Posted October 20, 2022in Morain
Cutting taxes has been a mainstay of Republican philosophy for decades. Iowa’s about to discover if it works. The 2022 session of the Iowa Legislature, with Republicans comfortably in control, enacted a massive state income tax restructuring whose strictures will steadily reduce state revenues for the next five years. Governor
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Posted October 04, 2022in Morain
With the midterm elections less than five weeks away, and absentee voting set to begin in only two weeks, Republicans across the nation are hammering away at one of their most powerful campaign issues: inflation. When the inflation rate first started to spike several months ago, economists both inside and
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Posted September 22, 2022in Morain
What do I do with all my stuff? Kathy’s answer: chuck it. Difficult to bring myself to do. I’ve always been a saver. Ten years ago I wrote about the stacks of stuff in my office at the newspaper: 15 or 16 of them, some several feet tall. I knew
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Posted September 15, 2022in Morain
For ages, Americans have demonstrated their fascination with British royalty. Maybe it’s because we don’t possess that institution ourselves. Maybe it’s a result of our childhood stories about kings, queens, princes and princesses. Maybe it’s simply voyeuristic enjoyment of pomp and all that accompanies it. But whatever the cause, we’re
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Posted September 01, 2022in Morain
Many Donald Trump supporters—maybe most of them—decry as a political hit job the FBI’s search for sensitive government documents at Trump’s golf resort/home at Mar-a-Lago. President Biden, they claim, ordered Attorney General Merrick Garland to unleash the FBI on the former President’s Florida retreat for no valid reason. The search,
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Posted August 25, 2022in Morain
We’re only about 1½ weeks shy of Labor Day, the unofficial starting point of the general election campaign. Of course, candidates and their teams have been campaigning for many months now. But we voters start paying more attention to election matters in early September, just a couple of months before
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Posted August 08, 2022in Morain
U.S. Senate Democrats passed their omnibus Inflation Reduction Act last Sunday 51 to 50, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. They did so under so-called “reconciliation” rules, which require only a simple majority to pass bills related to appropriations, rather than the usual filibuster-blocking 60-vote margin. The
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Posted August 04, 2022in Morain
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) on Wednesday of last week announced they had reached agreement on a comprehensive economic policy bill that, if adopted, would be the most consequential national legislation in recent years. It was a stunning announcement. Whether congressional
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Posted July 26, 2022in Morain
Independent voters appear to hold the key to the direction of the nation. Lots of fog around these days. Like the one that took over my brain during my recent bout with COVID-19 and stuck around for awhile. Same for my wife Kathy. Same for a bunch of our friends
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Posted July 07, 2022in Morain
America celebrated its independence again this past Monday, marking 246 years of national freedom. Every important U.S. holiday bears its unique celebratory hallmark, regardless of the original reason (religious or not) for its commemoration. With Thanksgiving it’s a belt-loosening dinner. With Halloween it’s trick-or-treating. With Memorial Day it’s decorating family
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