Letter Of The Day

aren't you lucky today.  TWO winners for the price of one!

Regarding David Yepsen's April 7 column, "Gas-Tax Hike May Be Painful, but Necessary": In his column about hiking the gas tax, Yepsen states, "Liberals will want money for other things."

As if Regressives, aka Republicans won't? The state Legislature generates the spending bills. And who has controlled the Iowa Legislature the past few years? If Iowa has a budget problem, perhaps the party that controls the spending bills should be held accountable for the fiscal condition of the state.

At the national level it's worse. A recent study of economic benchmarks over the past 40 years comparing Democratic administrations to Republican administrations shows that not only do Democratic administrations result in lower inflation, less unemployment, etc., but they also do a better job fiscally - meaning less debt.

Yepsen needs some remedial work about budget and economic politics to learn who the big spenders of our tax dollars are.

-Scott O'Brien,
Geneva.

and

David Yepsen typically has the right issues in mind in his column. However, in his April 12 column on public safety, he misses the big picture. Without rehabilitation and treatment, the number of inmates in the system will skyrocket. Offenders who should be locked up are let go. Taxpayers and legislators love to punish but are unwilling to bite the bullet and go after the underlying cause of crime in the state, primarily poverty and a lack of opportunity.

-Aaron Staker,
Cedar Rapids.

attribution