Secure Grassley’s retirement

Sen. Chuck Grassley is 89 on Sept. 17. Older than most residents in senior centers. Few remember his first major act. He reported that a military toilet seat cover cost about $640. Lots of publicity. Years have past and he has changed. Recently he voted against controlling pharmaceutical costs. It's reported that he received more than $1 million dollars from pharma companies. The result: many senior citizens and others do without medication. He delayed processing one Supreme Court justice candidate, then acted rapidly to pass two different candidates. Result: the unbalanced court quickly started depriving women of the first of many rights.

Grassley seems unable to make up his own mind and only does what his party leaders tell let him do. Yet, he brags about visiting all counties. True, except he only visits with small Republican groups, afraid to even talk with a mixed group at the Iowa State Fair.

Let's reward Grassley by securing his retirement. Many employers retire employees at 65 years of age. IRAs must start withdrawing by age 72. Let's replace Grassley with Michael Franken. Born and raised on a farm, Franken also served as an admiral overseas and in Washington. He’s young enough, yet experienced enough to play a strong role representing and supporting Iowa's needs in Washington during the these threatening times.

Richard Zehrbach

North Liberty