Ed Tibbetts

3 weeks ago | thegazette.com | Ed Tibbetts

The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced. The Republicans who run the Iowa Legislature recently adjourned, passing a budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year that will keep the wheels of state turning for another year. That’s a good thing. The bad news is this: The state’s budget spends about $1 for every 90 cents it will raise in revenues.

4 weeks ago | clintonherald.com | Ed Tibbetts

The Republicans who run the Iowa Legislature recently adjourned, passing a budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year that will keep the wheels of state turning for another year. That’s a good thing. The bad news is this: The state’s budget spends about $1 for every 90 cents it will raise in revenues. In the old days, we would call this deficit spending, and Iowa’s traditional conservatives would be screaming bloody murder. But not Iowa’s New Conservatives.

1 month ago | edtibbetts.substack.com | Ed Tibbetts

A tax break that will benefit wealthier Americans, mostly in states run by Democrats, is being used to put political pressure on US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The Iowa Republican is expected to be one of the most vulnerable incumbents in next year’s congressional midterms. I received two mailings in Davenport recently that focused on Miller-Meeks for the tax break, which was included in the Trump tax cut proposal the House passed by a single vote last week. There’s a certain irony to this.

1 month ago | mississippivalleypublishing.com | Ed Tibbetts

It’s no secret most Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act. Still, they’ve never been able to kill it. The reason is clear: It’s too politically popular. More than 6 in 10 Americans approve of it, according to polls, and that includes 62% of independents and almost a third of Republicans as of last year. Consequently, Republicans in Congress are being pretty secretive about their plans this time. Now, they’re trying to choke the ACA to death behind the curtains.

1 month ago | dewittobserver.com | Ed Tibbetts

Rest assured, Iowa. Republicans in Des Moines have heard your concerns about high prices, and they’re doing something about it. Members of the Iowa House took the bold step recently of voting to eliminate the sales tax on toilet paper. This was such a high priority that Speaker Pat Grassley led the charge, along with nearly two dozen other members of the House GOP. The Senate and Gov.