A simple solution for more efficient government

By Kurt Johnson

The choice between Christie Vilsack and Steve King is clear. King knows the Iowa Legislature is the place to solve Iowa’s problems. Vilsack believes that the federal government should solve local problems, for every community in the U.S.

What if there were no FEMA and each state had to take care of its own disasters? Would that be so bad? What if each state had to pay for its own bike trails and bus systems? Every chamber of commerce goes to Washington each year, hat in hand, begging for federal money to pay for local projects.

We need to return to a federal government that doesn’t try to solve state and local problems. If we have state or local problems to be solved, then our state or local governments should be he ones to solve them — and pay for them.

[This letter appeared in the Des Moines Register this morning.]