Know Your Definitions! by Doug Smith September 19, 2026 It’s a very old playbook, one the Republicans are trotting out again this year, using the fear of communism to get their base energized to vote. Trump has publicly used the term over 100 times in the past two months to test whether the term could boost turnout for the November midterms. Years ago, Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan both used this line of attack during the Cold War. In his July Fourth speech to Americans...

Are You Kidding Me? by Doug McReynolds September 16, 2026 Did you get a federal income tax refund of $3,400 earlier this year? Ashley Hinson says you did, and she would have you believe that her vote on the so-called “one big beautiful bill” is responsible for it. This is a remarkable claim, and one that begs for a bit of a deeper dig into a number of things. In the first place, of course, if you got a $3,400 tax refund (I didn’t, by the way, nor did the average Iowan—you can look it up),...

Hint: It's not because of the teachers by Doug Smith September 12, 2026 According to a June 18, 2026 report in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier about Iowa’s education ranking, The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently released its 2026 Kids Count Data Book, and Iowa is going down… again. In 2019, Iowa ranked 11th among all states. In 2023, we were down to 17th. And now in 2026, Iowa has sunk below the halfway mark… 27th out of the 50 states. For all the grim details, read the Courier...