Dave - I certainly get the sentiment - I'm not sure if today's politicians can fix it. I think people that want to fix it, if elected to office and given a decade, could. Big IFs.
A couple of quick responses, though. Deficits. Yes, national deficit is a concern. Back to that in a minute. The state of Iowa, however, has a huge surplus. We also have a ton of issues - increasing cancer rates, school funding not keeping up with inflation, water quality, hungry kids, housing costs, elder care - and I'm just getting started. So why are our state decision-makers not using those surplus dollars to solve problems? I think *that* should be the question you are asking. Perhaps it can be the next question you ask?
Then - on renewable fuels. Hugely important for the organization you now work for. But with your journalistic integrity - how do you not push back when someone suggests a 50% increase in crop production who is concerned with not having a market for those crops? How do you not ask: "Is there a time when maybe we should be farming fewer of those marginal acres and putting buffer strips along our waterways in order to improve water quality?" or "Maybe we could stop farming the acres that are right up against our little league diamonds and our city parks, so that chemicals used in agriculture are a little less likely to cause cancer in our kids?" Or even pick up on the implications of the stat that your guest provided: during the 80's Iowa lost 1 out of 4 farms. I mean, we didn't really lose the land that was farmed - other than the topsoil that's now working its way to the gulf. What we lost is 1 out of the 4 families living in rural areas contributing to rural economies. And we have continued to lose that in the decades since. The average farm operator in Iowa - very rough stats here, but on par with reality - went from 400 acres 2 generations ago to 4000 acres today. That means we need 1/10th as many farm operators as we did. And everything points to this trend continuing. I try to withhold judgment on that trend - technological improvements in genetics and equipment are driving it, and that is what it is... but it's happening because of policies, and we can change those if we want to work together to do so.
I said I'd come back to national deficits. I'm going to skip that for now - would be happy to meet for coffee to discuss if you find this at all interesting. What I would like to close with is asking you: if not politicians, then who? Certainly we can all work toward more civil discourse. A better understanding of the changes that are going on around us. Meeting the needs through good deeds of those folks around us. And yet at some point - our state and our nation need leadership that provides a compelling vision for all of us to rally around, be inspired by, and work toward.
And if that isn't the role of government, then who?
I get frustrated as much as you do, and it seems nothing works from either side. I could go onand on about that, but like you, I am more interested in what people do outside of politics to solve very real problems on their own. My solution to problems is to find those who are doing something that matters and help out as best I can. Usually that means money, and as a retiree that has suffucent money to live on, extra money isn't always available. So, I started picking up cans and bottles for the drposits, it clears away a lot of trash that turns into sizable amounts of money over time. I started clearing the cans and bottles from a dumpster at a canoe take out spot, and cleared $750 in three months. That was three years ago and each year the amount goes higher with other quick spots I clear up like disc golf courses. In three years I have reclaimed over 2,200 dolars that goes to help out people who are really doing something to make things better. I offered to pay the rent on a spot for Latino medical check ups for a couple of months while they get set up for instance. I donated 50 bucks to Andy McKean's election campaign, I kicked in a couple hundred for the fourth of July parade in my home town, I donated a grand to the food bank, $500 to the two gals who were putting up and taking down the funeral flags at the cemetery on Memorial Day (over 600 flags I'm told). While I'm clearing cans out of the dumpster I also rescue the water from water bottles and water my garden, I save all the food scraps, potato chips, pretzels, sandwiches, bread, etc, for my brother-in-laws chickens. Some good weeks I have hauled as many as 7 bags of 350 cans out in a single week from that one dumpster. Yes it is work, but time I have and money I am making to fuel other projects or provide grant seed money and my prospective changes simply because I'm doing something to make things better! Right now I'm sitting on $735 in the kitty with the intention of helping out someone in a pinch for cash and a idea that needs financing!
You hit the nail on the head when you talked about "good intentions." Bernie, Ro and other similar politicians spread "good intentions" all over the place..."we need to do this and that", "there should be health care for everyone", "we need transformed gun laws now", etc. Some folks have a "good intention" to lose weight, or stop smoking, or be more productive at home after work.
However, without an action plan with "by" statements, good intentions just remain good intentions. A "by" statement changes a good intention into an active process. For example, I plan to lose 3 lbs per week "by" no longer eating ice cream before I go to bed at night. Or, I plan to stop smoking "by" only having 5 cigarettes per day and weaning myself away from others who smoke. Without "by" statements, literally nothing will become of worthy "good intentions."
Politics is full of good intentions and extremely short of action plans. One way to change this disparity is to forbid the expression of "good intentions" unless there is an accompanying plan to made that good intention a reality. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of hype that sounds good...but will likely never materialize into anything helpful in society. I can think of a few politicians that are masters at spreading good intentions.
Great Comments Billy ... I am lockstep with you! That is what really bugs me about politicians that run for office. They have ideas that they feel will make our state or nation ... better. However, the "how to" of making that reality is not mentioned. Their ideas just become words without action plans or as you stated, there are no "by" statements. And a lot has to do with the Congressional House and Senate to be willing to work with others instead of if they vote for this or that, "how will it affect my job." The end result should be passing legislation to get the ball rolling. No Way are Democrats or Republicans going to get everything they want. But pass something instead of moving at a snail's pace or not even moving at all.
I taught for 37 years and the finger pointing, name calling, and backstabbing that takes place in Congress ... Good Golly ... These "adults" handle problems like my students. Nothing is ever their fault. I get that their views are different, but this lack of compromise and not being willing to work with others across the aisle because they could lose their job or the balance of power would be tipped in favor of the other side? They need to remember why they ran for that office in the first place. They need to remember that their voting base is counting on them to get that ball rolling. Something has got to change.
Quick question… why are the republicans and trump so concerned about building a wall on the southern border? Didn’t George w. Bush and the republicans start building one already? All they need to do is finish that wall and hook on the technology to go with it so the authorities can catch the “coyotes “ as they drive their trucks through the openings. Think about it.
You hit the nail on the head when you talked about "good intentions." Bernie, Ro and other similar politicians spread "good intentions" all over the place..."we need to do this and that", "there should be health care for everyone", "we need transformed gun laws now", etc. Some folks have a "good intention" to lose weight, or stop smoking, or be more productive at home after work.
However, without an action plan with "by" statements, good intentions just remain good intentions. A "by" statement changes a good intention into an active process. For example, I plan to lose 3 lbs per week "by" no longer eating ice cream before I go to bed at night. Or, I plan to stop smoking "by" only having 5 cigarettes per day and weaning myself away from others who smoke. Without "by" statements, literally nothing will become of worthy "good intentions."
Politics is full of good intentions and extremely short of action plans. One way to change this disparity is to forbid the expression of "good intentions" unless there is an accompanying plan to made that good intention a reality. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of hype that sounds good...but will likely never materialize into anything helpful in society. I can think of a few politicians that are masters at spreading good intentions.
Dave - I certainly get the sentiment - I'm not sure if today's politicians can fix it. I think people that want to fix it, if elected to office and given a decade, could. Big IFs.
A couple of quick responses, though. Deficits. Yes, national deficit is a concern. Back to that in a minute. The state of Iowa, however, has a huge surplus. We also have a ton of issues - increasing cancer rates, school funding not keeping up with inflation, water quality, hungry kids, housing costs, elder care - and I'm just getting started. So why are our state decision-makers not using those surplus dollars to solve problems? I think *that* should be the question you are asking. Perhaps it can be the next question you ask?
Then - on renewable fuels. Hugely important for the organization you now work for. But with your journalistic integrity - how do you not push back when someone suggests a 50% increase in crop production who is concerned with not having a market for those crops? How do you not ask: "Is there a time when maybe we should be farming fewer of those marginal acres and putting buffer strips along our waterways in order to improve water quality?" or "Maybe we could stop farming the acres that are right up against our little league diamonds and our city parks, so that chemicals used in agriculture are a little less likely to cause cancer in our kids?" Or even pick up on the implications of the stat that your guest provided: during the 80's Iowa lost 1 out of 4 farms. I mean, we didn't really lose the land that was farmed - other than the topsoil that's now working its way to the gulf. What we lost is 1 out of the 4 families living in rural areas contributing to rural economies. And we have continued to lose that in the decades since. The average farm operator in Iowa - very rough stats here, but on par with reality - went from 400 acres 2 generations ago to 4000 acres today. That means we need 1/10th as many farm operators as we did. And everything points to this trend continuing. I try to withhold judgment on that trend - technological improvements in genetics and equipment are driving it, and that is what it is... but it's happening because of policies, and we can change those if we want to work together to do so.
I said I'd come back to national deficits. I'm going to skip that for now - would be happy to meet for coffee to discuss if you find this at all interesting. What I would like to close with is asking you: if not politicians, then who? Certainly we can all work toward more civil discourse. A better understanding of the changes that are going on around us. Meeting the needs through good deeds of those folks around us. And yet at some point - our state and our nation need leadership that provides a compelling vision for all of us to rally around, be inspired by, and work toward.
And if that isn't the role of government, then who?
I get frustrated as much as you do, and it seems nothing works from either side. I could go onand on about that, but like you, I am more interested in what people do outside of politics to solve very real problems on their own. My solution to problems is to find those who are doing something that matters and help out as best I can. Usually that means money, and as a retiree that has suffucent money to live on, extra money isn't always available. So, I started picking up cans and bottles for the drposits, it clears away a lot of trash that turns into sizable amounts of money over time. I started clearing the cans and bottles from a dumpster at a canoe take out spot, and cleared $750 in three months. That was three years ago and each year the amount goes higher with other quick spots I clear up like disc golf courses. In three years I have reclaimed over 2,200 dolars that goes to help out people who are really doing something to make things better. I offered to pay the rent on a spot for Latino medical check ups for a couple of months while they get set up for instance. I donated 50 bucks to Andy McKean's election campaign, I kicked in a couple hundred for the fourth of July parade in my home town, I donated a grand to the food bank, $500 to the two gals who were putting up and taking down the funeral flags at the cemetery on Memorial Day (over 600 flags I'm told). While I'm clearing cans out of the dumpster I also rescue the water from water bottles and water my garden, I save all the food scraps, potato chips, pretzels, sandwiches, bread, etc, for my brother-in-laws chickens. Some good weeks I have hauled as many as 7 bags of 350 cans out in a single week from that one dumpster. Yes it is work, but time I have and money I am making to fuel other projects or provide grant seed money and my prospective changes simply because I'm doing something to make things better! Right now I'm sitting on $735 in the kitty with the intention of helping out someone in a pinch for cash and a idea that needs financing!
MAKING A DIFFERENCE!! WOWZER ... Very Wonderful Indeed:)
You hit the nail on the head when you talked about "good intentions." Bernie, Ro and other similar politicians spread "good intentions" all over the place..."we need to do this and that", "there should be health care for everyone", "we need transformed gun laws now", etc. Some folks have a "good intention" to lose weight, or stop smoking, or be more productive at home after work.
However, without an action plan with "by" statements, good intentions just remain good intentions. A "by" statement changes a good intention into an active process. For example, I plan to lose 3 lbs per week "by" no longer eating ice cream before I go to bed at night. Or, I plan to stop smoking "by" only having 5 cigarettes per day and weaning myself away from others who smoke. Without "by" statements, literally nothing will become of worthy "good intentions."
Politics is full of good intentions and extremely short of action plans. One way to change this disparity is to forbid the expression of "good intentions" unless there is an accompanying plan to made that good intention a reality. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of hype that sounds good...but will likely never materialize into anything helpful in society. I can think of a few politicians that are masters at spreading good intentions.
Great Comments Billy ... I am lockstep with you! That is what really bugs me about politicians that run for office. They have ideas that they feel will make our state or nation ... better. However, the "how to" of making that reality is not mentioned. Their ideas just become words without action plans or as you stated, there are no "by" statements. And a lot has to do with the Congressional House and Senate to be willing to work with others instead of if they vote for this or that, "how will it affect my job." The end result should be passing legislation to get the ball rolling. No Way are Democrats or Republicans going to get everything they want. But pass something instead of moving at a snail's pace or not even moving at all.
I taught for 37 years and the finger pointing, name calling, and backstabbing that takes place in Congress ... Good Golly ... These "adults" handle problems like my students. Nothing is ever their fault. I get that their views are different, but this lack of compromise and not being willing to work with others across the aisle because they could lose their job or the balance of power would be tipped in favor of the other side? They need to remember why they ran for that office in the first place. They need to remember that their voting base is counting on them to get that ball rolling. Something has got to change.
Filibuster.
Quick question… why are the republicans and trump so concerned about building a wall on the southern border? Didn’t George w. Bush and the republicans start building one already? All they need to do is finish that wall and hook on the technology to go with it so the authorities can catch the “coyotes “ as they drive their trucks through the openings. Think about it.
You hit the nail on the head when you talked about "good intentions." Bernie, Ro and other similar politicians spread "good intentions" all over the place..."we need to do this and that", "there should be health care for everyone", "we need transformed gun laws now", etc. Some folks have a "good intention" to lose weight, or stop smoking, or be more productive at home after work.
However, without an action plan with "by" statements, good intentions just remain good intentions. A "by" statement changes a good intention into an active process. For example, I plan to lose 3 lbs per week "by" no longer eating ice cream before I go to bed at night. Or, I plan to stop smoking "by" only having 5 cigarettes per day and weaning myself away from others who smoke. Without "by" statements, literally nothing will become of worthy "good intentions."
Politics is full of good intentions and extremely short of action plans. One way to change this disparity is to forbid the expression of "good intentions" unless there is an accompanying plan to made that good intention a reality. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of hype that sounds good...but will likely never materialize into anything helpful in society. I can think of a few politicians that are masters at spreading good intentions.