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Are Trump’s mass deportations leading to state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing?

For the past 14 months, Americans of all political persuasions have witnessed how Trump’s ICE-related actions have involved aggressive detention and tdemonization of immigrants and minorities. Historians have not observed this large-scale scope of discrimination behavior since 1953-1955 when President Dwight Eisenhower (R) deported ~1.3 million Mexicans from America. Actions by Mr. Trump and personnel within the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and ICE have widely been condemned as racist and ethnic cleansing in orientation. Knowing Americans have witnessed ICE agents kill two ...

Fix what’s broken at home so we can defend ourselves abroad

In 2024, for the first time in almost a century, the United States spent more financing its national debt than it did, as a percentage of GDP, on national defense. In 2024, interest on our national debt expenditures came in at 3.1 percent of GDP and defense spending at 2.9 percent. This has been the case through this year, although it’s too soon to say what the picture will finally be for 2026. But it’s very close. Hoover Institution scholar Niall Ferguson notes that this is an ominous sign. He quotes what he calls Ferguson’s Law, after 18th century Scottish political theorist ...

This was a man focused on rights and rainbows

The offices of the Des Moines Register’s opinion staff were mostly empty when my telephone rang late one afternoon about 15 years ago. The guard at the lobby security desk said two men were there and hoped I had time to meet with them. I said sure and invited them up to our office on the ...

Iowans deserve clean water — and we’re making progress

Every Iowan deserves clean, safe drinking water. That’s not negotiable. It’s fundamental to our health, our communities, and our quality of life. As Secretary of Agriculture, protecting our natural resources while keeping Iowa agriculture strong has been one of my top priorities. Those goals are not conflicting – they go hand in hand. Let’s start with the facts. Iowa’s treated drinking water meets national safety standards, which are regularly reviewed and updated, most recently in 2024 under the Biden administration. At the same time, we know there is more work to do ...

It’s time to pass the Iowa Healthy Water Act

Every Iowan, every human, needs water to survive. Whether to drink, to grow plants, to fish, swim, kayak, and paddle, or to uplift amazing local breweries, wineries, and cideries, the water we access simply must be healthy and plentiful for us to have a future. Right now, Iowans across the state are recognizing and speaking out about the fact that we have a real water challenge. And they are no longer asking us to make a change. Some are begging, some are demanding, and some are crying out from their children’s hospital rooms. And Iowa doesn’t start from a great position- unlike ...

Meskwaki Nation does not pay property tax, and that isn’t fair! An expose on the pernicious lie plaguing Tama County

Does this sound familiar? It may not sound familiar if you don’t live near Indian Country. I live in Tama County, Iowa. Tama County is home to the only federally recognized tribe in Iowa. I have heard this statement or something like it many times since I have lived in Tama County. What makes this statement more troublesome is that it provokes a mentality that divides; us vs. them. I have had many conversations and been in rooms where this common phrase is used, and a thinly veiled justification for division with Meskwaki Nation. I have been told that I do not understand because I ...