SF 478 is about money

Our state auditor is an endangered species as it is: a Democrat in charge of a state agency; now, he cannot do the job for which he was elected. He cannot check the wasteful spending and possible corruption that may exist in our state agencies. Kim Reynolds has never read a bad bill she doesn't like or sign into law with all dispatch. And so, SF 478 is law. Its most objectionable provision: If a government agency, under scrutiny, refuses the auditor's request for documents and other information, the dispute no longer goes before a non-partisan judge. Under SF 478 a 3-person panel will decide. Two of its members will belong to the agencies under scrutiny, the third will be appointed by the Governor's office. It must be clear to even the meanest intelligence that this amounts to chaining up the watch dogs and sending two foxes into the hen house, flanked by a weasel personally deputized by the Governor.

This comes as no surprise to those of us who have always known the shame and disgrace inflicted upon us by this ultraconservative administration has never been about ideals, political philosophy or cultural values. It has always been about the money. To paraphrase John McClane — one of our cinematic cultural heroes as he foils another bad-guy plot to sew mayhem and get rich doing it — when is it not about the money?

Ann Treanor

Cedar Rapids