From email from ProgressIowa and Fairness For Iowa:
Across Iowa’s first Congressional District, we’ve all noticed a growing problem: Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks has been consistently avoiding public forums and direct constituent engagement. This lack of accessibility is particularly concerning following her recent vote against ACA tax credits, a decision that directly impacts Iowa families and our ability to afford health care.
That’s why Fairness for Iowa is taking action. We’re excited to announce a special town hall with Illinois Congressman Eric Sorensen, who understands the importance of listening to constituents. As a representative from Illinois’s 17th District, he brings a valuable perspective on the issues that matter most to working families across the Midwest.
This town hall will provide space for genuine dialogue where your concerns will be heard and addressed directly. Rep. Sorensen and our other speakers will discuss your priorities, from the state of our economy and healthcare to other pressing issues affecting our community. You can submit questions when you register here.
Please share this invitation with friends, family, and neighbors who may be interested.
See you next Saturday,
– Finch VanDyk
Communications Organizer, CD 1
finch@progressiowa.org
No one I know listens to WHO-radio, the 50,000 watt station in Des Moines that broadcasts multiple hours daily of right wing talk. At 50,000 watts, WHO reaches the entire state and beyond, using the publicly owned airwaves to basically saturate the state in right wing talk. Obviously, a whole bunch of Iowans are listening. Unfortunately, they are getting garbage delivered into their homes, kitchens, cars and garages via the good old-fashioned radio.
There are local commercial am radio stations all around the state that also broadcast multiple hours a day of twisted ideas, distortions, conspiracy theories and hate directed at democrats, immigrants, minorities and others. Their programming includes national syndicated “conservative” or “controversial” talk radio hosts, “conservative” and “controversial” being code words among talk radio seekers for right wing talkers.
It’s hard to listen. So we ignore it. Back in the day when there was an active national media reform movement, about 20 years ago, I tried to tune in periodically so that I could write about what they were saying, but I couldn’t take it for longer than 2-3 minutes. It truly makes you feel crazy. The word gaslighting is the popular vernacular for what they do.
It’s like we know the propaganda is there because we hear about it, but we don’t experience it first hand, because we don’t listen to it, so we tend to underestimate its power to warp minds. It’s one thing to hear about it, but it’s another thing entirely to actually listen while it is being broadcast conversationally on your local radio dial. I have long felt the right wing talk radio stations in Iowa are a primary reason why Iowa (and other rural states) lost its way. Radio creates communities of true believers, ties that bind.
Someone told an anecdote recently about growing up on a farm in rural Iowa. He said every day you would come in from the fields at noon to eat “dinner” and listen to the farm report on the radio. Later, when he had grown up and left home, the stations were sold and turned into talk radio stations, but his parents and other farmers just kept tuning in out of habit.
This week Robert Leonard wrote about it on his SubstackDeep Midwest Politics and Culture and described what was being said on the air about the events in Minneapolis. I appreciate him doing this because I cannot, and we need to be reminded what is out there influencing minds, through our media. We need to address this serious problem that has been hidden in plain sight for decades.
Here is an excerpt from Robert Leonard’s Substack post. He attended the protest of Trump’s visit Tuesday and reported on it. Give him a follow. He is an independent thinker who doesn’t tend to use cliches, talking points or media narratives in his writing. He writes about things others aren’t writing about.
“On the way to Clive, I turned on WHO-radio to hear what was on the minds of the MAGA crowd, something I do at least once a day. The hosts of the show were pretty much talking about the battle of Minneapolis, where organized gangs of paid communists and socialist protestors were impeding the efforts of good law enforcement officers as they tried to arrest violent illegal “aliens” (yes, we are back to that unfortunate word) who were ravaging the city. Democrats are seeking to destroy our country, and the “patriots” listening need to prepare for civil war.
They told us that Trump had to stand strong, and maybe come in even harsher, because if Trump and ICE retreated from Minneapolis, the city would fall, with other cities soon to follow.”
But recently, it seems like the truth is breaking through, somehow. It may be the blatant lying over the airwaves is losing its power. All things must pass, after all.
There were many more protesters that greeted Trump in Clive Tuesday than supporters. That’s what the media should be calling a seismic political shift in Iowa.
AG candidate Nate Willems calls on Brenna Bird to drop support for lawsuit that allows ICE to operate unchecked in American cities
Brenna Bird continues to spend taxpayer resources to pursue her own extreme agenda and remain loyal to political insiders backing her campaign
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – This morning the Des Moines Register reported that Brenna Bird is championing a national effort to allow ICE and other federal agents to continue operating unchecked in American cities. In response, Democratic candidate for attorney general Nate Willems called on Bird to rescind support for this lawsuit and join bipartisan calls to de-escalate tensions and political violence.
“While Chuck Grassley and Ashley Hinson are seeking to de-escalate a deadly situation in Minnesota by calling for a thorough investigation of these federal agents, Brenna Bird is doing the opposite. We need a secure border and safe communities, but Brenna Bird is seeking to give a green light to tactics which have resulted in the killing of American citizens,” said Nate Willems.
“While other leaders are trying to calm things down, she is using her position and Iowa taxpayer resources to argue in favor of escalation. Brenna Bird should remove the State of Iowa from this lawsuit. Our attorney general should be focusing on helping Iowans, not an extreme political agenda that wastes time and tax dollars.”
The Des Moines Register highlighted how Bird has focused her time in office on lawsuits focused on raising her national profile by engaging in litigation around divisive national issues.
According to the report,
“The filing is a continuation of Bird’s efforts to weigh in on a wide range of political and cultural disputes, including more than 150 multi-state lawsuits, amicus briefs and official letters sent since taking office in 2023.”
President Trump’s first visit to Iowa in 2026 will see a changed state from the last time he visited in July.
A new report issued today by the bipartisan Cost Coalition, Progress Iowa, and other partners shows how Washington’s reckless economic agenda is harming Iowans. No state has been in the crosshairs of the President’s economic agenda more than the Hawkeye State, where farmers are struggling with tariffs, wind workers have been laid off from their jobs, and manufacturing continues to suffer.
One in eight Iowans are facing food insecurity, 100,000 Iowans are in danger of losing their health insurance, and electricity bills are spiking as families need to heat their homes at the peak of winter.
And Iowa’s congressional delegation has endorsed the agenda that is selling out their constituents.
Iowans are struggling to square the economy they’re living through with the President’s promises to lower costs on ‘Day One’ and cut energy bills in half. With Iowa continuing to fall behind, the President’s policies will be a liability this fall.
Cost Coalition Advisors Andrew Bates and Terry Holt released the following statement:
“No state is feeling the damage from Washington’s affordability crisis more than Iowa. Despite promising to lower prices on ‘Day One,’ the President’s tariffs and tax breaks for the rich have made everything more expensive and cut Iowa’s farmers off from key markets. Whether it’s surging utility bills or unaffordable health insurance premiums, voters know this is not what they were promised. Iowa’s congressional delegation has to stop rubber-stamping the policies that are depriving Iowans of their jobs, savings, and futures.”
Mazie Stilwell, Executive Director of Progress Iowa, said:
“This report is no surprise to Iowans who are living under Trump’s painful economic agenda that takes from workers to support billionaires. What is surprising is how complicit our delegation has been. None of Iowa’s Representatives – not Feenstra, Hinson, Miller-Meeks or Nunn – have stood up for Iowans paying hand over fist to get by. Our congressional members have been puppets for Trump, supporting his agenda for billionaires while Iowans struggle to afford basic necessities.”
Launched in April, the bipartisan Cost Coalition is laser focused on restoring the American Dream by making life more affordable. Our Coalition is committed to supporting policies and leaders that are committed to fighting to lower prices and invest in solutions that will make everyday life more affordable.
About Progress Iowa:
Progress Iowa is the state’s progressive communications hub. Year-round, we promote ideas and causes with research-backed creative media strategies to empower Iowans who want to improve our state. Facebook: ProgressIowa Instagram: @ProgressIowa Threads: @progressiowa.bsky.social
“Mike Tupper, the first declared Democratic candidate in Iowa House district 52, spoke to Bleeding Heartland’s Laura Belin on January 8, 2026.
Tupper retired in January 2025 after being Marshalltown police chief for more than 13 years. He had a 32-year career in law enforcement, first working in Ottumwa, then becoming the police chief in Nevada (Story County), and then was hired to lead the Marshalltown Police Department.” More
Check out the Bleeding Heartland YouTube channel for more candidate interviews. There is a transcript and thorough summary of the interview there.
This is not exactly news. Most have heard at least some rumors of a possible major breakthrough of biologically breaking down plastics. Among the many aspects of the environmental crises that humanity seems to be careening toward, what to do with plastics is one of the greatest problems of all.
While the current administration is doing all it can to halt and even destroy scientific research it was good to hear that progress was still going on in this area.
Researchers are working on manipulating the digestive systems of wax worms to create a scalable way of disposing of plastic.
Plastics that support modern life are inexpensive, strong, and versatile, but are difficult to dispose of and have a serious impact when released into the environment. Polyethylene, in particular, is the most widely produced plastic in the world, with more than 100 million tons distributed annually. Since it can take decades to decompose—and along the way can harm wildlife and degrade into harmful microplastics—its disposal is an urgent issue for mankind.
In 2017, European researchers discovered a potential solution. The larvae of wax moths, commonly known as wax worms, have the ability to break down polyethylene in their bodies. Wax worms have been considered a pest since ancient times because they parasitize beehives, feeding on beeswax. However, we now know that they also spontaneously feed on polyethylene, which has a chemically similar structure.
“Around 2,000 wax worms can break down an entire polyethylene bag in as little as 24 hours, although we believe that co-supplementation with feeding stimulants like sugars can reduce the number of worms considerably,” said Dr Bryan Cassone, a professor of biology at Brandon University in Canada, in a news release. Cassone and his team have been researching how these insects could be harnessed to help combat plastic pollution. “Understanding the biological mechanisms and consequences on fitness associated with plastic biodegradation is key to using wax worms for large-scale plastic remediation,” he says.
In previous experiments, Cassone and his team found out exactly how wax worms break down polyethylene. To understand their digestive mechanism, Cassone’s team fed polyethylene to wax worms for several days and followed the insects’ metabolic processes and changes in their gut environment. They found that as the wax worms ate the polyethylene, their feces liquefied and contained glycol as a byproduct.
As we hear more and more stories of plastics getting into all aspects of our lives from drinking water to food it is good to know that science is still working on solutions. The environmental situation is one of the most important issues for those under 30. Their concern is whether or not there will be a planet left for them to live on.
Of course we all know there is no “Planet B” for us to move to.
WTF is this guy talking about? Call him Daddy? What a joke! 8 minutes of ‘weaving.’ Americans should be heaving:
Hey, boys and girls – guess who is coming to Iowa Tuesday? Yep, the Felon featured in the above video. Well, maybe he’s coming. Maybe he will get confused and go to Iceland or maybe Ireland or may see his buddy at the Kremlin. Who knows? Remember, however, if he does come to Iowa he likes to be called ‘pedophile protector.’ It is sort of an inside joke with Gramps.
If you go to see him also be sure to give big cheers for his Iowa cult – Grassley, Ernst, Nunn, Miller-Meeks, Hinson and that other guy. Give Reynolds a hand for royally screwing up a once well run state.
Here we go. Remember FIWH is Felon in the White House. After Jack Smith’s testimony there is little doubt.
A) Who is Liam Conejo Ramos?
B) The FIWH is starting a new world club for the bad boy dictators who are his friends. What will this new club be called?
C) But a dictator doesn’t get in just on his bad behavior. There is a fee. How much is that fee?
D) Who does that fee go to?
E) Hey – we can’t ignore the weather, now can we? We knew really bad weather was coming when what Texas senator once again abandoned his state for much warmer areas?
F) The administration is doing some outreach so they don’t like such ogres. What senior administration visited Minnesota Thursday, but only antagonized the situation?
G) The big anticipated Davos World Economic Forum took place last week. What two world leaders were conspicuous by their absence from Davos?
H) Both were absent for the same reason. What was that shared reason for absence?
I) Who is Greg Bovino?
J) Cold?? Why, back when I was a kid….. What is the record low temperature in Iowa?
K) A whistle blower in the DHS revealed that ICE wrote and disseminated a SECRET memo that authorized what kind of warrants to break into people’s houses in violation of the 4th amendment in May of 2025?
L) The Iowa legislature is back in session! And to make their mark right off the bat is a bill to sell what two supposed Covid cures over the counter?
M) As a counterpoint to the FIWH in Davos, what North American leader highlighted the “rupture” in the world order?
N) In a late night social media post the FIWH sent a note to what world leader claiming his country’s passing over of the FIWH for the Nobel Peace Prize was the reason for the pursuit of Greenland?
O) The principal Deputy Director of the CDC, Ralph Abrams, sadi last week that an uptick in what disease is the “cost of doing business”?
P) Iowa has had some long streaks below 0. But we have to reach back to the winter of 1910-1911 and the winter of 1963 to see what all time consecutive day streak below 0?
Q) What movie garnered the most Oscar nominations ever when the Academy Award nominations were announced this week?
R) “Life won’t be very, very happy” the FIWH threatened who, if that person refuses to the Federal Reserve Board in May?
S) What state appears to be the next in line for an illegal ICE invasion in the FIWH’s push to civil war?
T) Let’s end on the Iowa legislature pushing for a mandatory 3 hour course on what subjects that used to be taught in high schools for Iowa colleges and universities?
BONUS) The US left what international organization Thursday leaving behind $278 million in unpaid dues?
Trump just spent part of his Davos speech repeatedly calling Greenland “Iceland.”
Where’s Jake Tapper and the rest of the media meltdown crew? Any time Biden misspoke, they treated it like a five-alarm crisis.
Funny how that standard disappears when it’s Trump. – Chris D. Jackson
Tip of the hat to EarlG at democraticunderground.com
Answers:
A) He is the 5year old boy that ICE agents used as bait to lure his father from his (the father’s) house. Both father and son are now reportedly in in a concentration camp in El Paso.
B) The Board of Peace
C) $1 B.
D) No one has said who gets that money. Best guess is that it goes into the FIWH’s pocket
E) Ted Cruz! Went to Cancun last time. This time it is San Diego
F) VP JD Vance
G) Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin
H) There are international warrants for their arrests. If they leave their countries they could be arrested.
I) Bovino is the head of the ICE contingent in Minnesota. He dresses as a cosplay Nazi
J) – 47 F most recently in Elkader on February 3, 1996
K) Administrative warrants signed by an ICE official. This is illegal based on the 4th amendment
L) Ivermectine and hydroxichloroquine – BRILLIANT!
M) Mark Carney of Canada. Canada has also entered into trade relations with many different countries while breaking ties with the US
N) Norway – the government has nothing to do with the Nobel prizes
O) Measles.
P) 17 days
Q) “Sinners”
R) Jerome Powell
S) Maine. I am guessing because Maines governor Janet Mills defied Trump on trans athlete’s in public last February
T) American history and government
BONUS) the WHO – World Health Organization
Well played by the Clinton’s. When held in contempt it will force a discovery forcing the release of the Epstein files. – Mayra
We got this solicitation from the Bohannan campaign Thursday afternoon. It reminded me that there are still major problems in this country besides Trump:
I’m a lawyer, and today I want to talk to you about a case that changed millions of lives: Roe v. Wade.
It began with a young, unmarried woman who was pregnant and wanted a chance at a different future. At the time, abortion was illegal in 44 states, including the one where she lived. Her options were grim. If she had money, she could travel to one of the few states where abortion was legal. If she didn’t, she could be forced to carry the pregnancy to term or risk her life by turning to a back-alley provider.
In 1973, her case reached the Supreme Court. And on this day, the Court ruled in her favor! Roe v. Wade established a constitutional right to abortion grounded in the fundamental rights to privacy and personal liberty.
Today, that protection is gone. Since Roe was overturned, our country has taken a massive step backward.
Here in Iowa, women face a six-week abortion ban, before most people barely miss a period. Some are able to travel out of state, but many cannot. Those who can’t are left navigating a collapsing reproductive healthcare system thanks to politicians like Mariannatte Miller-Meeks.
Our anti-abortion laws have placed OB-GYNs under constant legal surveillance, turning routine pregnancy care into a legal minefield. The result is devastating: Iowa is facing a shortage of OB-GYNs, especially in rural communities, at the very moment families need care the most.
And instead of addressing this crisis, Mariannette Miller-Meeks has doubled down. She voted for the “Big, Ugly Bill,” ensuring deep cuts to Medicaid that disproportionately harm rural Iowa. She has stood behind her party’s agenda to control women’s bodies, even going so far as to co-sponsor a national abortion ban.
It is time to once again protect abortion in Iowa. It is time to place abortion back between a woman and her doctor, not politicians and judges.
I was talking to some family members the other day. Seems like at some point these days the conversation turns to some aspect of how truly gawd-awful, hateful, unlawful and anti-democratic the current administration is. Since we are older, the talk sometimes goes down that familiar canard of “when I was a kid ….”
When we go there I usually bring up the music that we grew up with. It seemed like the more turmoil there was, the better the music got. Very singable songs that were loaded with powerful messages seemed to pop up every week. I often wonder why these turbulent times – by comparison the turbulence is at or near the all time high – haven’t produced a similar outpouring of protest songs.
For one thing, while it may seem longer, this round of anti-democracy and suffering is barely a year old. It takes some time for our souls to be awakened. The other factor is that I and many others are listening to much different outlets than we did 6 decades ago. Also, outlets these days are much more fragmented and diverse, so it is hard for a song to catch on.
With that preamble, I would like to present a young man who I stumbled onto on a discussion forum. Jesse Welles is that young man and he seems to capture the spirit of protest against these turbulent times in a way that feels timeless.
With that being said here are a few Jesse Welles songs. The first is called “Join ICE.” It runs about 3:30. Listen closely to the words:
For a second selection here is United Health (1:30)
Finally here is a short one (2:08) that was recorded before Trump overthrew the sitting government:
Go to youtube.com for more of Jesse Welles. I think you will find him very enjoyable. And he may just have a tune you can carry in your head.
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)
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