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Serving Iowans during the Schumer shutdown

The same Washington politicians who were whining about DOGE laying off unnecessary bureaucrats just a few months ago are now exposing who is and isn’t an essential employee by shutting down the government. The Schumer shutdown has sent home 750,000 federal employees deemed non-essential, but the kicker is that despite being on their couch, in a bubble bath, or wherever else, they will still collect a paycheck paid for by your tax dollars. In fact, every day the shutdown goes on, taxpayers will be on the hook for $400 million in salary for these bureaucrats who are not working. With ...

Tom and Joan Tibbitts have served Fort Dodge community for 51 years

What are the odds that a couple celebrates 60 years of marriage in the same year they both reached 80 years of age? Infinitesimally slim, to be sure. Joan and Tom Tibbitts celebrated both milestones earlier this year, but a third milestone number they achieved turns out to be the most ...

Bureaucrats being paid for multiple jobs, while doing none

Ever had to be in two places at the exact same time? It sounds impossible, yet I’ve discovered a number of bureaucrats holding several different government jobs simultaneously. It may sound impressive, except this multitasking isn’t magic, folks, it’s fraud. A full-time Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employee was being paid for two other full-time government contractor jobs, frequently billing taxpayers for more than 24 hours of work in a single day. Of course, she was working from home in all three positions. She billed taxpayers $225,866 for hours she ...

A turning point in America

It was a week before Thanksgiving Day in 1963. I was halfway through my shift at the punch press at Waterloo Register. A manager came up to me on the assembly line and said, “JFK was shot.” I was 30 years old, moonlighting at the furnace factory to make ends meet between my other jobs as a state legislator and family farmer. Five years later, I was finishing hog chores on the farm late in the day. I heard the news about Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on the radio. Just two months after that, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in California. The murders of these ...

The power of showing up

Recently, our community lost Richard Higgins. For those who knew him, Richard’s passing leaves a quiet, but noticeable gap in our collective civic life. He was a man who showed up, not just once in a while, but consistently, determinedly, and with both a dogged purpose and a graceful respect. Richard attended meetings, asked hard questions, and in doing so, held our local leaders accountable. Sometimes that meant pushing us to think more creatively, to explain ourselves more fully, and/or to be able to justify publicly why a decision was made. He didn’t do it for attention or ...

Q&A: Federal boost for rural health

Q: What is the Rural Health Transformation Fund? A: Congress approved this summer a historic $50 billion federal investment to rebuild rural health infrastructure that was included in the health and tax bill President Trump signed into law on July 4. The Rural Health Transformation Fund is designed to help improve access to quality health care for Americans living in rural areas of the country. Beyond providing lifesaving services and a continuum of patient care, rural hospitals and clinics serve as an economic anchor and employer for the region. With fewer patients than their urban ...