The holidays are here again. That means it's time for decorations, gifts, family, friends, and food. But during all the celebrating, seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D should carve out time to consider whether they want to stay with their current prescription drug plan.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the central statistic the federal government uses to calculate inflation. The CPI is a statistic used by the government to track the cost of goods and services. Beginning with the Jimmy "I will never lie to you" Carter administration, food and energy were removed from the CPI because of the volatility in pricing of these items, but that has since been extended to include anything that reflects unstable or volatile pricing. This was done because this volatility in pricing interfered with long-range projections concerning inflation.

Your article "Building a Better Promise" was informative and timely. (See River Cities' Reader Issue 654, October 10-16, 2007.) I had a general sense that the idea has potential as an economic-development tool, but didn't know any of the specifics. Your article helped fill in the specifics (as they are known) and pointed out the serious questions about funding, timing, and applicability.

A state Senator from Bettendorf, Linda Miller, asks why we do not have a vote on banning gay marriage in Iowa. We do not need a "Defense of Marriage" act. Marriage does not need to be defended from all the wonderful, caring, loving gay and lesbian adults I know in the eastern Iowa who are in long-term relationships, many of them raising children, and simply living their lives as are heterosexuals.