Who really represents us?

Our representatives in Congress and Statehouse don’t really represent all of their constituents. They only represent the constituents of their own party. And that is way less than half of all citizens.

In the 2024 presidential election, only 64% of eligible voters cast ballots. Donald Trump received 49% of the vote — not even a majority — meaning he only received the approval of 31% of ALL Americans. His “mandate” came from less than a third of “We the People.”

In that election, only half of eligible Storm Lake voters cast ballots, so Trump’s mandate here was less than 25%. He won because so many voters stayed home, but three-quarters of eligible Storm Lakers did not vote for him.

Trump won 63% of Buena Vista County and 51% of Storm Lake. About 7,500 total votes were cast. Republicans represent 48% of voters in BV County, Independents are 29%, Democrats are 22% and other parties are 1%.

Statewide, only 32% of Iowans are registered Republicans, yet they rule the government. Democrats are 29% and third parties are under 3%. Most Iowa voters are independents — 36%.

More people don’t vote because they figure the system is rigged. What’s the point of standing in line to vote on a rainy November night when the folks who are running won’t even listen to you?

When 200 people show up at a town hall meeting and legislators tell them their concerns don’t align with the ruling party’s positions, then the legislators need to find another line of work. A representative’s job is to represent ALL of the people, not just the party members. We were taught in grade school civics that America was founded on the principle of majority rule that respects the rights of the minority. What a quaint idea.

That’s why there’s so much hostility in politics today. No one wants to compromise. No one wants to even listen to the other side. So our “representatives” come up with crazy laws banning books in school libraries like “To Kill A Mockingbird” that no level-headed person would consider for a minute. Our legislators serve only to please the party leaders, not the citizens they were supposed to represent.

It didn’t use to be this way. When Mary Lou Freeman, a Republican, was our state representative in the 1990s, she listened to all voices to support legislation that would be acceptable to as many of her BV County constituents as possible. That way she got Democrats to vote for her too.

We also had a Republican state senator in that era, Arne Waldstein, who was similarly respected by Democrats. The chairman of the BV County Democrats even endorsed Waldstein! Arne would seek advice from all sides before acting and so he had respect and friends from all political persuasions.

The same was true of Berkley Bedell, a Democrat who represented Northwest Iowa for 13 years until 1987, when Lyme Disease forced him to leave Congress. He could have been congressman for life. Berk held town halls throughout the district where he’d take votes on issues from the audience, and that’s how he’d vote back in DC. Now members of Congress are loath to hold town halls. They’re afraid of their constituents. But they’re more afraid of their party leaders, so they obey their marching orders from the party bosses rather than their real bosses, we the people.

I’ll give it to Senator Chuck Grassley, he still has town halls. But he doesn’t seem to pay attention any more to what the people are telling him. He’s had some rocky ones in recent weeks around the state, where citizens have shown their disgust with him for toeing the Trump line against the best interests of the people back home.

Where is the courage to stand up and do what’s right?

Congress should be required to watch the classic 1939 Frank Capra film, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” It’s the story about an idealistic young senator who runs up against the powerful DC political machine. He’s nearly crushed until a corrupt senior senator confesses to the scandal.

Everything worked out all right in Hollywood, but that’s la-la land. In real life the fix is still in. We sent our legislators to Des Moines to fix the property tax mess, and did they ever. They came up with a plan that will increase residential taxes by a third or more over the next three years. It will kill small towns. Last year the property tax on our modest Times Square office increased 76%. Big budget cuts are coming for Storm Lake. We can’t even afford to run the library and Witter Gallery as it is. But hey, the big shots in Des Moines are playing the music and we have to dance to it.

The state senators and representatives from Northwest Iowa — in fact, the whole state — should have voted against this bogus property tax “reform.” With the elimination of state income taxes, the next step will be a 12% sales tax to make up for the lost revenue.

With leadership like this, it’s no wonder Iowa lags behind in just about every metric: population growth, academic achievement, income, housing. Now the same mess has worsened in Washington. We were promised relief from inflation. Instead, we get higher prices and shortages caused by ill-advised tariffs, and Gestapo-like tactics scaring the hell our of immigrants and citizens alike.

The doesn’t; represent me. It doesn’t represent Iowa. And it shouldn’t represent America. It’s too bad our representatives don’t represent us better.