Hello, I Must Be Going

David Yepsen is an enigma and the scientific community is united in that fact.

In what may be his final Ragister column...

Yepsen: Government must do its part: Cut budget

It's budget-cutting time at the Iowa Statehouse. The last few years of excessive spending, plus a national recession, have combined to sock state government's finances.

This has prompted the usual boo-hoos from those who get state money. The sky is falling, they tell us. Phooey. This process is actually a good thing. Lots of Iowa businesses and families are having to make cuts, some quite draconian. Governments should, too. On a percentage basis, the cuts state government must endure are a trifle compared to what many are doing.

This is the same man who I had to scold on Sunday (Here It Goes Again) as he advocated a more enlightened attitude toward public debt in Iowa, encouraging the state to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars.

That being said, the "jerk" will be missed.

Yepsen was Iowa on the national stage and he carried himself well as he represented us, even if he did start morphing into Grandpa Munster.

If there were more people like him at the Ragister, it wouldn't be in the trouble it's in.

Yepsen always responded to my calls or e-mails and even when we disagreed he was not disagreeable.

Good Luck and Best Wishes David!