Financing child care eats up a sizeable chunk of a family's weekly budget, especially for lower- to middle-income parents. Many find it hard to afford daycare and need all the help they can get to stay in the workforce to pay the rest of their bills. Iowans struggling to pay for child care need to look into an expanded federal tax benefit recently enacted...
Financing child care eats up a sizeable chunk of a family's weekly budget, especially for lower- to middle-income parents. Many find it hard to afford daycare and need all the help they can get to stay in the workforce to pay the rest of their bills. Iowans struggling to pay for child care need to look into an expanded federal tax benefit recently enacted...
As Iowans open up their mail boxes in the coming weeks to collect their tax rebate checks from Uncle Sam, the good tidings will continue with more tax relief in the years to come. In addition to the across-the-board rate cuts that started in July, the new tax laws signed by President Bush on June 7 include substantial pro-family items that will help parents...
Q: What did a recent USDA study project about new uses for soy-based products?
A: Last fall, I requested the USDA to analyze the correlation between the development of new soy-based products and the U.S. farm economy. It makes economic sense that diversifying a commodity's uses would generate greater demand and improve farm prices for the producer. The USDA...
Donating one’s time and money to charity is as American as baseball and apple pie. Charitable organizations serve an important link in our nation’s social structure, giving the less fortunate a helping hand and building avenues of opportunity between those that have and those that have not.
The good news is that charitable contributions are on the rise,...
As the summer sun beckons the leafy green corn stalks to reach higher in the sky, Iowa farmers are ready and willing to respond to a ruling issued by the Bush administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. After farmers suffered two costly years of delay by the Clinton administration, President Bush moved early in his administration and issued the...
Q: Is the federal tax rebate project underway?
A: Starting in late July, the Internal Revenue Service will begin to send every taxpayer who filed a 2000 tax return a refund check from the federal government. The distribution of the checks is based on the last two digits of the Social Security number of the taxpayer listed first on the 2000 return, starting...
Q: What is BenefitsCheckUp.org?
A: The National Council on Aging has launched a free on-line service available to anyone who is interested in finding out more information about federal and state government assistance programs available to older Americans and their caregivers. With the click of a mouse, seniors and their family members, caregivers and friends...
Money may make the world go around, but all the money in the world can't turn back the clock. As aging Americans celebrate life on earth with each birthday that comes their way, most gratefully count their blessings and wish for another year of good health when they blow out the candles.
Lifestyles and consumer behavior in America today are geared towards...
While textbooks and exams may be far from the minds of many parents, teachers and school students in Iowa who are enjoying the summer break, Congress has been hard at work hammering out education reforms aimed at improving school accountability and erasing the achievement gap to ensure no child is left behind in an American classroom.
In the first major...
Farmers accustomed to grappling with small wet, low-lying areas located smack dab in the middle of their fields will be glad to hear that sign-up has begun for a newly created conservation program that offers eligible producers economic incentives to restore these wetlands and adjacent buffers by taking them out of production for conservation...
Q: How does the newly enacted tax relief law help out college students?
A: As the chief Senate architect of the third biggest tax cut since World War II, I strongly supported education-related tax breaks to help more Americans afford higher education. A good education is like a non-stop flight to prosperity. However, some folks will experience some financial...
For only the third time since the second World War, American taxpayers are in store for a long overdue break on their federal income taxes. Despite demagoguery by the big spenders in Washington, President Bush followed through on his campaign promise to let hardworking Americans keep more of their own money. And by fall, taxpayers should see fatter...
Q: What is the Weatherization Assistance Program?
A: Since 1976, this federal grant program has helped 'weatherize' 5 million homes across the United States to help conserve energy and bring down the utility bills for low-income Americans, especially the elderly, disabled or working poor. Recognizing that high energy bills hit low-income Americans harder as...
After surviving steep winter utility bills, Iowans are braced for more belt-tightening as the hot summer months approach with no relief in sight from sky-high energy prices and threats of looming black-outs. Meanwhile, climbing prices at the pump fuel calls for action from the nation’s political system and private industry.
All the while it has become...
Q: What is Head Start?
A: A federal initiative launched in 1965, this early childhood program has served 19.3 million children from primarily low-income families with an emphasis on under-served and minority populations. Head Start offers a range of comprehensive services to improve the education, health and social well-being of children living in poverty....
Q: Which birthday will the United States celebrate on July 4, 2001?
A: Americans this year will mark 225 years of independence on the Fourth of July. Fireworks, parades and picnics have become a national pastime on Independence Day as Americans from all walks of life commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Patriotism runs high as people...
In an unconscionable blunder that once again leaves egg on the face of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI produced 3,000-plus pages of documents regarding the Oklahoma City bombing just one week before convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh was scheduled for execution.
In yet another baffling turn of events, the FBI has released belated evidence to the...
Q: What is National Tourism Week?
A: For the last 18 years, the U.S. travel industry has set aside the first full week in May to celebrate the cultural, social, historical and educational impact that tourism brings to vacationing Americans and international visitors, not to mention the economic advantages it brings to destinations across the country. From...
Since 1963, the president has designated the month of May as a national opportunity for Americans to concentrate on older citizens and consider the many ways that older generations enrich society, the workplace, their communities and our families. At the same time, spotlighting the 60-plus crowd for a month gives policymakers, advocates, and eldercare...
