Living in Society

It seems too early to be talking about the 2018 Governor’s race. However, people are politically active and there is a gaggle of candidates. I have no preference today and assume they are all serious about their campaigns. Here’s my first look at the race. I favor Corbett over Reynolds on the Republican side because… Read more

The Cedar Rapids Gazette was sitting on the break room table last week at the home, farm and auto supply store, open to an article about IPERS, Iowa’s public employee retirement plan. Written by Matt Sinovic of Progress Iowa, the first sentence asserted more of the usual fare from the progressive group, “Once again, Republicans… Read more

Sunday my spouse and I took the public library poster she made to the fairgrounds where the county’s seven libraries have a booth for the fair which runs Monday through Thursday this week. We parked outside Building B, went in, and slid the foamcore board into a slot. It took a couple minutes. A friend… Read more

Mitch McConnell must miss Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Without their foil he’s got no one to blame but himself for failing to craft a legislative agenda to support the Republican president. He tries to blame Democrats but it falls flat. McConnell’s agenda is built on the flawed expectation that legislation can only be passed… Read more

Last Thursday the board of trustees overseeing Social Security released its 2018 projection. 61 million beneficiaries — retirees, disabled workers, spouses and surviving children — will get an increase in monthly benefits. The forecast increase is 2.2 percent or about $28 per month on the average payment of $1,253. Not a lot, but something. In… Read more

I helped manage the political campaign of Democrat Dick Schwab for Iowa House District 73 during the 2012 general election. We worked hard but lost. I took the following three posts down with my entire blog Big Grove News in 2013. They were written as a way of letting go of the fever caused by… Read more

It’s been difficult to get a grip on our 45th president. His first six months in office have been so different from previous Republican presidents there is no comparison. An inability to relate to this president — on any level — contributes to a type of dissatisfaction that didn’t exist among ANY of his forebears.… Read more