Grassley betrays his loyalty to the Constitution

Sen. Charles Grassley now claims that President Obama shouldn’t have a hearing on his Supreme Court nominee in the final year of his presidency. Eight years ago, Grassley expressed a totally opposite opinion in regard to confirmations during the final year of a president’s term. Here’s Grassley’s statement in 2008, another election year and the last year of the George W. Bush presidency: “The reality is that the Senate has never stopped confirming judicial nominees during the last few months of a president’s term.” In addition, on Feb. 3, 1988, the final year of President Ronald Reagan’s presidency, Anthony Kennedy was confirmed by a Democratic-controlled Senate by a vote of 97 to 0. Grassley participated in that vote, suggesting his refusal today is based on pure obstructionism.  Grassley is now willing to deny his own 2008 words and defy the constitution’s language mandating the Senate’s responsibility to “advice and consent” for purely Republican Party self-interest. Republicans have made the unyielding adherence to the Constitution the singular campaign issue defining their party. Now that they are getting tested in their devotion to the Constitution, they cut and run.

Rick Smith
-Urbandale

Gartner deserved better
In Cityview’s “Who wins the titles? Best of 2016,” under the award, “Best Local News Commentator or Columnist,” Civic Skinny’s Michael Gartner doesn’t even rank in the top three? Outrageous! I demand a recount or at least transparency in the number of votes the each received. A personal note to Mr. G.: Sorry, I forgot to vote.

Mike Rowley
-Clive

New justice should be named by Obama
Good grief!  Bruce Braley was right. Sen. Charles Grassley should never have become the chair of the Judiciary Committee. He does not even know the duties of the president and Senate concerning the nominations of Supreme Court justices outlined in the Constitution. The U.S. Senate leadership has never recommended that a president not submit a name for nomination for the Supreme Court.  There is nothing in the Constitution that the duly elected president should only do his duties for three years out of the four-year term. If Republican leaders really admired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, they certainly have a strange way of showing it.  They seemed more concerned with showing their contempt for the president than showing respect for Justice Scalia.

Julie Stewart
-Waukee

No additional casinos
Rep. Kristin Running-Marquardt has introduced House Joint Resolution (HJR) 2007. It would allow Cedar Rapids to build a non-smoking casino in contravention of the decision of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to no longer entertain applications for additional gaming licenses. Linn County rejected gambling in a vote taken in 2003. Those people missed the boat. Now it’s too late. We have 22 casinos in a state of only three million. How much is enough? I wrote Running-Marquardt and told her we “…don’t need to add another Gomorrah to our 19 Sodoms.” Three casinos are federally regulated. Our ancestors are already turning over in their graves. We have both legal liquor and gambling. I grew up in an Iowa that barely had either. Churches got raided by the State of Iowa over bingo games at church bazaars. All liquor purchases at state-owned liquor stores had to be registered in a log book for presentation to prospective employers and fathers-in-law. Now we are the Las Vegas of the Midwest. Enough is enough!

Gary Thelen
-West Des Moines