Category Archives: Jeff Stein

Not So Clean CR   Well, the federal government is back open, and Republicans got their way for a clean continuing resolution-no changes, just moving the ball down the field.   Not so fast, a...

Lifetime Mortgages   There are a number of things that have to be resolved before someone buys a home. The ability to pay for it is chief among them.   You get better terms if you are a good...

Payday   Here's a statistic that should be a bit concerning. Research shows that the highest-paid public employee in each of the 50 states works for a college or university.   You might say ...

Ending with a Whimper   The federal government remains closed today. Actually, being closed today was by design, it being the Veterans Day national holiday and all.   But the other six weeks...

Numbers Game At the start of each month, the Office of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate issues a report indicating how many people are registered to vote in Iowa, and what political affiliation they'...

Assault by Sandwich   You might recall that when federal officials were put on duty to clean up Washington, D.C., one Justice Department attorney who was out for a late night snack took the sandw...

Election Aftermath   It's hard for Republicans to spin the results of Tuesday's elections. The few statewide races were blue sweeps in places like New Jersey and Virginia, and even though Democra...

Going Postal   The U.S. Postal Service has been having a hard time making ends meet for quite a while. It's not made better by the advent of electronic technology, and private package delivery se...

Political Alliances   If you are looking for consistency of positions, or frankly honesty, you should avoid looking too closely at political speeches and campaigns.   Witness the rush-to-the...

Election Day Approaches Tomorrow is election day; here in Iowa, that means municipal elections for things like city council and mayor, school board elections, and the occasional bond issue. But in oth...