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ICE is a law-breaking ‘Law Enforcement’ agency

We’ve seen masked government agents roughing people up, shouting obscenities at them, trapping them on freezing cold roofs, smashing their car windows, shooting pastors with pepper balls, shoving women to the ground, separating mothers from their children and killing an unarmed American citizen as she attempted to maneuver her car away, dog in the backseat and glove compartment overflowing with colorful stuffed animals. Why was Renee Good executed in cold blood? Because, our jefe explained, “that woman was very, very disrespectful to law enforcement.” That’s a lie, as the 80% ...

Helling’s Holiday

Vacations for farmers in the early 70’s, especially dairy farmers, were few and far between. Cows had to be milked twice a day, seven days a week. But when Stan Helling, a dairy farmer on the north side of Ft. Madison, bought a new 3/4 ton, Chevy pick-up, in 1970, he told his wife, Lillian, “I wanna take that truck for a run. Let’s go see your sister, Luane, in Winter Haven, Florida. The kids would love to see their cousins, and I know where I can rent a camper to slide in the back of the truck to haul the kids.” They had six kids, five of them boys, and another girl as of yet ...

Meggers Memo — Week 1

As the 2nd session of the 91st general assembly kicks off, house republicans will continue to remain focused on the issues Iowans care about the most. From meaningful property tax relief to public safety as well as honoring our veterans, here’s what is happening at the Capitol. • Property Tax Relief: A Priority this Session Iowans have been loud and clear about the need for property tax reform. So, this session, we’ve made this topic a top priority. Across the state, seniors are being priced out of their homes, young people are struggling to purchase their first houses, and ...

Where there aren’t fathers, birth rates collapse

Where are the babies? Social conservatives keep asking what’s happened as the U.S. fertility rate crashes to its lowest level ever. But the answer should be another question: Where are the fathers? And by fathers, we do not mean men who merely spread their seed and then take off, but men who hang around and provide moral and financial support to their children. The common but wrong answer is that it has simply become too expensive to raise children: If you just bring down the prices of things then family life will become more attractive to young couples. This is the affordability ...

A session of urgency

It’s the start of a new year, which means another Iowa legislative session begins. While I’m hopeful some good will come out of the Golden Dome in Des Moines, I’m not holding my breath. Eminent domain and ways to protect Iowans from Bruce Rastetter’s pesky CO2 pipeline are sure to come up again. But given Reynolds’ veto of legislation last year and Rastetter’s deep pockets and political ties, I’m not banking on action. And Bayer couldn’t get their Cancer Gag Act into a recent appropriations bill in Congress. So expect them to be back trying to silence us if we get sick ...

No compromise on the Hyde Amendment

Last year we went through the longest government shutdown in history. The point of contention was the extension of what were supposed to be temporary additional Obamacare subsidies enacted during COVID-19. “Temporary” in Washington means forever. This is what must change. The “temporary” subsidies were supposed to expire last year. But Democrats could not resist the opportunity to push Republicans up against the wall and associate them with Obamacare premium increases. A deal was cut to address the subsidies after the first of the year and get the government funded and ...