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Editorials

Iowa Needs Trains

Currently, only two Amtrak passenger trains serve Iowans. The Southwestern Chief that goes from Chicago to Los Angeles just clips Iowa with one station in Fort Madison. The other train is the California Zephyr that passes through southern Iowa with stations in Mount Pleasant and a few other ...

Brass Tacks from Rural Iowa: Farm Bill on My Mind

Reading about the recent round of layoffs at John Deere’s Ottumwa plant got me thinking about the future of farming and the critical role of farm policy. Nearly 2,000 Iowa workers laid off in the past year is a lot of job loss, but sadly not terribly surprising. Last year was difficult for ...

Me and Jimmy Carter

The press had fair reviews of Jimmy Carter upon his passing – third quartile of past presidents, A+ for post-president contributions, wonderful person, smart, and marginal political savvy. I liked him, as did most citizen voters. The people wanted change and distance from Washington politics ...

Q&A: Looking Ahead to 2025

Q: What’s new on your plate in the U.S. Senate in the 119th Congress? A: Voters in the 2024 elections delivered a fresh mandate to Washington, D.C., returning President Trump to the White House and putting Republicans in control of both houses of Congress. That means the U.S. Senate will be ...

Brass Tacks from Rural Iowa: Fighting for the people and places we love

As 2024 wraps up, I’m reflecting on the past 12 months. What memories did our family make, how did things go on the farm, and how are things going in my community and across the state? One of my biggest memories is about Summit Carbon Solutions and its controversial CO2 pipeline. Two days ...

Jimmy Carter exemplified the role of president as diplomat

The news of Jimmy Carter’s passing takes me back to 1976, a year that marked my own passage to adulthood. As the bicentennial year dawned, I took first notice of Carter upon his victory in the Iowa Caucuses. I followed his campaign through my high school graduation and into the summer, when I ...

A dismantled post office destroys more than mail service

Sun Courier Note: We are republishing this column first published by The Conversation on Aug. 18, 2020, in light of recent news President-elect Donald Trump may again attempt to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. The U.S. Postal Service is under threat of collapse and privatization. This ...

Happy Birthday, Iowa!

In addition to Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s Day, Iowans have another reason to celebrate during the last week of the year. On December 28, 1846, President James K. Polk signed a bill admitting Iowa into the Union. This year, Iowa will celebrate its 178th birthday. Let’s take a look ...

Vilsack’s exit interview for the Beltway

Tom Vilsack deserves a better exit interview than what he recently gave to Politico’s Jonathan Martin. Vilsack came across as irritated, which is familiar enough. The Democrats lost rural America. That’s a big part of the problem, and he is supposed to be Mr. Rural America. The former ...