You can view Peter’s newsletter here.
Peter poses some great positive ideas for improving the current economic state of affairs in Iowa, with particular and appropriate emphasis on our need to reduce state government spending:
These cuts should be a positive thing for the taxpayers of Iowa. Like any business that goes thru [sic] hard times, the cutting of excess can make government leaner and more efficient in the long run.
This should be a message spread throughout the States’ and Federal Legislatures: part of our problem has always been too much government spending, too much bloating in the government, too big a trough for elected officials to feed on and build electoric favoratism to ensure a nice long career as a politician.
Although I haven’t had time to peruse the budget that Governor Culver has placed in front of the General Assembly yet, I appreciate the fact that he has gone a long way to cutting the fat out of Iowa Government. However, since we are still a ways from seeing a balanced budget, there is more to do. The Entitlements need more thoughtful review. I hope to have some thoughts on the content of the budget next week. Meanwhile, if you’re interested, you can read the budget here.
And the convoluted attempts to raise money through shenanigans such as leasing or selling the Lottery cannot be allowed to move forward. Emily Geiger at Battleground Iowa had a great analysis of the current state of the politics around this issue Thursday.
At any rate, we don’t get a lot of time to do the lawmaking here in Iowa. We need to all pay attention as our Legislators and Governor are making decisions that may impact us for a while. Keep in mind that even though we have a Balanced Budget law in Iowa, the politicians are still adept at manipulating the numbers to convince us they’ve done as much even though they have not.
And get in contact with your Statehouse Representative and Senator. They are there for you.