I attended the John McCain rally at the Bettendorf home of Carrie and Pete Peterman on Sunday, August 5. I parked my car at a school down the road and rode a shuttle to their home and arrived about five minutes before the 5 p.m. event was to start.

Here's the thing: If good people, without personal agendas, don't run for local political offices (mayor, alderman, etc.), then Davenport will be stuck with the same unacceptable performance we are experiencing from our current mayor (Ed Winborn) and five aldermen (Jamie Howard, at large; Ian Frink, at large; Charlie Brooke, Ward 6; Barney Barnhill, Ward 7; and Brian Dumas, Ward 8), who consistently vote as a political bloc in favor of special interests, imposing legislation that often conflicts with the citizenry of taxpayers.

Upon flipping through a recent Reader, I couldn't help but notice that I had offended and confused Kathleen Lawless Cox with something I had written about The Floating World exhibit at the Figge. (See "Figge's Print Exhibit Resonates," River Cities' Reader Issue 642, July 18-24, 2007.) For that reason I feel the need to clear up a few things.

Corn producers of this state and others in the Corn Belt have had cheap corn for far too many years. Everyone has made money from cheap corn except the farmers that raised it. Government subsidies and Loan Deficiency Payments kept the producers in business.