“So far, we have been fortunate not to have any cases of Measles in the great state of Iowa.  However, in 2025 we have seen measles cases increase significantly in the United States, including cases in three of our neighbor states.  While I believe vaccination is a personal choice between you and your doctor, I strongly encourage each and every one of you to get the measles vaccine if you have not done so already.”

– Governor Kim Reynolds

This quote is fake.  I made it up.

I came up a statement I would like to see from Governor Reynolds regarding the status of measles in the United States; I hope she issues some statement to that effect.  I would have skipped the part of it being a choice between you and your doctor, not because I don’t believe it’s true, but because I think it weakens the call to action, but I think it more closely aligns with a message she would be comfortable giving.

I encourage civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

Please look at the two pictures provided on yearly measles cases – one shows measles cases from 1985 to 2025, and one shows from 2000-2025.  The reduction in cases from 1990-1993 was so significant the chart is difficult to even understand when you start with the earlier timeline.  Both of these charts were taken from the CDC webpage on Measles – the same one I link below.

What changed in the early 1990s that made cases fall so much?  The CDC recommended a second dose of the measles vaccine in children in 1989.  This is science in action – creating a safe vaccine, studying the results, and recommending modifications as data shows the results.

There were nearly 10,000 cases in 1991, just over 2,000 cases in 1992, and the most since then was in 2019 with just over 1,200.  We have already surpassed 1,000 cases in 2025 in early May.  There have cases in Missouri, in Illinois, and in Minnesota.  Granted, that only accounts for a total of 10 cases, it seems that it is only a matter of time until we see cases in Iowa.

Thankfully, measles vaccination rates remain high.  Iowa ranks 31^st in the U.S. for measles vaccination rate, but that still is a large majority of 91.5% vaccinated, but falls short of target and the rates have decrease over the last few years.  Various local officials have called for increased vaccinations, but not a single Iowa politician has put out a call for the public to get vaccinated.

In addition to measles, the United States is cutting funding for surveillance of tuberculosis, pulled back on health tracking data, and we are seeing polio cases increase across the world though it has not yet spread like other viral disease.

 

Sources:

History of Measles Vaccine – National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)

https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

Measles hits 1,000 cases — for the second time in 30 years – POLITICO

Missouri health department announces first measles case of 2025 • Missouri Independent

City of Chicago :: Measles: Get The Facts

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-measles-case-april-2025/

MMR Vaccination Rates in US States – WorldAtlas

Iowa’s measles vaccination rates below target – Axios Des Moines

Measles Press Release 2025.pdf

USAid cuts could create untreatable TB bug ‘resistant to everything we have’ | Tuberculosis | The Guardian

Cuts have eliminated more than a dozen US government health-tracking programs | AP News

https://www.who.int/news/item/10-04-2025-statement-of-the-forty-first-meeting-of-the-polio-ihr-emergency-committee#:~:text=In%202025%2C%2080%20WPV1%2Dpositive,both%20endemic%20countries%20throughout%202024.

In the last few days, the Trump Administration (specifically, the Department of Homeland Security) has stated plainly that arresting Democrats for protests is “definitely on the table”.

Interestingly enough, I actually agree with the underlying premise behind this concept.  If someone is breaking the law in a manner consistent with an arrest being the appropriate outcome, they should be arrested.  It should not matter who they are.  However, please note from the article above, that members of congress have the legal right to unannounced oversight of ICE facilities.

I want to highlight the difference in media around this incident.  Look at the headlines, the order various statements appear, and how they are discussed.

Axios:

Trump DHS eyes arrests for House Democrats over New Jersey ICE incident

Fox News:

DHS says ‘arrests are still on the table’ after New Jersey House Dems storm ICE facility | Fox News

Newsweek:

Trump Admin Says ‘Definitely on the Table’ to Arrest Democrats Over Protest – Newsweek

What did you notice?

 

I would also like to call attention to how this was discussed in the context of the January 6^th rioter who was killed, Ashli Babbitt.

Here is an article that talks about Donald Trump’s comments about her in 2003: Trump splits with McCarthy on Babbitt’s death: ‘I totally disagree’.

She was attempting to climb over barriers to reach the chambers of Congress. There is video evidence of her death.  I do not recommend watching.

If the Trump Department of Justice thinks the people in New Jersey were storming an ICE facility, why did they agree to a settlement with Ashli Babbitt’s family?

I do want to add that I truly feel sorry for her and her family.  I sincerely doubt she was led down this path by people with good intentions.

 

DHS Spokesperson: More Dem arrests are ‘on the table’ after ICE facility scrum – POLITICO

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/10/trump-ice-arrest-house-democrats-new-jersey

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dhs-says-arrests-on-table-after-new-jersey-house-dems-caught-camera-storming-ice-facility

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-administration-threatens-democratic-lawmakers-ice-protests-2070578

Trump splits with McCarthy on Babbitt’s death: ‘I totally disagree’

Videos show shooting of Ashli Babbitt during Capitol siege

US reaches settlement in Ashli Babbitt wrongful death lawsuit | AP News

Why are we focusing on support for South African Refugees?

Over the last few days, there have been increasing reports that the Trump administration will start granting refugee status to South Africans of Afrikaans decent.

I invite civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

As my last African Politics Class at Iowa State was in about 2007, my knowledge is slightly dated – the last two stories I remember about South Africa specifically are questions about which of Jacob Zuma’s wives would be first lady when he won in 2009, and when the African National Committee (ANC) lost power for the first time in decades in 2024.

According to one article in The Guardian, Afrikaners are still faring better than the general population in South Africa.  I have also seen articles claiming a lot of the population is eager to come to the United States but I do question if 70,000 people looking to claim asylum are truly doing so due to fear of persecution or other reasons with a total Afrikaans population of around  4.6 million in the country.

I believe it is important to welcome refugees, and I am thankful that Robert Ray was a driver for such programs in Iowa, bringing in the Tai Dam from Southeast Asia as a result of conflicts in the 1970s.  If widespread conflict and violence is causing undue harm to people in South Africa, I absolutely believe we should bring them in.

At the same exact time the Trump Administration is looking to welcome South African refugees, they were blocked from revoking legal status from people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and then asked the Supreme Court to weigh in.  They were even looking to revoke legal status of Ukrainian refugees.

I fully support asylum claims and helping resettle refugees in the United States.  But why is the Trump Administration choosing to support South African Refugees while turning their backs on those from other countries?

While his administration looks to overturn legal status for migrants of many countries, they are also considering suspending habeas corpus, and continuing brutal roundups of migrants in Massachusetts with ICE agents refusing to show a warrant, saying “we don’t have to show you anything.”

 

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/09/nx-s1-5391815/first-afrikaners-granted-refugee-status-due-to-arrive-in-u-s

https://www.npr.org/2024/06/01/nx-s1-4987616/south-africa-election-results

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/which-wife-will-become-south-africas-first-lady/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/06/white-afrikaner-donald-trump-america-us-administration

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjevg2vlwk4o

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#Demographics

https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2687/robert-d-ray-iowa-governor-humanitarian-leader

U.S. appeals court rejects Trump bid to revoke 400,000 migrants’ legal status

Trump asks Supreme Court to revoke legal status of 500,000 immigrants

Trump weighs revoking legal status of Ukrainians as US steps up deportations | Reuters

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/us/trump-habeas-corpus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GE8.6Mb9.RkVaomJCKryi&smid=url-share

Video: Worcester police hold teen girl down during ICE operation – NBC New York

Chaotic ICE arrest in Worcester leads to second arrest by local police – masslive.com

Today, I want to give a compliment for President Trump.

While I generally appreciate consistency, I can also respect the ability to adjust when it is necessary.  We saw this in a pretty shocking fashion in 2017 when Donald Trump struck a deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi related to DACA recipients.  We are now reportedly seeing him change his tune on income taxes for high income earners as a way to protect Medicaid.  The reporting is somewhat ambiguous, but it seems the proposal is approximately to raise the top marginal income tax rate from 37% to 39.6% for people making over $2.5 million.

So what do we mean by top marginal tax rate?  The marginal tax rate is the percent of your income you will pay in taxes above the threshold.  This means, with a marginal tax rate starting at $2.5 million if your income grows from $100,000 to $2.6 million, the tax is only assessed on the amount over $2.5 million.  Adding a top marginal tax rate of 39.6% tax on top of current tax rates, the total federal income taxes paid for someone making $2.5 million would be $882,020 and someone making $2.6 million would be $922,620, changing their total tax rate from 35.3% to 35.4%.*

For a long time, I have despised the lack of nuance in tax policy discussion.  It makes sense to me to decrease income taxes on lower income earners and increase taxes on higher income earners.  The current income tax for top earners is at a record low 1931.  We shouldn’t simply focus on the divide of increasing versus decreasing taxes when we can do both at the same time and reduce the deficit.  For reference, the top marginal tax rate ever was 94% in 1944-1945

Add onto the relatively low top tax rates, we are experiencing extreme differences in income – the GINI coefficient shows income inequality in the United States increasing substantially from the 1980s to today – with much of that happening from 1980 to 1992 before stabilizing at a much higher level.

Please do not consider this support for the bill in general, only for the provision of increasing taxes on higher incomes while lowering them for lower incomes.

* Note, for simplicity, this ignores tax credits and deductions.

Sources:

Schumer, Pelosi say they’ve reached a deal with Trump to protect ‘dreamers’ | PBS News

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5290814-trump-tax-hike-wealthy-gop-bill/

Trump revives millionaire tax talks as Democrats blast GOP on Medicaid

Marginal Tax Rate: What It Is and How To Determine It, With Examples

IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2025 | Internal Revenue Service

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2021/04/26/taxing-the-rich-the-evolution-of-americas-marginal-income-tax-rate-infographic/

GINI Index for the United States (SIPOVGINIUSA) | FRED | St. Louis Fed

Historical Highest Marginal Income Tax Rates | Tax Policy Center

 

I invite civil, bipartisan discussion on this post.

Stories of the United States deporting people to El Salvador have widely been reported, including many without criminal records, and many, apparently, without due process.  This isn’t just deportation.

In addition to El Salvador, discussions have been ongoing to send deportees to Rwanda and now they are underway to send prisoners to Libya.  This isn’t just deportation.

Similarly, we have seen reports on the conditions at CECOT in El Salvador.  According to Amnesty International, the conditions at Rwandan prisons are also dreadful.  The conditions at prisons in Libya are so terrible the United Nations has demanded their Migrant Detention Centers be closed while Amnesty talked of systematic torture in their prisons.  This isn’t just deportation.

I understand wanting a secure border, and I understand wanting to make sure people follow the appropriate legal process for coming into the United States of America.  This, however, isn’t just deportation.  We are trying to send people to prisons so cruel they would never be allowed in the United States.  This is designed to inflict the most possible harm on those deported by sending them to the most notoriously cruel prisons in the world.

This isn’t just deportation.  This is cruel and unusual punishment.

What will it take for Congress to weigh in?

 

Sources:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-deportation-el-salvador-cecot-prison-b2716191.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-records-show-about-migrants-sent-to-salvadoran-prison-60-minutes-transcript/

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/04/un-experts-alarmed-illegal-deportations-united-states-el-salvador

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5387506/rwanda-talks-us-deportation-migrants

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/us/politics/trump-libya-migrants.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Fk8.qc7a.HMXoB2nD0GVb&smid=url-share

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-deportation-el-salvador-cecot-prison-b2716191.html

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/rwanda/report-rwanda/

https://libyareview.com/25728/security-council-demands-closure-of-migrant-detention-centers-in-libya/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/north-africa/libya/report-libya/

Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution – Wikipedia