To the Editor:

Every time I hear someone say they want the two parties to work together, I cringe. I know life gets busy with family and jobs, but please pay attention to what is going on in Washington D.C. and Des Moines right now. Senator Mitch McConnell publicly announced on May 5th he is 100% focused on stopping President Biden’s administration. Right now the Senate Republicans are filibustering a vote on the debt ceiling. To approve the ceiling 60 votes would be required, meaning 10 Republicans would need to cooperate. Contrary to what Republicans are telling their constituents, the debt ceiling is not to pay for future government expenses, but for past debt and extend the government’s borrowing limit. Most of the debt has occurred during Republican control with the average increase under Republican presidents at 7.9% and 4.7% under Democratic presidents. This means the Republicans are not willing to pay their own bills. The ceiling has always passed with bipartisan approval to avoid disastrous consequences. Analysis by the financial services firm Moody’s Analytics shows if the ceiling is not increased this month nearly 6 million jobs will be lost, the unemployment rate will rise to nearly 9%, and stock prices would fall wiping out $15 trillion dollars of household wealth. Federal payments including Social Security benefits will not be paid on time.

It is obvious the goal of these Republicans is to wreak havoc which would take years to recover from and leave the impression this is the fault of Democrats and President Biden. Many times voters have short memories about details of legislation, but absolutely do remember how they were negatively affected. No doubt if the debt ceiling is not raised Republicans would lie and blame the destruction of the U. S. economy on the Democrats in their campaign ads in 2022 and 2024. Republican strategist Kurt Bardella warns that the current strategy for the Republican Party is to lie and cheat, whatever it takes to stay in power. Do not fall for this deceptive tactic. Call Senators Grassley and Ernst and tell them not to risk your future playing Russian Roulette with our economy.

Also, we need to be cautious about the Republican controlled Iowa Legislature voting against the redistricted maps. Iowa has a long standing reputation of fairly dividing the state by using a non partisan agency to do so.

Linda Warren

Des Moines