March 31 may be a significant - and very expensive - date in your life. Don't know why? That is not unusual. Tens of millions of Americans do not, according to public opinion polls.By the end of this month, many people are required to be signed up for Affordable Care Act health insurance. ...
In our highly mobile society, the ease with which teaching professionals can move from state to state is made more complicated by licensing requirements. The spouses of veterans and active duty military personnel are among those who encounter this problem most often because careers in the armed ...
In all likelihood, an Interior Department report recently was intended by President Barack Obama as another slap at conservatives in Congress. During the government "shutdown" last fall, he blamed them for all sorts of havoc.If the report on national parks during the shutdown was issued with ...
Americans may be paying more for defense while getting less in troop strength, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel hinted recently.During a speech at the Pentagon, Hagel said plans are for the active-duty U.S. Army to be cut from its current 522,000 soldiers to as few as 440,000. The Army has not ...
Investigators with the Government Accountability Office tell us approximately $1.4 billion was spent by the government on autism research between 2008 and 2012.That is the good news.The bad news is as much as 84 percent of that money was spent on redundant research.Duplication of research ...
President Barack Obama and fellow liberals claim to want to lift more Americans out of poverty. But their newest pet project would plunge half a million people deeper into it.Obama and liberals in Congress want to increase the federally mandated minimum wage. They insist it would help millions ...
Amid the shock and horror of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, a group of ordinary Americans became heroes by sacrificing their own lives to save others.A monument to them, the passengers and crew of Flight 93, exists in south central Pennsylvania. It is at the site of where their airliner ...
In some ways, Americans face more military threats to our security than the nation did in the days leading up to World War II.Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear the end of the Soviet Union did not draw the curtain on Moscow's ambitions. He made that abundantly clear in sending ...
Thursday evening an event took place that was a good deal more than just a social occasion.Approximately 300 community leaders gathered at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites for food and camaraderie at the annual meeting of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.A major ...
President Barack Obama apparently is more concerned with rewarding political supporters than good relations between the U.S. and other countries.That ought to concern thoughtful Americans. When a prospective U.S. ambassador to Norway angers people in that country by categorizing one of the ...
Few of the expensive films Hollywood has produced, now in the past, stand the test of time. But remember "National Lampoon's Animal House"? "Stripes"? "Groundhog Day"? "Caddyshack"? "Vacation"?Go ahead. Laugh, or at least smile. Those were funny movies - and years from now, they'll still make ...
Newspaper in Education - NIE - is a collaboration between schools and the nation's newspapers to use newspapers as educational resources. The goal is to promote literacy and encourage students to develop reading newspapers into a lifetime habit.Many schools pursue this undertaking throughout ...
The 133rd Test Squadron plays a highly significant role in our nation's defense. It tests communication gear, radar, data links and software before it is issued to all branches of the military. It has the distinction of being the only Air National Guard unit with this type of specialization.Two ...
We Americans disagree, sometimes fiercely, about government policy and priorities. Liberals argue with conservatives. Republicans do battle with Democrats.But on one thing, we must for the good of our children and grandchildren concur: No politician can be permitted to control the free press ...
Cell phones are everywhere.Thirty years ago, almost nobody had a cell phone. Today, it's hard to find anyone who does not. The advantages this change provides in terms of conducting both personal and work-related business are apparent. For travelers stranded on a deserted roadway far from home ...
A robust biodiesel industry can help America achieve its long-term goal of having diverse sources of energy. Biodiesel producers are also potentially important positive contributors to the Hawkeye State's economy. Consequently, Iowans will benefit directly if biodiesel producers thrive.That's ...
How would you react if your bank gave you an open-ended credit limit - and assured you that within a year or so, no matter how much you had borrowed in the interim, it would be increased?Banks don't do that because their executives are well aware of what would happen.But Congress does.President ...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in mid-February that it would provide as much as $35 million over a three-year period to help landowners conserve grasslands and wetlands in the Prairie Pothole region - Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.According to the USDA, ...
For most of U.S. history, presidents of all political parties have used ambassadorships to other countries for political reasons. Sometimes they reward friends. Sometimes they get political rivals out of the way.Now the American Foreign Service Association, a group of professionals at the State ...
It would be difficult to top the White House media blitz on the Affordable Care Act as an example of taxpayer-funded government propaganda. Still, President Barack Obama seems determined to try - on climate change.From one-sided "lesson plans" for school children to speeches claiming Obama's ...