Institute for Common Sense ‘larded up’ with Reynolds flatterers

Really, an "institute" for common sense? A "think tank" to promote common sense? Apparently some think we poor benighted Iowa citizens and tax payers need proper help in evaluating the performance of state government (Jan. 19, "Common Sense Institute think tank launches Iowa chapter.“) A quick scan of the board of this group reveals it's larded up with friends and sycophants of our current governor — its role, apparently, to reassure us of the great job she's doing.

William F. Buckley, Jr. was famously quoted as saying he'd "rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University." Wouldn't the people of Iowa be better served by the common sense of the first 400 names in the Cedar Rapids telephone directory, than a propaganda arm set up to serve Gov. Reynolds? Orwell had Big Brother telling people how to think. Do we need a Big Sister?

Jim Walters

Iowa City