Iowa’s water can’t wait
This piece was co-authored by Emma Schmit, Iowa organizer for Food & Water Watch, and Danielle Wirth, a member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and Food & Water Watch. -promoted by...
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The art of showing up: J.D. Scholten in Iowa’s fourth district
Susan Nelson: If J.D. Scholten goes to Washington, he will carry with him thousands of stories told by rural people struggling to keep their heads above water. -promoted by Laura Belin The conventional...
View ArticleDonald Trump’s farmers: A diminishing political asset
Dan Piller: The real problem for Trump in Iowa is that the big farm choir he thinks he is addressing has been reduced to something more like an ensemble. -promoted by Laura Belin President Trump’s...
View ArticleThe case for a simpler, values-driven Democratic Party platform
Jeremy Dumkrieger chairs the Woodbury County Democrats. -promoted by Laura Belin In 2018, the Woodbury County Democrats approved the platform pasted below. It wasn’t perfect, but it was simple. It was...
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Iowa’s looming water and drought crisis
Tyler Granger: Impaired waterways and the ongoing drought are a 1-2 punch that could create incredible hardships for Iowans in 2021. -promoted by Laura Belin The coronavirus and the economic fallout...
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Populisms Left and Right
John Whiston contrasts two strains of American populism and ponders how a populist agenda could unite diverse Democratic constituencies.-promoted by Laura Belin You hear a lot of anxiety these days...
View ArticleMost Iowans in Congress supported latest COVID-19 package
The U.S. House and Senate on December 21 approved a $2.3 trillion package to fund the federal government through September 30, 2021 and provide approximately $900 billion in economic stimulus or relief...
View ArticleDon’t give up on rural Iowa
Emma Schmit chairs the Calhoun County Democrats and serves on the Iowa Democratic Party’s State Central Committee. She is also the Iowa organizer at Food & Water Watch. -promoted by Laura Belin The...
View ArticleIowans land good U.S. House committee assignments
As a group, Iowa’s U.S. House members have less seniority than at any time in more than a century. But their lack of experience in Congress didn’t translate into undesirable committee assignments. On...
View ArticleThe Iowa land ethic
Editor’s note: Paul W. Johnson died on February 15, 2021. His family wanted to share the text of these previously unpublished remarks, delivered to the Iowa Environmental Council’s Annual Conference on...
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Randy Feenstra’s selective concern for farmers
Andy Kopsa: Iowa’s new member of Congress from the fourth district brags that he “delivers for farmers.” Unless you are a Black farmer, that is. -promoted by Laura Belin Politicians love farmers. Every...
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Under Trump, farm subsidies soared and the rich got richer
Anne Schechinger: President Joe Biden and Congress must reform a wasteful and unfair farm subsidy system. This report first appeared on the Environmental Working Group’s website. -promoted by Laura...
View ArticleJoni Ernst opposing more Biden nominees than Chuck Grassley
During their six years serving together in Congress, Iowa’s two Republican U.S. senators have rarely differed on matters that came to the Senate floor. But seven weeks into Joe Biden’s presidency, a...
View ArticleMike Naig interview: Wishful thinking from Iowa’s last Kodak salesman
John Norwood is a soil and water commissioner in Polk County. -promoted by Laura Belin Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig was the guest on the latest edition of the Iowa PBS program “Iowa Press.”...
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Earth Day 2021: Iowa needs more nature imagination
Neil Hamilton shares remarks he delivered on “Iowa needs more nature imagination: Lessons from our missed opportunities“ at the Des Moines Area Community College Earth Day event on April 22. -promoted...
View ArticleRural broadband: A mirage
Dan Piller: Far from rescuing rural Iowa, more broadband will hasten the exodus from farms and small towns into the cities. -promoted by Laura Belin Everybody loves the idea of spending billions of...
View ArticleIA-Sen: Matt Whitaker bolsters Trumpworld credentials
Although Senator Chuck Grassley is in no hurry to announce his future plans, former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker continues to lay the groundwork for a possible U.S. Senate bid in 2022....
View ArticleOpen letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan
Mike Tramontina is a lifelong Iowan who enjoys paddling and fishing in Iowa’s rivers and streams even though they are “unfishable” and “unswimmable.” -promoted by Laura Belin May 5, 2021 Dear...
View ArticleIA-Sen: “Old-school, farming, labor Democrat” Dave Muhlbauer is in
Most Iowans thinking about running for U.S. Senate in 2022 are waiting for Senator Chuck Grassley to tip his hand, probably sometime this fall. But fifth-generation farmer and former Crawford County...
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A new vision for Iowa agriculture and Iowans
John Norwood is a Polk County Soil and Water Commissioner. These are my prepared remarks from the June 17 event announcing the Central Iowa Water Quality Infrastructure Project. I initiated a new...
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