Des Moines Register. July 20, 2017
King wants to pay for the wall with food-stamp money
Rep. Steve King so desperately wants a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico that he’s willing to take food from the mouths of babies to build it.
After a House committee endorsed the Trump administration’s full, $1.6 billion budget request to begin the construction of a southern-border wall, the Republican congressman from western Iowa said he wanted to more than triple the spending on the wall.
“Are you comfortable, congressman, with providing $1.6 billion of taxpayer money, not from Mexico, to build that wall?” CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asked King last week.
“Absolutely, yes,” he replied. “And more. I’d throw another $5 billion on the pile and I would find half a billion of that from right out of Planned Parenthood’s budget. And the rest of it could come out of food stamps and the entitlements that are being spread out for people who haven’t worked in three generations.”
He went on to say Congress needs to “ratchet back down” the number of Americans on food stamps.
As King knows, there are more than 45 million Americans in families that rely on food stamps, and they’re not freeloaders. Nearly two-thirds of them are children or they’re elderly or disabled, and the others are the working poor, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
More one-fifth of all food-stamp recipients work full time, are family caretakers, or are participating in a training program. Only 14 percent of them work fewer than 30 hours per week or are unemployed.
In King’s 4th Congressional District, 31,000 Iowa households receive food stamps - and more than half of them are families with children. More than half of the 4th District households receiving food stamps include at least one person who has worked within the previous 12 months.
But King says the food stamp program - formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP - is being abused by people who don’t really need financial assistance to pay for food and by people who are too fat and should scale back their food intake, anyway.
“We’ve seen this (program) go from 19 million people now on the SNAP program up to 47 million people,” he said. “I’m sure that all of them didn’t need it. . We built the programs because - to solve the problem of malnutrition in America. Now we have a problem of obesity. When you match up the EBT card with what the scales say on some of the folks, I think it’s worth looking at.”
King also suggested that cutting food-stamp benefits for the needy isn’t much different from what the former first lady, Michelle Obama, proposed when she advocated healthier school lunches.
“I wouldn’t impose anything more strict on anybody in America than what Michelle Obama did with her school lunch program. So, I would just say let’s limit it to that,” King said.
King knows better. He publicly derided the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which required schools to use the federal money they receive for school lunches on more healthful foods, and paired a cut in food-stamp benefits with increased spending on school lunches. In 2012, King derided the law as “the nanny state personified,” then introduced legislation to eliminate the dietary standards it imposed. In fact he is still trying to get the bill passed.
So why does King want to “ratchet back” spending on food stamps? It’s not about obesity. His proposal is one of cost cutting, not calorie counting, and it’s aimed squarely at individuals and families who, on average, have an annual household income of less than $10,000.
It’s tempting to suggest King’s proposal will go nowhere, but the reality is it mirrors the Trump administration’s budget plan. The White House proposes that $1.6 billion be spent next year on the border wall and, at the same time, it’s calling for a reduction in spending on food stamps to the tune of $1.8 billion during that same year.
Given that, it’s fair to say President Donald Trump shares Steve King’s priorities on this issue. That should come as a surprise to no one, particularly the voters of the 4th District, who will probably support both the president and their congressman even as their relatives, friends and neighbors lose their food stamps.
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Fort Dodge Messenger. July 23, 2017
US?beef is back on the market in China
Selling American agricultural products internationally makes an important contribution to our nation’s economy. It’s also hugely significant for the Hawkeye State.
According to information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, agricultural exports support more than 1 million American jobs. Consequently, whenever changes make foreign sales easier they are welcome. In that regard, a new trade pact with China is an especially positive development. The door to U.S. beef exports to the world’s most populous nation has been re-opened after being closed for 14 years.
According to the USDA, the return of U.S. beef and beef products is a part of the U.S.-China 100-Day Action Plan that was announced by the Trump administration on May 11. Beef exports from the United States began arriving in China in June.
“Beef is a big deal in China and I’m convinced that when the Chinese people get a taste of U.S. beef, they’re going to want more of it,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a statement released by the USDA in June. “These products coming into China are safe, wholesome and very delicious. This is also a good harbinger of the kind of relationship that can be developed.”
This progress is good economic news for the U.S. because our nation has emerged as the world’s fourth-largest beef exporter, according to USDA statistics. In 2016, American beef exports exceeded $5.4 billion.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, issued a statement this month welcoming the latest expansion of the Chinese market for agricultural products.
“At long last, families in China will be able to sink their teeth into high-quality USDA prime beef,” Grassley said. “Restoring direct access to the Chinese market will expand the market for U.S. beef as the growing middle class population in China looks to add wholesome, nutritious protein to their diets. Iowa’s nearly 20,000 beef cattle farms stand to prosper from the growing demand for high-quality beef in China and around the world.”
According to the USDA, China imported beef valued at $2.5 billion in 2016. The new agreement will allow Iowa beef producers to gain access to what is a rapidly growing market.
The Messenger applauds this development. The hard work by Trump administration officials to enable U.S. beef sales in China deserves strong praise.___
Dubuque Telegraph Herald. July 21, 2017
Beautiful airport needs the signage to match
It has been more than a year since Dubuque Regional Airport’s beautiful, $37 million terminal opened for business. It was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.
At the time, we lauded the impressive design’s local flavor, which made extensive use of the limestone so representative of our river community. Locals and visitors alike noted that the new terminal was a tremendous improvement over its small and outdated predecessor.
At the grand-opening event, several speakers emphasized the importance of first impressions, especially in business and economic development, and how the new terminal will make a great first impression.
If there was a fly in ointment then, it was that the terminal, completed and ready for use, sat idle for months before the opening. That was because the road providing access to the terminal had not been built, due to the timing of federal funding. But at last the road was completed and the airport opened to rave reviews on June 9, 2016.
Now, however, the only thing taking longer than that road is appropriate roadway signage.
Some 13 months after the opening of the new terminal, which involved a new access point from U.S. 61-151, motorists are still getting their directions from temporary signage.
A couple of wood-board signs planted in the tall grass along the highway direct drivers to the turn-ff. On the airport campus itself, directional signs are attached to construction-site sawhorses held in place by sandbags.
For all the talk about first impressions, why is Dubuque in its 14th month of just getting by with temporary signs? It’s like building a million-dollar home and putting out a piece of cardboard for a welcome mat.
Airport General Manager Robert Grierson said plans for new signage are “currently underway,” though he didn’t provide an estimated completion date.
It needs to be soon. Dubuque has much to be proud of, including its multi-million-dollar investment in this “front door.” That the finishing touches have gone unfinished this long is curious and embarrassing. Dubuque can do better.
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Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, July, 23 2017
Wrestling museum a Waterloo success
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Dan Gable Museum is the midst of a fundraising campaign that will expand its training facilities, increase capacity and bring new technology to the downtown facility.
Since it was announced in 2006 the museum would be coming to Waterloo, it has become an important tourism stop and point of interest, as well as a center where young wrestlers can practice and receive instruction. It’s settled in a refurbished section of downtown Waterloo, across from another relatively new community amenity - the Cedar Valley Sportsplex.
The facility has been a community success. Now, supporters are behind a $1.5 million renovation plan.
“As we continue to evolve our mission and our youth program, we found the wrestling room is just too small,” said Kyle Klingman, the museum’s director. “Really, we have a huge need for youth development. That’s the future of what we want to do, so we want this to be more than a museum. We want this to be a unique experience.”
At this stage, the $1.5 million renovation is scheduled for December. Nearly half of that total has been raised, but nearly $800,000 more must be collected or pledged before renovations can begin.
One of the more interesting fundraisers came this spring involving proceeds from an auction of the only known vehicle to have been signed twice by a U.S. president. At an April Barrett-Jackson auction in Florida, a 2009 King Ranch F-10 4X4 pickup, autographed twice by President George W. Bush, was sold. A portion of those proceeds are earmarked for the museum.
Before selling the truck, Bush kept it at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, after he left the White House in 2009. Along with the $25,000 that went to the Gable Museum, another $65,000 was designated for the Higher Calling Youth Wrestling Club in Cleveland, Tenn., the hometown of the truck’s owner.
“This money will help countless young boys and girls participating in many wrestling programs,” Gable said at the time. “It will also benefit the Dan Gable Museum’s expansion of its teaching center, wrestling room, theater and museum.”
That sale was a testament to what the Gable name has brought to the sport of wrestling. If people from so far away see the importance in supporting the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Dan Gable Museum, we would hope the local communities see fit to support it, as well.
Gable is a wrestling and Waterloo legend. As a competitor he had a combined high school and college record of 181-1. A 1972 Olympian at the games in Munich, he brought home the gold medal without allowing a single point to be scored against him. At Iowa State University, he was a two-time NCAA champion and a three-time finalist.
His success only grew from there. As a coach, he delivered 15 NCAA titles to the University of Iowa - nine in a row from 1978 to 1986. Iowa won 21 straight Big 10 titles during Gable’s tenure. He won Coach of the Year three times.
Gable remains one of the greatest ambassadors of the sport and the biggest name in wrestling worldwide.
The local facility is a built-in tourist attraction for avid wrestlers and fans from across the nation. It does a great job of highlighting some of wrestling’s greats and documenting wrestling history.
The main focus of the renovation, however, is expanding the wrestling room for youth development, creating increased, and needed, capacity for youth clinics and events.
That particular goal has an eye focused squarely on the future. And that’s a goal worth supporting.
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Sioux City Journal, July 23, 2017
EPA’s RFS proposal is mixed bag for farm states
Announcement earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency on new volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standards program produced a mixed bag of news for farm states like Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. The federal RFS began with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and was expanded and extended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. It requires transportation fuel sold in the U.S. be blended with a minimum volume of renewable fuels.
We hope some of the numbers go up before the new rules take effect.
On July 5, EPA issued proposed RFS volume requirements for total renewable fuel, cellulosic biofuel and advanced biofuel for 2018 and a proposed volume requirement for biomass-based diesel for 2019. Key pieces of the announcement include:
- The EPA proposes to keep the conventional ethanol requirement of 15 billion gallons the same in 2018.
- The EPA proposes no increase in the biodiesel requirement of 2.1 billion gallons between 2018 and 2019.
- The EPA proposes decreases in the cellulosic biofuel requirement from 311 million gallons to 238 million gallons and the advanced biofuel requirement from 4.28 billion gallons to 4.24 billion gallons in 2018.
Reaction within the Midwest reflected both the good and the disappointing numbers within the EPA announcement. Here is a sampling:
- “The EPA’s proposed renewable volume obligations under the RFS program is a mixed bag. While I’m glad the EPA’s proposal holds steady the requirement of 15 billion gallons for conventional ethanol, the lack of any increase for biodiesel is a missed opportunity,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said. “The proposal fails to recognize the ability of the domestic biodiesel industry to produce at much higher levels. The proposed cut to advanced and cellulosic fuels will have a chilling effect on the push toward next-generation biofuels, and will certainly harm investments in this area. … I am disappointed in the direction of these proposed volumes, and I hope the EPA will consider increasing these levels once stakeholders weigh in.”
- “While I am pleased the new administration has set the proposed volume requirements for conventional ethanol for 2018 at congressionally approved levels, I am disappointed that the 2019 biodiesel number was held constant, and would like to see it more accurately reflect current domestic usage and production capacity,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said.
“On July 4th, America celebrated our Independence Day. On July 5th, we learned that the United States Environmental Protection Agency proposed new RFS standards that are a missed chance to use ethanol and other biofuels to declare an American Energy Independence Day,” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said. “There is a direct correlation between increased production and use of American ethanol and decreased importation of petroleum from foreign nations, some of whom are hostile to us. In order to make America great again, we need an energy strategy that recognizes the important role biofuels play in making America energy independent, and sets targets that encourage greater production.”
Perhaps no state is impacted by RFS rules more than Iowa, the No. 1 producer of ethanol and biodiesel in America. Because we wish to see stability and expansion within an industry not only important to the future of agriculture states like ours, but to the future of America because it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduces dependence on foreign oil, we join supporters of renewable fuels in urging increases for cellulosic and advanced biofuels in 2018 and for biomass-based biodiesel in 2019.
We urge our elected state and congressional leaders to take a leadership role during the public comment period on the EPA proposal, which ends Aug. 31, in making this happen.
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