2024: The year in review
Also: Readers can suggest what I write about in 2025
With only hours to go before the beginning of 2025, I wanted to write one last time this year to highlight what I’ve tried to do over the past 12 months at Along the Mississippi.
When I began this Substack in 2022, the idea was to continue writing meaningful articles about politics in Iowa, just as I attempted to do for more than 30 years in newspapers. The mainstream media continues to write about day-to-day political events in the state, which has great value. What I’ve tried to do at Along the Mississippi through my own fact-finding and (I hope) well-reasoned opinions is bring added perspective to many of these issues.
I wrote about a lot of subjects this year, but as I looked back on my posts over the past 12 months, I identified a few themes, and I want to highlight them below. I expect they will continue to be ongoing issues in 2025, too.
Opposing secrecy in Davenport
I’ve tried to do my part to highlight the efforts by the City of Davenport to keep a lid on details from its controversial payment of $1.9 million to three former city employees who alleged harassment by elected officials. These efforts include trying to interfere with State Auditor Rob Sand’s investigation into the payments by fighting a subpoena for recordings and records from closed-door city council meetings.
Perhaps the city’s most startling claim in this controversy came when it tried to prevent the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from taking part in a legal dispute over whether a key document related to the $1.6 million payment to former City Administrator Corri Spiegel should be considered a public record.
As I wrote in March:
The city would have you believe it doesn’t have an opinion whether or not the Spiegel letter is a public record, but at the same time it is arguing that the organization with the wherewithal to adequately argue for openness ought to be prevented from taking part in the case.
This is peak stonewalling. If there isn’t a medal for this kind of audacity, there should be.
The court later ruled the document was a public record.
Countering disrespect for the law
A key lesson we learned from Iowa GOP leaders this year is that, when it came to Donald Trump, they were quite willing to cast aside the rule of law in favor of their party’s leader.
This was most obvious in May, when top Republicans denounced a New York jury’s conviction of Trump on 34 felony charges. Amazingly, not a single one of them even claimed Trump was innocent. It didn’t seem to matter.
As I wrote in May:
In her reaction Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds dismissed the idea that the jury’s verdict should count at all. “The only verdict that matters is the one at the ballot box in November where the American people will elect President Trump again,” Reynolds said.
It’s extraordinary that our governor, the person charged with faithfully executing the laws of our state, can get this so utterly wrong.
Yes, the election this fall matters. A lot. But the verdict of 12 American jurors also matters. A lot.
That Iowa’s top Republicans dismissed their work—and failed to even consider the question of Trump’s guilt or innocence—is a sad testament to how they see the American system of justice. It is clear evidence how far the political leadership in this state has fallen.
Pointing out Donald Trump’s threat to Iowa’s economy
Early on in the 2024 election cycle, even going back to last year, I warned Iowans about the dangers of a Trump presidency to the state’s economy—specifically, about his promise to levy huge tariffs on other countries. Tariffs not only raise costs on US consumers but also present a unique threat to Iowa.
After he floated the idea of a 60% tariff on all imported goods from China, I wrote a piece in February entitled, “A second Trump trade war, but on steroids?”
What might happen in a trade war on steroids?
The prospect of a 60% tax on all goods from China would undoubtedly trigger massive retaliation and have an unprecedented impact on our modern, interconnected economy.
This is a big, bad warning sign that carries huge risks for a state like Iowa. According to one estimate, 400,000 jobs in this state are supported by trade.
In other words, it’s not the time for our political leaders to keep their heads down and hope this problem just goes away.
But Iowa’s Republican leaders did exactly that. They buried their heads in the sand, and now we must await the fallout from the prospects of a new Trump trade war—not only against China but other parts of the world, too.
Opposing GOP attempts to politicize Iowa schools
As I wrote last March:
Republicans in the Iowa Legislature say they don’t want politics in your kid’s classroom. But that’s not true. They don’t mind politics in your kid’s classroom—as long as it’s their politics.
At the time, Republicans in the Legislature were trying to pass a law imposing new history and civics curriculum on schools, which were largely copied from a rightwing think tank.
Eventually, a scaled back bill was passed, but it still reflects Republican priorities.
Meanwhile, state leaders continued to fight for their book ban law in the courts. The ban is in large part aimed at LGBTQ+ books, but the law sweeps so broadly that longtime classics in American literature also have been caught up in this web of censorship.
In August, an appellate panel ruled a district judge who had blocked the book ban from going into effect had erred in his analysis and sent the case back for a rehearing. In the meantime, it allowed enforcement of the ban.
I’m still hopeful the courts will overturn this bad law.
As I said in August:
The mission of educating Iowa children does not mean, in the words of previous courts, imposing a “pall of orthodoxy” so pervasive it fails to distinguish between the maturity level of a 3rd grader and a 17-year-old high school senior who is preparing to graduate to the challenging world beyond.
The mission of educating Iowa children is not consistent with banning “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Late this year, Pen America issued a report saying Iowa and Florida were leading the nation in book bans. This isn’t exactly what a state with a heritage of educational excellence wants to be known for, but this is what happens when you have a Republican majority determined to impose its brand of politics and morality on Iowa schoolkids.
Telling the truth about Joni Ernst
I’ve found that a number of my posts from this year center on the Iowa senator from Red Oak. Ernst, who is diligently trying to climb the Republican political ladder, has targeted the federal bureaucracy as she tries to make the case that she is a fiscal conservative. This is absurd. Federal spending and debt have skyrocketed since Ernst was elected in 2014.
Many of her attacks are built on misleading or false statements, and I’ve tried to counter these.
The latest came a month ago, when Ernst tried to jump on board the Trump administration’s attempt to dramatically cut spending, making bogus claims about federal telework, including that only 6% of federal employees work full-time in the office.
Clearly, this wasn’t true. Ernst relied on an unscientific media survey that even its authors walked back. At the same time, she ignored credible government data that told a different story.
As I wrote just a few weeks ago:
So why didn’t Ernst also use government data to come up with a figure for how many people work in the office?
Perhaps it’s because it didn’t give her the number she wanted. …
Why are Ernst and other Republicans painting a false picture?
Probably because if people can be convinced the federal workforce is lazy and absent, it will be easier to cut.
A government report, using payroll data in May, said 80% of hours worked by federal employees were performed on site.
Thankfully, other news media followed up and reported that Ernst’s claims weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
Thank you
I wrote about plenty of other subjects in 2024, too, including electric vehicles, biofuel tax credits, property taxes, veteran health care and many others. I hope you have found these articles enlightening.
In closing, I want to thank readers of Along the Mississippi for their support this year. I intend to continue this work in 2025 and beyond, and you the reader make it all possible.
If you have a suggestion for what I should write about in 2025, paying subscribers can say so in the comment section. All subscribers should feel free to email me their suggestions.
Again, you have my thanks, and I hope you have a Happy New Year.
Along the Mississippi is a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please check out the work of my colleagues and consider subscribing. Also, the collaborative partners with the Iowa Capital Dispatch, which provides hard-hitting news along with selected commentary by members of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please consider making a donation to support its work, too.
Happy New Year Ed Tibbetts and congratulations in writing from your vast experience!
You invited suggestions for future topics:
1.) How more people of all ages but hopefully many younger folks can be encouraged to participate in open discussion putting parties secondary to REAL democratic American values.
2.) How can the Alaska model featured in todays’ QCTimes: open primaries and ranked-choice voting find inroads into Iowa cities- and State government? (Meredith Sumpter opinion)
3.) Iowas Agriculture industry and its leaders are on a very short sighted mission course! GMO-trait seeds, high chemical (herbicide, insecticide, fungicide) use and driving the ethanol producing industries to unreal highs have eroded water and soil qualities in “support” of rising cancer and health issues not only in rural areas! This topic needs more critical discussion!
A Secretary of Agriculture (like in Iowa) should not have to be elected or have to run for election - please explore this unnecessary overkill!
Thanks very much for your critical writing!
( I am supporting 3 writers in the Iowa writers collaborative and wish I could do more!)
Your newsletter is essential reading. Thanks for all you do.