To the editor:

It was my great pleasure to serve as your congressman in 1970s and 1980s. Back then we worked together, Democrats and Republicans, and the wealthy did not control our elections with their massive political contributions as they do today.

We Iowans are fortunate, with our early caucuses. Bernie Sanders will be in Fort Dodge this today. I hope everyone will attend and listen to what he has to say.

I wholeheartedly agree with Bernie Sanders’ proposal to pay all college tuition with a tax on Wall Street transactions.

For years our government has cut taxes for the wealthy, and cut back support of our college students. Today millionaires and billionaires frequently pay lower tax rates than their secretaries, and our young people are burdened with over a trillion dollars of student debt.

Bernie Sanders has a plan to allow present college debtors refinance their debt at lower interest rates, thereby saving graduates millions of dollars. I propose that we pay off that entire student debt with an annual tax of 5 percent on all wealth exceeding $10 million per taxpayer, until the entire debt is eliminated.

Bernie Sanders has some bold progressive proposals, but I would like to see him go one step further and completely eliminate college debt by taxing the super wealthy. Bernie Sanders is one candidate who might be willing to stand up to the millionaires and billionaires and support college students and graduates.

When I went to Congress in 1975, our top income tax rate was approximately double what it is today. The rich did not control the government with their massive political contributions, and the nation prospered. I believe we need to return to those times. People may well argue that members of Congress are not going to start taxing the wealthy who pay for their campaigns. But votes, not political spending, are what count in the final analysis.

Today, please encourage Bernie Sanders to include our college students and graduates in his plan to eliminate college tuition. By doing so, American will take that first step toward a new nation in which the wealthy do not control our political system and our government. And we all, not just the top 1 percent, will share in our nation’s prosperity.

Berkley Bedell

Spirit Lake