Winners

The Iowa Legislature is stepping up its efforts to support Iowa veterans at home, including those who serve with the Iowa National Guard in the war in Iraq. The Legislature recently approved $2 million to refill the Homeowners Assistance Program, which provides grants up to $5,000 for a down payment or closing costs for a home purchased by a veteran or active duty member serving since Sept. 11, 2001. It also authorized an additional $2 million to continue to operate the Injured Veterans Grant Program, which provides financial assistance of up to $10,000 to a veteran injured while in a combat zone. The grants are offered in increments of $2,500 every 30 days until the benefit is paid in full while the veteran is hospitalized or receiving medical care or rehabilitation services authorized by the military. With the growing number of veterans returning to Iowa with physical and mental injuries, the money helps defray ongoing medical costs and shows troops their efforts are appreciated.

Kudos to the folks at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park for donating $3 to The Salvation Army from every lift ticket sold March 3 for a four-hour period to help them assist Iowans who are still dealing with the aftermath of the biggest winter storm of the season. The Salvation Army of Des Moines has been busy supplying aid to those across the state who have been affected by the recent snow and ice storm and officials say their resources are being stretched thin. “It’s especially meaningful to us right now as we are working long hours and using many resources to keep people comfortable while they are without power,” Major Keith Petrie says. “Their donations will be put to great use in Central Iowa.”

A group of protesters — including some longtime, well-known local activists like Chet Guinn, Brian Terrell, Frank Cordaro and Elton Davis — staged a sit-in last week at Sen. Charles Grassley’s offices in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, asking the senator not to vote for additional funding for the war in Iraq. Peace activists with the Occupation Project, a national campaign of sustained civil disobedience, entered Grassley’s offices last Monday with the intent of remaining there until Grassley agreed to vote against President Bush’s request for additional funding for the war. The protesters didn’t get to see the senator and they were whisked away, but got the kind of media coverage they hoped for to get their message across to Grassley and other Iowans.

Losers

West Des Moines property owners will have to pay an additional 10 cents — now $12.05 per $1,000 of taxable value — to help fund some egregious “public” expenses thanks to the West Des Moines City Council, which voted 3-1 last week to hike property taxes to pay for new workers, participation in a metro-area anti-terrorism task force, higher employee health insurance costs and money for an employee health care program that includes fitness club memberships. The budget includes a new park planner position and a coordinator for a teen center at a combined cost of nearly $100,000. The wellness program will cost taxpayers an additional $150,000. Want to know who to send your letters to? Councilmen Robert Parks, James Sandager and Ted Ohmart voted for the tax hike. Councilman Brad Olson voted no. Councilwoman Loretta Sieman was absent.

Anyone who has spent time at the doctor’s office the last few weeks during the peak of the flu season can add this to their list of reasons to feel sick: A new government study predicts that America’s healthcare spending will nearly double by 2016. Assuming prices don’t drop, healthcare will account for nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy within the decade and taxpayers will shoulder nearly half that burden. The only encouraging news in the study released by the Department of Health and Human Services is the growth in national spending on prescription medicines is slowing. Still, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the headaches we’re faced with until this country solves its healthcare crisis. In the meantime, take two aspirin and start utilizing your cafeteria plan.

It’s that time of year when politicians introduce meaningless bills and Sen. Tom Harkin’s “Menu Education and Labeling Act (MEAL Act)” is one of them. It isn’t that the Democrat isn’t well-intentioned, or so we can presume, when he demands that chain restaurants start listing caloric and fat content information on their menus. It’s just that we can’t imagine there’s anyone with half a brain who goes to fast-food restaurants thinking they’re making a healthy choice. If Harkin wants to help those who can’t resist dining on deep-fat fried foods, he should introduce a bill to fund a center that helps people find the necessary willpower to avoid such restaurants in the first place. CV

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