Letter: Democrats are fighting for changes

Americans want better wages that Democrats are fighting for. We support universal health care, Social Security and Medicare which are under attack by Republicans. We need a price cap on insulin. We need commonsense gun safety laws. Climate change is real. Codifying Roe v. Wade is a premiere issue for the Nov. 8 election.

Iowa Republicans — Grassley, Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Feenstra, don’t support any of this. Why send them back to Washington?

Strong labor unions and collective bargaining translate to a strong democracy.

Let’s remember, the middle class built this country.

Yet, inequality shrunk the middle class from 61 percent in 1971 to 50 percent in 2021. Over the last 50 years, our incomes hardly moved.

President Ronald Reagan, in 1981, who Iowa Republicans still admire, imposed brutal policies that permanently gutted the middle class: lowering taxes for the wealthy from 70 percent to 28 percent shifting the tax burden down.

Reagan permanently destroyed organized labor when he fired 3,000 striking PATCO Union members after he sought and received their endorsement.

He canceled tax deductions for credit card and car loan interest.

Reagan taxed Social Security to finance budget deficits. He favored privatization, similarly Grassley, Miller-Meeks, Hinson, Feenstra.

Ultimately, Reagan shipped American jobs to an emerging China that devastated our manufacturing base, a cruel policy that Grassley has voted for repeatedly. Why the middle class struggles to keep up.

Let’s exercise our voting power on Nov. 8.

U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken and House candidates: Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Liz Mathis (IA-02), Cindy Axne IA-03, and Ryan Melton (IA-04) support the middle class.

Ellen Ballas

Iowa City