› Open Letter to Rep. Boswell

An open letter to Rep. Boswell…

As many of you know we are living in historical times.  Historical, in that our budget deficit is $1,400,000,000,000, spending “pushed the 2011–2020 discretionary spending baseline $1.7 trillion higher than three years ago (National Review Online)” and Congress has approved more than 10,000 earmarks each year in the past three years.

During a time where the National unemployment rate has exceeded 10% our “representatives” in Washington feel it necessary to secure unnecessary funding for various projects that DO NOT create jobs.

Our very own Representative Leonard Boswell, secured $750,000 for the World Food Prize in our beautiful Capital, Des Moines.  During a time when Iowans are losing their jobs, the Iowa Food Pantry is at devastatingly low levels and the State itself is facing major budget cuts across the board, Boswell deems it necessary to secure $750,000 for the World Food Prize to support their $28.9 million project “to convert a century-old library in Des Moines into the Norman E. Borlaug Hall of Laureates (USA Today Online).”

I sit here in awe of what’s happening here in Iowa and Nationwide.  Many of our representatives are money junkies that just can’t wait for their next fix, the constitutionality of the Federal spending never even being questioned.  I would ask Representative Boswell to answer some questions for myself and my fellow Iowans.

How can you tout the creation and saving of 5,336 jobs from $1.5 billion that was allocated for economic growth?

How can you stand proud of $750,000 given to the World Food Prize when Iowa’s unemployment rate has increased from October 2008 (4.3) to November 2009 (6.7), a 55% increase?

55%!  Sir, how dare you waste honestly earned, tax payers money when the State of Iowa, Iowa’s largest employer, faces a 10% budget cut across the board, which inevitably means job cuts?

Representative Boswell, I would ask you to answer these questions that I know are looming in the minds of me and my fellow alienated and disillusioned Iowans.  We all deserve these answers.  Please give us this common courtesy and explain to us how you so comfortably give away our hard-earned money.

Sincerely,

Dave Funk, Candidate for US Congress in Iowa District-3