Des Moines goes too far trying to slow down traffic
Death with dignity laws are narrowly drawn
Polk County Supervisor Robert Brownell in his May 19 piece advocates for better funding to support early diagnosis for Alzheimer's disease, which I support.
However, as a volunteer for the grassroots effort to pass Our Care, Our Options Act in Iowa, our version of Oregon's Death with Dignity Law, I can say that Brownell is misinformed about the law.
Medical aid in dying is a compassionate end of life option that allows a terminally ill, mentally capable person with six months or less to live to voluntarily request and receive medication that they self-ingest to peacefully end their suffering. There are no IVs, and people living with Alzheimer’s are not eligible as the individual won’t meet eligibility of having both mental capacity to make this decision and a six-month prognosis.
The compassionate law was passed in 1997 and has the support of more than 80% of Oregonians. Similar laws have now authorized medical aid in dying in nine other states, plus Washington DC. You can learn more at compassionandchoices.org/in-your-state/iowa.
Steve Herwig, West Des Moines
Grassley should explain his dismissal of Trump prosecution
Sen. Chuck Grassley calls Donald Trump’s New York trial a “political lynching,” although he’s too busy doing his Senate work to follow the proceedings. Lynching is an ugly charge that calls up a gruesome chapter in American history. Using it carelessly trivializes the terror and anguish experienced by too many African Americans.
We need clarification on why and how Grassley believes the charges against Trump are political. Is Grassley saying that he knows Trump did not commit the illegal acts with which he is charged? That he has been framed? How does Grassley know that? Or is he saying that Trump is being singled out, selectively cited for doing political business as usual? That is something Grassley may well know and be able to explain.
With the many crises facing America, we are in dire need of integrity and respect for facts. The United States can’t function without some level of shared reality. Trump has his day in court, and we need to let it happen without sniping or bullying on the sideline, especially from a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Deborah Fink, Ames
Farm threats go well beyond foreign ownership
This year, Iowa legislators were pleased to pass a bill further restricting foreign ownership of farmland. A Register story April 21 was about the issue of increasing ownership of land by non-Iowa corporations.
But what about the land we give away? According to the Register, Iowa farmers lose 12 million tons of their soil's organic carbon each year due to erosion and poor tilling techniques. Why isn't the Statehouse doing more to support cover crops, which add fertility to the soil and minimize erosion?
Then there’s the law further limiting hemp. With the threats from changing weather patterns, a larger diversity of crops should be encouraged. Industrial hemp is a perfect example. It has a short growing season, minimal water usage, and high resistance to pests. Instead, here in Iowa, its use as a crop requires a wall of red tape -- more restrictive than that of the federal government.
Instead of being proud of things that are a minor achievement, at best, why doesn't the Legislature take actions that would actually look out for Iowa farmers?
Mary Hoyer, Salem
Register did GOP’s dirty work
I started reading the Register when I was 10 years old. In the six decades since I have never seen such a travesty as Monday’s “news” article: Democrat Lanon Baccam, running in toss-up Iowa 3rd, scrubs Biden from account. Your reporter basically printed a Republican press release. Please do better.
Jim Chrisinger, Ankeny
Des Moines goes too far trying to slow down traffic
Amusing how opinions change over the years. I remember how excited we were when Hickman Road was widened to four lanes to expedite the flow of traffic. I remember when Franklin Junior High was open and we parents begged to have a traffic light installed at 48th Street and Hickman for our children's safety. It was denied because it would "impede the flow of traffic." Years later when there was a large church there a traffic light was installed, and now there are three stop signs within a mile on Franklin Avenue.
Now, with many more cars on the streets, the mantra seems to be to slow traffic.
I try to avoid Euclid Avenue through Park Fair. Sometimes ast bound traffic is backed up to Chicago Speakeasy, and cars trying to enter from side streets don't have a chance. Then I observe all the tire tracks on those concrete projections sticking out and imagine the car repair bills for damaged undercarriages. The concern over speeding seems to outweigh what may be replaced by incidents of road rage brought on by missed appointments while one sits idling in traffic.
Markoline Johnson, Des Moines
Donald Trump blasphemes
The Bible is not an American book. It was written centuries ago, ages before there was a United States of America. The Bible consists of many books written by different Jewish and Christian authors. It has been translated into almost every other language.
Today there are many situations where the Bible is being misunderstood and corrupted. Christian nationalism promotes blasphemy and idolatry. Donald Trump is committing these sins by comparing himself to Jesus. He is also selling a Bible that he has totally corrupted by making additions that do not belong in or with the Bible, again committing blasphemy and idolatry.
Norma Lindeen, Swedesburg
Was Brenna Bird on the clock in New York?
I read with interest Galen Bacharier's story in the May 14 Register, "Here’s who paid for Iowa AG Brenna Bird's trip." I was glad to hear that "no taxpayer money had been used to fund her travel" for this partisan political act. However, that wasn't the complete answer. Was Bird on vacation during this trip or drawing her salary as a public employee?
Gil Zemansky, Urbandale
A cease-fire is a solution
I respectfully disagree with Kathleen Ferguson's letter titled "a cease-fire is not a solution."
In attacking Rafah, Israel is attacking the last refuge in Gaza; 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced, most multiple times. There is nowhere else to go. Even "limited defensive and narrowly targeted actions," as suggested by Ferguson, will continue the indiscriminate killing of more Palestinian civilians.
And, finally, Ferguson says "rebuilding could begin" as "Israel continues its "narrowly targeted actions.” Seventy percent of housing in Gaza has been reduced to rubble! It's going to take an international effort to rebuild housing, schools, hospitals, and universities that Israel has destroyed. This means we need a cease-fire now.
South Africa on May 16 again asked the International Court of Justice to demand that Israel stop this genocide and get humanitarian aid in immediately. There is no other choice but an immediate, permanent cease-fire.
Carolyn Uhlenhake-Walker, Des Moines
Distinguish antisemitism from criticism of Israel
Albert Einstein was once offered the presidency of the newly formed Jewish state of Israel. He turned it down. Although he supported the formation of a Jewish homeland, he opposed the formation of a Jewish nation with boundaries and an army. He did so because he believed that establishing a Jewish nation in the middle of a land where the majority were Palestinians would not work and doing so would harm the cause of the Jewish people in the long run.
He believed the Jews would be seen as a nation rather than as believers in Judaism. and that they would begin to act like a nation, rather than act on the principles of Judaism.
Israel's response to the attack of Hamas goes far beyond an "eye for an eye" to approximately "25 eyes for an eye" and is not consistent with the values of Judaism. Opposition to Israel's war efforts does not constitute antisemitism, and the actions of a minority of the protesters who cross the line into antisemitism should be punished, but not be used to discredit the protest movement as a whole.
Thomas Andersen, Des Moines
Brenna Bird going to New York didn’t help Iowans
It is completely abnormal, and frankly, outrageous, for Iowa’s current attorney general to attend the current hush money criminal trial of the convicted sexual predator in New York City. And to make a statement.
Excuse me?
Pray tell: To what end is this excursion meant to benefit the fine people of Iowa?
Visuals count.
A few elected officials in Iowa seem to need a primer on the ABC’s of public service: A. At the service of all Iowans; B. Be present and believable; C. Constituents count.
Our current A.G. (and her boss) need to learn their ABCs.
Patricia Tice, Adel
Jewish women absent from antisemitism task force
The erasure of women's voices on the state level has just begun! Attorney General Brenna Bird appointed a 14-member Task Force on Antisemitism: 10 males and herself, with three unnamed persons from the Iowa Department of Public Safety. Where are the voices of Jewish women?
Janice Hawkins, Pleasant Hill
Register not balanced in presenting pipeline risks
On May 13 a republished Verite News article regarding a Louisiana carbon dioxide leak was splashed across the frontpage of the Register. The leak occurred back on April 3, six weeks earlier.
No explosion. No fire. No injuries. Not surprising given that CO2 is neither explosive nor flammable. In 20 years of operation, there have been no fatalities associated with CO2 pipelines.
Earlier in the year, two natural gas explosions destroyed three homes and left one dead in Mississippi. No story in the Register.
Closer to home on April 29, a natural gas explosion destroyed a home in Ottumwa and left one of the occupants burned. Again, no story in the Register.
With 46,000 miles of pipelines in Iowa, I would venture to guess that a majority of Iowa homes have a natural gas pipeline running to them. Every year those pipelines cause explosions and deaths. Natural gas is both explosive and flammable.
Yet, one six-week old, out-of-state story gets the front page, while a recent Iowan burned is ignored. Why? Have the Register’s news pages taken a side on a public policy debate?
Nathan Hohnstein, Adel
Emphasize real impact, not politics
It is sad that Supreme Court opinions are now reported by the press as wins or losses for political parties. For example, a recent opinion upholding the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded was reported by ABC’s David Muir as a win for the Biden administration.
This ruling is, in fact, a big win for United States consumers. We little people are the real winners and beneficiaries of this ruling.
And, of course, as one would expect, the House Financial Services Committee issued this statement posted on the Financial Services Committee website: “Despite the setback from today’s ruling, Republicans will continue the fight to rein in the rogue CFPB,” said Chairman McHenry. “To be clear, this Supreme Court opinion yet again emphasizes that Congress has exclusive authority and discretion over federal agencies’ funding structures. The House must urgently take up Congressman Andy Barr’s CFPB Transparency and Accountability Reform Act. This commonsense legislation will fix the mistakes of Dodd-Frank which set the dangerous precedent of tapping the central bank to fund partisan political objectives. It’s past time the CFPB is held accountable to the American people through their elected representatives.”
So much for consumer protection.
Dennis Dietz, Polk City
Brenna Bird debases herself to serve her ambition
So, Brenna Bird wants Iowans to believe her trip to New York was to support Trump, and that Joe Biden is "weaponizing" the Department of Justice to keep him off the campaign trail.
Bird might have fooled those who still believe the big lie about the 2020 election. But it seems most see through this stunt for what it is: a coordinated effort by the Trump campaign to change the public narrative around the porn star/hush money trial, considering that she was one of numerous Republican officials who all said the same thing to the cameras. Remember, this case is before a state court, not federal. The DOJ and Biden have nothing to do with it.
It's also apparent that this was Bird’s latest chess play for a possible appointment should Trump win in November. This from an AG who, in just over a year, has filed more than a dozen lawsuits against the Biden administration.
Yep, Bird has now taken her rightful place on the GOP’s crowded clown car, occupied by the likes of Kristi Noem, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and others, where political stunts have displaced actual governing. If nothing else, their party is represented by two common traits: a complete lack of a moral compass and a willingness to say or do anything for the next election cycle.
Tim Wagner, Decorah
Iowa needs better asthma plan
There are many reasons to be proud of Iowa, but they are becoming fewer and fewer. I encountered one of these deficiencies recently.
Despite having a Medicare Advantage plan, I discovered I am unable to afford the deductible for an effective asthma medication. I was directed by the manufacturer to check for charities to help with the shortfall. Imagine my shock and sadness when I realized that, while many states have programs in place to address this problem, Iowa does not. If I didn't have insurance I would be in a better situation for this particular problem.
With a huge budget surplus in Iowa, it would be rational and compassionate to establish such a program for Iowans. However, with the recent and ongoing subtractions to state government this will take action from the Legislature to be accomplished. Iowa Nice is becoming history but this is one step that could attempt to restore that motto.
Susan Pundzak, Des Moines
Labor opposes immigration law
The labor movement in Iowa, and indeed the United States, stands in solidarity against draconian laws like the ones passed and signed into law, such as Senate File 2340 this year in Iowa. This law is unworkable, but most of all, it does not actually address anything that will deal with Americans’ concerns about our broken immigration system.
This legislation puts hard-working Iowans and their families in danger of discrimination and unfair retaliation, just because they look different or speak another language. The intent of this law is merely to do political messaging in an election year. Our nation needs real comprehensive and thoughtful immigration reform, not absurd political theater that uses people as pawns.
Immigration is the foundation of our nation and immigrants have historically worked in some of the most essential, hardest, and dangerous jobs. If Iowa is going to grow and continue to be an agriculture and manufacturing hub of the world, we must welcome our brothers and sisters from around the world and protect them from unjust labor standards that the working class suffers from worldwide. Until we realize we have more in common with each other than multi-national corporations and the governments they own, we’ll continue to be pitted against each other, as we always have.
Charlie Wishman, president, Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines goes too far trying to slow down traffic
