Iowa
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3:44 a.m.
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“No legislation taking away liberties passed by Congress in last 36 hours. Snow froze activity in DC. Our State Secy of Ag mtgs continue.” ~ Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey “In public hearing- testimony about not closing Clarinda, not moving empowerment. Room is overflowing.” ~ Iowa Rep.Renee Schulte, R-Cedar Rapids “I don’t think any of Iowa’s ...
Iowa Independent - Mon 8:46 p.m.
The Iowa Attorney General's Office filed the first criminal charges in connection with the film tax credit scandal today. Tom Wheeler, who stepped down in September as manager of the office, faces a charge of non-felonious misconduct in office. Wheeler, 41, is accused of failing to verify the eligibility of applicants for the state's film tax credit program. Also charged is Wendy Weiner Rung...
Bleeding Heartland - Mon 6:13 p.m. - 3 clicks 
This series advances with new blue states and new peoples votes for all diaries making it more interesting every day. New votes here has the same value than old votes and make some things change here. Before start with a new state, what should be Massachusetts, a new difficult state, I must update Iowa. New votes in the poll for the third democrat from Iowa makes C Culver governor must be cons...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Mon 5:45 p.m.
State legislators have allowed clean water "anti-degradation" rules to stand, a step toward filling a significant hole in Iowa's water quality regulations. A last-ditch effort by Republicans failed to win enough votes on the Iowa legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee (ARRC) to set aside rules adopted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. I've joked that the ARRC's unofficia...
Bleeding Heartland - Mon 1:54 p.m. - 3 clicks
Iowa Republicans let Attorney General Tom Miller run for re-election unopposed four years ago, but Brenna Findley confirmed today that she is stepping up to the plate for the GOP this year : Raised on a farm near Dexter in southwest Dallas County, Findley, 33, attended Drake University in Des Moines and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History and minor in Russian with...
Bleeding Heartland - Mon 12:28 p.m. - 4 clicks
It’s funnel week for the Iowa legislature. Roxanne Conlin becoming darling of the netroots. Federal appeals court upholds Romona Cunningham’s sentence regarding CIETC scandal. Nate Silver: Sarah Palin needs help. Chuck Grassley needs a lesson in intellectual honesty. City of Des Moines plans nearly $10 million in budget cuts. ...
Iowa Independent - Mon 11:08 a.m. - 3 clicks
CEDAR RAPIDS -- The three candidates vying to be the GOP's nominee to face U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Mount Vernon, in November made it clear that they all believe government would be best served if it would simply get out of the way of its citizens....
Iowa Independent - Mon 11:08 a.m. - 3 clicks
Lawmakers are set to discuss controversial legislation that would set minimum pay and benefit standards for workers of some public projects Monday afternoon. House Study Bill 699, better known as prevailing wage, is scheduled to go before an Iowa House subcommittee at noon and then the full Labor Committee at 3:30 p.m. The bill is similar [...]...
Iowa Independent - Mon 8:22 a.m. - 4 clicks
More than 60 percent of Iowans think gay marriage "does not deserve the Legislature's limited time" this session, according to the latest poll conducted by Selzer and Associates for the Des Moines Register . ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Mon 8:22 a.m. - 4 clicks
More than 60 percent of Iowans think gay marriage "does not deserve the Legislature's limited time" this session, according to the latest poll conducted by Selzer and Associates for the Des Moines Register . The poll surveyed 805 Iowa adults from January 31 to Feburary 3, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. The question named six issues on which legislation has been introduced d...
Bleeding Heartland - Mon 8:22 a.m. - 4 clicks
More than 60 percent of Iowans surveyed in the latest Des Moines Register Iowa Poll say lawmakers have more important things to worry about than same-sex marriage. The poll, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent, found Iowans are more interested in a ban on text messaging while driving than on overturning the Iowa Supreme [...]...
Iowa Independent - Mon 7:01 a.m. - 3 clicks
The Des Moines Register released its latest Iowa Poll Sunday, and though it clearly shows the growing influence of the tea party movement in the Hawkeye State, it is still unclear what sort of impact it will have in 2010. Thirty-three percent of those polled said they consider themselves “a supporter of the tea party movement,” [...]...
Iowa Independent - Mon 3:01 a.m. - 4 clicks
Whether you call it hostage-taking or shark-jumping , we can all agree that Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama is abusing Senate conventions. He has put a blanket hold on all Obama administration nominees until his state gets more than $40 billion in federal money . Roxanne Conlin, one of three Iowa Democrats running against five-term incumbent Chuck Grassley, may be the first Demo...
Bleeding Heartland - Sat 5:22 p.m. - 2 clicks
The coming week will be busy at the state capitol, because February 12 is the first "funnel" date. All bills excluding appropriations bills that have not been approved by at least one committee by February 12 will be dead for the 2010 session, unless something extraordinary happens. Also, Iowa House Republicans are expected to try to suspend the rules this week to force consideration of a consti...
Bleeding Heartland - Sat 9:05 a.m. - 2 clicks
The growing rift within the Republican Party of Iowa could take centerstage next Friday, as two Republicans vying for the Iowa House District 8 seat will face off for the first time. Tom Shaw, a former chair of the Pocahontas County Republican Party, announced last year he was leaving the party to run as an independent, [...]...
Iowa Independent - Fri 3:47 p.m. - 8 clicks
The top story at The Iowa Republican blog today suggests that seven-term Representative Leonard Boswell may be retiring. The so-called evidence is a poll in the field in Iowa's third Congressional district: The poll asked how likely they were to vote, whether or not the respondent was Republican or Democrat, and how they would rate the performance of President of Obama and Congressman Boswell....
Bleeding Heartland - Fri 12:09 p.m. - 2 clicks
Yesterday the Iowa House State Government Committee voted down a Republican plan to cut state spending by $290 million in the coming year. State Representative and gubernatorial candidate Chris Rants offered the plan as an amendment to the government reorganization bill. He said his party was trying to "work in a bipartisan way" and make "tough decisions" to balance the budget for the coming...
Bleeding Heartland - Fri 9:42 a.m. - 9 clicks
Iowa Republicans have been throwing around misleading talking points about the I-JOBS program since the Iowa legislature approved the infrastructure bonding initiative last spring . I'm still waiting for Republicans to address some basic questions, like where would they have found $45 million for flood recovery efforts in Linn County without I-JOBS? What was their plan for repairing ten flood-d...
Bleeding Heartland - Fri 6:26 a.m. - 9 clicks
Last night's gathering of interested folks at the Old Capitol Center to participate in the Project on Public Rhetoric Inquiry turned to be more inquisition than inquiry. The topic of discussion “Words Matter: On-line Postings in the Iowa City Press-Citizen” was the first of three seminars in the “Media, Space and Race” Public Rhetoric Seminar series. Three panelists and the public were to austen...
Popular Progressive - Thu 3:36 p.m. - 5 clicks
The Des Moines Register dinged Governor Chet Culver recently for not scheduling as many press conferences and public appearances as Terry Branstad and Tom Vilsack did as governor, but Culver's been active around the state since he submitted his draft budget to the legislature last week. Lots of links are after the jump, along with an update on Jonathan Narcisse, who supported Culver in 200...
Bleeding Heartland - Thu 3:05 p.m. - 4 clicks
Seven-term Representative Leonard Boswell is only the 64th most vulnerable Democrat in the House of Representatives , according to Crisitunity's "vulnerability index" at Swing State Project, but Iowa Republicans still like their chances against him. Five candidates have already entered the GOP primary, and two others I've never heard of were reportedly collecting signatures on nominating petitio...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Thu 7:26 a.m. - 2 clicks
Seven-term Representative Leonard Boswell is the 64th most vulnerable Democrat in the House of Representatives , according to new analysis by Crisitunity at Swing State Project. Crisitunity's "vulnerability index" takes into account both the partisan voting index of each member's district (based on presidential election results) and the House incumbent's performance in the previous election. Re...
Bleeding Heartland - Thu 4:22 a.m. - 4 clicks
A helpful Bleeding Heartland reader sent me a copy of a memo from Brian Dumas of Victory Enterprises to State Senator Brad Zaun's campaign for Congress. The memo describes a poll conducted on January 27 and 28 of 400 Republicans in Iowa's third Congressional district who are likely to vote in the June primary. The poll shows 60 percent of respondents were undecided about whom to support in the pr...
Bleeding Heartland - Wed 11:27 a.m. - 9 clicks
Financial reports for the end of 2009 were due with the Federal Election Commission on January 31. Here are some highlights. The Iowa Democratic Party announced yesterday that it raised about $2.47 million across all accounts in 2009, while the Republican Party of Iowa raised $1.46 million. IDP chair Michael Kiernan said the party had met its goal of securing "the resources needed to win this Nov...
Bleeding Heartland - Wed 6:40 a.m. - 6 clicks
Last week attorney Ben Lange of Independence told Ed Tibbetts of the Quad-City Times that he will run against two-term incumbent Bruce Braley in Iowa's first Congressional district. According to Tibbetts, Lange will make a formal announcement next month and was collecting signatures for his nominating petitions at the January 23 Republican caucuses. Before returning to Iowa to raise a family, La...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 1:27 p.m. - 7 clicks
Last night the Iowa Senate passed Senate File 2088, which would reorganize state government , after four hours of debate. All 32 Democrats in the chamber voted for the bill, along with three Republicans: Shawn Hamerlinck, Larry Noble and Pat Ward. Click here for the full text of the bill. According to analysis by the Legislative Services Agency, Senate File 2088 would reduce state spending f...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 8:29 a.m. - 7 clicks
Anyone following the Iowa governor's race must read Todd Dorman's recent interview with Republican front-runner Terry Branstad . The Branstad so many Iowans remember from his four terms as governor shines through. Branstad is at his most incoherent when speaking about gay marriage, but his answer to an open-ended question about the state budget was also revealing. The whole interview is worth y...
Bleeding Heartland - Feb 1 - 8 clicks
Governor Chet Culver submitted his draft budget to the Iowa legislature last Wednesday, but with the State of the Union and other news of the day, I didn't have time to write up the story. The complete budget document can be downloaded at the governor's official website , and you can view Culver's press conference on the budget here . For more links, reactions and commentaries, follow me aft...
Bleeding Heartland - Feb 1 - 3 clicks
The Republican National Committee won't be imposing the "purity test" proposed by committeeman James Bopp of Indiana . During last week's meetings in Honolulu, a group of state GOP chairs unanimously voted against requiring Republican candidates to agree with at least eight out of ten conservative policy stands in order to receive RNC support during the 2010 campaign. Bopp withdrew his mot...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 31 - 12 clicks
The Des Moines Register threw a sold-out party Saturday night to announce the route for the 2010 Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. The 38th RAGBRAI will go through northern Iowa, beginning in Sioux City on the Missouri River and ending in Dubuque on the Mississippi. The other overnight stays will be in the towns of Storm Lake (Buena Vista County), Algona (Kossuth County), Clear Lake (...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 30 - 3 clicks
While a relative handful of people turned out for area Iowa Republican and Democratic mid-term caucuses, many stayed home. I was among them. In the past, I waded into the Democratic Party's caucus mechanism only to become frustrated by the work as it moved away from the county and on to the district level. For instance in working on the platform committee, I watched as agendas to remove women's ri...
Popular Progressive - Jan 24 - 7 clicks
