A Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper
Hey, Iowa. We are 49th in the nation for economic growth, and 48th in income growth. You know that because you already feel it. What you cannot feel, though, is we are also facing a high risk of recession and growing un- and under-employment. But who’s to blame?
As often as one party tries to blame everything on the prior administration, you did this to yourself. How? By voting for political myths time after time.
What made you think people who hate the government want what’s best for you? Only the rich tell you that if you cut their taxes their savings would “trickle” down to you. And our poisoned rivers and lakes is all the proof you need to know that polluters cannot be trusted to self-regulate runoff.
But you bought into these myths 40 years ago, hook, line and sinker, and now look at us. Cancer blooms, bankruptcies rising and a raging brain drain has our young leaving the state with their educations for better options.
Along the way, far from a shower of money sprinkled over the masses — a rising tide to lift all ships — you created the largest wealth gap in history. Since the 1980s, the percentage of total U.S. wealth owned by the bottom 90% of families (291 million people) has fallen by a third from over 35% to less than 25%. Meanwhile the richest 1%’s share has quadrupled from about 7% to over 40%, or roughly $51.9 trillion divided among only 1.5 million households, each with average annual income of over $731,500 per year.
You bought the logical fallacy that “government IS the problem” when in fact government is essential to moderate people’s natural instincts to harm others. We are instinctually selfish beings. Our base survival instinct rules our emotions. Without law, we take more than we need and harm others to get it. That is not a moral failing (although it is not what Christ preached); it is what perpetuates the species in the face of scarcity.
We gave up being hunter gatherers and became agrarian. Scarcity went away. We live in communities, share labor and resources, but regulation is essential to maintain order and balance. It is called “the tragedy of the commons” and it is the economic rationale for all democratic regulation.
Centuries ago as we formed communities, livestock was raised and fed on the “common,” a fertile space, often in the center where it could be monitored and tended. Unless the labor and the number and type of livestock was regulated, the common was destroyed and everyone suffered. We were poorer if we did not manage our common interests wisely together.
Thus began the principles and methods of administering sensible regulation. Selecting leaders, delegating authority, collecting common resources and building common defenses all became part of living together. Why? Because it was obvious that those well regulated communities who took such steps thrived... while others did not.
Our Founding Fathers established a democratic republic, one of distributed power, with certain inalienable rights held by all people (eventually). No longer serfs and lords, we became free, but only to the degree consistent with maintenance of our common interests.
The only forces that benefit from less regulation are authoritarian ones: corporations, oligarchs, despots and dictators. Putting more unregulated power in the hands of authoritarians, which is the orthodoxy of the GOP, means our corporate overlords (through the captive Congress) will always favor their own interests over those of the public, which they can only control by controlling our government.
Democrats want the people to have the power. Authoritarians do not. But that is who runs Iowa now. Because you elected them. Do better.
Scott Buchanan, Algona
The 18th annual BVRMC AWARE 5K Walk/Run and Kid’s Fun Run was held on Saturday, Sept. 20. We had a record-breaking year with 521 registrants and over $20,000 raised for cancer awareness. These funds will help support patients receiving cancer treatment at BVRMC.
A big thank you to the Storm Lake, Newell-Fonda and Storm Lake St. Mary’s High School cheerleaders, the Buena Vista University girls’ soccer team and BVRMC employees who volunteered their time.
We couldn’t have done it without the financial support of our sponsors: Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, Buena Vista General Surgery, BVRMC Pharmacy, Central Bank, Citizens 1st National Bank, June E. Nylen Cancer Center, Northwest Iowa Bone, Joint and Sports Surgeons, Security Trust and Savings Bank, Tyson Foods, L&S Concrete, United Bank of Iowa, United Community Health Center and Brown’s Shoe Fit Co.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to help patients fight cancer at BVRMC. Your support helps them with medical bills, prosthetic supplies, recovery items, wigs and essential expenses like gas or groceries.
If you have any questions about receiving funds, please contact the BVRMC Oncology and Infusion Center at 712-213-8672.
We are grateful for all the support in making this year’s AWARE 5K a meaningful success. Make plans to join us for next year’s event on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
Elissa Doebel, event organizer, Lisa Alesch, Amber Chrischilles, Lexanne Clapp, Deb Colshan, Evan Franzmeier, Coleen Imming, Danielle Schlenger, Katie Schwint
This is a shout out to Phoebe Feis and Rick Wimer. I have thoroughly enjoyed your historical articles in recent Times Pilot editions. Phoebe's World War II stories brought history to life, putting faces on those honored students who gave their lives for the freedom of us all.
Rick’s recollections of his childhood take us all back to a simpler time when Storm lake provided the perfect backdrop for fun stories about people and places we remember. Thanks so much.
Candy Clough, Storm Lake
I am thoroughly disgusted with the pictures of people who are showing disrespect for our flag. People have died to defend our flag and what it stands for.
You might want to look up the code for our flag. It is beyond belief that with the access to the internet that even immigrants are showing such disrespect. You might want to inform people that defacing our flag is subject to a $100 fine. It is bad enough that people who have just come here deface our flag by cutting it up, but that the university is so ignorant and disrespectful as to publicly display that same ignorance and disrespect and that the Times would then publish a picture of it is beyond belief.
It’s bad enough that people at rallies wave the flag and then throw it on the ground. Our flag is never supposed to touch the ground. But to actually deface the flag and then display that dishonor, disrespect and ignorance is beyond unAmerican. These people and the university owe the American public an apology at the very least.
Koy Wolverton, Storm Lake
On the eve of the federal government shutdown, a bright red banner illuminated hud.gov, the website of the United States Department of Urban Development, otherwise known as HUD. That red banner ad posted by HUD blames the federal government shutdown and pain inflicted by it on “the Radical Left.” It marks another unprecedented moment in American politics: an effort to politicize a federal government website that many Americans rely on, including thousands of low-income people.
The bright red political banner makes it seem as though many essential services will go away because of “the Radical Left.” Most of those services, including rent covered by Section 8 housing assistance vouchers, are not affected by a shutdown, especially in the short term. But confusion has already spread — probably intentionally. Once again, the Trump Republican shutdown is clearly a big political game to “own the libs.” Our federal government, under full Republican control, doesn’t care who gets hurt in their shutdown game.
Dave Leshtz, Iowa City
Note to J.D. Vance: So don’t bristle when we compare you to Joseph Goebbels and your boss to Adolph Hitler. It’s all in good fun! Just harmless joshing!
Jim Walters, Iowa City
Our communities are not battlegrounds.
The Trump Administration and its allies are playing a dangerous game. Their inflammatory rhetoric isn’t just irresponsible — it’s a calculated effort to provoke violence, create chaos and justify an authoritarian crackdown. This is not leadership. It’s incitement.
We must be clear about what’s happening: If violence erupts, they’ll use it as cover to declare states of emergency, deploy militarized forces and treat our cities like war zones.
These tactics are designed to intimidate, suppress dissent and dismantle democratic safeguards under the guise of “restoring order.” It’s an abuse of power — and a direct threat to the rights and safety of every American.
This is not politics as usual. This is a test of whether democracy survives. Labeling communities as battlegrounds, turning citizens into targets, and using force as a political weapon is how democracies die. It’s happening here, right now.
We cannot fall into their trap. Violence only feeds their agenda. Our strength lies in mass, sustained, nonviolent resistance. We must speak out, show up and refuse to be silenced.
Protect the vote. Defend civil liberties. Demand accountability. The future of our republic depends on it. Show up for the “No Kings” event on Saturday, Oct. 18. You can find your local event at https://www.nokings.org/.
Deb Martin, Manitowoc, Wis.
I condemn all political violence. Full stop. No exceptions. I also condemn all gun violence, all the school shootings and mass murders that take place in our country over and over again.
So yes, I condemn the murder of Charlie Kirk. I am a non-violent pacifist, someone Mr. Kirk would call woke, a snowflake, an example of what’s wrong about America. That’s fine. He has every right to speak his opinion because I believe in the First Amendment and the freedom of speech. I am sorry he was assassinated.
The fact that he was assassinated does not change my opinion of his life’s work and the message he spread to high school and college students. It was basically a message of hatred, division, racism, a dangerous mixture of Christianity and nationalism.
Do you think the Civil Rights Act was a big mistake? Charlie did. Do you think that gun deaths are a small price to pay to protect our Second Amendment rights? Charlie did. Do you think that Jewish money is ruining our culture? Charlie did. Do you think someone should have bailed out the man who viciously attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband? Charlie did. Do you think that Martin Luther King was a horrible person? Charlie did. Do you think that black women are too stupid to really understand complex issues and only get those jobs because they cheated some white woman out of the job? Charlie did. Are you nervous if you find out your pilot is Black? Charlie said you should be. Women? They should be forced to carry their rapist’s baby to term even if they are just little girls? Do you believe that? Charlie did.
Mr. Kirk had every right to his views. He made millions preaching hatred and that is also his right. Once again I condemn his assassination. But please do not ask me to turn him into some kind of hero just because he was killed in a horrible way. He was no hero.
Barbara Paulding, Russell
The case involving former school superintendent Ian Roberts is regrettable. Yes, he lied on parts of his resume and said things that weren’t true. But at the same time, Roberts was well-regarded by many students, parents and school officials. As Des Moines Register reporter Courtney Crowder wrote: “The fire he kindled in some students marked the first time a person in power believed in their abilities, saw their potential.”
That said, his arrest by ICE agents could've been handled much differently. It seems like it was done as a show of force and power, and to intimidate immigrants and the broader public. Along with some other recent ICE arrests here in Iowa, it reinforced the notion that anything could happen at any time, in any place. That’s not how democracies and the rule of law work.
Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem say they’re going after “the worst of the worst.” That’s a flat-out lie.
Hugh Espey, Des Moines
When we read about problems and tragedies it's easy to become distressed. To increase happiness, think about things for which you have gratitude. My family does this at the end of dinner when we say “grats.”
This involves one person telling us three things for which she or he is grateful. Then we have a conversation about what was said. Being the old guy at the table, I often discuss how one of those things was different in earlier times. For example, if televisions are cited, I might talk about how, when I was young, we didn’t have one, and that the first TVs had small screens and took a while to “warm up” before a low-quality black and white image grudgingly appeared.
The only rule we have is that grats shouldn’t involve a person at the table. Otherwise, they can be anything — big or small. Examples: freedom of speech, paper towels, email, volunteers, toothbrushes, friends, pie, plastic, sunshine, living in America, electricity, teachers, parks and music. Grats has sparked a lot of good conversation and made us more appreciative of the lives we have. Try it. You’ll like it.
Gary Jump, Itasca, Ill.
Lets say you’re on a cruise ship and the captain comes over the loudspeaker. He says it’s really sunny on, let’s say the right side of the ship. Everyone rushes to the right side and finds it’s cloudy and stormy. There’s so many on the right side of the ship it’s tilted and taking on water and starting to sink. But they don’t want to look like fools for believing the captain so they hang around. Common sense would be to go to the left or at least the middle to stop the sinking. Have you figured out what I’m talking about?
America, and especially Iowa, are so far one way there’s no debate or compromise. It’s my way or the highway and that is not what our forefathers envisioned for us. I don’t know how we are going to make it to the midterms in 2026, but we have to start now and let them know we will straighten the ship. Because no wars have stopped, the price of gas, food and housing are up, not down, healthcare is being taken away, books are banned— and they will take away every right you have.
Do you know the Iowa State motto? “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.” Quit being lemmings and weenies and start now!
Dave Haynes, Duncombe
P.S. “There is no failure except in no longer trying” — Elbert Hubbard
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