Posted November 07, 2024in Morain
What effect will the 2024 election have on the immigration situation? I’m writing this column on Sunday before the Tuesday election, so I don’t know its outcome. But the outlines of immigration policy possibilities are visible nevertheless. This year’s experience with immigration proposals brought the nation to where it is
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Posted October 31, 2024in Morain
Last Sunday, at a concert Kathy and I attended, one of the introducers referenced countries where political campaigning lasts only a few months. The audience erupted in applause. By all indications, that appears to be the consensus around the nation as this Tuesday’s Election Day approaches. Party officials and private
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Posted October 24, 2024in Morain
Pundits are fond of saying that elections are about the economy, and people’s relationship to it. “It’s the economy, stupid” and all that. It may be true — but there’s certainly evidence to the contrary. Look no further than the reaction to Donald Trump’s tariff proposals from Iowans whose livelihoods
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Posted October 17, 2024in Morain
Last Monday, October 14, the state of Iowa observed Indigenous Peoples’ Day (traditionally called Columbus Day), in recognition of the roles native tribes have played in the state’s history and culture. It’s not a federal holiday, but an increasing number of states and cities now observe it. Last Friday, October
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Posted October 10, 2024in Morain
Where are today’s Menachem Begins and Anwar Sadats? Or Yitzhak Rabins and Yasser Arafats? Without leaders of their stature and their willingness to compromise for the good of their people, it’s hard to see how anything close to peace can ever be achieved in the Middle East. This statement does
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Posted October 03, 2024in Morain
Most Americans believe in democracy – or say they do. The United States operates as a representative democracy. That means we elect leaders to do the work of governing, and we get to vote for those offices on a regular basis. If we like what our leaders are doing, we’re
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Posted September 26, 2024in Morain
This is a nostalgia column. When you’re 83, you’re allowed some nostalgia, provided you can remember what you’re nostalgic about. And that it has some relevance to the current moment. (See conclusion.) I’ve been thinking about the late Bob Ray, Governor of Iowa from 1969 to 1983. He was the
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Posted September 19, 2024in Morain
I’ve been muddling through some thoughts about national politics after the November 5 election. I will no doubt have more, but this week I have one for each party. FOR REPUBLICANS: Presidential candidate Donald Trump is already strongly suggesting that if he loses to Kamala Harris, it will be
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Posted September 12, 2024in Morain
The fatal school shootings in Perry in early January took place eight months ago. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) has concluded its investigation of the tragic incident and turned it over to Dallas County Attorney Jeannine Ritchie. Ritchie refuses to make the report’s findings public. That choice deprives
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Posted August 22, 2024in Morain
Republicans, who control the Iowa House, the Iowa Senate, and the Iowa governorship, make no secret of their intent to entirely eliminate the state’s income tax. It probably won’t happen this coming year or the next, but the plan is now on a glide path. If the Iowa GOP remains
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