As a father of five grown children, I know the great joy it brings to watch the next generation reach life’s milestones. When my children reached parenthood, I understood the enormous responsibilities they would shoulder to feed, clothe, educate and shelter their children.
My wife and I also understood their long journey ahead. Childrearing takes...
Q: What’s your new proposal to promote fuel efficiency and alternative energy?
A: In keeping with my longstanding advocacy to pump up homegrown, renewable energy, I introduced a bipartisan bill in March that would encourage American businesses to buy fuel efficient, alternative energy vehicles. The driving force behind my bill parallels the president’s...
When Congress recessed in mid-February, I hit the road in Iowa. I come home when Congress is out of session. Holding face-to-face meetings with Iowans puts things in better perspective.
It gives me a first-hand account on what’s uppermost in the minds of Iowa workers, families and retirees. While visiting with Iowans in Hamilton County, I discussed federal...
A couple of big-dollar stories made big news in February. One tells a story of incredible triumph. The other reveals incredible loss.
In the first, a lottery player strikes it rich with a winning ticket purchased in Nebraska. The ticket holder qualifies for the largest-ever Powerball jackpot: a cool $365 million.
Of course, that prize is before taxes....
A trip to the local pharmacy to get a prescription filled is a routine errand for many people. Having a well-stocked medicine cabinet has become part of the American way of life.
That’s because pharmaceuticals have become an integral regimen of modern medicine that helps manage pain, curb life-threatening illnesses, treat diseases and heal what ails us in...
Q: How would you grade the first weeks of enrollment for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit?
A: It’s too early to issue a final mark. I do agree there have been some unacceptable problems since the drug benefit’s launch on January 1. These problems need to be fixed and fixed fast. By all accounts, everyone is working to do just that and good progress...
A great inventor known for his tireless pursuits to contribute to American society once said: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
The mastermind credited with lighting up the world epitomized a strong work ethic. Thomas Edison certainly would have found fundamental flaws with a federal Medicaid policy...
It’s the middle of tax filing season. Right about now many people might question where their hard-earned money goes when it gets to Washington.
We live in a law-and-order society. We believe in the public good that comes from essential services financed by tax dollars. Among others, the list includes national security, strong military, medical research,...
The budget season tips off in advance of March madness when the president delivers his 2007 budget to Congress on the first Monday in February.
As a senior member of the Senate Budget Committee, I will help set the federal spending allowance that Congress uses to fund the federal government. Lawmakers will hammer out the nitty gritty details in the months...
Q: What’s in store for the federal budget?
A: It’s a New Year. Congress soon will get down to the business of drafting a new budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year. It would be nice if we could turn a new leaf in Washington. But year after year lawmakers lock horns over taxes and spending. After four years of budget surpluses, the federal government...
Q: Will Congress approve more money to replenish the federal home heating assistance program?
A: If I had my way in December, Congress would have approved an extra $2 billion for the federal Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Last summer I supported efforts during passage of the energy bill to authorize the biggest ever increase for...
Saving for retirement, especially for younger generations, too often doesn’t factor into monthly household budgets. Putting away that first dollar can be the hardest one to save.
Living paycheck-to-paycheck makes it difficult to carve out a portion of income for retirement. But considering the unbridled growth in health care costs, living standard...
As the U.S. economy nears the end of the fourth quarter, every taxpayer in America knows what comes next.
It means the first quarter of the New Year is just around the corner. As the holiday season draws to a close, the tax season begins.
During the first three months of the year, taxpayers across the country will clock many hours preparing their tax...
Q: Are tax changes in store for small businesses by year's end?
A: The U.S. Senate in November adopted a plan that recognizes the job-creating engine of the U.S. economy. Generating up to 80 percent of new jobs each year, small businesses are key to the nation's economic growth. Small businesses employ half of all private sector employees in the United...
In this season of thanksgiving, let us reflect upon and celebrate the service and sacrifice made by those who have served or currently serve our country in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Serving one’s country in the Armed Forces is an honorable way to respond to the privileges and responsibilities of American citizenship. In the last century, many of our own...
School children today likely have a hard time imagining the unimaginable. But just two generations ago, by custom and by law, American society dictated which public restroom, water fountain, swimming pool, restaurant or even bus seat could be used because of one's skin color.
Thanks to an act of defiance, indeed an illegal act of civil disobedience nearly 50...
Enjoy it while it lasts, but don't be fooled by stretches of warm, sunny days some people like to call Indian summer. That morning chill in the air soon will be here to stay. Before too long, Iowans will ring in another winter season. Ready or not here it comes.
Many Iowans enjoy the changing seasons. School children, especially, are known to wish for enough...
Iowans insured by Medicare will receive important information in the mail by mid-October from the federal government about the first-ever voluntary Medicare prescription drug benefit that will begin January 1, 2006.
Take the time to read through the handbook 'Medicare & You,' which will outline the drug-benefit plans available in your area. Ask a trusted...
The epic natural disaster that devastated America's Gulf Coast exposed vulnerability in the chains of command when it comes to the government's response to disaster preparedness and assistance. By all accounts, government at every level failed the victims of Hurricane Katrina in it its most basic covenant to the people: securing public safety after a...
An epidemic is defined as a rapid and extensive development of growth, usually of something unpleasant, among a group of people than would normally be expected.
Epidemic. That's certainly an accurate way to define what's been infiltrating communities across the country in the form of a highly addictive drug called methamphetamine.
In the last decade, the...
