The gaveling in of the Iowa Legislature’s 84th General Assembly last week signaled an end to the 2012 Presidential Caucus season and the return of a more local political focus for Iowans.

There is no doubt that much of the session’s oxygen will be sucked up by the major issues that failed to produce any legislation following last year’s battles. These issues include reforming the tax code, mental health services, and education, as well as another round of sparring over Iowa setting up a health insurance exchange to work in conjunction with Obama Care.

While these will grab a majority of the headlines, and a good share of our attention here at The Conservative Reader: Iowa, there have already been a number of very interesting …

The question sounds simple enough. How do you balance the Federal budget?

Already in the midst of an epic ideological struggle, our Country’s attempt to answer this question has even further defined the massive divide in political philosophy that has beset us.

The form this divide has currently taken is the debate on whether to raise the debt ceiling and, if so, on what conditions. While this has merit as a political reality the whole discussion is a mere surface abrasion of the underlying issues—issues that can’t be solved by each side conceding a point or two and adjusting some numbers.

The real value for Conservatives in the debt ceiling debate, and all budget related squabbles, is that it exposes the Country to the true …

The Des Moines Register’s Opinion Section on Sunday, July 3, 2011 featured a “Progressives Trifecta” of half-truths and sophistry:

• Richard Doak – What if the founders were around today?
• Donald Kaul – My favorite 4^th of July speech
• Dean Baker – Keep Social Security safe from politicians who want to save it

This week I will focus my comments on Richard Doak’s imaginary view of our founding fathers.  I will cover the other articles in due time.

Richard Doak – He begins with “This Fourth of July finds the country caught up more than usual in the mythology of America.”.  This opening argument is a fundamental tactic of the Progressives, i.e. to undermine our most cherished institutions by equating them to something less (mythology).…

“The Conservative also recognizes that the political power on which order is based is a self-aggrandizing force; that its appetite grows with eating. He knows that the utmost vigilance and care are required to keep political power within its bounds.” – Barry Goldwater

Evidenced by the fact that I recently finished re-reading Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative on a kindle—much has changed since it was first published in 1960. However, by the staggering parallels that its content has to the political realities of 2011, one could say that not much has changed at all.

Anyone who chooses to invest the few hours necessary to read this book will become apprised of the historical context in which the political and ideological battles of our …

Monday January 12 will be the opening session of the 2009 General Assembly.  This year’s session timetable is here.  As was the case the pass two years, both the House and the Senate have Democratic majorities.

We urge you, as the session progresses, to take the time to communicate with your elected representatives.  Go to this link, and find your representative’s name, click on it, and you’ll get phone numbers, email addresses, information about committee assignments and links to bill sponsorships.  I will be in contact with Peter Cownie and Pat Ward, the House and Senate members who represent me here in West Des Moines.

I exchanged emails with Peter last week.  This is his freshman years in the Statehouse, and …