Q: What exactly is sequestration?
A: Sequestration is a process of automatic, largely across-the-board permanent spending reductions. The process was created in 1985 in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. More recently, Congress included sequestration as an enforcement tool in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The automatic spending cuts established in the 2011 law...
Q: Why is international trade so important to agriculture?
A: The productivity of American farmers continues to rise faster than domestic demand. American farmers need foreign markets to sell commodities and value-added agricultural products. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one out of every three crop acres is planted for export, and...
Q: How much of the revenue going to the U.S. Treasury is federal income tax?
A: Individual income taxes account for about 42 percent of all the money collected by the federal Treasury. The rest comes from Social Security taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, customs, and miscellaneous taxes. The federal income tax as we know it...
Q: Why is there a production tax credit for wind energy?
A: In 1992, the Energy Policy Act passed by Congress included an amendment I offered to establish a production tax credit for wind energy. The idea was to try to level the playing field with coal-fired and nuclear electricity generation. Both of those energy sources benefit from federal support. What’s...
With all eyes and ears directed towards Washington’s so-called fiscal cliff, there’s talk of striking a “grand bargain” between the White House and Capitol Hill to finesse a solution for the impending spending cuts and tax hikes slated to take effect January 1, 2013.
While high-stakes negotiations will likely continue through the end of the year and feed the...
Q: What exactly is a filibuster?
A: The classic understanding is the way Jimmy Stewart, in the 1939 movie 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,' stands and talks without stopping to delay proceedings and make a point. Under Senate rules, unless the rules have been waived temporarily, a senator who has been recognized to speak can keep the floor as long as he...
Q: What political transitions are under way in China?A: China’s new leader Xi Jinping – who visited Iowa earlier this year – is the most powerful Chinese leader in recent years as he newly holds the post of General Secretary of the Party, Chief of the Military, and he will take over as President of China in March, when President Hu Jintao formally...
Q: Why do we elect the President through the electoral college?
A: The U.S. Constitution sets forth the requirements for election of the President and Vice President in Article II, Section 1, as amended in 1804 by the 12th amendment. It authorizes each state to appoint, by whatever means the legislature chooses, a number of electors equal to the combined...
Q: What’s the most up-to-date data on Medicare’s fiscal health?
A: Thousands of Iowans have contacted me regarding protecting the future of the Medicare program. Medicare is a pact between the federal government, seniors and future seniors. This pact should be kept, and steps need to be taken to make sure it happens. Since Medicare was created in 1965,...
Civics 101 teaches students about the three branches of the federal government. Representing Iowans in the United States Senate, I enjoy meeting with students during my annual meetings in Iowa’s 99 counties or when youth groups make a trip to Washington, D.C.
Students ask informed questions. They understand that Congress writes legislation and holds the...
Q: What exactly is the fiscal cliff?
A: The fiscal cliff is a term being used to describe a set of federal tax increases and spending cuts that will occur if Congress and the President don’t act. Most immediately, the failure to extend tax relief that is scheduled to expire at the end of this year would result in a $310 billion tax increase in January. This...
Q: What’s the rationale for federally subsidized crop insurance?
A: A stable and affordable food supply is fundamental to national security, and U.S. agriculture helps to feed the world with advanced farming technology and markets to export farm commodities and value-added agriculture products. At the same time, farming is financially risky, with production...
It’s something we use every day yet rarely take the time to celebrate. It’s as solid as the ground beneath our feet and still extremely flexible. It provides the foundation for what it means to be an American because it enshrines much of what we value as Americans. Of course, I’m referring to the United States Constitution.
This remarkable document is as...
Unlike the drought-stricken row crops which fell victim to a merciless season of cloudless skies, high temperatures and scorched earth, a bumper-sized crop of crowds turned out across the state this year to share views on matters of public policy, including the economy, energy, health care, transportation, debt, taxes, immigration and agriculture. In August,...
Q: Why not raise taxes on the high income to pay down the deficit and debt?
A: Professor Richard Vedder of Ohio University has studied tax increases and spending for more than two decades. His research has found that over the entire post World War II era through 2009, each dollar of new tax revenue has been associated with $1.17 in new spending. A researcher...
Q: How significant is the burden of federal regulations on economic activity?
A: According to a recent Gallup survey, small-business owners in the United States are most likely to say that complying with government regulations is the biggest problem facing them today. Recently the Small Business Administration estimated the federal regulatory burden has...
The highest court in the land issued a landmark decision just days before the United States celebrated its 236th anniversary declaring independence from a tax-happy monarchy. I respect the Supreme Court, but the colonial patriots who rallied against “taxation without representation” and blazed the trail for liberty, freedom and the pursuit of happiness must...
Q: What is so important about this congressional investigation?
A: When a person dies in service to his country, and his own government may have contributed to his death, covered up evidence about the circumstances, or both, the survivors’ families and the American people have a right to know the truth. In December 2010, Customs and Border Patrol Agent Brian...
Q: How is the threat of higher taxes impacting the economy?
A: I hear regularly from Iowa employers about how uncertain tax policy, along with the threat of costly new regulations from Washington, prohibits them from being able to make pro-growth decisions including hiring new workers. As it stands, if Congress and the President do not act by the end of this...
New graduates have good reason to celebrate their academic achievements. After all, on average, a college degree remains a good indicator for boosting one’s lifetime earning potential. For many Americans, a college education is a lasting investment in future economic mobility.
After the gilded glow of the cap and gown and the pomp and circumstance of the...
