Public employees are unfairly the scapegoats

Rather than reporting on CEOs getting bonuses when they fire people, public employees are

being scapegoated by

the media and the politicians.

There is plenty of evidence that public employees are not making exorbitant salaries, nor retiring with fat pensions, if anyone cares to do the research. Besides, they are generally better educated.

For the last 30 years, it has been politicians and big business/banks that have caused our economic breakdown.

Are they not our leaders? Their greed led us to the bottom. Once again, do the research, or listen to mainstream media for propaganda.

Now Governor-elect Terry Branstad wants to reduce (the rate of increase in) university salaries and eliminate sabbaticals, which are portrayed as vacations.

How about administrators and football coaches? Ironically, university educations are one of the few things that the United States does better than just about anyone else and it brings in people from all over the world here to study. Backward thinking, Terry.

What I'm waiting for is the cutbacks on the police and firefighters. I suspect they will not tolerate, for long, cuts in their pay and benefits for they, after all, are the protectors of the status quo, which will be left high and dry if our police and firefighters take to the streets.

If they do, I will be there with them.

Dennis Kowalski

Iowa City