GOP is incredibly evil at all levels of govt.

IIRC many Iowans have contempt for state 'bureaucrats' and think state univ profs are 'way overpaid for working at most 3 to 4 hrs a day per week with 3 month summer vacation.' (Don't remember if public school teachers are in IPERS, but contempt doubled for them.

I lived in IA from 68 to 89. Great state, tons better than OK. Then the religious right took over the state GOP and well, ...see what's there now.

It was doing just fine when they made a bad investment. They got some of the money back, but not all (if I remember correctly). We've paid into that fund for years and my children/grandchildren are teachers and doing the same thing, today. They've stolen their seniority and union rights. How else do they intend to punish teachers and public employees? God, I hate them!

once they fuck things up royally, it is nearly impossible to put them back.

Trashing the unions smelled like the Kochs and so does this. Braindead taught Reynolds well. She should be ashamed of herself.

My impression of Reynolds is that she has almost no clue what she is doing and she is doing what she is told to do. My guess the most powerful person in Iowa right now is Drew Klein who is the Koch brothers' "minder" (as it were) as the leaders of the Americans for Progress (Koch's lobbying group) in Iowa.

You may remember he was the lone witness to Branny signing the union busting bill: from the Register:

Leave IPERS alone.

I rarely worried about them in the past, no matter what happened nationally, but that is no longer true. I suspected the Koch bros' influence, but hoped otherwise.

How could Wisconsin and Kansas be considered success stories? Obviously, lying is rampant in the Republican party and, in my opinion, unsalvageable in the future.

This truly makes me ill.

Also, it's keeping my parents alive.