“I regard a good budget as among the noblest monuments of virtue,” President Calvin Coolidge once said. Today, the largest domestic-policy issue is government spending and the escalating debt and...

YES The object of red-light cameras is simple: to deter drivers from running red lights. The Iowa City City Council will hold a work session today to discuss red-light cameras, opening the possibility...

YES Maybe the horrendous removal of workers’ rights perpetrated in Wisconsin this week will have a silver lining. The decision by Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin’s Republicans to demolish collective-bargaining...

For anyone who’s been to a handful of political rallies or protests, the chant is familiar: “This is what democracy looks like.” The phrase, while ubiquitous, remains potent because it is a reaffirmation...

The old saying goes that watching laws get made is like watching sausage get made — they may be good at the end, but the process is pretty ugly to watch. The 2011 Iowa legislative session is one such...

Add Iowa to the list of states trying to dismantle unions. Gov. Terry Branstad announced his labor proposals several weeks ago, and his party has now produced a bill consistent with those anti-union theses:...

Apparently, my very favorite thing is to kill my own goats. For meat. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the Paleolithic details — I’m a vegetarian. But a book-review-cum-scathing commentary in this...

Tuesday’s editorial against the proposed “stand your ground” bill made me wonder just how many of the members of the DI Editorial Board have guns in their possession, let alone permits to carry a...

Over the past decade, Iowa has been struggling to advance toward renewable energy — and for good reason. Coal emits myriad harmful waste products, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,...

Click the mouse and lose your house — er, just kidding. Let’s try this: We love it. Click to balance our budget. That’s right, ladies and gentleman. Senate Study Bill 1165 is gaining momentum in...

On Monday, more than 300 students from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa descended upon Des Moines to engage state lawmakers. Regents Day is held every...

A bill in the Iowa Legislature could allow gun owners to use deadly force in more situations. Lawmakers moved the “stand your ground” bill out of committee last week by a 13-9 vote, sending it off...