Q: What drives your decades-long work as a taxpayer watchdog? A: It boils down to a simple principle. Taxpayers work hard for their money. The U.S. Treasury is not a piggy bank for fraudsters to exploit and drain public assistance programs for profit. Four decades ago, I resurrected a ...
Small businesses play a critical role in creating jobs, driving economic growth, and contributing to the overall well-being of rural communities. In many areas, they are the backbone of the local economy, providing essential goods and services. Spring offers a good reminder of the importance ...
Libraries are a vital part of our rural communities. That’s why I invite you to celebrate the library in your small town during National Library Week, April 19-25, 2026. These book-filled buildings serve as community spaces, wi-fi hotspots, children’s imagination stations, and more. Many ...
Walk through any industrial park in our region today, and you are struck by dedication. These local manufacturers – the bedrock of our economies – are more than just businesses; they support our communities. They represent nearly 98% of American manufacturing operations, providing jobs and ...
Q: How do government shutdowns fail the American people? A: The insufferable pattern of government shutdowns stemming from a lapse in approved funding needs to stop once and for all. Since 1981, failure to enact the 12 annual appropriation bills by the end of the fiscal year has resulted in a ...
Retirement from a farm business may not mean moving away or giving up on mentoring the next generation, but it does entail transferring management decisions to someone else. It can be a gradual or sudden process. It may be driven by long-term goals, by sudden health issues, or events outside ...
What if school didn’t just prepare students for tests, but for life? Across our communities, that question is turning into action. Through work-based learning opportunities supported by Central Rivers AEA, students are stepping beyond the classroom and into the workforce. What they are ...
There’s a saying in business: “Where there’s mystery, there’s margin,” meaning complexity, confusion, and a lack of transparency create profit opportunities for those at the top. Sounds a lot like the privatization of Medicaid, and Iowa insiders’ plans to fund it. Medicaid alone ...
The legislature has finished week 11 of the session, we are busy working on bills sent over from the Senate and preparing appropriations bills for the final weeks of the session. Nearly every year during the session we deal with legislation that to one degree or another seeks to end the ...
Public education has stood as a foundational pillar in Iowa for almost 200 years. However, in recent years public schools have received meager increases in yearly state aid which fails to keep up with inflation. This, while the number of private schools in Iowa has grown due to the voucher ...