To the editor:

I was amazed by the irony of your Oct. 20, 2019, editorial. It praised Sen. Grassley for seeking to “stem the increase in farmer suicides.” It quoted his concerns that “farmers are increasingly feeling the pain of sinking commodity prices, devastating natural disasters, and ongoing trade disruptions.” These three concerns that Sen. Grassley stated “have caused great distress to farmers” are the direct results of President Trump’s actions with which the senator has found little fault. It must be comforting to receive praise for trying to solve problems that you have been instrumental in creating.

If I might, I would also like to comment on your praise for both of our Iowa senators in regard to their support of the tax reform bill and their support of the thirty billion dollars in payments to our farmers. The benefits of the tax reform bill went overwhelmingly to those taxpayers with $200,000 and above of taxable income and to the large corporations. Some low-income taxpayers experienced tax increases and small corporations suffered tax increases of up to 40 percent. In actuality, the payments to farmers were contributions to the Trump campaign using taxpayer money to influence the vote in the farming communities.

In the meantime, our national debt ballooned and education, healthcare, and infrastructure problems were forgotten. The Messenger would do well to reserve its praise for those more praise worthy.

Joseph J. Jackson

Fort Dodge