Letters: Another term of Joe Biden chaos will devastate America

Social emotional learning doesn’t actually sound new

Regarding the story “Helping kids cope, or ‘woke’ indoctrination?” on March 24:

I’m old by any standard. Even so, we learned more than the “3 R’s” in school.

All the lessons described in this article were encompassed by lessons we called citizenship, hygiene, etiquette and health. It was a normal part of education in the late 1950s and early 1960s. So what if it’s called “social emotional learning” now? Isn’t an education supposed to help us become well-rounded people?

Of course, we also learned how to write thank-you notes and answer the telephone politely in grade school, so maybe what we need is more social emotional learning, rather than less.

Kel Munger, Ames

Reject bill expanding privileges for police

I would like to urge all Iowa legislators to vote against House Study Bill 738. Any ordinary citizen is told that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but for police officers, ignorance of the law and our constitutional rights is the golden ticket for avoiding consequences due to qualified immunity.   

The bill would grant unfettered access to footage and information regarding complaints to police, access that is not provided to the citizens who would desire to make the complaint. Favorable treatment would be given to officers in questioning that an ordinary citizen would not be given if they were in the same situation.

It should not take a criminal conviction to decertify rogue officers who exhibit systematic racism, repeated uses of excessive force, or any other repeated or serious violations of policies or rights. The police are supposed to enforce our laws, not break them. What's good for me should be good for thee, as well. Hold police to the same standards as the rest of us.

Scott Bottorf, Johnston

A Democrat can win in 4th District

The March 21 Register included poll results suggesting that Iowa’s 4th Congressional District will stay red, again, because of northwest Iowa. We, District 4 Democrats, are seeing something else.

Ryan Melton has been traveling District 4 since January 2022 listening to people and has detected a great deal of frustration with Rep. Randy Feenstra’s inability to pass a single bill while watching his colleagues rake in $144 million in earmarks from the omnibus budget bill while he not only refuses to earmark a single project, but also votes against the bipartisan infrastructure bill that brought U.S. 71 pavement reconstruction in the Okoboji area and the initial phase of reconstruction of the Madison Avenue and Interstate Highway 80 interchange in Council Bluffs, the final phase of the interstate reconstruction in the Council Bluffs area among many others. Now he along with 170 other Republicans have released a budget raising the retirement age.

District 4 has learned that voting for Feenstra won’t improve their quality of life. He has shown that through his votes. But Melton knows the value of supporting Iowans.

Kristy Hibbs Burr, Marshalltown

Iowa bends over backward to protect pesticide makers

Iowans expect their legislators to protect the health and safety of citizens.

Then, why was a bill to shield chemical companies from lawsuits even written? Why does Senate File 2412 remain alive in the Legislature?

Chemical giant Monsanto/Bayer produces the herbicide Roundup, linked for years to cancers among its users. The company, hit by thousands of lawsuits brought by users whose doctors suspect their cancers are caused by Roundup, has sought protection through the courts. No dice. So, now it comes hat in hand to state legislatures seeking the same relief.

Iowa and two other states have fallen dutifully into line to help. Thus, the bill still lurks in our Capitol and could deny thousands of Iowans the funds they need to survive illnesses caused by this product.

With no support from Democrats, its GOP supporters have ignored these red flags:

Germany, home of this chemical giant, recently banned Roundup.

Iowa is second in the nation for Roundup use.

Iowa ranks in the top five states for rates of blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, to which Roundup has been consistently linked.

If this bill becomes law, a wide swath of Iowans will lose the right to seek relief from staggering medical costs associated with use of this herbicide — not just farmers and farm laborers, but also landscapers, gardeners, and anyone else who consistently uses this product.

Please tell your legislators to protect constituents, not chemical giants.

Karen Heidman, Sioux City

Another term of Biden chaos will devastate America

Why Joe Biden for another four more years?

During the past three years we've had an increase in energy costs, food costs, utility costs, and crime in our streets. Millions of undocumented immigrants entering our country. Over 70,000 deaths annually from fentanyl, which comes over from our southern border. And 13 of our troops killed in his blunderous withdraw in Afghanistan, and chaos throughout the world because of his weak foreign diplomacy (Russia vs. Ukraine, China vs. Taiwan, Israel vs. Hamas, Iran in the Mideast).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily a Donald Trump fan, but the United States and the world were so much more peaceful under his leadership for four years. That's why I ask, "Why would anyone other than a staunch Democrat vote for Joe Biden for another four more years, other than they also want to destroy America as we once knew?" I'm just tired of all the chaos associated with the Biden administration.

Roger Ranker, Urbandale

Isn’t the actual problem people leaving Iowa?

I’m reading the story “Iowa House votes to make ‘illegal entry’ into state a crime” from March 21.

I didn’t realize that we had a problem letting people into the state. I thought we had a problem keeping people in Iowa. From where I’m looking, our youth are running to find other states to live in and the only people holding on are the old.

I guess Iowa wants to look like a “happening” place. If we don’t do something to make Iowa appealing, we won’t have to worry about illegal reentry.

Lorraine Riseley, Des Moines

More:Iowa law enforcement could arrest undocumented immigrants under bill going to Reynolds' desk

No need to worry about pollutant discharge

Oops!

Somebody forgot to shut the valve, so 265,000 gallons of ag chemicals (liquid nitrogen fertilizer) drained into the East Nishnabotna River.

Sorry about that! Sad that some aquatic life died.

But it’s partly Mother Nature’s fault. She caused the drought that made the river water too low for “dilution is the solution to pollution” to help.

The Nish wasn’t a prime stream anyway, since it was channelized a century ago. Probably not many critters still lived there besides a few carp and catfish. Biologists will count the dead ones. That’s how they calculate a slap-on-the-wrist fine.

Eventually, some fish might return to the Nish. Maybe even frogs and snakes and water bugs? Unless there happens to be another “oops.”

Certainly, don’t try to compare the lowly Nish with real streams, like Bloody Run Creek, in the opposite corner of the state. Now that’s an Outstanding Iowa Water – barring, of course, another “oops” from 8,000 or 10,000 cattle the DNR allowed to be penned in the headwaters!

But when Iowa brags about feeding the world — and producing corn ethanol for their cars! — industrial agriculture accidents are bound to happen!

Larry Stone, Elkader