Editorials: Running away

Wouldn’t you know that claims of bungling by Storm Lake and Buena Vista County officials probably won’t be heard in Buena Vista County? That’s right. The City of Storm Lake notes that its lawsuit against the county for misappropriating more than $5 million in tax revenue must be heard someplace other than here, under the Rules of Civil Procedure. Our laymen’s reading is that the judge has no choice, since Storm Lake asked, but to move the trial someplace else.

The embarrassment of it all will not be witnessed by those who can’t travel to Cherokee or Spirit Lake or wherever the judge decides.

One would think that this intramural struggle should be settled by a true jury of peers, the taxpayers of the city and county. The rules presume that jurors have a conflict of interest, in that it was their tax money that was thrown to the winds and disappeared. Buena Vista County taxpayers will leave it to some other county’s taxpayers to settle our business. It’s almost a political sham.

This matter should have been settled by the county board of supervisors in a public meeting with the city council, where the people could stand up and ask how this got bungled. How did so many officials fall down on the job as to let several years worth of tax increment finance revenue intended for Storm Lake flow to other taxing authorities? City and county officials should be chagrined if not discharged.

We wish that State Auditor Rob Sand would have stepped in before it all headed to court, but the city and county didn’t want an audit to determine where the lost money went. We could have figured this out without judicial assistance if the city and county officials were honest about this and did their jobs.

They want as little exposure as possible. Hence, the unnecessary trial will be conducted someplace else. They can run but they can’t hide. Eventually, the facts must come out. Sometime. Someplace.

Favorite word: tariff

Donald Trump is a felon. A fraud. An abusive pervert. So say the juries and judges. Trump may be mad, or at least senile — did you see him ambling around to the Ave Maria on stage in Pennsylvania, or the debate against Kamala Harris where Trump looked feebler than Joe Biden? Those are reasons enough not to vote for him. If that is not persuasive enough, listen to the National Corn Growers and the American Soybean Association, whose economists issued a joint report that echoed findings of the University of Illinois:

If Trump reimposes tariffs on China as he promises, the economic impact of lost soy and corn exports would be $7.9 billion per year. Much of that impact will fall on the rural Midwest, and Iowa in particular.

“A trade war would not only reduce the value of production for U.S. farmers but also have a ripple effect throughout the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, farmers in Argentina and Brazil would see higher soybean and corn prices and be poised to more rapidly expand their production areas,” the corn and soy folks said in their report. That is, the Chinese would pay Brazil to rip up more rainforest and displace more indigenous people for the sake of cheap soy.

The immediate effect here would be to shave at least 13¢ off a bushel of corn and a buck off beans. That does not consider the impact on pork exports. We know that the trade war during the Trump administration cost the US food and agriculture sector at least $100 billion. This time could be worse if Trump has his way.

Iowa aggies should have their heads examined if they intend to vote for Trump. It is against our national security interests. That vote would directly undermine the Iowa economy. It would have shocking effects in Northwest Iowa in the absence of another huge government bailout program like the Trump Bump checks sent out during the trade war. Trump raided the Commodity Credit Corp. to pay for it. Those were the days. We remember. Why would any Iowan choose to return to that sort of economic chaos? Not to mention that he is a felon, a fraud, and not a very good boogy boy to the “YMCA” on loudspeaker. Bizarre. Tariff is his favorite word in the dictionary, Trump said this week. Remember that when you vote. And that he will deport the people working at Tyson and the dairy barns. It would be a disaster. He’s a creep and a criminal, and he will blow out ag export markets. Shouldn’t that be enough?