Letters to the Editor: No Kings Day

Saturday, June 14, is No Kings Day, when tens of thousands of people at thousands of events around the country will protest the autocratic actions of Donald Trump. One such event will be here in Storm Lake on Saturday from 1-3 p.m., on the south side of the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Lake Avenue.

Trump has abused his power and attempted to take for himself powers that the Constitution and laws give to others. He issued an executive order abolishing birthright citizenship in direct violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. He has cancelled contracts already signed just because he disagrees with the opinions of the other party. He has moved to dismantle government agencies authorized by Congress without Congressional approval. He has attempted to assume control over curriculum in universities. He has refused to spend money authorized by Congress, including medical research funding, in violation of the law. His immigration policies are in violation of an international treaty on refugees ratified by the U.S.; the Constitution says that treaties are the supreme law of the land and thus orders violating that treaty are unconstitutional. The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to levy tariffs; Trump usurped that power by invoking an imaginary economic crisis. He illegally deployed the National Guard and marines to California in violation of the wishes of the state and local authorities, again citing an imaginary crisis. He fired numerous government officials without valid cause in violation of the laws that established those positions to “reduce waste” or to replace them with loyalists.

Courts have ruled in dozens of cases that Trump violated the law, but it is not clear that Trump will obey court orders. For weeks Trump ignored a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. He has repeatedly called for judges to be impeached for ruling against him, and has appealed the adverse rulings, claiming that they interfered with his ability to enact his agenda. Last year the six U.S. Supreme Court justices appointed by Republicans ruled that a president cannot be prosecuted for breaking the law when conducting “official acts.” This ruling has emboldened Trump to break the law with impunity.

On the 14th, Trump is having a big military parade on his birthday. He has taken draconian actions allegedly to remove waste in government. Spending tens of millions of dollars on a birthday parade sounds like waste to me.

Join us to protest these wasteful and lawless actions.  We need a president, not a king. If you can’t come, call your members of Congress to get them to do their job — don’t let the president take powers that the Constitution gives to Congress.

Jim Eliason, Storm Lake

Cuts to Medicare will hurt all Iowans

In today's full-contact political environment, it’s sometimes necessary to be blunt. Take for instance elected Republican’s claims that their budget priority to cut Medicaid funding is only intended to reduce fraud, waste and abuse and — more cynically — sustain the program into the future.

It’s not true. Straight up. Republican Medicaid cuts would hurt all lowans.

Prior to retiring at the end of 2023, I worked in hospital leadership for 41 years, mostly in lowa. For the last 24 years, I served as president at two different rural hospitals in the region. I’ve witnessed, and fought against, the Republican Medicaid shell game time and again.

In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, about 7.6 million Americans and tens of thousands of lowans — who are playing by the rules — would lose healthcare coverage going forward under House Republican legislation. Children, the elderly, the disabled and working citizens would be harmed by their planned cuts.

Additionally, all members of our communities would be adversely impacted, not simply those directly insured through Medicaid. That’s because the cuts would also reduce critical revenue paid to local hospitals. Those revenues support a wide range of services, new technology, physician recruitment and other needed investments that serve everyone.

Maintaining sufficient revenues from Medicaid, as well as Medicare and private insurance companies, all help to sustain a local hospital seeking to meet community need. The funding also supports good jobs. Healthcare represents one of the largest employers in most rural counties in lowa.

Despite what some elected Republicans would like voters to believe, most Medicaid recipients are responsible citizens just trying to meet fundamental healthcare needs for themselves and their loved ones.

Recent data published by KFF, a respected healthcare research company, presented an accurate breakout of adult lowans enrolled to receive Medicaid benefits. Some 77% have full-time or part-time jobs while the other 23% includes those who can't work due to family caregiving responsibilities, suffer from illness or disability, attend school, are retired, unable to find work or not working for another reason.

Also significant, according to KFF analysis, about 5% of actual Medicaid benefit expenditures in lowa are made on behalf of seniors and the disabled. Another 35% supports eligible adults and 14% benefits children. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federally-funded Medicaid coverage, with the exception of emergency care. That represents less than one percent of national Medicaid spending.

Republicans seek to cut Medicaid spending to help pay for tax cuts that disproportionally benefit the most affluent Americans. Their budget calculation is simple and insensitive... the rich get more paid in part by a reduction in healthcare access for the poor.

Beyond basic decency, it’s foolhardy to take for granted the wide range of services that local hospitals, physicians, mental health agencies and others bring to our communities. Your federal Republican elected officials don’t want you to understand the full implications of their callous Medicaid scheme.

But please understand. Lost Medicaid revenue hurts your local hospital and places the range of services available in your community at risk.

The harsh Republican budget bill — that passed the House by a single vote on May 22 — now moves on to the U.S. Senate. If senators alter the reconciliation bill, the House would need to pass the new version, or the Senate and House would negotiate a compromise that both chambers would need to pass again.

Let lowa’s congressional delegation hear from you. Start with Senators Grassley and Ernst as the Senate takes up the House bill in the coming weeks. Remind them that they work for you — you care about your local hospital — and you vote.

Bill Bumgarner, Spencer

There’s a rogue elephant roaming Iowa’s countryside

First, it came for your public schools by feeding tax money to private schools.

Next, it’s coming for your county hospitals by killing Medicaid and the money they rely on to provide health care to much of your population. Watch the local hospitals close. That’s alright with the elephant because the local hospitals employ people who live and spend in your community and it doesn’t want its tax dollars to support that.

Now, the elephant is coming for your county seat towns. How many, maybe half. Streamlining it’s called. It means less government participation, but that’s alright because it can all be done more efficiently from the Statehouse. It means fewer jobs and fewer people, and those county seat towns can just blow away.

Finally, it’s coming for you! You are going to die anyway, so what’s a few years earlier. The later you go the more you cost to maintain and that might require tax money. The elephant doesn’t want to spend tax money to keep you alive. Taxes come from people who have money. They’ve got theirs and they don’t want to spend any of it on you.

Cal Halliburton, Ames

Presidents lie for a living 

People are shocked to know that Biden’s declining health was kept from the public. Folks, not disclosing health problems is only one small way that presidents lie to the people.

American presidents deliberately provoke another country to make the first hot move toward war so they can act like they are on the defensive. The names of James Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson come to mind. Also, Benjamin Netanyahu rolled out the red carpet for Hamas to step onto, and Hamas took the bait.

Presidents also disingenuously promote a particular policy that they plan to back track on after the election, or after the expected headwinds flare up, or to meet the desires of their campaign donors, or so they can win popularity from everyone.

Presidents lie when they take the oath of office, promising to defend and protect the Constitution. Most have never read it before, and all of them stay as far away from it as possible during their terms of office.

Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah

Who does API represent?

On June 7, 2025, people in Iowa received a glossy mail flyer; it came from the American Petroleum Institute. The flyer read PROTECT IOWA WORKERS, and urged Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto HF 639.

This bill promotes Iowa landowner property rights. API is a trade association representing the big oil and gas industry. It develops standards, collects data and influences public policy for oil and gas. I am at a loss to find who API is representing in Iowa and who the Iowa workers are they need to protect. The Iowa workers must be landowners and farmers right? They work the land year after year, take the gamble year after year, pray for a decent crop, and pray for enough good weather to get crops in and out. They work a lot longer than an eight hour day most days farming. I am not sure API considers the farmers as Iowa workers to protect. It would have been more forthcoming and considerate if they told the public who they are protecting.

There is only so much land to farm in Iowa; this pipeline is a flash in the pan for about 25 years, investors would rake in billions of dollars, including foreign investors.

They don’t live on the farm or farm the land. They would however destroy 13,558.41 acres, according to their applications, and the farmers are left to deal with the aftermath of destroyed land and the company will move on, while the big oil and gas companies collect Q45 taxes and make billions of dollars on the backs of Midwest farmers/landowners.

Brenda A. Barr, Garner