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...
Q: What is FEMA?
A: An independent agency of the federal government, the Federal Emergency Management Agency marked its 22nd anniversary in the same month that the river towns in eastern Iowa were battling rising flood waters from the mighty Mississippi. Organized in 1979 to serve as the official liaison within the Federal government to guide, lead,...
Americans are breathing a sigh of relief that another tax season is behind us. All of the good cheer from the New Year evaporates as the calendar moves closer to Tax Day. Getting one’s financial affairs and tax documents in order eat up a lot of time and resources. Plus, more and more taxpayers spend a pretty penny on tax preparation fees to let the experts...
I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, hard-working taxpayers in Iowa are inching ever closer to Tax Freedom Day. The bad news is, Iowans needed to work 117 days for the government this year before they began working for themselves. According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, Iowans — on average — will need to work from January 1 to April 27...
Q: What is a brownfield?
A: The term applies to neglected industrial areas or commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment of the site is hindered by actual or perceived environmental contamination. Abandoned commercial properties and idled industrial factories are an eye-sore for any community and when left unattended can accelerate a downhill...
I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, hard-working taxpayers in Iowa are inching ever closer to Tax Freedom Day. The bad news is, Iowans needed to work 117 days for the government this year before they began working for themselves. According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, Iowans — on average — will need to work from January 1 to April 27...
Lots of people 'inside the Beltway' in the nation’s capital get twisted into knots over the annual budget process. This year received extra close scrutiny from the media, interest groups and lawmakers because it was the first budget submitted by our newly elected president. Plus, for the first time in a half-century, the nation’s budget blueprint was...
Q: What is your take on the recent stand-off between the United States and China?
A: First and foremost, I am relieved that 24 service men and women returned home safely after a contemptible experience, where they were held in captivity for 11 days. Their detention in China following the April 1 collision involving a U.S. aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet...
For as much as the IRS may elicit marginal feelings of good-will by the American public, especially during the height of tax filing season, tax cheats and their conspirators warrant down right ill-will by their taxpaying counterparts.
Perhaps no one deserves the ire of taxpaying Americans more than the tax cheats who may be sheltering as much as $3 trillion...
Q: Why is it so important for the U.S. to seek more open borders with our trading partners?
A: Many busy Americans don't realize the instrumental role that trade plays on the U.S. economy and how it enhances the standard of living for American citizens. Surveys suggest that Americans have limited interest or knowledge in matters involving global trade...
For as much as the IRS may elicit marginal feelings of good-will by the American public, especially during the height of tax filing season, tax cheats and their conspirators warrant down right ill-will by their taxpaying counterparts.
Perhaps no one deserves the ire of taxpaying Americans more than the tax cheats who may be sheltering as much as $3 trillion...
With 100 members, the United States Senates has been described as the more deliberative body in Congress. George Washington referred to it as the saucer that cooled the spill-over from the House of Representatives. For two decades I have had the privilege to represent Iowa in the U.S. Senate. My most recent assignments on the budget, agriculture, finance,...
As the nation at large keeps a collective eye upon falling stock prices on Wall Street, merchants on Main Street are taking stock of consumer confidence and spending behavior. As Iowa’s senior U.S. senator, I make it my job to keep tabs on the public’s pulse as closely as I watch over the public’s purse in Washington. Financial analysts and economic...
Q: How do you propose to mobilize more Americans to prepare for their long-term care needs?
A: Unless you have faced a family situation where a loved one requires hands-on care around-the-clock, it’s more than likely you have not given long-term care a second thought. And if you’re under age 30 or married with young children, chances are pretty good that...
Iowa farmers looking to diversify their crop acres are finding it’s a breeze to squeeze more value out of their farmland. Sitting smack dab in the middle of America’s breadbasket, Iowa’s fertile fields and abundant grain harvests have helped feed the world and allowed generations of farm families to earn a living off the land. But in recent years, a new crop...
