Author Archives: bfialindathieman

Paul Johnson: Latham Using Taxpayer Funds to Disseminate Propaganda

Posted on August 17, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Paul Johnson: Latham Using Taxpayer Funds to Disseminate Propaganda In these shocking reports, the Paul Johnson for U.S. Congress campaign and the Iowa Democratic Party detail the alleged spending privilege abuses of U.S. Rep. Tom Latham. “Franking”, the privilege allowing … Continue reading →

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Bush to Screen Every American for Mental Illness

Posted on August 16, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Bush to Screen Every American for Mental Illness A frightening article made the rounds of Rapid Response – Iowa this weekend and set off warning bells all around.  After checking and double checking sources and doing further research, the good … Continue reading →

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Iowa in the News: The Election

Posted on August 16, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Nader Officially On Iowa Ballot KWWL.com Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader will officially appear on the November ballot, according to Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver's office. Nader supporters turned in 3,198 signatures to the Secretary of State's office yesterday. … Continue reading →

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Connie Wilson: The Fog of War, Part 1

Posted on August 16, 2004 by bfialindathieman

The Fog of War, Part 1

by Connie Corcoran Wilson

Throughout “The Fog of War,” the 2003 Oscar-winning documentary produced and directed by Errol Morris, interview subject Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson during the Viet Nam war, offers these eleven lessons which could serve us equally well as a nation today:

1)    Empathize with your enemy.
2)    Rationality will not save us.
3)    There’s something beyond one’s self.
4)    Maximize efficiency.
5)    Proportionality should be a lesson in war.
6)    Get the data.
7)    Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
8)    Be prepared to re-examine your reasoning.
9)    In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
10)    Never say never.
11)    You can’t change human nature.

While sharing these lessons, learned during his 85 years on the planet and his many years of public service, (including the first non-Ford family member President of Ford Motor Company and President of the World Bank), McNamara also shares some quotes that seem very, very relevant right now. For one, “Learn from your mistakes. Try to learn. Try to understand what happened.  If people do not display wisdom, they will clash like blind moles, and then mutual annihilation will commence.” While talking about how close the United States came to war during the famous “Missiles of October” crisis with Cuba and the Soviet Union during JFK’s presidency, McNamara relates a conversation that occurred, many years after the crisis, when he learned, in January of 1992, that there had been 162 nuclear warheads and 90 tactical warheads on the island during the famous October, 1962, blockade of Cuba.

McNamara asked Castro, “Did you know (the extent of the weapons on the island)?” — to which Castro answered “Yes.” He then asked Fidel, “Would you have recommended to (Nikita) Khrushchev, (then the Russian Premier), that he use them?” Castro responded forcefully, that he HAD told Khrushchev to use them! McNamara’s final question to Castro was, “What would have happened to Cuba?” (if Khrushchev had listened to Castro’s advice and used the weapons stockpiled on the tiny island 90 miles off the coast of Florida).  Castro admitted that the island would have been totally destroyed. McNamara shakes his head in incredulity, seemingly stunned to learn that this was Castro’s position. “Pull the temple down on our heads? My God!” says McNamara.

It was John Fitzgerald Kennedy who told the United Nations, in an address to them on September 25, 1961, “Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory.  It can no longer serve to settle disputes.  It can no longer be of concern to great powers alone.  For a nuclear disaster, spread by winds and waters and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike. Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” Certainly Castro’s comments to McNamara illustrate this very danger, and the new threats of biological and chemical weapons certainly belong in the same “to be avoided at all costs” category as nuclear weapons, for the very reasons so eloquently expressed by JFK at the United Nations over 43 years ago.
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Tax Burden Shifts to the Middle

Posted on August 15, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Tax Burden Shifts to the Middle WashingtonPost.com Since 2001, Bush's tax cuts have shifted federal tax payments from the richest Americans to a wide swath of middle-class families, the Congressional Budget Office has found, a conclusion likely to roil the … Continue reading →

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Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards Speaks to Iowa Union Meeting

Posted on August 15, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards Speaks to Iowa Union Meeting Star-Telegram.com WATERLOO, Iowa – Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards told about 250 delegates at the Iowa Federation of Labor convention on Thursday that Bush's dismal job record means his time … Continue reading →

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Harkin calls Cheney a ‘Coward’ and Criticizes ‘Backdoor Draft’

Posted on August 15, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Harkin calls Cheney a 'Coward' and Criticizes 'Backdoor Draft' Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier DES MOINES — Sen. Tom Harkin called Dick Cheney a “coward” for avoiding service in Vietnam and called on George W. Bush to end the “backdoor draft.” The … Continue reading →

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From the Campaign Trail: John Drury Makes A Splash in Britt

Posted on August 15, 2004 by bfialindathieman

From the Campaign Trail: John Drury Makes A Splash in Britt A Report from Drury for Iowa Senate Another busy day on the campaign trail yesterday for the Drury Team at the National Hobo Convention in Britt.  The day started … Continue reading →

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Some Thoughts on Tort “Deform” in Iowa: An Eye-opening Essay by Andrew Smith

Posted on August 14, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Some Thoughts on Tort “Deform” in Iowa

An Eye-opening Essay by Andrew Smith, Democratic Candidate, Iowa House District 40

“This issue is so important to the citizens of Iowa and goes way beyond this one piece of legislation proposed by Rep. Horbach. The Enron scandal of the past couple years reminded me of the importance of a strong civil justice system. It reminded me that altering our civil justice system to favor large corporate interests erodes society’s ability to adequately deter wrongful conduct. It also reminded me how these so-called tort reform measures being proposed year after year by the Republican-controlled legislature come at the expense of the general public.”

–Andrew Smith


To learn more about Andrew Smith or to contribute to his campaign, go here.


My opponent, Rep. Lance Horbach (R), was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in November of 1997, by a mere 9 votes in one of the closest elections in Iowa history. In 2000, he sold his interest in a small furniture business he co-owned and joined a company outside the district he represents called “Independent Insurance,” in Marshalltown, Iowa. According to the company website, “Lance specializes in large account sales development.”

This past legislative session, Rep. Horbach was the floor manager in the Iowa House of Representatives of HF 2440, a bill aimed at capping non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. HF 2440, which almost all the Iowa House Democrats opposed and which Governor Vilsack vetoed would have capped non-economic damages in tort, contract, or other actions against a health care provider to $250,000 unless there was a finding of actual malice against the health care provider. Economic damages, or damages to compensate for past or future wage loss, were not capped under the bill. Essentially, what this means is that if you go in for surgery and subsequently develop a disability due to medical malpractice, you could still sue for purely economic damages such as health costs (related to the disability) and repayment of future money you cannot now earn because of your disability under HF 2440, but you could only sue under the cap for no more than $250,000 for any kind of non-economic or “quality of life” damage suffered due to the malpractice. As a result, the $250,000 cap proposed by Rep. Horbach would have limited recovery on a variety of serious and real damages to medical malpractice victims, including loss of ability to have children, loss of body function, loss of body parts, disfigurement, loss of consortium, and physical pain and suffering.

In my opinion, capping non-economic damages is a bad idea because it disproportionately harms children and elderly victims of malpractice, because they often have little or no economic losses. When children, women, seniors and minorities win malpractice lawsuits, a larger proportion of their compensation is often made up of non-economic damages than economic damages. Therefore, in states that cap non-economic damages, children, women, retirees and minorities usually receive significantly less compensation than white males for the exact same injury.

From the evidence and studies available, it appears that caps also fail to lower premiums in every state that has tried them. Trial lawyers, insurance companies, and doctors will continue to debate the effect of caps with study after study, but to me, there is a greater fundamental principle at stake that makes these studies less important, and that is the constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury.

The right to have justice determined by a fair and impartial jury of one's peers goes to the heart of our system of government, and whether to limit this power of the jury to determine justice is much more than a mere economic question – it is a question of whom do we trust.

By arbitrarily capping non-economic damages, Rep. Horbach et al. are essentially saying that they don't believe Iowa juries can be fair, deliberate and careful in their decisions. They are essentially saying that Iowa juries are out of control and their power needs to be limited. But unlike Lance Horbach, I trust Iowa's juries more than I trust the Iowa legislature.

Trusting Iowa Juries:  The data available seems to suggest that my trust in Iowa juries is well founded. Even the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce found in a recent state liability study from March of this year that Iowa had the fourth best jury system in the nation. The study also found that Iowa ranked first in jury fairness and fourth best in jury predictability. This study appears to confirm that Iowa juries are already extremely conservative, fair and business friendly even without arbitrary limits being imposed on their power.
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Bush ‘Needs a Miracle’ to Win

Posted on August 14, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Bush 'Needs a Miracle' to Win Capitol Hill Blue George W. Bush bet his presidency on Iraq and is losing the bet, political analyst Larry Sabato said over the weekend. “He really will need a miracle to win, and the … Continue reading →

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