Throughout the U.S. government, more often than not, agencies responsible for regulating a particular sector are also in charge of promoting that same sector. For some agencies, such as the Environmental...

No number of clichés about making beds or chickens coming home to roost could do justice to the idiotically predictable federal-budget situation. As the president and the GOP continue to assure the public...

YES Apparently, Iowa City is worried about making it remotely easy for people to purchase liquor. I could fully understand hesitation if this bill was going to open up a new venue for the sale of alcohol...

I don’t watch network TV or cable TV, not because I’m some elite liberal snob (though I probably am) but because my TV doesn’t receive any TV signals. (What kind of TV is that, you ask, that doesn’t...

Nationally, 70.1 percent of 2009 high-school graduates enrolled in college, a continuing upward trend. The fall 2010 enrollment numbers echo this trend with Iowa State University reporting an all-time...

YES Whether I agree or disagree with the 21-ordinance doesn’t matter; the fines for underage patrons caught in bars after 10 p.m. are not excessive. Elliot Higgins, the University of Iowa Student Government...

The gerrymander is a curious species of amphibian that emerges only once a decade to feed upon unsuspecting voters. Known to be easily swayed by political interests, these fantastically contorted creatures...

Table to Table, Iowa City’s food-rescue organization, will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year. It is a milestone to be recognized, as well as a tribute to a community that has rallied around us...

Interminable weariness “A new day is needed in American politics like a new day is needed in American government,” proclaimed GOP presidential-nomination candidate Mike Huckabee at the 2008 Iowa Republican...

In another life, Bob Vander Plaats and I might have been ideological brethren, fellow tribunes and small-d democrats. It’s an odd observation for a leftist like myself to make. But Vander Plaats’...

Gov. Terry Branstad’s reluctance to release details pertaining to the development of Executive Order 69 is drawing some fire. The order, which bans the allocation of public money to projects entered...

The pupating question is emerging from under the earth, as it does every four years. Why caucus in Iowa? What makes our “fly-over” state, the stereotypical land of sweet corn and barbecue, the perfect...