Breadbasket or gas station? Iowa’s mythic role as the former would intimate that our job is to provide food for the country’s population, not to power the country’s vehicles. And while biofuels...

Before I shut my eyes to take a nap with my dad, I wrapped my hand around the plastic heart-shaped necklace I’d bought for him. I figured this would ensure a wakeful tug if he got up to leave, but when...

“The need for ‘economic growth’ that we hear so much about these days will be achieved, not by government harnessing the nation’s economic forces but by emancipating them,” wrote the late Sen....

Is social conservatism inextricably linked to fiscal conservatism? That’s the claim likely presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann has been making of late, including in a speech at the IMU earlier...

While the last-minute budget deal reached onFriday night temporarily avoided a government shutdown, the battle over the federal budget is far from over. Next up will be a debate on whether or not to raise...

The balance between protecting the public and protecting individual liberties is sometimes a delicate one, particularly regarding the involuntary commitment of people with mental illnesses. Any violent...

You listened to your e-mails and went to the meetings, picked up petitions and assembled some signatures, made neon shirts and offered bar discounts, created a Facebook event and harassed every one your...

Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan is causing a bit of a furor in the higher-education circuit. The budget plan, a recent version of which bears the title “Path to Prosperity,” aims to moderate what some...

You hear a lot of people these days talking about planning for the future. (Well, it could be that people have talked about planning for the future for thousands of years. Well, I suppose planning for...

Transparency at all levels of government — this is the goal of the Iowa Transparency Project. There is another area of government that needs the spotlight on it in hopes of creating some sunshine:...

YES Rape on campus should never be taken lightly. Every University of Iowa student deserves to feel safe and to know that UI police are doing the best they can to deal with every incident. Part of ensuring...

Once the esteemed companions of Egyptian pharaohs, greyhounds deserve better than running for their lives — and dog-track owners couldn’t agree more. Iowa is one of only seven states in the nation...