Iowa
updated
4:46 a.m.
“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.
With unemployment tickling 10 percent (and likely to rise), Democrats in the U.S. Senate this week are hoping to push through a series of bills designed to encourage job creation. It’s as much a test of the Republicans’ commitment to bipartisanship as it is a gauge of the Democrats’ power to pass legislation in the [...]...
Iowa Independent - Mon 2:35 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
A pair of Republican state legislators has introduced a bill that would remove protections for gay, lesbian and transgender students from an anti-bullying law passed in 2007. State Reps. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, and Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, sponsored the legislation to remove sexual orientation and gender identity as definitions used for purposes of protecting students in [...]...
Iowa Independent - Mon 11:26 a.m.
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
It seems that as never before, at least since the Civil War, has this country been so ideologically divided. The fractures appear to be between what are known as liberal/conservative labels, but in truth, there are several dozen cracks–small groups who have their own personal issues. Some are interested in health care reform, others in gay [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Mon 11:08 a.m.
Harry Reid is ready to hit the reset button and recess the Senate to allow President Obama to make recess appointments. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Mon 9:22 a.m. - 2 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 paranoid, mysterious Judson Phillips in the weeks leading up to the National Tea Party Convention gave way to the real, jovial Phillips this weekend....
Iowa Independent - Mon 6:25 a.m.
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
We will no longer tolerate business as usual in Washington. So, when I read this HuffPo article about Senator Shelby holding 70 important presidential nominations for ransom , because he wants sweetheart deals for a foreign airplane manufacturer that's given him more than $100,000 in political donations. I just couldn’t believe it. Are you kidding me?!?! Jed Lewison is right. Th...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Sun 10:23 a.m.
I've been hammering at Bank of America and other big banks for their predatory lending and awful customer service. Seems I'm not the only one: Italy Seizes Bank of America Assets - Fraud Is Finally Catching Up With Wall St./Bankers From what I can tell, the bank near me that has done the best is TD Bank. I am switching to TD and so far I am happy. They avoided predatory lending (probably bec...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Sun 9:24 a.m. - 18 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
A few days ago, I had a surprise. A high school classmate who had “unfriended” me on Facebook, suddenly messaged me. In fact she sent two messages. The material she was so desperate for me to see, after a sentence of so-called pleasantries, (hope you are having a joyous winter?) was a long and tedious [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Sat 11:03 a.m.
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
A few weeks ago, a long-lost elementary school classmate scanned our entire sixth-grade yearbook from May 1981 and posted the contents on Facebook. In addition to the usual goofy photos, we all contributed brief notes for our "20th reunion," describing our lives as we imagined they would be in 2001. The reunion notes were good for a lot of laughs. Then, like the geek I always have been, I deci...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Sat 6:20 a.m.
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
It is common for the religious right to complain that the left demonizes their “legitimately” held religious views on homosexuality. And I grant, that there is some efficacy to their argument. After all, one can be supportive of gay rights from an economic sense, and from a personal sense, and still believe that they must [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Fri 10:02 a.m.
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
I’ve said it many times before; the more deeply I probe the bible for understanding, the more I stand in awe of it. Fundamentalists may protest that all this unpacking will destroy faith, but I find it the opposite. It remains, and is, all the more clearly a human document, but as I’ve been wont to say [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Thu 9:44 a.m. - 2 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
Little late this week getting the newsletter to Daily Kos. Some parts might be outdated, but most is up to date. I also want to draw attention to a fellow Culture Kitchen blogger, Leo Igwe, whose attempts to further reason and oppose fundamentalism in Nigeria have gotten him beaten up by a mob and harassed by cops. Here are his two most recent articles regarding Nigeria: Humanism and the Ques...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Wed 6:31 p.m. - 10 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
During his State of the Union speech last week, President Barack Obama promised, "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are." Today the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing today on the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of t...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 12:08 p.m. - 2 clicks
For anyone who has come face to face with the clear evidence that factually the Bible contains many historical errors, a crisis of sorts must ensue. If one believes, as I do, that there is inherent worth in the book itself as a dispenser of spiritual food, then one must reach some conclusion as to what [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Tue 9:43 a.m. - 2 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
It’s been a good two weeks of political this and that. Time for everything to marinate, blend, shake out, and the subtle themes and nuances to shake out. In other words. . . .time for a retrospective, Peyton style, of the news. We are after all, a hurry up, short attention span sort of species. I [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Feb 1 - 2 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
Thanks to our social-networking site and all the organizing done by our volunteers on the ground... [We] felt like we had a meaningful organization advantage... -The Audacity to Win, pg. 167, David Plouffe ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 31
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
I wish it were only caffeine. Here in the meadow, we are used to a certain adversity that is just part and parcel (whatever that quaint phrase means) of living in rurality. I mean it’s not like McDonald’s is a block away; in fact, the nearest one is closer to ten miles away. So it should [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 30 - 2 clicks
It should come as no surprise during this economic downturn, that a good number of politicians are touting their business acumen as a reason to elect them to office. Certainly Mitt Romney tried this tack during the last presidential election cycle. The last CEO of the WWF, Linda McMahon, is purportedly interested in running for the [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 27 - 4 clicks
If you have ever lived in a small town, you know that there are always back stories. Oddities and mysteries that sometimes are passed from generation to generation. But, large cities are no exception, and this is the tale of the Pizza makers, and how they once ran an important industry in Detroit Michigan. Yes, you heard [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 26 - 3 clicks
Okay, okay, so I’m fudging a bit. I don’t “know” a lot on the subject. More technically, I “believe” certain things. And I’m starting to get what Augustine meant when he said (with my merciful paraphrasing) that what we think we know about who God is, is probably precisely what he is not. Let me explain. When [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 25
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
CNN reports that sources within the Obama administration are reporting that 47 detainees who are considered too dangerous to be released and unable to be tried because of national security concerns, will continue to be held. "If you close Guantanamo but leave individuals detained without charge or trial you're just making a cosmetic change," Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Secur...
Popular Progressive - Jan 24 - 3 clicks
If you regularly peruse a number of blogs, or heaven forbid, watch any of the mainstream media, then you are filled to the gills with explanations of the debacle in the Haaaabor. That’s Massachusetts talk. There are parodies of all sorts, jugular distorting cries for revenge, and all manner of “analysis” guaranteed to ’splain it all to [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 23
As I think I mentioned, I’ve been reading Richard Rohr’s, The Naked Now. It was really a foregone conclusion that I would adore his writing, I’d heard enough said about him from a number of bloggers who read him and were praiseworthy. That was plenty of recommendation. Rohr talks about how to experience the Divine in [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 22
Reading that John Edwards finally confessed to fathering a child with a woman he was having an affair with while his wife continues to battle terminal cancer reminds me that while not many people love politics, they do seek politicians that they can believe in. John Edwards was the fair-haired candidate when he ran as John Kerry's VP choice and was a front-runner until Obama ran him over him in Io...
Popular Progressive - Jan 21
The US Supreme Court's ruling today to allow corporations and unions to spemd freely from their coffers to influence politics in the United States through advertising is nothing short of the worst decision ever perpetrated by that institution short of upholding segregation. The Supreme Court's 5-4 vote overturns a 20-year-old ban on businesses and unions using money from their own funds to pay for...
Popular Progressive - Jan 21 - 3 clicks
Richard Rohr would suggest that’s a good thing. The more questions than answers thingy. It may be more a matter of not having seen the sun in over a week, or the fact that I don’t have the right size knitting needles, and it’s too far to travel in questionable weather to get them. Or [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 21
Friends, Americans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury the Democratic Party, not to praise it. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with the Democratic Party. The noble Limbaugh Hath told you Obama was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grevious fault, And grieviously [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 20 - 2 clicks
Deepak Chopra once said, in one of his innumerable books, that everyone is doing the best they can, given their level of understanding. What he meant I think, was that most of the time, most people have sincere motives, no matter how deeply flawed their thinking might actually be. And, we should, he claims, honor [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 19 - 3 clicks
I never throw things unless they are unbreakable. Just another example of my finely evolved brain wherein my frontals are in firm control over the reptilian aspects of my brain. The query is: “Once calmed, do I want to clean up a mess?” Better to throw pillows I think. In other words, I practice safe [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 18
In my years being involved in the political process, I believed that party membership had it's privileges. However today, I am convinced that while I can and will support individual candidates for public office, my days of valuing party membership are nearing their end. And this is why. As any reader of this blog knows, I am a populist progressive. I believe that both parties are in dire need of ...
Popular Progressive - Jan 18 - 3 clicks
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States to mark the centennial of the Declaration of Independence and "in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution." As it turns out, "We the People" weren't originally so crazy about receiving the gift because we had to raise the money privately for a foundation on which it woul...
Popular Progressive - Jan 17 - 2 clicks
Just a very few weeks ago, we all considered this eminently doable. The Senate passed its version of health care reform, and we were pretty much assured that the powers that be in both Houses would hammer out something. We were all unhappy as to what would be extruded from this painful process, but at least [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 16 - 3 clicks
The news, from all sources is filled with stories about the sad plight of Haiti trying to dig out from the catastrophe of a major earthquake. Not only that, but virtually all news organizations give people directions and advice on how best they can help in the relief effort. It seems that planet earth is never [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 15
I have it written on my list, then when I get my first sit-down interview with God, I intend to ask him about his creation of cats. Something along the lines of “What were you thinking?” You may have been under the impression that the duck-billed platypus was the all time winner in the God’s joke [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 14
Long time readers here, know that I suffer to a degree with SAD, seasonal affective disorder. During these past couple of weeks, with temperatures hovering near or below zero most days, I’ve spent time sitting at the window, since blessedly the sun was out most days. I handled the intense cold and resultant miseries rather well, [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 13
Janelle Rettig, Lori Cardella, and Jim Knapp are running hard for the Johnson County Board of Supervisor's vacancy. As such, the campaigning has turned bruising. This is politics--opposing ideas attempting to find concensus. As a progressive, it would be difficult not to support Janelle Rettig as she is the only true progressive candidate running for the office. What makes the endorsement of Rett...
Popular Progressive - Jan 12 - 4 clicks
Bear with me here. I’m thinking. You remember that concept right? You do it, I know you do. Well, most of you do, at least I think all of you who read this blog do. The other side? Well, this might be a new idea to them. Remember when you were a kid? At least a [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 12 - 3 clicks
Saturday, we, along with all you no doubt, were busy watching the Cowboys beating the tar out of the Eagles. I began to realize, that after scores, the cameras would pan to the rich boxes and show us the reaction of owners and former president, George “do ya like me now,” Bush. I began to [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 11 - 3 clicks
Frankly, I must admit that I have trouble understanding the American penchant for being suspicious of science. One would think just the opposite. As recipient of most of the world’s greatest advances in all aspects of scientific endeavor you would think we would hold it in higher esteem. After all, the rest of the world at one [...] ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 10
