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The distance from Chicago to Dubuque, or Clinton, or Davenport is around 200 miles. It’s almost 250 from Burlington. This is a drive of four to five hours, even with no traffic. Yet recent and proposed actions by the federal government make Eastern Iowa part of the “greater-Chicago area.”

The elected officials responsible for our Iowa towns, including those such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and Mount Pleasant – and those even further west – must take note. Once they lose local control of housing, then schools, zoning, transportation, the environment, and business location will be next. The central planners intend to use “big data” to force every region to meet nationally determined standards for every aspect of our communities. These regions will be directed by unelected governing boards that do not report to voters and do not even have to be contiguous.

Because they took the federal government’s money, Dubuque is now controlled by HUD and has become a part of Chicago. If our local governments keep taking the central planners’ taxpayer-provided money, ever more of Iowa will be forced to be just like Chicago, whether you live 200, 250, 350, or even 450 miles away.