Abstract
JAN FOX talks to an Iowa radio station boss about whether Donald Trump’s pledge to listen to Middle America was delivered
“We were hoping for better infrastructure and roads, changes in the ‘death tax’ to help farmers and continued support for the ethanol industry, which is vital to our state. We got none of it and people are frustrated. The ethanol industry, which was good under the Obama administration, has got worse, not better. Then, corn prices were decent; under Trump, they’ve tanked.”
He added: “I don’t see positive change anywhere.”
Hynek’s station, KSOI, serves his Clarke County town of Murray, population 700, and “neighbouring areas” within a 160-mile radius.
On the station, Hynek’s physician sister has a health show; his mum, Angie, deals with funeral announcements; and there’s a good mix of community news, a fishing and hunting show, a Bible spot on Sundays and a variety of music programmes. Hynek himself runs the grain report three times a day.
So what are the issues in Murray? He’s particularly concerned about things such as the inheritance tax (“death tax”) that he says cripples farmers and has led to the disbanding of long-held family farms.
“This administration promised to do something about that, and they’ve done nothing at all. When you inherit a farm, the tax is so high that it may take years – decades, even – to pay it back. If you inherit a farm worth a million dollars, you’re paying $300,000 in taxes. People end up quitting their family farms and it promotes the corporatisation of farms. But our voices on that haven’t been heard.”
Hynek was also looking for help with more basic improvements for his community. It never came.
“I was hoping we’d get roads – we’re really hurting for funds to provide them in rural areas – and we need asbestos water piping replaced with plastic piping. We have drainage issues here in Murray that need funding to do studies so we can improve life here. As a town, we’ve worked really hard to improve things, but we need help and it’s not coming.”
One of the worst blows to rural Iowan communities such as Hynek’s has been to the ethanol industry. Iowa is the leading ethanol producer in the USA, responsible for almost 30% of the nation’s output. Coronavirus has meant fewer people driving their cars so fuel consumption in general is down, but the Trump administration’s policies have delivered a second hit to the industry.
“Forty per cent of all corn grown here in Iowa is used for ethanol production, but Trump played double agent in the push to make ethanol,” said Hynek. “There are laws and mandates to include a certain percentage of ethanol in fuel and he started to issue exemptions to the people that mix the fuel, and that really hurt our grain prices.”
The administration has also seemingly ignored the effect trade policies would have on the farm-belt communities.
“The trade war with China also meant they stopped buying our soy beans and pork, and that’s had a big impact on rural areas like ours.”
China is the world’s biggest importer of US soy beans but, in a tit-for-tat move, exports slumped when the Trump administration slapped high tariffs on imported Chinese goods.
The market has shown some signs of recovery this year but Iowa farmers may still be lagging behind in revenue.
In Trump’s 2016 victory speech, he talked about “the forgotten men and women of our country”, declaring that they “will be forgotten no longer”, but change has not come to the people of Murray. They still feel as though they lack a voice on the national stage.
One change, though, has come, and Hynek feels it is not a good one. It’s a move to further mix religion and politics.
“There’s been a push for religion to be included in government. It’s fine to be religious, and this is a very faithful area, but America was designed to exclude religion from our governing,” he said. “It makes it harder for us all to co-exist as a nation.”
Hynek is unsure about how all this will affect the upcoming election, and he still sees a lot of Trump flags flying in his town. Why is this, when it seems as if Iowans’ voices haven’t been heard?
“It’s been very confusing, actually. I don’t feel like the people here who voted for Trump really got what they were wanting: the economic lifting, higher paying jobs, keeping more of their tax money,” said Hynek.
“Yes, he’s been dealing with illegal immigration and rattled the cage with China, which a lot of people seemed to want, but a lot of things he’s done have really hurt us.
“But I still hear a lot of support for him in our community. There may be some things that people are not so happy about, but I don’t think they are ticked off enough not to vote for him again.
“They like the idea that someone is protecting their liberties like carrying guns and not wearing facemasks. So they can put up with the other things.”
Currently, Hynek has other things on his mind. His wife is a doctor at the local hospital and coronavirus is starting to bite hard in the rural heartland, with numbers taking off after Memorial Day.
In the meantime, Hynek does what he does best: running the station he built himself out of his Victorian home and serving the community. The station stays away from politics, with the closest thing being regular public service announcements encouraging everyone to wear facemasks. It may be contentious for some Trump supporters, but Hynek sees it as a community service.
Their star DJ is a former music store owner who donated his entire record collection to the station when he found out he had to have both his legs amputated due to diabetes.
Since coming on air in 2012, KSOI has remained non-commercial and is supported only by the community. It’s small town but not small fry to the people of Murray and its surrounds.
In many rural areas where the internet is still spotty, community radio can be a lifeline and a way for people’s voices to be heard. People worry on a daily basis about grain prices and whether they can afford healthcare, hold on to their farms and have decent infrastructure. Hynek worries about all those things, but he also worries about the divisions that the Trump administration has opened up.
“If I had to guess the election, I’d say a lot of people won’t go to vote,” he said. “I thought we all wanted the same things for America, but maybe not.”