Back and forth all over Iowa I trundle hawking my book — "Dear Marty, We Crapped In Our Nest." Everywhere I go one message emerges: We want our good old Iowa back. That is moderate, …

The campaign has begun to turn Iowa community colleges into four-year baccalaureate institutions competing with our highly valued network of private colleges. This ill-considered idea was requested …

The lesson of the hot stove emerged again last week. That is the lesson toddlers learn early and smart ones retain for a lifetime. Touch something hot and you know not to touch it again. …

Kathy and I returned last Friday from three days in the Black Hills, communing with two of my graduate school former housemates and their spouses. It’s a reunion that takes place somewhere in …

Former Iowa Speaker of the House Linda Upmeyer recently touted on these pages the positive trajectory of rural healthcare in our state under Republican leadership. But here’s the rub. …

The Trump Administration is digging two huge holes at the White House: one for the construction of the executive mansion’s massive new ballroom, the other to bury the export-dependent U.S. …

Rob Sand appears to be in tune with a wide swath of Iowans who aren’t happy with the way things are going. Substantial crowds are showing up across the state to hear the state auditor …

I spoke to two groups in recent weeks, and people at both gatherings wanted to know about the work of the organization I lead, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. If I had known then what I …

There’s a reason the phrase listing the Three R’s puts Readin’ first and Ritin’ second. To write competently, you first need to see how to do it. What you’re reading …

Politicians in Washington, D.C., are getting ready to shut down the federal government once again, despite single-party Republican control of the House, Senate and the Presidency.  This …

While my father and mother were far from apolitical, neither allowed any political signs or flags in the yard or on any barns on our southern Illinois dairy farm. The reason, my father once …

A cardinal rule as elected officials is not to break things — as in, if it isn’t broken, don’t “fix” it — not unlike the medical profession’s Hippocratic …

I have spent decades in healthcare, both in clinical settings and in policymaking, and one thing has become crystal clear to me: the best solutions for rural Iowa’s healthcare challenges come …

This “Letter to the Editor” is really a “Letter to Moms and Dads, Grandmas and Gramdpas.” Tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 27, means no school, so you can take your kids and …

Last March, six months ago, Congress averted an impending federal government shutdown by reaching a bipartisan compromise, which extended the government funding deadline by six months, to the end of …

Maybe the reason you see black when people see white or you say “down” when they say “up” is because — in these troubling times — black is white and up is …

In my last op-ed (Best and worst U.S. presidential cabinets), 15 different research-based sources revealed that Donald Trump’s 2017-2021 and current cabinets are among the worst in U.S. …

From the western banks of the Missouri River to the Mississippi River in the east, our beautiful state is dotted with family farms, manufacturing plants, and strong communities of all sizes. The main …

My head is filled with dread consulting the calendar and the news. Give me liberty or give me death, the sort of talk that could get you locked up for hate speech. It would be funny if it were a …

You know the feeling? That uneasy, nauseous tightening in your gut that lets your mind and body know things aren’t right with the world. I have that feeling right now. I’m no doctor, …