Opinion
Balancing the state budget
To the editor:
Governor Culver and the legislators will again balance the state budget in the 2010 session without raising taxes. They will work to reduce the size of state government and create greater efficiencies while still making public schools and jobs a priority.
Iowa, and almost every other state, is facing a budget crisis. This disaster is the focus of two popular Iowa advocacy groups: 1) Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI), a nationally respected grass roots organization that goes to bat for everyday, ordinary Iowans; and 2) the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) that has been serving Iowa farmers since 1934. ICCI objects to balancing the budget on the "backs of hardworking Iowans"; and the IFBF objects to balancing the budget on the "backs of property taxpayers". (IFBF Spokesman, 1/27/10; www.iowacci.org.)
These organizations occasionally take different stands on issues. Since the farmers I know are the hardest working Iowans I have ever met and many of the hardworking Iowans I know are property taxpayers, I think we can find common ground.
ICCI knows what we all know--that the budget crisis is the direct result of big banks, like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, and Wall Street crashing our economy. The big banks are back to record profits, lavish bonuses, and business as usual while ordinary, hardworking, property taxpaying Iowans continue to suffer. ICCI says, “Our state budget deficits could be wiped out if the big banks gave their total bonus packages--estimated to be about $140 BILLION--back to our states.” These grass roots activists have taken their cause to the streets, and it is a movement that is gaining national attention and momentum.
If you are an ordinary, hardworking, or property taxpaying Iowan, join the movement. Write letters, march, and speak out. Put balancing our state budget on the “backs of the large national banks”. “Their bonuses are our bonuses,” says ICCI, “because we bailed them out and put them back in working order!” And, aren’t our states their states?
Phyllis Weeks
Knoxville
- Opinion
-
-
You decide: CNBC report on Iowa job climate
The Journal-Express received a report from the Democrat majority, touting a recent report by CNBC which placed Iowa sixth in the nation for doing business. However, Sen. Paul McKinley believes the very Democrats celebrating this have worked to undermine Iowa's advantages over other states.
-
McKinley's Memos
July 1 marked the beginning of the new year in state government. If you were expecting a giant ball to drop in Times Square, a midnight smooch with that special someone or a reason to pop open a bottle of champagne, you probably are feeling a bit disappointed right now.
-
Spend Less, Listen More
Living in a world filled with uncertainty – joblessness, the Gulf oil spill and undercurrents of the next terrorism strike – it should be obvious the American public wants political leadership that will get the country back on the right track.
-
Use technology to fix Congress
I’ve done it. I was sitting in my recliner when I, a humble, Midwestern news editor, devised an idea that can save the United States of America. That idea is to utilize technology and keep all United States Senators and members of the House of Representatives at home.
- Likes the name Brooks Garden
-
McKinley's Memos
Not only have Iowans witnessed hefty increases in state spending, the unemployment rate and property taxes during the last few years, but we have seen an alarming spike in public debt.
- Pleasantville After Prom says thank you
-
In the House of Wood
I traveled to Cedar Falls on Tuesday to listen to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
-
Iowa needs energy
Iowa needs energy.
-
Response from the Right
I’m responding to the editorials written by Mrs. Van Zante and Mrs. Martin who wrote in opposition to the fine editorial Steve Woodhouse wrote about a month ago.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
You decide: CNBC report on Iowa job climate
