‘Just getting started’: Trump speech on DOGE, budget and border
President Donald Trump used his remarks before a joint session of Congress to spell out his vision for the next four years.
- We need government accountability. Trump, Musk and DOGE are providing it.
- I was looking forward to RAGBRAI. After the gender identity law, I won’t be coming.
We need government accountability. Trump, Musk and DOGE are providing it.
President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE are doing the Lord’s work. It isn’t easy being the adults cleaning up waste and abuse left by decades of federal government malfeasance.
Every day new revelations of outrageous behavior are uncovered, examples of which, by the way, never seem to get onto the pages of “the news Iowa depends upon,” but that is a topic for another day.
DOGE is actually performing a decades-overdue audit. As someone who has been on both sides of thorough audits, they aren’t fun, because audits demand accountability. An exhaustive audit is exactly what is needed in light of our $36 trillion debt and current $2 trillion annual deficit.
Instead of looking for solutions, Democratic politicians, the legacy news media, labor union bosses and lobbyists are blaming the auditors. As usual, avoiding any and all actual accountability is much easier than looking for ways to avoid the fiscal Armageddon headed our way.
What to do now? As that great philosopher, Pogo once said, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” We all share blame in this, all of us. In my opinion, after clearing the waste and abuse, the only way to put our fiscal house in order is to stop blaming the messengers and require a balanced federal budget. Nothing else will do.
Jon Johnson, Grimes
I was looking forward to RAGBRAI. After the gender identity law, I won’t be coming.
In 2018 I fulfilled a lifelong dream of riding the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. This year when it was announced that the route would bring the world’s largest bike touring event to northern Iowa, I was excited to ride it again.
I grew up on an idyllic Iowa family farm just a 30-minute drive from Estherville, which will be an overnight town on this year’s ride. The thought of riding a bike on the same roads and through the same towns that mark my best childhood memories seemed like another dream come true.
RAGBRAI is truly something to behold. Small towns along the route open their arms to 30,000 sweaty strangers. Riders from all over the world witness firsthand the best qualities of Iowans. Friendly, kind, and endlessly accommodating,
It is the epitome of “Iowa Nice.”
Now, I can’t in good conscience participate. Why? Because “Iowa Nice” is now a lie.
It is a lie because riders who, like me, were excited to participate in “Woodstock on wheels” may now be considered less than a person in Iowa.
If a trans person who simply wants to live honestly as who they really are is not welcome in Iowa, then as far as I’m concerned, neither am I.
I will not be participating in RAGBRAI this year, and I ask anyone reading this letter to consider also sitting it out. Your family, friends, neighbors, and fellow RAGBRAI riders may not be safe in Iowa anymore. If you value them and their humanity, hop on your bikes and ride together somewhere more welcoming this summer.
I will be.
Chris McGregor, Peoria, Illinois
