Support middle class this election

Americans want better wages that Democrats are fighting for. We support universal health care, Social Security and Medicare which is under attack by Republicans. We need a price cap on insulin. We need common sense gun safety laws. Climate change is real. We need strong labor unions and collective bargaining, once again.

A strong democracy and codifying Roe v. Wade are premiere issues for the Nov. 8 election.

Iowa Republicans Sen. Chuck Grassley and Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Ashley Hinson don’t support any of this.

The middle class built this country. Yet, inequality shrunk the middle class from 61 percent in 1971 to 50 percent in 2021. Over the last 50 years, our incomes hardly moved.

President Ronald Reagan, in 1981, who Iowa Republicans still admire, imposed brutal policies that permanently gutted the middle class: lowering taxes for the wealthy from 70 percent to 28 percent shifted the tax burden down.

Reagan devastated organized labor when he fired 3,000 striking PATCO Union members after he sought and received their endorsement. He canceled tax deductions for credit card and car loan interest. He taxed Social Security to finance budget deficits. He favored privatization.

Ultimately, Reagan shipped American jobs to an emerging China that devastated our manufacturing base, a cruel policy that Grassley has voted for repeatedly.

Let’s exercise our voting power on Nov. 8. U.S. Senate candidate Mike Franken and House candidates Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Liz Mathis (IA-02) support the middle class.

Ellen Ballas

Iowa City