willie Sutton, a real bank robber, was asked why he did it, he allegedly responded, “That’s where the money is.” Why don’t our senators aim their sights where the big money is?

— Sue Ravenscroft, Ames

AARP shouldn't have congratulated Grassley

As a member of AARP for over 15 years, I was appalled at the fact that the AARP spent my money to pay for two full-page ads in the Des Moines Register (Aug. 23, 25) thanking Sen. Chuck Grassley for "leading the fight to make hearing aids more affordable." (It only took the senator over 40 years to see this as a problem.)

I do not have a problem with AARP thanking politicians for supporting AARP's political agenda; however, while Grassley was accepting the kudos of the AARP over this issue, he was voting against a bill that would have provided lower drug costs to all Medicare recipients, another AARP legislative priority.

If AARP wants to spend my money influencing the senior citizens of our state in an election year, it should present both sides of the story. Grassley has been the recipient of thousands of dollars from Big Pharma and has protected those companies for years. He certainly is no friend of the senior citizens of Iowa.

And AARP should stay away from providing the appearance of an endorsement to Grassley.

— Ray Sears, Pleasant Hill

Ullrich focuses on what's most important

I was just about to skip reading one of the longer pieces in the Aug. 28 Opinion section until I read who wrote the essay. Once I saw Kurt Ullrich's name, I knew I had to read it. His writing is simple yet elegant while reminding all of us what is most important in this world. Not politics, not student loans, not even climate change. It is about what is right before our eyes: young turkeys; old men's true conversations and love of one's family. He always makes me smile and usually makes me cry. We are lucky to have his writing in the Register.

— Nancy Lynch, Des Moines

Victory Day is cause for hope

During the past few years, I have been amazed by the money paid to athletes, making it difficult to cheer for them.

Photos in the Aug. 28 Register of youngsters overcoming all obstacles to participate at Victory Day reassured me sports does produce athletes easy to cheer for.

— Bill Rakers, Marshalltown

Nunn is very much a partisan politician

I have to admit that a new campaign ad from Zach Nunn brings a much cleaner, more reserved and positive message than what we have been used to seeing around here lately. I hope this becomes a trend for candidates.

It is hard not to notice, however, that Nunn is touting his military disservice with no mention this time of his political affiliation. The words "conservative" and "Republican" are conspicuously absent in this ad.

Is this an attempt by Nunn to distance himself from today's Republican Party, filled with radical extremists and insurrectionists?

If so, it is a little too late for that, as his own past statements in support of all those extreme Republican policies cannot be erased.

— John Moore, Newton

Iowa law is cruel to trafficking victims

It was good news to hear that six adolescents in Iowa and Nebraska are now safe following law enforcement's human-trafficking investigation. But it’s bad news to hear Shared Hope International, which focuses on trafficking of youth, giving Iowa an “F.” Iowa gets an “F” because Iowa does not protect trafficked youth from arrest, detention, and prosecution for prostitution offenses. So, traffickers may use Iowa law to manipulate youth to stay victims of trafficking to avoid the penalties of Iowa law.

Iowa, stop victimizing child victims of trafficking by further traumatizing them. Be a lifeline, not a slap in the face. Change the law, protect them from arrest, detention, and charging and prosecution for prostitution offenses.

— Jon Coon, Clive

Bird out of step with Iowans

I read the story about the Iowa attorney general race. Brenna Bird is all in on the Dobbs Supreme Court decision on abortion. Last I saw, Iowans favored retaining Roe v. Wade by a large margin. Seems to me that women's health care is on the midterm ballot in general election, and in the attorney general race specifically.

— Phil Armstrong, Des Moines

Iowa needs after-school care

As kids head back to school, some parents will struggle to find after-school care so they can keep their jobs. One reason is that programs like Metro Kids, the after-school program for Des Moines Public Schools, don't have enough staff, and they have a waiting list for families needing care.

As a full-time working mom with three kids, I've had a kid in Metro Kids for the past 13 years. I've learned to sign up early. This year, I signed up my daughter within five minutes of registration opening. That was important; another parent I spoke with waited an hour, and registration was already full. Luckily, that family made it off the waiting list before school started. Others are still waiting.

I learned recently from a district coordinator they are trying to recruit more staff. However, they are still recovering from the disruption the pandemic caused, and budgeting is tight. I also learned that Iowa is one of a few states that has never had a line item in the state budget for after-school care.

I hear people talk about better pay for teachers and early childhood care workers. I wholeheartedly agree. After-school care is also critical, and it shouldn't be an afterthought. Working parents depend on it. And kids who spend 10 to 15 hours every week in these programs need caring and qualified staff members. Iowa needs to invest in education and child care, and that includes child care after school.

— Cora Lewis, Des Moines

Does Bird value politics over Iowans' needs?

Every woman in the state of Iowa beware! The right and freedom to control your own body is on the line in the upcoming election for governor and attorney general of the state of Iowa. Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking a court to reinstate Iowa’s 2018 “fetal heartbeat” law that would ban nearly all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Attorney general candidate Brenna Bird praised the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion.

Attorney General Tom Miller has rightly stated that it overturns 50 years of precedent, goes beyond the will of the people, endangers women making them at greater risk of harm to their health during pregnancy, and is dangerous and backward. He declined to defend the "heartbeat" law when it was challenged in 2018 and has refused to do so again this year, correctly stating the law would undermine the rights and protections for women.

The role of attorney general looks very different, depending on how each candidate sets his or her priorities. Brenna Bird is running an aggressive campaign criticizing Miller for not bringing lawsuits against President Joe Biden, saying Miller isn’t active enough in his office. She is eager to sue the Biden administration over laws, rules and executive actions.

Focusing on ideological and partisan aspects is obviously focusing on scoring political points rather than doing the necessary work for the people of Iowa. Miller has been attorney general nearly 40 years. He is the nation’s longest-serving attorney general because he’s concentrated on just doing his job extremely well, and unlike his opponent, has been politically neutral. Stating the two candidates bring different approaches to the campaign and to the job is the biggest understatement in history.

— Corrinne Reed, West Des Moines

Maybe the IRS will be able to answer the phone

I found out why the IRS needs 87,000 new employees. Several weeks ago the IRS sent me a Notice CP27, asking me to review and complete the form and mail it back to them if it applied. I did and was told I would have a reply in six to eight weeks. Well, we hit eight weeks. No word, so I decided to check on it, used the computer, could not get what I wanted.

Then I called. First time I was told 15-minute to 30-minute wait, or I could leave my phone number and they would call me back in 29 minutes. That was the 25th; it's the 30th now, no call. Several times "we are too busy to handle your call"; "call back later"; one hung up on me; again on hold.

So I know why they need the new employees: to answer the phone.

— Robert E. Lebischak, Guthrie Center

Climate disasters are piling up

Extreme climate weather disasters are speeding up. Just in the last month, four 1-in-1,000-year rainfall events occurred, flooding St. Louis, eastern Kentucky, southeastern Illinois and Dallas. Impressive! Taxpayers will pay billions to clean up the mess. Think of it as your MAGA climate change denial tax.

Iowans should feel lucky we dodged these intense storms. Because with slightly different paths some could have just as easily ruined your home, farm, business, neighborhood and way of life. These “extreme weather roulette” disasters along with much hotter heat waves, and droughts have been predicted by scientists for decades, with more on the way.

There is good news. Thanks to President Joe Biden, Congresswoman Cindy Axne and Congressional Democrat’s leadership, they finally passed The Inflation Reduction Act, that contains the most meaningful policies and tools ever approved to help us slow this costly, calamitous threat.

With depressing predictability, not a single Iowa Republican lawmaker including Grassley, Ernst, Hinson, Miller-Meeks or Feenstra voted to support these solutions.

Why? Here are a few possible reasons. Don’t we already have enough trees around here? The first big lie, “it’s all a hoax” is still working? Just another cynical MAGA cult party over the people vote? All of the above?

In just a few short decades from now, our kids and grandkids will be able to look back at this historic moment, and say, when Democrats were in charge in the early '20s, they finally got a great start on making our future one we can afford to live with.

Voting had good consequences.

— Joe Bolkcom, state senator, Iowa City

We did better with drinking-water crisis

I'm really surprised not to see coverage of the historic emergency responses to the Iow floods of 1993 and 2008 in light of the water emergency in Jackson, Mississippi. Iowa's prompt and effective responses are a lesson for how to respond to a water distribution emergency.

— Lona Hansen, Des Moines

What can Iowa learn from Mississippi?

Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi proudly touts his conservative bona fides on his website: “As the 65th Governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves continues to build on his strong record as a conservative leader who fights to guard taxpayers’ dollars.” That’s why he was so boastful about slashing $524 million dollars from the state budget in the form of a massive tax cut — just last April!

That sounds mighty lofty until you appreciate that Jackson, Mississippi — the state capital and home to 150,000 people — is currently contending with a devastating water crisis. Reeves now cautions that “the city cannot produce enough water to fight fires, to reliably flush toilets, and to meet other critical needs.” He strongly warns Jackson residents: “Do not drink the water. In too many cases, it is [untreated] water from the reservoir being pushed through the pipes. Be smart, protect yourself, protect your family.”

Perhaps there are higher missions for Reeves and his handpicked staff than “guarding” taxpayers’ dollars, such as dutifully protecting the health and safety of those taxpayers and their families by more responsibly managing his state’s finances and vital infrastructure.

The next time you hear Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds boasting about serving as the sentry for your “hard earned money,” consider how well she’s managing our own state’s funds. How is our soil, water, and air quality; the facilities and resources provided to our public school system; our social, police, and firefighting services; as well as our roads and bridges? They certainly could be much better, right?

So, ignore Ronald Reagan’s “nine most terrifying words.” A capable and caring government really can help all Iowans — not just Reynolds’ high-dollar donors and her big-ag cronies. That’s why we need the fresh leadership that Deidre DeJear can provide. She merits your vote in November.

— Ed Wasserman, Iowa City

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Letters: Cindy Axne, others resist attempts to question them