Will Iowa’s delegation ever stand up to Trump?

As a follow-up to last month’s No Kings protests, I attended a Nov. 5 meeting with Joni Ernst’s regional director here in Iowa. We discussed the government shutdown and its impact on families who could lose their Medicaid or ACA coverage and become uninsured. Congress should extend the ACA tax credits to keep health insurance relatively affordable for tens of thousands of Iowans.

We also discussed Donald Trump and how he governs. People are angry for lots of reasons. Trump is destroying our democracy, the rule of law and our system of government. He’s using government agencies to target his rivals and centralize power so he can call all of the shots, which is what tyrants do.

We said Trump is a bully, and then asked the aide: When is Joni Ernst going to stand up to Trump and challenge his excesses? We didn’t get a straight answer, so we’ll keep posing that question, not only to Ernst but all of our congressional Republicans. This isn’t a time for cowardice.

If the recent election results are an indication of things to come, it seems the chickens will come home to roost in about a year.

Hugh Espey

Des Moines