Welcome to Iowabama

In keeping with the hot, new trend of renaming places to reflect our political aspirations, I propose we rechristen our state Iowabama.

Granted, our aspirational model, Alabama, still leads our state in important quality of life measures like high infant mortality, poor access to health care, low educational outcomes and high rates of poverty and disease, it's clear our one-party state government has put us on a clear track to match their achievements.

How is this possible? Simply continue the current state policies of impoverishing county governments in order to put more of our state’s wealth into the pockets of large agricultural conglomerates while depriving small family farms and the communities they nourish of the local infrastructure, medical care, and educational opportunities they need to thrive. Push more responsibility for all of these public goods and services onto the county governments while simultaneously depriving them of the taxing authority to pay for them. Easy peasy.

The federal government, under its new leadership, will do its part by canceling programs that provide crop subsidies and grants to family farmers, thus pushing their farmlands into the waiting arms of Big Ag.

Alabama may have its stately old plantations, but we have King Corn and massive hog confinements — and an unbeatable cancer rate.

Go Iowabama!

Tom St. Clair

Decorah