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Category: Opinion

Coalition launhes campaign opposing constitutional amendment on taxes

by Kathie Obradovich, Iowa Capital DispatchSeptember 9, 2026 A coalition of Iowa organizations launched a campaign Wednesday opposing the Nov. 3 ballot issue that will ask Iowa voters whether to amend the state constitution to require a two-thirds majority vote of lawmakers to raise state personal and corporate income taxes. Fair Taxes for Iowa’s Future, which includes labor unions, progressive…

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Hi, neighbor!

[The following is a column I wrote 11 years ago, and I submit it again to my editor because there’s a new noise-monger in my ‘hood, and he’s raising my ire. He drives a motorcycle that operates at a noise level akin to a downhill 18-wheeler using a Jake brake. Operating a motor vehicle without a functional, factory-installed muffler, or…

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The untruths just keep coming

~by Colleen O’Brien Social media is often too eager to tell us what they say is fact; for example, that Trump cut down 60 cherry trees from the White House grounds, the trees given to us in 1910 as a gift from Japan. He did not cut them down. He eliminated trees, including maybe one cherry, from the island in…

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The sounds of a lifetime

~Colleen O’Brien It’s said that the most potent memory jogger is scent. The whiff of cut grass was one of my favorites — used to make me feel like a kid long after I quit being one. A waft of Old Spice was my husband, and a whiff of baby powder my babies (now pushing 60). I can no longer…

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A primer on measles

MMR, Measles, Mumps Rubella? Red Measles, German Measles, Hard Measles, 3-day Measles, Measles outbreak in southern Iowa? Three shots instead of one shot. Make American Healthy Again, MAHA? These terms and topics are appearing frequently in today’s news headlines. I am using this opportunity to share information with you. The President and Director of Health and Human Services are recommending…

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First freedom

~by Colleen O’Brien  I sit at my friend’s dining room table waiting for her as she gets ready to go out. In front of me is a pilsner glass of pens and pencils. After staring them down for a while, I choose one very sharp pencil with a never-used eraser. As if touched by a fairy wand, I am at…

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Enticing marginalia

~a column by Colleen O’Brien  I receive many texts and emails that have to do with ageing.  Sometimes I read them. It is apparent the advertising world has my number; they know more about me than I do. The volume of cajoling hints on daily exercise, ordering wonder drugs, practicing gratitude and seeking help from Dr. Oz-like ageing men is…

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View from my window: Avoiding the broad brush

Augst 9, 2026 Last week Congressional House Representative Zach Nunn visited Greene County. While here he toured a manufacturing site and viewed the renovated school that will soon house residents at the Jeffersonian. All good things. That evening, he was hosted along with other Republican public servants at the Courtyard. Constituents should interact with their government representatives. Again, all good.…

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Social-ism

~by Colleen O’Brien Fear of socialism in the U.S. is widespread; most of that fear generates from capitalism-only individuals. They fire up fear of Democrats and other liberal folks for leaning toward socialism because they’re afraid the dreaded S is going to eat them up and spit out their million-billion-trillion-dollar gains. That sounds more like what capitalism does to the rest of…

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The proof is in the pudding: A play

~by Colleen O’Brien Scene in a pub in Jefferson, Iowa, on a late summer day, 2026: Six townies lounge at the bar chatting, sipping, gazing into space. A lone woman sits at a table smiling dreamingly as she munches on French fried onion rings. The bartender chats with the old guy leaning against the wall at the end of the…

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