Well done Ed appreciate your research. Let me add that the Republicans have cut taxes at the expense of public education. Education was a very positive economic development message for the state of Iowa and now the state is just mediocre. The Republican play book is always driven by taking care of their donors. Citizens United ruling has been the worst single problem with our democracy. Iowa future is looking dismal with an aging population and the exiting of college graduates. My suggestion is they need to be more concerned with quality of life issues like education and affordable housing and childcare and not giving more money to the wealthiest.
Well done, Ed. Something political opponents to Trump and Reynolds should be amplifying. The failure to continuously and loudly indict MAGA Republicans on their documented, explicit budget-busting. By downplaying the deficit argument, the Democratic Party and other opponents to MAGA allows the faction most responsible for accelerating the state and national debts to maintain a plausible rhetorical claim of fiscal discipline, particularly at state levels.
The political error is the lack of synthesis and lack of reaching everyday Americans. Democrats successfully critique the policies' social outcomes, but often fail to integrate this data into a potent, cohesive narrative. And a narrative that is a 30 second social media clip.
MAGA recklessness is fiscally destructive AND socially devastating. This omission will allow the Republican Party to utilize the debt figures later, once Democrats are back in power, as an argument for new waves of austerity targeting Democratic priorities. The tactical shortfall is the failure to make the GOP own the debt they created, thus permitting them to escape accountability for the structural financial instability they engineered.
If Rob Sand is elected Gov., the first thing he will have to do is cut spending and balance the budget. Will he reduce support for private voucher system, such as using income guidelines for eligibility or will he have to make 16% cross the board cuts, or will he try to raise taxes. Democratic funding priorities, filling cuts in SNAP or Medicaid cuts, public school funding, will be challenging to implement.
Ed, your reporting is spot on. I appreciate your time and effort in pulling all of this together and making it clear. It is interesting that there is a continuing effort to blame Biden for the situation the state is in now but little or no recognition is given to him for the COVID funding that was provided to the state that is a significant part of the $600 billion balance. The governor and the legislative leadership has lead the way into a long term plan that is going south and now has to depend upon one time revenue funds to cover that bet. When the income taxes were lowered to and things like private school vouchers were established the legislators from southwest Iowa assured us that the budget was sound and that this would not be a problem. Maybe we should learn to listen more carefully. The next bet doesn’t always bail you out of the loss of the last one.
Well done Ed appreciate your research. Let me add that the Republicans have cut taxes at the expense of public education. Education was a very positive economic development message for the state of Iowa and now the state is just mediocre. The Republican play book is always driven by taking care of their donors. Citizens United ruling has been the worst single problem with our democracy. Iowa future is looking dismal with an aging population and the exiting of college graduates. My suggestion is they need to be more concerned with quality of life issues like education and affordable housing and childcare and not giving more money to the wealthiest.
Thanks for the comment, Dan. These days, ideology seems to be driving their decision-making, not practicality.
Great post. They absolutely were not predicting this collapse in revenues.
Even if the 2027 projection holds up, that's still about a $1 billion operating deficit if they keep spending flat.
Impressive reporting and effective writing!
Thank you for your diligent reporting Ed. I hope we don't end up like Kansas.
Thank you, Ed, for enlightening us with facts about the state of Iowa’s financial condition. And the reasons it got this way.
Thank you, Ed. This is such an important story.
Well done, Ed. Something political opponents to Trump and Reynolds should be amplifying. The failure to continuously and loudly indict MAGA Republicans on their documented, explicit budget-busting. By downplaying the deficit argument, the Democratic Party and other opponents to MAGA allows the faction most responsible for accelerating the state and national debts to maintain a plausible rhetorical claim of fiscal discipline, particularly at state levels.
The political error is the lack of synthesis and lack of reaching everyday Americans. Democrats successfully critique the policies' social outcomes, but often fail to integrate this data into a potent, cohesive narrative. And a narrative that is a 30 second social media clip.
MAGA recklessness is fiscally destructive AND socially devastating. This omission will allow the Republican Party to utilize the debt figures later, once Democrats are back in power, as an argument for new waves of austerity targeting Democratic priorities. The tactical shortfall is the failure to make the GOP own the debt they created, thus permitting them to escape accountability for the structural financial instability they engineered.
If Rob Sand is elected Gov., the first thing he will have to do is cut spending and balance the budget. Will he reduce support for private voucher system, such as using income guidelines for eligibility or will he have to make 16% cross the board cuts, or will he try to raise taxes. Democratic funding priorities, filling cuts in SNAP or Medicaid cuts, public school funding, will be challenging to implement.
Ed, your reporting is spot on. I appreciate your time and effort in pulling all of this together and making it clear. It is interesting that there is a continuing effort to blame Biden for the situation the state is in now but little or no recognition is given to him for the COVID funding that was provided to the state that is a significant part of the $600 billion balance. The governor and the legislative leadership has lead the way into a long term plan that is going south and now has to depend upon one time revenue funds to cover that bet. When the income taxes were lowered to and things like private school vouchers were established the legislators from southwest Iowa assured us that the budget was sound and that this would not be a problem. Maybe we should learn to listen more carefully. The next bet doesn’t always bail you out of the loss of the last one.
Save some piles of money by ending the school voucher program.
Reagan. Liike. Tax cut voodoo. Economics leads only to deficts