Our backward MAGA representatives in congress and Iowa Republicans are willing to turn the United States of America into a third world country where women and girls can be forced to bear children against their will. Watch what happens in the Iowa legislature as the MAGA Iowa R’s play out their brilliant ideas to the detriment of just about everybody. If you make the effort to write to your Republican state legislator or member of congress, realize that public pressure is our only chance for change so you should also send it to your local newspaper. Regular Iowans need to get louder.
Here’s a note from the DCCC
Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson Owe Voters An Answer on Iowa’s Latest Abortion Ban
Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson owe their voters an answer about whether or not they stand by this extreme and dangerous effort to strip women in Iowa of their freedoms.
Previously, both Hinson and Miller-Meeks have made their positions clear by:
Joining 227 other Republican members of Congress in signing an amicus briefurging the Supreme Court to overturn Roe.
And in just the first three weeks of the 118th Congress, they already voted for anti-choice legislation that would limit healthcare access and potentially imprison doctors.
DCCC Spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre:
“Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson have not been shy with their record on abortion. Time and time again, they have leapt at the opportunity to strip freedoms from women. With MAGA McCarthy in charge, they cannot be trusted to stand up for access to essential care for women in Iowa or across the nation.”
Action alert from Iowa House Democrats’ Monday update:
FUNDING FOR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: DEBATE TUESDAY MORNING (2/7)
Iowa Democrats believe in strong public schools for every kid. This session, Democratic lawmakers are proposing a new $267 million investment in public schools for the 2023-24 school year. This new investment in public education will:
Reduce class sizes
Provide more mental health support for students
Prevent budget cuts, layoffs and loss of academic programs and services
Raise pay for teachers & keep them in the classroom
Over the last decade under GOP control, 134 public schools in Iowa closed their doors. According to the National Education Association, Iowa ranks 40th out of 50 for the increase in education funding from 2014 to 2019, which is well below the national average.
Governor Reynolds and Republican lawmakers have already given $267 million to the biggest corporations in Iowa and private school vouchers. It’s only fair that the 485,000 kids in public schools get at least the same.
“One of the things that stood out to us was essentially a consolidation of power within the new attorney general’s office that would allow the attorney general to overrule local county.. attorneys and insert herself directly into those cases.” This was where Murphy interrupted to tell Wahls he hated to interrupt but wanted him to know they had 30 seconds left and Wahls moved on to his closing. Sure would have liked to hear what Senator Wahls was going to say next.
The overlooked part of President Joe Biden’s remarks about the January jobs report is this, “As my dad used to say, ‘A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity.’”
Make no mistake that Democrats should tout the achievement in jobs growth accomplished during the Biden administration.
Next week, I’ll be reporting on the state of the Union. But today — today, I’m happy to report that the state of the Union and the state of our economy is strong.
We learned this morning that the economy has created 517,000 jobs just last month — more than half a million jobs in just the month of January.
And in addition, we also learned that we — there were half a million more jobs created last year than we thought, so the January report is updated. I mean, excuse me, the December report is updated.
Add that all up, it means we created 12 million — 12 million jobs since I took office. That means we have created more jobs in two years than any presidential term, than any time, in two years.
That’s the strongest two years of job growth in history by a longshot.
Remarks by President Biden on the January Jobs Report, Feb. 3, 2023.
I’m more restrained in my reaction to the jobs numbers because business continues to focus on deregulation, profit, and shareholders rather than employees. Having a job is good, yet what kind of work is it, and how long will it last? There are unresolved issues between capital and labor.
By the time I entered the workforce in 1968, the post-war economic boom was ending. We didn’t understand it at the time, yet business had resisted progress with workforce since the post-Civil War era when a few people — John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, E.H. Harriman, Henry Clay Frick, and others — tried to capture the entire economy to serve their own interests. While the Gilded Age capitalists, or Robber Barons as they are better known, were beat back through regulation, large corporate interests are again dominating the industrial landscape in today’s society. A small number of companies push the limits of anti-trust regulations to grow big and prosper anew. The same regulations that broke the monopolies.
After WWII, there was a business movement to create “good jobs.” Companies like General Electric, Kodak, General Motors and Coca-Cola were large scale employers who valued putting returning G.I.s back to work and created what today seems like exceptional benefits packages. Profit-sharing, bonuses, pensions, health care, and even a “guaranteed income” program were all part of generous perquisite packages for loyal employees. These actions were partly self-serving, i.e. to gain employee loyalty and support profitable business enterprises, yet these capitalists viewed employees differently than we do today. Growth in wage workers would fuel a consumer society bursting at the gills in the 1950s.
It is difficult to pinpoint one villain in the conflict between employers and employees in the post-Reagan era. In any case, I point to human resources management consultants. The 40th president set the tone by firing air traffic controllers during the PATCO strike. Much less flashy was the hiring of consultants and implementing ideas the main goal of which was to drive out human resource costs. Whatever romantic attachment to so-called “good jobs” persisted was underscored by the quiet changes by human resource consultants to remove the expense of employees from business operations large and small.
Yes, we should congratulate Joe Biden and company for what they did to get people back to work after the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, we should encourage the administration to tax business fairly, act on the climate crisis, and do what’s right for employees and retirees in a rapidly changing business environment. Jobs aren’t the main issue in society today. Regulating business is.
“A story done by ABC News in 1999 about slavery as told by people who were slaves.Recorded in the 1940’s.”
Stumbled on this while looking for something else.
I am betting that this video would not be approved by the Republican Party of Iowa or their members in the Iowa State Legislature. So please, please do not show itto a Republican in Iowa as it may shatter their worldview.
But if you know a student, please share it with them as learning the truth is more important than learning a fairytale story whitewashed to fit a narrative.
As someone told me this Christmas – let’s have more curiosity and less judgment.
Saw this clip of an interaction between black writer James Baldwin and Professor Paul Weiss from 1968 – some 55 years ago on YouTube the other day.
In many ways things haven’t changed a whole lot.
(3:35)
I am sure this video would not be approved by the Republicans of the Iowa legislature.
Now for my sports comment – That Iowa Women’s basketball team is GREAT! Big game next Thursday with Indiana. Don’t miss it! They are truly fun to watch.
Quiz now – burn some books later!
A) SoS Anthony Blinken called off a trip to China in part due to what that was spotted floating over the US?
B) Who was chosen as the new chair of the Iowa Democratic Party last week?
C) What Republican member of congress recused himself from committee work as he is investigated on finances and other election issues?
D) Lawyers for who sent letters to the Justice Department asking for an investigation into those who stole information from his laptop illegally?
E) What top administration attended the funeral for Tyre Nichols in Memphis last week?
F) Republicans removal of what security devices in the US House chambers has cast concern for next week’s State of the Union (SOTU) address?
G) On a party line vote, Republicans voted to remove what Democratic congress member from the foreign affairs committee?
H) Famous quotes from black leaders: Who said “if not us, then who? If not now, then when?”
I) Another huge employment number for the Biden Administration as how many new jobs were reported for the month of January?
J) What major Republican leader drew the wrath of right wing media when he responded to question by saying that the officer who shot Ashli Babbit was “doing his job”?
K) Who did the Republicans pick to give their response to President Biden’s SOTU next Tuesday?
L) strange happenings at the Dallas (Texas) Zoo. This week two tamarins, which are a a type of what, were kidnapped but fortunately found alive and returned to the zoo?
M) Who are the only three black people who have been elected governors in US history?
N) What is the name of the OTC (over the counter) eye drops that are being recalled because they may be contaminated with a drug resistant bacteria that could cause eye infections?
O) One glitch in the employment news was what quarterback who positively, absolutely is retiring this time?
P) Doctors are warning that what dangerous fungal disease that was mostly confined to the desert southwest is now spreading across the nation?
Q) February 1, 1960, four African American students are refused service at a lunch counter at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in what city, becoming the first sit-in demonstration?
R) What academic group appeared to bow to political pressure from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and completely revamped their African American studies program?
S) In Montreal, Canada the prognosticating groundhog made what prediction for the coming season?
T) And one from our crazy former leader. Trump sued who for using quotes from Trump in his book?
Imagine being a woman in Florida that votes for men who want to track her daughters menstrual cycle. Sick bastards. – MayoIsSpicyy tweet
Answers:
A) Some kind of surveillance balloon that appears to be from China
B) Rita Hart
C) George Santos
D) Hunter Biden – stealing his data is a crime
E) VP Kamala Harris
F) The metal detectors.
G) Ilhan Omar
H) John Lewis
I) 517,000 – by far the best two year stretch for any president
J) Kevin McCarthy – He was asked if the Capitol policeman who shot Babbit committed murder or was doing his job?
K) Newly elected Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
L) Tamarins are a type of small monkey
M) The first was L. Douglas Wilder in Virginia in 1987. Next was Devol Patrick in Massachusetts in 2007 and this year (2022) Wes Moore in Maryland
N) EzriCare Artificial Tears
O) Tom Brady! Wait………
P) Valley Fever
Q) Greensboro, NC
R) The College Board
S) None. When the time came the sponsors reached in the hole and found the groundhog had died, probably in December
T) Bob Woodward – Trump sued him for $49 million
DeSantis trusts anyone to carry a loaded gun without a permit, but doesn’t trust a licensed teacher with a book. – piper4missouri tweet
Democrats Unveil Bill to Change Name of Medicare Advantage
“Only Medicare is Medicare,” said Rep. Mark Pocan. “These non-Medicare plans run by private insurers undermine traditional Medicare.”
Ali Velshi kicks Gym Jordon’s butt about healthcare
(4:30 but the interchange begins at 1:30)
From Common Dreams comes a story that gives me just a glimmer of hope. Representatives Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Rho Khanna of California and Jan Schakowski of Illinois have filed a bill to change the name of “Medicare Advantage” – which is neither Medicare nor has any advantage –to a name that is more truthful of what that program does:
In an effort to crack down on the misleading practices of Medicare Advantage providers, Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan, Ro Khanna, and Jan Schakowsky reintroduced legislation Tuesday that would ban private insurers from using the “Medicare” label in the names of their health plans.
The legislation, titled the Save Medicare Act, would formally change the name of the Medicare Advantage program to the Alternative Private Health Plan, an attempt to make clear to seniors that the plans are run by private entities such as Anthem, Humana, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare.
“Only Medicare is Medicare,” Pocan (D-Wis.) said in a statement. “It is one of the most popular and important services the government provides. These non-Medicare plans run by private insurers undermine traditional Medicare. They often leave patients without the benefits they need while overcharging the federal government for corporate profit.”
Khanna (D-Calif.) declared that “it’s time to call out ‘Medicare Advantage’ for what it is: private insurance that profits by denying coverage and the name is being used to trick seniors into enrolling.”
“That’s not right,” he added. “This bill will end the scam by preventing private insurers from profiting off the Medicare brand. Our focus should be on strengthening and expanding real Medicare.”
In the current environment with a Republican controlled House, the chances of such a bill becoming a law is scant. However, I am hoping that Democrats get solidly behind this bill because it will help focus the battle lines for the next round of elections.
As we watch Republicans in the US House and in state legislatures across the country try to divide the country with more culture battle crap, it would be good to see a united Democratic Party razor focused on making real changes to real people’s lives. Among such items would be Medicare that is really healthcarethat takes care of all health care needs including hearing, sight and dental while bringing truth in advertising to the Medicare scam programs fostered by Republicans.
As Democrats do what they can to strengthen Medicare, it is also time for them to propose true national health care along the revitalized Medicare proposal. As anyone with a ten cent calculator can figure, true national health care would be so much cheaper for the country with much better outcomes.
As explained on truthout.org the US pays by far the highest for health care and has by far the worst outcomes.BTW such a report should hardly be surprising as we get the same results from multiple organizations each time it is studied?
As the only wealthy country without universal health care, the U.S. is a global outlier, with both the highest health care spending and the worst health outcomes across several metrics, a new report by the Commonwealth Fund confirms.
A report released on Tuesday found that, in 2021, the latest year for which data is available, the U.S. spent 17.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care. This is nearly twice the proportion that the average country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — a group of 38 wealthy countries in the global North — spent on health care in 2021, or about 9.6 percent.
The difference between U.S. spending and that of other OECD countries is also stark when broken down by dollars per capita. The U.S. spent over $10,600 per capita on health care in 2021. This is nearly double the per capita spending of the next highest country, Germany, and three or four times the amount spent by South Korea, New Zealand, and Japan, which each spent about $3,000 to $4,000 per capita.
Despite spending extreme amounts of money on health care, the U.S. also has the worst or among the worst health outcomes of OECD countries, the report found.
Health care and the savings that Americans can accrue by nationalizing it should be the jumping off point for 2024. Saving several thousand a year while getting all our health care needs taken care of should be a major selling point. And it is long past time to dump the ancient cries of “Socialism” from the limited minds of Republicans in the trash can where it belongs!
Once again news reporting in the state has muddied up the waters so that what can easily be calculated as an actual cut to school funding in this state is reported to be an increase – well, sort of an increase, maybe – that is if you don’t count the money the legislature is taking away to give to private businesses – er “schools” – that won’t go to public schools.
Remember how Republicans were all in a tizzy about inflation last fall – remember? Suddenly when we talk about school funding the scourge of inflation disappears as Republicans try to claim that 3% is an excellent raise in school funding.
And if the funding isn’t enough to confuse people where Iowa stands on their schools, there is the attacks on school libraries, removal of books from library shelves and the attacks on teaching of American history with all the warts not to mention the attacks on those with gender issues.
I often times wonder if school teachers look at some of the shenanigans of Republicans in the legislature and wonder if they, their teachers, had in anything to do with the legislators convoluted thinking?
How does the thinking go on school funding go in Republican minds –
“Let’s see – gotta do some ciphering – If we raise funding 3% and inflation is 8% and we give 5% to private businesses out of the public school funding, then that is a plus (+) 3%” (sarcasm in case you didn’t recognize it)
“We’re aware of the situation within our public schools. Our public schools are great and we want to support them in every way we can,” said Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink (R-Fort Dodge). “But at the same time, we want to make sure that we’re continuing our conservative spending principles that we’ve been pretty much locked into the last six or seven years.”
<<skip>>
There wasn’t much discussion on the bill other than Democratic committee members saying even 3% wasn’t an adequate number to fund schools, especially to help them keep up with inflation and enrollment changes.
“Over the last six years, inflation cumulatively has been 23.1% but the increase in the state cost per pupil has only been 11.9%. So we’re more than 11% behind inflation over the last six years. 3% doesn’t fix the problem,” said Sen. Herman Quirmbach (D-Ames).
He said the per-pupil amount is $742 behind where it should be if inflation was accounted for, but that it paled to the amount the state is behind for students with special needs.
“For the highest level need we’re not $742 behind this year, we’re $2,775 behind for those special needs kids,” Quirmbach said. “And those are the kids the vouchers won’t help because those are the kids that the prep schools won’t take.”
Democratic members pointed out the state does have the money to allocate more to public schools because of the recently passed school voucher program which would make every public school student eligible to receive $7,598 from the state in order to enroll in private schools.”
Note in that first paragraph that Republicans are much more concerned about not spending money than making sure Iowa students get a good education. That could be because of the ridiculous tax cuts for the wealthy and the cuts in property taxes they passed. Property tax cuts are a whole different issue as the legislature chokes Iowa’s cities, counties and towns.
As sort of referenced in the short clip above, the Iowa legislature is going the way that conservative governing bodies often go – making it illegal to talk about things the legislature thinks make them uncomfortable. So now we are seeing a whitewashed (literally) American history, the outlawing of books that talk about subjects in a more frank and graphic way.
The way things are going I suspect before this session ends there will be some Republican who will want to outlaw discussion of irrational numbers or the possibility of other forms of life in the universe.
Someday students will figure out how their education was screwed up by this meddling and they won’t be happy. When they find out, these students of today will condemn Iowa’s schools for not telling them the truth. It always happens. Better to be truthful than to sell your belief system in a stealth attack.
And don’t think Republicans in the Iowa legislature is doing this out of some sort of sense of mission to save your children. They are simply a cog in a national Republican agenda to dismantle public schooling in this country and to try to control what is taught rather than allow public schools to seek and teach the truth.The truth has never been a friend of oligarchs and autocrats.
While I am not a big fan of the Republicans plans to privatize Iowa’s school systems, I will say it does one thing that may be good in a strange way. It gets the Iowa legislature, in all its glorious ignorance, out of their meddling with schools.
Two Tweets from Jeff Tiedrich on the subject of Republicans and Schools:
in Russia it’s a crime to teach ‘uncomfortable’ subjects. in Republican states it’s a crime to teach ‘uncomfortable’ subjects. any questions
Teachers in Nazi Germany hid books to avoid being arrested. teachers in Republican Florida are hiding books to avoid being arrested. any questions
Watch this week’s very informative and hopeful! Blue Statehouse Alert Live below or on the Iowa House Democrats’ Facebook page. Dems are strategizing and getting their act together. Listen to the Live and find out how.
“Days like today, I’m going to be honest, are really tough. It’s hard to continue to see what they’re doing, listen to what they say, and to realize that they’re going to make progress on this legislation.
However, these bills have not made it to the floor so we can still fight them and can still stop them. So that means reaching out to legislators, letting them know you oppose this legislation and making your voices heard. These aren’t just anonymous groups of people they’re talking about.. these are neighbors.. these are friends.. these are kids. ” – Jennifer Konfrst
This week Jennifer Konfrst had to inform Republicans who accused Democrats of saying “the sky is falling!” that 134 schools have closed since Republicans took over. Show Jennifer some love. Contact a GOP legislator today.
One of the defining characteristics of war is chaos. The war between Ukraine and Russia is approaching the end of its first year, and it has been horrendous and chaotic. Each side says it wants to talk about peace, but only after it has achieved “victory”. I am quite sure, however, that neither the non-negotiable terms of Ukraine or of Russia will be met. However long the war lasts, it will end with negotiations.. Each side has access to huge resources, military and domestic, that could enable the continuation of the war for even years to come. The longer the war, the greater the chaos. Yes, the longer the war the greater the destruction of human lives and the greater opportunity costs from investing in war rather than reconstruction. That could be termed “conventional” suffering. But the chaos of this war presents a danger to the whole world, not just Ukraine and Russia. The chaos emanating from this war raises the possibility of humanity-ending nuclear war to heights unseen in the past sixty years.
The longer the war, the greater the chaos, and the greater the chaos the greater possibility of a nuclear war. Russia is bristling with nuclear weapons. Although Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, Europe is bristling with US, British, and French nuclear weapons. Use of just a fraction of the nuclear weapons at the disposal of Russia and US/NATO could annihilate humankind. We are naive if we do not recognize that the chaos of this “conventional” war vastly increases the possibility of a nuclear exchange, brought about by accident, misjudgment based on fear, insubordination, or intentional use to prevent defeat. Omnicide can be the result.
It would be great if world leaders, political and religious, could convince both sides to end the armed conflict soon. At this moment, that appears to be a hope without strength. However, regardless of whether the war ends soon or goes on for years, the ending of the war MUST lead to the reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons around the world. It is terrible to think of a war as leading to opportunity, but it will dishonor the casualties of this war if we do not take this opportunity to abolish nuclear weapons.
January 22nd marks two years since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) went into force. It has been ratified by 68 countries, with many more countries having signed and now going through their internal ratification process. None of the nine countries which possess nuclear weapons have signed or ratified. The voice of most of the countries in the world calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons must be heeded. They know that the fact that there has not been a nuclear weapon used in armed conflict since 1945 has been more a matter of luck than of sound policy.
Wars will likely continue, even after the Ukraine/Russia war has ended. But no longer shall any country, any leader, any faction have the power to kill all of humanity. Rather than invest $2 Trillion in the next decades to “improve” our nuclear arsenal, the US must now first use its influence to encourage an end to the war in Ukraine and second to begin the process of reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons.
Governor Kim Keynolds: (515) 281-5211 U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Iowa Members of Congress - Rep. Randy Feenstra (R) - Rep. Ashley Hinson (R) - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) - Rep. Zach Nunn (R) Iowa US Senators - Senator Joni Ernst (R) - Senator Charles Grassley (R)
Our backward MAGA representatives in congress and Iowa Republicans are willing to turn the United States of America into a third world country where women and girls can be forced to bear children against their will. Watch what happens in the Iowa legislature as the MAGA Iowa R’s play out their brilliant ideas to the detriment of just about everybody. If you make the effort to write to your Republican state legislator or member of congress, realize that public pressure is our only chance for change so you should also send it to your local newspaper. Regular Iowans need to get louder.
Watch this week’s very informative and hopeful! Blue Statehouse Alert Live below or on the 
Blog For Iowa 