Branstad’s budget puts burden on middle class

Some are saying Gov. Terry Branstad is off the hook for kicking middle-class kids out of preschool because he allegedly proposes paying for corporate tax cuts with an increase in casino and gaming taxes.

This is a lipstick on a pig argument. The truth of the matter is, no matter how creative Branstad and his apologists get with their number crunching, Branstad's budget overwhelmingly benefits corporations and big-moneyed special interests at the expense of hard-working Iowa families who will see drastic cuts in the basic services we all rely on.

His budget radically changes Iowans' relationship with their government, the expectations on the types of services government is supposed to provide, and who is expected to pay for it. Branstad's budget puts the burden of paying for government on the everyday people who can afford it least - making we the people pay more for less, while giving factory farms, payday lenders, big banks, insurance companies and other out-of-state corporations a free ride to profit without giving anything back.

Branstad's budget makes a mockery of the social contract between citizens, government and business.

Lori Nelson

Bayard