Iowa's embracement of Industrial Ag hurts the state

[CatholicEdHead]

That's the message by this article in the Mpls StarTribune reprinting a NYT article. Corporate farming killed Iowa's fabric of life and that "no income taxes for anyone under 30" will not work.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5234344.html

"Last update: February 10, 2005 at 7:29 PM
Verlyn Klinkenborg: Iowa hurt by its embrace of industrial agriculture
Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times
February 11, 2005 KLINKEN0211


Lately the Iowa Legislature has been trying to find a way to solve a basic problem: how to keep young people from leaving the state. Right now, Iowa's "brain drain" is second only to North Dakota's. The Legislature is toying with a simple idea, getting rid of state income tax for everyone under 30. This proposal was front-page news in California, where most of Iowa moved in the 1960s.

Let me translate the economics of this plan. The State Legislature proposes to offer every young tax-paying Iowan a large delivery pizza -- or its cash equivalent, about $12 -- every week of the year. But smart young Iowans know this is only an average figure. The more you earn, the more state income tax you save.

If ever there were an incentive to earn your first hundred million by the time you're 30, this would be it. Never mind that South Dakota, right next door, charges no income tax no matter how old you are.

Of course, there are serious questions about financing this tax break, which could cost as much as $200 million a year. The best bet would be to require young people to spend their dole on the Iowa Lottery.

Iowans are resolutely practical about such proposals. One state legislator, quoted in Minnesota's Star Tribune, said: "Let's face it. Des Moines will never be Minneapolis." He might have added that Council Bluffs would never be Kansas City. Another Iowan, when asked what the state needed to keep its young people, said, "An ocean would help." This is the kind of big thinking Iowa has always been famous for."

[GetTheRightVote]

1. I am from iowa and had to leave to make a living but would like to go back

if ever possible but they need better jobs with better salaries before that would happen for me. Their salary ranges are just terrible.

:kick:

[rurallib]

3. Too true

My son-in-law wanted & tried to stay in Iowa but was offered 2X as much in Peoria, Illinois.
I see the new ploy is to cut income taxes for people over 65 (or something like that). Sort of like a football team. You gotta have a full game plan, not just a few trick plays. Good education, solid infrastructure, reasonable and understandable taxes etc.

[SharonAnn]

2. I, too, grew up in Iowa during the 50's and early 60's. It was great!

I really had a wonderful childhood. Lived in a town of about 75,000 that had lots of manufacturing companies related to farming. Some small, some medium, and one large.

Classmates were from a mix of city and farm families and we moved back and forth between both environments all the time. Education standards were very high so many of us went on to post high school education of one kindor another. An amazing number of nurses, doctors, professors, lawyers, research scientists, teachers, musicians and business people.

And it's all so different now. The town seems shrunken and dead. The average income is way down. Many farms are obviously nolonger run by the family living on the farm. The fields are part of a large, anonymous corporation and the house is just rental property.

I was so lucky.

[terryg11]

4. it's not as mch about money as legislators would like us to think

as pointed out in your post. In fact there was a study done by the Register possibly showing how many of the people moved to states with the same or higher tax rates than Iowa. One of the biggest reasons young people leave Iowa is change. It is a great place to raise a family but as for excitement and variety, it's not on tooo many people's top twenty.

AS far as wages, it's true we rank pretty low but cost of living is reflected in that no? It's still relatively cheaper to live in Iowa than most other hot spots where everyone is going to earn "better" money

[Hobarticus]

6. Quality of life has A LOT to do with it...

I've had several friends from out of state come visit and RAVE about the people, the cost of living, and the enviornment here. Most are from the Chicago area and love to come visit.

[progressoid]

5. Born, raised, and still live here...

Yep, brain drain and plain old decay. Rural IA is becoming a trailer park, and urban IA is just urban. As stated above, cultural life here is a bit lacking. And of course the growth of corporate farming has been devastating. Many IA farmers are now a mixture of indentured servants and share-croppers.

But I think there are a few other issues to deal with here.

First, I don't think the population in general wasn't willing to progress into this century. I think for the last 30 years there was a feeling that we could somehow continue this status quo existence and maintain our "midwestern lifestyle". Unfortunately, the rest of the world just kept moving on.

Then, there is the geographic issue. We don't have the landscape for much except farming. Even short vacations for many Iowans mean going to neighboring states (MN, WI, IL, MO, etc) for recreation. Only Nebraska has fewer natural attractions. And since our farm profits mostly leave the state like Walmart profit, that doesn't leave much for investment in attractions.

Let's not forget the small town issue. We have more small towns than any other state. This is fine if you like small town living, but in today's world, it is rarely financially possible to stay in one. In many other states, small towns continue to exist because they become bedroom communities to larger towns. Here, that is often just not feasible.

Finally there was the long and tortuous reign of Terry-braindead-Brandstad. sigh.

[Hobarticus]

7. Latest thing is that Iowa border counties would pay no tax....

Logic being that people are working in Iowa but living across the rivers and borders to get better tax breaks. So, by cutting taxes for border counties, they think they'll get people moving back to Iowa.

I dunno. I think it's just "starve the government" Grover Nordquist-style politics with a kinder, gentler face.