19 thoughts on “Prompts for Richard Manning’s “The Trouble With Iowa””

1. Iowa is politically significant as Iowa’s caucus marks the opening of presidential voting. The state has ultimately began to foreshadow who will win the presidential election. Being used as a trial run, Iowa is the first state to vote which allows other states to see where the majority of the people are standing and which influences other states decisions. Through the caucus in Iowa it can be seen whose platform is effective and whose isn’t. Aside from affecting other state’s votes it helps for a candidate to see in which aspects she/he may need to improve to gain the support of the rest of the nation.
   Political candidates such as Donald Trump engage with Iowa in a significant level by targeting what Iowa is most known for, their corn. He appeals through people through pathos, or at least he attempts to. Trump says “I’m driving through these beautiful fields. I want to grab that corn like you’ve never seen.” Trump continues his speech, leading to immigration. Trump states that Mexican immigrants are a big problem and they should be deported. What Trump was trying to do to is target the people of Iowa, make them believe that Mexican immigrants are the ones are are ruining these “beautiful corn fields.” Trump’s pathos has failed through his ignorance to the fact that Mexican immigrants are the ones working these corn fields and helping Iowa prosper in the one area in which they can.
   There are many legal complexities surrounding legislating rules in controlling fertilizer run-off. Some organizations such at The Environmental Protection Agency don’t believe that farm pollution is considered pollution at all, they have argued that pollution cannot come from pipes. This is one of the first major complexities, the fact that not everybody views fertilizer run-off to be an issue at all. The next complexity is the financial one, there is not enough money to control the pollution. Attempting to change out these pipes would cost millions of dollars and removing all of the nitrate from the water as the cost is too large and the problem would not be stopped at the core. In order for this pollution to stop at the core the federal government would have to stop subsidizing the growing of corn, the article states. As corn being America’s largest crop, eliminating the growth of this crop would lead to a loss of millions of dollars for the US. Many ecological effects encompass nitrogen being in the water. The pollution is so toxic and severe that death may occur. “Don’t drink the water” has been advertised all over Iowa as the tap water is undrinkable due to pollution.
   The political rhetoric in Iowa connects with the major economic and ecological issues as many presidential candidates are attempting to handle the issue. Many candidates have pledged support for federal intervention into Iowa’s biggest problem. Despite pledging support candidates such as Hilary Clinton are pledging one thing but supporting another. Clinton sits on the board of Walmart where chickenization occurs and Bill Clinton was Tysons biggest political supporter. These candidates pledge to make reform regarding Iowa’s issues — pollution and processed meat — yet they do the complete opposite. Manning establishes ethos, logos, and pathos to construct his argument about Iowa’s problem(s). He speaks about the death of people from pollution and the obesity of the people in Iowa as his pathos. He hopes to achieve a feeling of pity and sympathy for the people of Iowa. Manning uses logos by mentioning cases from the past regarding Iowa’s problem as well as using numbers and figures to allow the reader understand why the issue is so hard to over come. Finally Manning uses ethos, throughout the whole article he mentions people of higher authority such as presidential candidates along with CEO’s of major companies to establish credibility.

2. Iowa is important politically because the state provides us with Americas largest crop which is corn. Iowas agribusiness is run by mostly Mexicans. Mexican immigrants contribute to the border-crossing and immigration issue we have in America. Donald Trump says while he was in Iowa he wanted to run his fingers through the corn field, yet thinks we should get rid of the Mexicans who grow and harvest this corn.

   Some of the ecological effects of this nitrogen going into the water supply are

3. The fact that the nitrogen is poisonous basically and its the cause of the ‘Dead Zone’ and 25% of the nitrogen comes from Iowa itself.

   The political rhetoric connects with the problem at stake in the state because candidates like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz want to focus on the problem of immigration in Iowa.

4. Iowa is really important because they hold the Iowa Caucuses, which is a political event that elects delegates for the state’s counties. Various political candidates engage politics by appealing to emotion. They express their anger and dissatisfaction to gain attention to Iowa.

   In order to control the fertilizer run-off, the federal government would have to stop subsidizing the growth of corn. If this is the case, it could seriously damage the state revenue of Iowa. The nitrogen going into the water will cause it to become polluted and potentially harmful to humans to use and consume.

   It does not connect because these political subjects do not involve economic or ecological subjects hand in hand like it should. Some tools the author of this article used to construct his argument was heavy details. He likes to provide specific dates and names to help support his argument and to make it more persuasive.

5. The state of Iowa is important, politically, because it helps to lay out a blueprint for how Presidential candidates should run their campaigns. Iowa is, in essence and embodiment of many of the U.S’ issues. Because of the fact that Iowa is also first in the caucuses, candidates are able to use Iowa as a sort of experimental ground for their entire campaign. What works in Iowa, should, in theory, work for most of the country.
   The Presidential candidates, such as Donald Trump, appeal to the emotions of the Iowa locals. He, for example, tried to relate to the agricultural part of the country by stating “I’m driving through these beautiful fields. I want to grab that corn like you’ve never seen. So rich, so beautiful.”
   One of the legal complexities related to fertilizer run-off is in the statement from federal law that says that run-off from a factory pipe is called “point source” and is regulated. However, When rain falls in Iowa, it arrives at water distribution plants polluted because of runoff from farm land fertilizers. This run-off is known as “nonpoint source.” It is also not regulated by the government at all. The run-off will render the drinking water for the people of Des Moines undrinkable.
   One instance of political rhetoric that Manning highlights is Hillary Clinton’s support for the “Renewable Fuel Standard.” Hillary Clinton wrote an op-ed for the Iowa Gazette confirming her support. She endorsed an effort for the United States to lead the world in Clean Energy. Manning, however, points out that Clinton had an escort team with two black Suburbans, and a white van (High gas consuming cars).

6. Basically Iowa caucuses are one of the main reasons why Iowa is important politically. As a result of their caucuses being held differently from the other states where other states hold private ballots but Iowa hold public ballots, These ballots allow the candidates to get a taste of where they are in the race. In addition Iowa caucuses lead off the election season. Candidates tend to target Iowa citizens by targeting the problems that affect them in an attempt to sway the votes to their side which may influence voting on other states.

   Many of the problems that come with legislating rules to control fertilizer run-off come from the fact that one, the government doesn’t regard run-off as a legitimate contribution to pollution and secondly, I personally believe that such legislations would change the agricultural scene in a way that the government fears would lead to less profit from the agricultural scene in Iowa. They’d prefer to continue putting their citizens at health risks than lose any revenue that agriculture brings in. Nitrogen, which can be found in such run-off is poisonous. Aside from having health effects to humans who intake it, it also leads to the deprivation of river life and life in nature in general. An example of the effect of Nitrogen is the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico which Iowa contributes 25% to. The dead zone is just zones in which oxygen levels become so low that animal life suffocates and dies.

   I believe Mannings Word choice played a key role in her development of her argument. She uses political words in order to form a credible argument that sound less opinionated but more factual. His Word choice helps her connect with the ecological issue at hand by making his argument sound more like he knows what he’s talking about rather than a plead or rant for change.

7. 1- Iowa is politically important because of its caucus. It is the first caucus for the presidential election, which makes this State an important battle ground for presidential nominees. We see this is true in the article when Trump went to visit. In addition to the importance of being the first caucus for the election, it is also a state for nominees to gain or lose support on certain issues. These issues include, harsh water conditions and immigrants. Due to the large quantity of corn fields in the state, most of the working force there are immigrant workers. Trump stated during his visit, these Mexican immigrants are a major problem and should be deported. Along with the immigrants the growing pollution into the water supply in Iowa has reached a severe level where it was said to be undrinkable.

   2- Legal complexities involving in legislative rules to control the fertilizer run off include many variables . One of which is the large amount of hog and corn fields that directly contribute to the large amount of nitrogen that enter the pipes then into the water supply. As stated in the article the EPA says,” that farm pollution is not pollution because it does not come out of a pipe, but in Iowa farm pollution does come out of pipes.” Due to the amount of feces these large hog farms accumulate, the water pollution is overwhelming for the current cleaning machinery. It has been determined to fix the machinery and start cleaning the water supply it will cost an estimated 180 million dollars. Although this money can help the issue it will not solve it. As stated in the article, ” agriculture fertilizers traveling from the corn belt down the Mississippi River have killed a Connecticut size of the Gulf of Mexico that is now called the Dead Zone and contributes 25 percent of the nitrate pollution to the Dead Zone.”

   3- The political rhetoric in Iowa does connect with major economic and ecological issues. We see this when most nominees including Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Hillary clinton and current governor of Ohio John Kasich try to fix these current problems. An example of this is seen in the article when it says how certain politicians including Hillary and Bill clinton support big conglomerates like tyson and try to play both sides in order to protect their image. Some rhetorical tools Manning used to construct his argument include evidence, logos and testimony.

8. Prompt #1:
   Iowa is important politically because its caucaus is representative of the opening to the presidential voting. Iowa obtains quite a large amount of influence because that is the state that is able to vote first and can have a huge impact on the ways in which other states will decide to place their votes as well. The votings in Iowa can show which candidate is struggling and who is doing well and can serve as a template for how they must continue to win over other states.

9. Iowa is important to the political world because in Iowa they have the Iowa Caucuses. The Iowa Caucuses is the start of the presidential voting. Since Iowa is the first state allowed to vote it sets momentum to the candidates that run for president since everyone who votes after Iowa will see who people like the best and see best fit to run the country. The candidates who run give there own views on political problems the country is facing and try there best to manipulate their words to appeal to the crowd(Iowa).

   The legal complexities involved in legislating rules to control fertilizer run off are that the government of the United States will have to stop funding the growth of corn which is literally impossible today as everything in we eat has corn as an ingredient. If lets say that happens the government stops funding that would affect Iowas revenue greatly as they produce tons upon tons of corn for the whole country.

   The political rhetoric in Iowa does connect with major economic and ecological issues because the candidates running and even the people that are already nominated in Iowa try to fix these issues that face Iowa. But on one hand they may say the will fix these issues but that will most likely never happen as the biggest supporters/ sponsors of these candidates are the same sponsors who are the cause of the problem. Rhetorical Tools that the author uses to make his argument are logos and evidence.

10. prompt #2:
    The legal complexities involved in legislating rules to control fertilizer run off are that the government must put a complete end to funding for the ongoing growth of corn in the U.S. Corn is used in almost every form of agriculture (examples would be feeding cows, using for products like high fructose corn syrup which is in literally everything we consume and so on). Doing this, however, will effect Iowa in an extreme way because “Iowa grows more of it than any other state.” (24)

11. Also, the ecological effects of nitrogen going into the water means having to spend millions of dollars to clean it because it will become dangerous to consume. However, the article states how it not only has detrimental health affects to people drinking it, having health effects to humans who intake it, it begins to negatively effect nature all together and the rivers that become polluted with it (for example, the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico displays how it has become so intoxicated with nitrogen that it can no longer support wildlife).

12. The reason Iowa is such an important state politically because it is of 10 states that hold caucuses, or town meetings where people or groups by show of hand claim who they support for the presidential elections. This allows candidates to try and target what they believe will be a widely expressed view by the people of these states. They do so by appealing to emotions.

    The complexities involved in legislating rules to control fertilizer run off are that the government of the United States will have to stop funding the growth of corn which is the main crop today’s agriculture in the US. To try and regulate it would mean to give up a good portion of the crops the US grows. The ecological effects nitrogen has on bodies of water is usually harmless unless it is far too much nitrogen. When it is too much nitrogen it causes excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants causing the water to clog up.

13. Iowa is significant in the political arena because it is the first of multiple caucuses for the presidential election. During the caucus, the candidates present their positions and potential policies. They tailor their speeches to the crowd in the hopes of gaining more votes.
    Legislating to control the fertilizer run off is a complex issue. While the rain water is pure and clean, by the time it reaches the pipes that transport it to the various rivers it is polluted to the point of violating federal standards for drinking water. One problem is that the “source” of the water cannot always be regulated. The government can create laws about water from factory pipes but run off water cannot be regulated. This issue is significant in Iowa because of the large crops of corn that are grown and the large number of hogs that are raised. Cutting back on either of these products would significantly effect the economy of the state.
    Political rhetoric in Iowa does connect with the economic and ecological issues. Candidates will say what they think the people want to hear but many times will also support the businesses and individuals who give them substantial contributions. For example, Hillary Clinton supports the Renewable Fuel Standard yet, her motorcade has two black suburbans and a large white van. She also sits on the board of Walmart which contributes to the large number of chickens and therefore, the feces contamination of the soil and water. The author uses specific examples and tugs at emotional heart strings to convey his point of view.

14. The Iowa caucuses draw a lot of attention to a pretty quiet but largely agricultural state. News agencies and political organizations take frequent polls to find out what the Iowans are thinking during the caucuses. They do this because Iowa is the first state in the nation to show support for the candidates. The news agencies and political organizations get their ideas for how the rest of America will vote because the level of support for candidates is so high in Iowa. Donald Trump engaged with Iowa on a symbolic level by talking about its corn. He said, “I’m driving through these beautiful fields. I want to grab that corn like you’ve never seen. So rich, so beautiful.” He then says the Mexicans are ruining these fields, but those Mexicans are maintaining the fields.

    The Environmental Protection Agency state that the pollution cannot come from pipes. They don’t think it is a big deal for the fertilizer to have run off. The article also says that in order to control the run off, they would have to stop funding the growth of corn. This is literally impossible today because almost every single thing we consume has corn or a corn product in it. A form of corn is the base product for most food. The nitrogen makes the water undrinkable. The machinery that is meant to fix it will not solve the main issue, but lessen the amount of nitrogen in water. The water is filled with filth from the hogs.

    I think that this political rhetoric directly connects with major economic and ecological issues. The candidates have an incentive to come try to win Iowa as a state because of how much value it holds; then they hit the main issues that Iowa is dealing with today, corn, nitrogen. They come up with ways to fix these issues and problems the state is having. The rhetorics used here and evidence.

15. Politically, Iowa is extremely important. The caucuses that are made there determine the presidential candidates and set the pace for American elections. This importance is emphasized by the wide media coverage Iowa gets due to the caucuses, which put Iowa in the spot light. Apart from the caucuses, Iowa is important politically because of its resources like corn (of which Iowa is the largest producer) and its water sources which presidential candidates engage with.
    Donald Trump engages with Iowa through the symbol of its corn. He says on page 23, “I’m driving through these beautiful fields. I want to grab that corn like you’ve never seen. So rich, so beautiful.” Trump argues that immigrants destroy America’s resources. By referring to the corn, he is saying that the Mexican immigrants who labour on Iowa’s corn fields destroy them instead of maintaining them.
    John Kasich uses the “Cornbelt fertilizer pollution” of Iowa’s water bodies to engage with it. He did not see much of a problem with this pollution or if he did, he did not solve it through the right means. Instead he “called out the National Guard to distribute bottled water” which did nothing to solve the problem.
    Ted Cruz has identified with Iowa by “being the only candidate to come out unequivocally against the Renewable Fuel Standard” and by explicitly praising Trump for following his lead on immigration.”
    Unlike Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have engaged with Iowa by “endorsing the Renewable Fuel Standard.” Clinton even “penned an op-ed for the Iowa Gazette confirming her support for the mandate.”

    There are two main legal complexities involved in legislating rules to control fertilizer run off. Firstly, major environmental organizations such as the EPA that could support this mandate do not even view it as a pollution problem. The EPA says that “farm pollution is not pollution because it does not come out of a pipe.” The other complexity is the issue of the huge financial cost of solving this problem. It would be a financial burden of millions of Dollars to remove the pipes and fix new ones or cut of corn production.

    There are many ecological effects of the nitrogen going into the water. Most importantly, it can cause people and animals who drink from the water to die. It is so severe that signs with “don’t drink the water” have been put up in Iowa. Another effect is that it destroys water resources uas it already has and lead to the “Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico.”

    The political rhetoric in Iowa connects with the major economic and ecological issues at stake in the state due to the fact that the presidential candidates tried to solve the issues. For example, Clinton gave assurance of her support but did the opposite by supporting opposing tycoons like Tyson.

    The rhetorical tools Manning uses to support his argument about Iowa’s problem include logos, direct speech, specific facts and figures as evidence, which all work to convey his point clearly to the reader and cause the reader to agree with it.

16. Although it can be perceived by mainstream America as a dismal, boring state, Iowa holds significant importance in our country, especially in its influence in the United States presidential election. The Iowa Caucus is an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in all of Iowa’s 1,681 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding conventions in each of the state’s 99 counties. These county conventions then select delegates for both Iowa’s Congressional District Convention and the State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nominating conventions. Since 1972, the Iowa caucuses have been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States. Because of its allure, presidential candidates recognize the need to capitalize on such a vital event in the campaigning road; in doing so, they will do anything to win the masses over. For example, Donald Trump, the republican party presidential nominee, can be shown trying to directly appeal to the residents of Iowa. He attacks this strategy by playing the biases that Iowa residents have towards immigration, corn, and other various agricultural segments of the industry. By doing so, Donald Trump is able to relate to the residents on a symbolic level by making it seem as if he has a deep empathy to what the citizens in Iowa view as issues.

    There are few things in this world that are easy; one especially being legislation. Just proposing legislation in itself is an arduous procedure, let alone passing the piece of legislation. These complexities that surround the world of legislation are oftentimes extensive; requiring experience and years of academic training just to sift through the basics. However, it is blatantly evident that a huge challenge in passing specific legislation to control fertilizer run-off would be the numerable corporations that have a strong footstep in congress, special interest groups, and lobbying officials. These challenges are tough to navigate through, even though it is necessary to help mitigate the damages being done to our ecosystem. These damages are playing a large part in destroying our natural world, lessening the ability to produce on its own, and making the ecosystem that we inhabit far less well off. It is blatantly obvious in the text how disgusting and careless the issue of the fecal waste contaminating Iowa’s drinking water, and instances like that are just becoming far more frequent as time goes by.

    The political rhetoric in Iowa has a strong correlation with the major economic and ecological issues on the political agenda due to the fact that the presidential candidates vowed their attention towards working on the issues. However, it is apparent that even though one may say they will work towards solving an issue, there is still a chance nothing may be done. For example, Clinton gave assurance of her support to help the residents of Iowa, however, she then switched sides when she began supporting big corporations like Tyson. Manning was able to display both sides of the case eloquently so he can support his argument. He skillfully used outside opinions, direct quotations, statistics and other direct figures to artfully paint the picture about Iowa’s problem.

17. Iowa is incredibly important politically because its the sight of the first caucus, and though they themselves have proven to not hold much weight in determining the outcome of the elections, they still give the candidates a force to get behind. The candidates change like day and night, and when they go to Iowa, they love to put on their straw hat and pander to the people by talking about issues surrounding the people.

    The legal complexities go as far as the money goes, when their is money in polluting, then the meaning of polluting is changed. If non nitrogen infused drinking water for the people means new pipes, and new pipes means few million dollars loss for the country, well then the people can go get Poland Spring.

    Iowa is no different than other states in that basically all that comes from the candidates mouth should be questioned and investigated heavily. They will claim they are there for reform, but will then take donations and sit directly on the boards of company’s who are the worst offenders.

18. 1)Iowa is very important politically because of its Caucus. Being the first Caucus out of all the states in the country, Iowa is very important to politicians because it’s their first Caucus and it is the first impression for all the candidates. Also, it’s very important for politicians because they use it as a test run for the future to se what does and doesn’t work.
    2)The legal complexities involved in legislating rules to control fertilizer run-off are extremely extensive. One of these many complexities include the massive amount of nitrogen going into the water from the hogs. Another complexity comes from the fact that in Iowa, it’s only considered pollution if it comes straight from a pipe. This is detrimental to the control of pollution because most of the pollution in Iowa doesn’t come from pipes themselves but from the feces of Hogs as well as corn farms.
    3)The political rhetoric in Iowa is connected with the major economic as well as ecologic issues at stake in the state. This is seen when candidate Hillary Clinton claims to want to fix the problems faced by Iowa but at the same time supports big businesses like Tyson who are the root cause of the pollution problem itself.

19. 1) Iowa is imperative politically due to its Caucus. Being the main Caucus out of the considerable number of states in the nation, Iowa is critical to government officials since it’s their first Caucus and it is the initial introduction for every one of the applicants. Additionally, it’s imperative for government officials since they utilize it as a trial for the future to se what does and doesn’t work.

    2) The lawful complexities required in enacting standards to control manure keep running off are to a great degree broad. One of these numerous complexities incorporate the gigantic measure of nitrogen going into the water from the swines. Another multifaceted nature originates from the way that in Iowa, it’s lone considered contamination on the off chance that it comes straight from a pipe. This is impeding to the control of contamination in light of the fact that a large portion of the contamination in Iowa doesn’t originate from channels themselves yet from the defecation of Hogs and in addition corn ranches.

    3) The political talk in Iowa is associated with the major financial and in addition ecologic issues in question in the state. This is seen when applicant Hillary Clinton cases to need to settle the issues confronted by Iowa however in the meantime underpins huge organizations like Tyson who are the underlying driver of the contamination issue itself.