It’s time to change to Democrats
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To the editor:
I have friends who left the GOP because of President Trump. Others remain Republicans but won’t vote for him. Still others, which I admit I have trouble understanding, remain Trump supporters. But the fact remains they do, and the fact remains they are still my friends.
Seldom have I voted a straight ticket. All of us have that option now. I urge those who are voting for Trump to consider this option for the national offices of U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. I also strongly encourage you to take a good look at the Democratic candidates for our State of Iowa Senate and House races. Joey Norris and Chris Adcock.
Since moving back to Mt. Ayr in 2010 I’ve witnessed many laws enacted and executive actions taken that have been detrimental to our state and our local communities. Unfortunately, both our current State Senator for District 12 and our current State Representative for District 24 have voted for these laws or not stood in opposition. I’m not saying the two men in the current positions are bad people. I don’t really know our State Senator, but our Representative is a friend and good person. But their actions and inactions in the legislative arena aren’t what we need.
Some costly actions and inactions are:
Privatization of Medicaid—it’s more costly plus has been extremely detrimental to our local hospitals and medical providers.
Closing of mental health facilities—it takes hours of travel to get the care needed.
Governor Reynolds awarded no-bid contracts of 50, 26 and 7 million dollars—the first with her former chief-of-staff. the second for COVID-19 testing that’s been riddled with problems, and the third for PPE to company that has never sold PPE before
Decline in effectiveness of the long-term care ombudsman—putting at risk senior citizens
Collective bargaining for teachers was drastically changed by GOP legislators.
The collective bargaining changes came as Wisconsin and other state Republican-led legislative bodies were doing the same. It was a push against teacher unions. They had the power to make the changes. The law worked for decades and, in the case of teachers, gave them a needed voice in topics beyond wages. We should want those closest to the action to have a voice.
I don’t believe either our senator or representative reached out to get teacher input. This same failing has been evident in at least the case of our current senator in a recent bill regarding county auditors and elections as well as talking to health care administrators on Medicaid privatization. With one hospital administration exception, no one had heard from our senator. In contrast, the Democratic state senate candidate held lengthy conversations with these people to get their perspectives. That’s what good leaders do.
It’s time for a change. To find out more about Democratic state senator and representative candidates, including workable plans for revitalizing of our rural communities, go to https://norrisforiowa.com and https://votesforadcock.com.
Gary Keplinger
Mount Ayr