Gomers: What's going wrong?

WHY WALL STREET?: Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, was right to question federal health officials on why H1N1 vaccine was shipped to big Wall Street companies while public clinics for children and other high-risk people in Iowa and elsewhere don't have enough to meet demand. The allocation process for some states also seems out of whack.

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TOO SOON: State government agencies, many businesses and most governments are using employee furloughs, pay freezes or cuts and even layoffs to deal with the recession. Meanwhile, Linn County supervisors last week voted 3-2 to allow department heads to budget for pay increases up to 3 percent for about 140 management workers next fiscal year. Those managers may be deserving but we question whether it's appropriate to budget raises yet.

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PLATELET SHORTAGE: Platelet donations are not meeting the demand at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. Cancer and trauma patients, for example, rely on blood transfusions, and platelets are what promotes clotting and thus prevents bleeding. Call the DeGowin Blood Center at (319) 356-2058 if you're interested in being a donor.