Viewpoints

Wed
25
Feb

Letter to the Editor: Crude oil tarrif could help fight ISIS, Iran

To the Editor:
I propose a tariff on foreign crude oil and petroleum distillates that we import and is transported by tanker ships from overseas sources. However, Canada and Mexico, our NAFTA partners, should be exempt from the tariff. This tariff could expire in May 2017.
Saudi Arabia has ramped up their production of crude oil in order to flood the world market and drive down the price of crude oil. This they have done because of their  fear of Iran and ISIS. The lower price reduces crude oil revenues for Iran and Isis and so also their power.
What could our crude oil tariff be? Seven dollars a barrel, five dollars a barrel or $n a barrel. The United States must have wise diplomacy with Saudi Arabia to determine this. A crude oil tariff by the United States would help Saudi Arabia resist the encroachments of Iran and ISIS.

Bruce Palmer
Waukon

Wed
25
Feb

News from the State House

by State Representative Patti Ruff

Wed
25
Feb

The Bottom Line

by Iowa State Senator Mike Breitbach

Wed
25
Feb

And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

Wed
25
Feb

Word for Word

by Rev. Lynn Groe

Wed
18
Feb

The Bottom Line

by District 28 State Senator Mike Breitbach

Wed
18
Feb

News from the State House

by State Representative Patti Ruff

Wed
18
Feb

And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

Wed
11
Feb

Letter to the Editor: Minimum wage: Our communites deserve better

To the Editor:
I find it hard to stomach arguments opposing a raise in the minimum wage. Most of them are predicated on the idea that unskilled labor is the work of teenagers who should be expected to move on and up. That’s just not the case. The overwhelming majority of minimum wage workers are women over the age of 35 who support a family. They don’t have the resources to continue their education because they are trying to raise their children, often alone and not due to their own choices. These women and their families deserve our support, not our condemnation.
Since 1988 Congress has raised its own salary 15 times, to reflect the rising costs of living. In that same time period the minimum wage was only raised three times. Not only is this unfair and immoral, it is bad business. Raising the minimum wage lifts people out of poverty, and pumps cash into our economy.  

Wed
11
Feb

News from the State House

by State Representative Patti Ruff

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