Our economy is in tough shape. Cumulative inflation has skyrocketed by nearly 20% since President Biden took office while real wages have fallen by roughly 4.4%. The Bureau of
Economic Analysis estimated that the economy grew at a rate of only 1.3% in the first quarter of
2024 – three points lower than predicted – while interest rates have surpassed their highest levels in 23 years. 

It’s like the day after Christmas around the Auditor’s office. The letdown after the big event. Well….kind of! The Primary Election is over. The votes have been cast, the results reported to the Secretary of State, the polling places are being picked up and supplies tucked away until November. But, this doesn’t mean our work is over. People often ask the day after an election occurs if we’re relieved, but the reality is our work is

Down the street from us in Newport Beach lived John Wayne, Iowa hero for some reason; mostly a product of Hollywood propaganda. His wife, Pilar told our neighbor that he made patriotic movies to assuage the guilt he felt for staying home during World War II. Other movie stars at the time gave up their careers in film to fight in the war. Clark Gable was an aerial gunner over Europe.

By now, Iowans and Americans nationwide have seen with their own eyes the devastating crisis that President Biden has created at our southern border. Every day, illegal immigrants, drug traffickers, and terrorists are crossing our border in overwhelming numbers. This lawlessness and chaos are fueled exclusively by the Biden administration’s open-border policies. 

In the early morning hours of Friday May 24 th after nearly 14 hours of deliberation, I voted — alongside my Republican colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee — to advance the 2024 Farm Bill out of committee and send it to the House Floor for a vote by the full Congress.

Two columns ago I asked if anyone knew of Victoria Nuland and Mohammad Mossadegh. Last week was Victoria Nuland Week, this one is Mohammad Mossadegh Week.
 

 
T-6 Days until the Primary Election (June 4 th )! Are you ready?! Have you reviewed the ballots? Have you updated your voter registration if necessary? Have you checked your polling place? (PS  – They are the same as they were in November 2023! That was a trick question!) Do you know what time the polls are open? If you haven’t done these things or don’t know them, we can help!

Senator Joni Ernst sends an email each week keeping us informed of her work in DC. Last week she informed us that she has secured continued support from the Army for a $1.5 billion addition to the Middletown, Iowa munitions plant. She says our allies rely on us. Before I go on, allies help each other, right? Please readers, let me know one thing our allies have done for us.

From May 12 to 18, we celebrated National Police Week in honor of our police and law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep our families and communities safe. These men and women are heroes who deserve our deepest appreciation and strongest support for their commitment to protect and serve Iowans.

June 4 is approaching quickly and for most in Franklin County and Iowa, that means Primary Election Day. For the staff in our office, it’s like Christmas Day. The culmination of months of work and preparation … three months to be exact.

On Sun. June 2, between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm, you may see an interesting sort of “parade.” A parade with and for Jesus. What we call a “Eucharistic Procession,” is a prayer procession with the consecrated communion bread that we Catholics call “the Eucharist.”
On Sun. June 2 the Catholic Church Celebrates “Corpus Christi” Sunday, that is the Sunday of

We went to see my stepmom in Lincoln, Nebraska. She stays informed. We had Fox News and CNN on the TV a lot of the time and it seemed to be a loop about unpopular protesters on college campuses.

Our state legislative session finished up towards the end of April, and I’m glad it’s over!  From further de-funding and privatizing our public education system to turning a blind eye to pipelines and polluters, it’s time for Governor Kim Reynolds and her statehouse cronies to take a break. While family farmers are in the thick of planting season, let’s take stock of what Reynolds and company did to us and what they didn’t do.
 

The powerful tornadoes that struck parts of Southwest Iowa were devastating, especially for communities in Pottawattamie County and Shelby County that bore the brunt of the destruction.
According to some reports, there were roughly 24 tornadoes that touched down in Iowa with winds reaching as high as 165 mph. Our prayers remain with those impacted as we work to rebuild.

Iowa agriculture has undergone substantial changes over the past 40 years.  We see it all around us.  Rather than crops and livestock being raised on tens of thousands of diversified family farms, Iowa has become ground-zero for concentrated industrial factory farms with unmanageable levels of manure, chemicals and pollution.