March 29, 2024

Does Ernst fight for Iowa?

“I’m Iowa nice, but I’m not afraid to fight!”

Senator Joni Ernst shared these words at her annual motorcycle gala held this past weekend. Great! She values our Iowa reputation. But, she represents us in the U.S. Senate. So we Iowans have to ask ourselves an important question: For what does she fight?

Well, she fights for this President. She says she calls him on the carpet when she needs to, which apparently isn’t very often. Over the course of her career and his, she has voted for his policies just under 92% of the time. Her chastising apparently hasn’t moved the dial on the tariffs. Yes, China needs chastising, but should rural America bear the brunt of that? Are tariffs our only weapon?

Senator Ernst voted for the President’s tax cuts.

This is what PolitiFact says about those cuts, “When PolitiFact evaluated the bill just before Trump signed it, we found that every income group would pay less in taxes in 2019, but that the benefits would flow disproportionately to wealthier taxpayers. And by 2027, every income group below $75,000 would see a tax increase, while only those income ranges above $75,000 would still see a cut.”

Data USA, using data from the federal government, notes that in 2017 the median income in Adair County was $49,477 and in Union County, $47,597. Business analysts in every sector say the corporate tax cuts haven’t resulted in increased investment in businesses and workers, but the shareholders have received bigger dividends, the national debt is skyrocketing and the income gap is increasing.

She fought against the Affordable Care Act, voting seven times for repeal. A repeal removes the mandate to cover your pre-existing conditions. Economists predict millions would lose their health care. President Trump’s unwillingness to follow the law and fund insurance subsidies so citizens who need them can buy individual policies has already destroyed that market in Iowa. Does she call him on the carpet for that? I haven’t heard it if she has.

Would you like to have a cup of coffee with her? Go for it. But, when you go to the polls on Nov. 3, 2020, I hope you will ask yourself, “Do her votes and words represent the hardworking, good people of Southwest Iowa?”