Introduction

Iowa is a good place because of its people. But like all places, it could be even better. This is a set of ten suggestions for making that happen. Each idea is rooted in a combination of principles:

• Most Iowans are good people
• Iowans want to improve their own lives and the lives of their families
• Prosperity is the best toolbox with which to make Iowans' lives better

We need to be a state focused on becoming "better than" -- not the childish "better than" of rivalries with neighboring states like Minnesota or Nebraska, but the "better than" that insists that tomorrow must improve upon today

This book is an attempt to highlight ten important ways in which we can improve. You will probably agree with some of these ideas and disagree with others, but in all probability, you will have heard very little about any of them. These ten ideas aren't necessarily answers to the ten most critical problems we have; they are instead answers to ten big issues that many of us can agree upon, no matter our political persuasion or lot in life.