Former Senator John Culver spoke last night at Ted Kennedy's Memorial Service. Culver recounted a story sailing with Ted and had everyone laughing.[...]
edited by: Art Smith,
Iowa Editor
Former Senator John Culver spoke last night at Ted Kennedy's Memorial Service. Culver recounted a story sailing with Ted and had everyone laughing.Continuing to lead the way in efforts to create jobs and strengthen the economy, Governor Chet Culver visited the Des Moines Public Works this morning [...]
Iowa ranked highest of the 50 states in the percentage of its young people to turn out to vote in the last presidential election, according to a new federal report.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Monday that 63 percent of Iowa's eligible voters between the ages [...]
Thinking about the “rationing” question in health care it’s worth trying to get clear. Sometimes there are shortages of something relative to demand—think of a [...]
But what does it cost us to not have a public option?
Some of the costs of not having a public option are simple to calculate, but immeasurable in value. Infant mortality rates in [...]
Congress and the President are working to enact health care reform legislation that protects what works about health care and fixes what is broken. Iowans know that inaction is not an option. Sky-rocketing health care costs are hurting families, forcing [...]
There’s a lot of political concern in Washington about public anxiety about budget deficits. Substantively, the public’s concerns don’t really make sense, as deficit-reduction amidst a severe recession will only make the recession more severe. But Stan Collender, whose deficit hawk credentials should not be in [...]
John Hodgeman spoke at the Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner over the weekend and discects the culture of war of our time: jocks vs nerd. Hodgeman concludes that the Obama administration is the first nerd presidency.So how do you decide whether a public option for health insurance is a good idea?
Ask people who already have it.
And you won't have any trouble finding them. About one-third' [...]
Rants, who has been meeting with GOP activists' [...]
And when asked if the banks are in any position to protest if they're not going to make as much money, Grassley comes back with this:
Greed is human nature. We shouldn't blame greed [...]
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will probably be a frequent visitor in Iowa over the next couple years.With Iowa lawmakers facing not only fiscal problems similar to many states, but the need to pass flood and tornado recovery bills, lawmakers met both challenges by the end of the session. However, the rest of the agenda for progressives saw a mix of wins and losses, [...]
Howard Dean says to forget bipartisanship on health care..."If Republicans want to shill for insurance companies, then we should do it with 51 votes."We need real health care reform that eases the economic burden off of businesses and helps our economy get back on track.
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An agriculture expert spoke at Marshalltown Community College about the benefits of buying food locally."I don't think anybody has any idea about how much they are paying because of the need to cover the health care costs of'" [...]
After yesterday's announcement that GM is going bankrupt Republicans are going to be complaining about the government taking over 60% of the shares of GM.The media still calls America a “center-right” nation, but “center-left” is closer to the truth.
On issues ranging from health care to energy, the public is' [...]
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Interesting announcement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.Yesterday, the American Academy of Pediatrics adopted a ground-breaking policy statement on the link between how we build' [...]
Fresh, mushrooms, cultivated in Iowa,' [...]
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean says the "tide is turning" on gay marriage, partly because of the attitudes of younger Americans. Dean, a 2004 Democratic presidential [...]
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Howard Dean will be in Des Moines Thursday doing 2 events.
I wasn't going to post anything this weekend, but I was out doing yard work, listening to podcasts, and I listened to an episode of NOW about clean elections in Arizona called Votes for Sale. 
The left-wing tilt of the under-30 cohort is sometimes glossed as primarily driven by cultural issues. Millenials are, for example, much more favorable to gay rights claims. But as Ruy Teixeira points out it extends considerably beyond that to economic questions as well:
[...] Principle 1. Health care is part of our' [...]
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Frank Rich's column in the New York Times this morning is a must read.To paraphrase Al Pacino in "Godfather III," just when we thought we were out, the Bush mob keeps pulling us back in. And will keep doing' [...]
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com takes a fascinating look at voting patterns by age groups. Silver took a survey done by Gallup that calculated a partisan advantage by ages. He then looked at who was president when that person turned at 18.Condoleeza Rice visited an elementary school Washington DC last week, where she was asked a tough question about torture by a 4th grade student.
Then Misha Lerner, a student from Bethesda, asked: What did Rice think about the things President Obama's administration was saying about the methods the Bush' [...]
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From the Iowa Bicycle Coalition...Iowa has risen to number six in the bicycle friendly state rankings by the League of American Bicyclists. The second annual ranking of Bicycle Friendly States scores the 50 states on a 75-item [...]The time has come. We cannot wait anymore. For years, we have hidden behind our own small thoughts or let ourselves be held back by other small thinking people who don’t believe in us. Worse still, we have been [...]
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Over at Bleeding Heartland, DesMoinesDem wrote about 7 ways to eat more local food.
MoveOn is running this ad in Iowa, Montana, and Washington DC to target Sen. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Max Baucus, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
Richard Florida takes a look at the plans for investment in high speed rail...New periods of geographic expansion require new systems of infrastructure. Ever since the days of the canals, the early railroad, and streetcar suburbs, we've seen how infrastructure and transportation systems work to spur new patterns economic and regional' [...]
I wanted to send you a quick update on how things are going with our campaign to pressure Norm Coleman to concede. So far the progress has been amazing:
"So far, NormDollar.com has raised $15,000..." -- New York Times, April 19
"Norm Coleman Raises $28,000" [...]
Fox News has a new ad that adds accurate to their "fair and balanced" slogan.The person who may be in line for that post [...]
I wish I could claim the line, "Ken attacks Barbie for being plastic," but that comes Daily Kos. 
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Alliant Energy is planning on raising rates as much as 17% per customer. The Iowa Utilities Board will be ruling on the proposed increase.The Iowa Poll found that 56 percent of Iowans support creation of a public plan. Thirty-seven percent oppose the idea and 7 percent are unsure. If such a plan were created, [...]
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The Cedar Rapids Gazette applauded the action by the state legislature on flood recovery efforts.At the bottom line, more than $400 million was pledged in various ways toward flood recovery, mitigation and [...]The Environmental Protection Agency today plans to propose regulating greenhouse gas emissions on the grounds that these [...]
Nate Silver asks "What's the matter with Arkansas?" in his Ted Talk about how race affected the 2008 election.BUDGET/BONDING: Lawmakers approved a fiscal 2010 general fund budget of $5.78 billion but added $500 million of federal stimulus help [...]
A new web ad from the DNC about the Republican strategy during Obama's first 100 days in office.
David Sirota appeared on CNN to discuss taxes and mops the floor with conservative Ben Ferguson. Sirota points out that a recent Gallup poll shows 60% of Americans believe upper income people pay too little taxes Ferguson is dumbfounded.
Here's a new ad from AARP about the Health Care reform debate...
More discussion on health care reform from the Thom Hartmann radio show...
Information about the Canadian health care system from the Thom Hartmann radio show...
This video was the winner of this years Congress of New Urbanism video contest.
Here's a new web ad from the DNC...
