To the editor:
“A republic, if you can keep it.”
That was Benjamin Franklin’s famous response to Elizabeth Willing Powel’s question, asked in 1787, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
Iowa is losing its republic as less and less power is retained by “we the people” and more and more power is consolidated into a single office: the governor’s.
Our liberties are not being prized and our rights are not being maintained, Iowa.
Maybe you’re okay with this erosion of our power. You’re thinking that “others’ rights” are being taken away, so why should you care? But when the governor uses the legislature to seize power from Iowans and transfer it to her own office and when she effectively dismantles commissions that work for Iowans—that’s not power being taken from those people over there but from each and every one of us right here.
Here is one way it works: If Gov. Reynolds isn’t happy with officials whom Iowa voters have democratically elected to office, then she will use her Republican-controlled legislature to take power from those elected officials. In this way, she is devaluing your vote, grabbing your power.
For example, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who was reelected by the voters of Iowa for decades, had a habit of joining cases that were disagreeable to the governor. In other words, he was working directly for Iowans and not for Reynolds personally.
Faced with the threat of a law that would restrict his office, Miller promised Reynolds in 2019 that he would always seek her consent before joining any multi-state lawsuits. The governor didn’t approve of the voters’ choice of Miller, so she shifted power away from the people and toward herself.
The examples multiply. Also in 2019, Reynolds signed a bill giving herself more power over the judicial nominating commission, which helps choose judges for the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
Last year she signed a law to restrict the powers of State Auditor Rob Sand – the only Democrat holding state-level office in Iowa — to do the job Iowans elected him to do. Power was again taken from voters and amassed with the governor.
This year Reynolds is silencing the voices on the Iowa Civil Rights Commission—our voices. Her efforts were criticized by Lucas Grundmeier in a “Des Moines Register” editorial:
“The Iowa Civil Rights Commission is charged with investigating and mediating complaints about unfair treatment and recommending policy changes to enhance fairness. For almost 60 years, commissioners appointed by the governor have had authority to advocate for equitable policies and to scrutinize discrimination in housing, employment and other areas. Language in Gov. Kim Reynolds’ bill (. . .) would drastically change that process in favor of giving a single governor-appointed agency director most of that authority.”
The legislative session that just ended saw a flood of feedback from voters, teachers, Area Education Agency (AEA) staff members, users of AEA services and others – all providing solid, credible arguments why the state should not thoughtlessly and radically dismantle the AEAs overnight.
It made no difference. Our state lawmakers ignored the opinions of the people they pledged to serve and instead handed the governor much of what she wanted—submitting to a single individual versus serving all Iowans. Predictably, both intended and unintended consequences will negatively upend the lives of Iowans – both those who depend on AEA services as well as the many AEA professionals.
The German theologian Martin Niemoller famously said, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
As Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed it, forgoing rights “is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”
Who is being served by this power grab? Is it our republic, or is it the governor, who is continually consolidating power in her office?
“A republic if you can keep it.”
Laura Stebbins
Perry
I want to emphasize Ms. Stebbins’ statement, “In this way, she is devaluing your vote, grabbing your power.” Please pay attention, Iowans! “It Can’t Happen Here,” the title of Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel imagining what it might look like if fascism came to America, seems particularly current. We believe we’d do the right thing if fascism comes to America, but we might not recognize it while it’s happening.
VOTE! USE YOUR POWER, AND VOTE BLUE!
Thanks, Laura, for a great summation of our current governor and lawmakers!
Thanks so much for your insightful comment, Ms. Olson, along with the relevant reference to Sinclair Lewis’s writings. We all must stay alert and informed. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Jill. Vote blue! Vote blue! Vote blue!
Governor Reynolds is by far the best governor I have seen in the 35 years since I moved here, which is why she is so popular. She has lowered taxes, brought back legal fireworks, legalized ATV use, just to name a few of her great accomplishments, aka, bringing back some of our freedoms.)
Gov. Branstad had consistently set a very low bar, but with lower taxes, Iowa can take fuller advantage of Reynold’s abandonment of child labor laws! Might be missing a finger or three from that incident at last year’s Fourth of July, but they sure work cheap.
BTW, if you need the governor to “bring back your freedoms,” you never had them in the first place.