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Iowa is Better Than This!
A statewide event Feb. 16 on lamenting Iowa’s discriminatory legislation
During the past year, the Iowa Legislature proposed, and even codified into law, bills that attempt to normalize discrimination, reduce voting access and hurt many citizens of this state. Legislators are proposing more of the same during this year’s session of the General Assembly.
Enough is enough. Let your voice be heard on:
~LGBTQ+ issues
~Voting rights
~Gun accessibility
~Housing discrimination
~Educational curriculum
~The right to peaceful protest
~Treatment of immigrants
When: February 16 Time: 5:00 p.m. Where: Hybrid – live and online – across different sites around the state. Participate in person or via Zoom
Easy to see where this is going. Republicans envision they can get rid of every law they don’t like and keep only the laws they like. To borrow a phrase from Art Cullen talking about the GOP book banning nonsense, here’s another anti-democratic idea no doubt from a “right-wing propaganda machine in Virginia.”
[Republican] Representative John Wills has introduced a bill (HF2011) that would repeal every single Iowa law over a 10-year period. Furthermore, the cycle would be repeated every 10 years thereafter. The only way that the law remains on the books would be for both the Iowa House and Iowa Senate to pass the bill and for the Governor to sign the bill into law. If the two chambers and governor could not agree, then the bill would simply disappear. Bills related to the environment, taxes, education, public health, criminal laws, and many other areas, would simply disappear.
Talk about chaos. Talk about uncertainty and the effect that will have on businesses who repeat the mantra that they want certainty. Talk about disrespect for the institutions of government and smooth functioning of that government. It would be a time-consuming waste of resources, both within the legislature, within the executive branch, and for the taxpayers.
Although there may be items in the Iowa Code that need to be revised, it is easy to do it on an as-needed basis for that individual item. There is no need to blow up whole chapters of the code in order to accomplish an easy task of updating a single law.
This is a bill that should simply be rejected. The bill has already passed a house subcommittee and will soon be reviewed by the House State Government Committee.
You can write to the committee members and ask that they do not pass the HF2011. Their email address are
Few people can explain economic issues and how they affect workers much better than Professor Robert Reich. Here he explains how employers exploit workers. I would imagine most workers reading this have experienced at least one of these situations. (6 minutes):
Well next month (or the day after tomorrow if you will) has been celebrated as Black History Month in the US for decades. But this year white politicos of the Republican persuasion have decided that talking about Black history makes white kids feel bad about themselves. Well, too bad. We shall continue to talk about reality here.
Speaking of reality, President Biden has done a magnificent job of turning the economy around. Yet the press barely notices. What’s a guy got to do?
Here we go:
A) BA.2 – what is it?
B) Stephen Breyer made headlines by announcing his retirement. What is he retiring from?
C) Neil Young pulled his material from what hosting platform because they allowed Joe Rogan to spread lies about covid on that platform?
D) This week’s outrage comes to us from Disney where what cartoon character will be outfitted in a pantsuit for the first time?
E) Can’t argue with this assessment. What Fox newser did President Biden refer to under his breath as a “stupid son of a bitch” on a hot mike?
F) Whose girlfriend was given immunity so she could testify against her former boyfriend in an underage sex scandal?
G) What major sporting event starts later this week in the face of the continuing covid pandemic?
H) Black History: Garret Morgan invented what traffic implement we all must deal with daily?
I) A bridge in what major American city collapsed just before President Biden was scheduled to make a speech on infrastructure repair in that city?
J) Willow, the newest presidential pet, is a what kind of critter?
K) The administration is making 400 million N95 masks available to the public through what outlets?
L) What home appliance has been cited as a major greenhouse gas emitter even when not being used?
M) Reporting is beginning to focus on the wife of what SCOTUS justice and her involvement in the January 6th insurrection?
N) What service or product did the first American female millionaire, Madame CJ Walker, provide?
O) Who is Kentaji Brown Jackson?
P) Republican politicians in Iowa responded to our child care shortage by proposing what?
Q) What California city passed an ordinance requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance and pay an annual $25 fee?
R) Sarah Palin had her defamation suit against the New York Times postponed due to what?
S) At an anti-vaccination rally in Washington, DC last weekend, Robert F. Kennedy was roundly criticized for invoking whose name? (Criticisms included his sister and his wife.)
T) What black female was a champion in both tennis and golf in the 1950s and 1960s, when blacks were for the most part banned?
I know I bang this drum a lot but FOX News is a national security threat the likes of which the USA has not seen. Especially when you consider Tucker’s show is piped into U.S. military bases globally. Nothin’ funny about it. It’s a weapon of chaos, sedition and mass death. – Scott Linnen tweet
Answers:
A) A variant of the Omicron variant of covid that seems to be picking up some speed
B) SCOTUS
C) Spotify
D) Minnie Mouse
E) Peter Doocey
F) Matt Gaetz. Can you almost hear the ‘Dragnet’ theme playing in the background?
G) The Winter Olympics in Beijing
H) The three position traffic light
I) Pittsburgh
J) a Cat
K) Pharmacies such as Walgreen’s, Walmart, Hy-Vee, Costco etc.
L) gas stove – most leak even when shut off
M) Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginny
N) Beauty products
O) perhaps the top choice to replace Stephen Breyer on the SCOTUS
P) that children could be left alone with kids 16 and older. Apparently better pay and conditions is too much.
Q) San Jose
R) She tested positive for Covid
S) He compared treatment of anti-vaxxers to the treatment of Anne Frank. Really
T) Althea Gibson
My apology to any Republican who were upset by Black History questions. More to come.
It used to be that the GOP was a mostly corporatist party that embraced racism and bigotry to get enough votes to win.
Now it’s just a racist and bigoted party that embraces corporatism to give it cover. – Pam Keith
We wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to see this. The “mainstream media” seldom misses a chance to blame President Biden for anything and everything that is perceived as a wrong in this world – and that includes NPR. Because of the constant negative press most of us have forgotten what an absolute mess he inherited.
We were on the verge of potentially one of the worst economic situations in history thanks to the total mismanagement of the previous administration. The pandemic was rising dramatically while the previous administration did nothing to stop it. The previous administration refused o share information with the incoming administration and had in fact lead an attempted overthrow of our government. And congressional leaders of the Republican Party vowed to block anything that the new Biden Administration did.
It was as if Republicans had set the country up to fail and promised to continue their assault using their control of the media. Yet despite all this, President Biden had perhaps the most impressive first year of any president since Franklin Roosevelt. We thought you should hear this somewhere, because this story is nearly non-existent on the mainstream media.
You may want to tuck this list away someplace for those online tiffs that you may encounter. This is a partial list with no criteria for the cut off. For the whole list please click on the link:
This is a 55 Tweet Thread from our Twitter account, copied over here to have easy access to it all in one place.
1.9T American Rescue Plan
$1400 stimulus checks for adults, children, and adult dependents
1 year child tax credit expansion – $3600 0-5, $3000 6-17, removed income reqs and made fully refundable
One year EITC expansion
$350 billion state and local aid
$130 billion for schools for safe reopening
$40 billion for higher ed, half of which must go to student aid
Extended $300 supplemental UI through September 2021
Expanded eligibility for extended UI to cover new categories
Made $10,200 in UI from 2020 tax free
$1B for Head Start
$24B Childcare stabilization fund
$15B in low-income childcare grants
One Year Child and Dependent Care credit expansion
$46.5B in housing assistance, inc:
$21.5B rental assistance
$10B homeowner relief
$5B for Sec 8 vouchers
$5B to fight homelessness
$5B for utilities assistance
Extended Eviction moratorium through Aug 2021 (SC struck down)
2 year ACA tax credit expansion and ending of subsidy cliff – expanded coverage to millions and cut costs for millions more
100% COBRA subsidy through Sept 30th, 2021
6 month special enrollment period from Feb-Aug 2021
Required insurers to cover PrEP, an HIV prevention drug, including all clinical visits relating to it
Extended open enrollment from 45 to 76 days
New year round special enrollment period for low income enrollees
Restored Navigator program to assist with ACA sign up
Removed separate billing requirement for ACA abortion coverage
Eliminated regulation that allows states to privatize their exchanges
Eliminated all Medicaid work requirements
Permanently removed restriction on access to abortion pills by mail
Signed the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act to fund increased ALS research and expedite access to experimental treatments
Rescinded Mexico City Policy (global gag rule) which barred international non-profits from receiving US funding if they provided abortion counseling or referrals
Allowed states to extend coverage through Medicaid and CHIP to post-partum women for 1 year (up from 60 days)
42 Lifetime Federal judges confirmed – most in 40 years
13 Circuit Court judges
29 District Court judges
Named first openly LBGTQ woman to sit on an appeals court, first Muslim American federal judge, and record number of black women and public defenders
$1.2T infrastructure law, including $550B in new funding $
110B for roads and bridges •$66B for passenger and freight rail
$39B for public transit, plus $30.5B in public transit funds from ARP
$65B for grid expansion to build out grid for clean energy transmission
$50B for climate resiliency
$21 for environmental remediation, incl. superfund cleanup and capping orphan wells
$7.5B for electric buses
$7.5B for electric charging stations
$55B for water and wastewater, including lead pipe removal
$65B for Affordable Broadband
$25B for airports, plus $8B from ARP
$17B for ports and waterways
$1B in reconnecting communities
Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords 50% emission reduction goal (2005 levels) by 2030
EO instructing all federal agencies to implement climate change prevention measures
Ordered 100% carbon free electricity federal procurement by 2030
100% zero emission light vehicle procurement by 2027, all vehicles by 2035
Net Zero federal building portfolio by 2045, 50% reduction by 2032
Net Zero federal procurement no later than 2050
Net zero emissions from federal operations by 2050, 65% reduction by 2030
Finalized rule slashing the use of hydrofluorocarbons by 85% by 2036 – will slow temp rise by 0.5°C on it’s own.
Set new fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, raising the requirement for 2026 from 43mpg to 55mpg.
Protected Tongass National Forest, one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, from development, mining, and logging
Revoked Keystone XL permit
Used the CRA to reverse the Trump administration Methane rule, restoring stronger Obama era standards.
EPA proposed new methane rule stricter than Obama rule, would reduce 41 million tons of methane emissions by 2035
Partnered with the EU to create the Global Methane Pledge, which over 100 countries have signed, to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels
US-EU trade deal to reward clean steel and aluminum and penalize dirty production
Ended US funding for new coal and fossil fuel projects overseas, and prioritized funding towards clean energy projects
G7 partnership for “Build Back Better World” – to fund $100s of billions in climate friendly infrastructure in developing countries
Restoring California’s ability to set stricter climate requirements
Signed EO on Climate Related Financial Risk that instructs rule making agencies to take climate change related risk into consideration when writing rules and regulations.
$100M for environmental justice initiatives
$1.1B for Everglades restoration
$100M for environmental justice initiatives
$1.1B for Everglades restoration
30 GW Offshore Wind Plan, incl:
Largest ever offshore wind lease sale in NY and NJ
Offshore wind lease sale in California
Expedited reviews of Offshore Wind Projects
$3B in DOE loans for offshore wind projects
$230M in port infrastructure for Offshore wind
Solar plan to reduce cost of solar by more than 50% by 2030 including $128M in funding to lower costs and improve performance of solar technology
Multi-agency partnership to expedite clean energy projects on federal land
Instructed Dept of Energy to strengthen appliance efficiency rules
Finalized rule to prevent cheating on efficiency standards
Finalized rule to expedite appliance efficiency standards
Repealed Federal Architecture EO that made sustainable federal buildings harder to build
Reversed size cuts and restored protections to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monuments
Restoring NEPA regulations to take into account climate change and environmental impacts in federal permitting
Extended public health emergency through at least April 15, 2022
$50B in funding for FEMA for COVID Disaster Relief including vaccine funding
Shortly after the new year, like many others in the old second soon to be first congressional district we got a flyer from the current congress member for this area, Marionette Miller-Meeks. The first thing that caught my eye was that this was “official” congressional mail that looked a lot like a campaign glossy. You and I were paying for this “looks a lot like campaign literature” mail.
I have long since shredded this flyer. All I remember was that there were some claims that she had written a piece of legislation that Congress member Axne had written. There were some other statements that all I can remember is Miller-Meeks seemingly taking credit for things she didn’t do.
Shortly thereafter Miller-Meeks gave this one minute speech that is essentially a compressed campaign speech on the floor of the US House:
One minute speeches at the beginning of a daily session are an old tradition. Often these are used to make a statement to highlight some special situation that the congress member wishes to have a note made of in the congressional record. In this case, our congress member wasted the House’s time and our money to make a barely connected campaign speech based on Republican talking points that for the most part were blatantly false or were unproven.
As you may note in the speech, also much of what the congress member said was meant to cause division in our country and I assume our district:
Her first bit of division is to continue the Republican talking point that Covid was leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. This has nit been proven, nor does she offer proof. She simply throws it out to the world. This speculation has been the basis for increased attacks on Asian and Pacific Islanders for the past couple of years. Miller-Meeks stokes those fires
She then puts total blame for GLOBAL inflation solely on the Biden Administration. Economies are complex. The circumstances for inflation did not begin January 21, 2021. She can’t be an effective congress member believing in such simplistic circumstances.
She then goes on to attack one of the attempts to help alleviate inflation. Can’t have it both ways.
Then it is “illegals.” A staple of Republican rhetoric for decades used only to elicit fear among whites. Again she offers no proof, just makes unsubstantiated statements.
She then waves the fear banner of “no covid testing for illegals.” Once again she stokes fear without offering any proof.
Why not follow that with the image of the drug running at the border? That is an old standard Republican fear trope.
“Record high homicides in blue states.” Invoking images of fear inducing cities and fear of black citizens who live there. Stir up the fear!
“Disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.” Did she want us to waste national treasure and lives of our soldiers forever for Bush’s error in judgment?
She ends with a flourish, repeating lies about Covid and vaccinations meant to keep a large portion of the country unvaccinated and the virus continuing. This is becoming a major division in our country.
One minute. In one minute Miller-Meeks was able to give what will be essentially her stump speech on the floor of congress with you and me picking up the cost as she makes unsubstantiated claims that a high schooler should be embarrassed to repeat.
Just to emphasize her disdain of common sense mitigation of Covid she has incurred several fines for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor. It is like she is giving America the finger. We pay her salary, so therefore as an extra insult to us, her constituents, we are paying her fines for her breaking the rules.
Think back. Our last two members of congress did not spend their time sowing division. They did not use our nickel to campaign. Both were highly respected members of congress whose opinions and advise were often sought by members of the opposing party.
Dave Loebsack and Jim Leach represented our district with integrity and dignity. Both were frequently back in the district consulting with their constituents. They would seek out constituents of the other party to see how they could work for them.
Miller-Meeks has decided that the politics of division will be her calling card.
Christina Bohannan will restore the idea that a member of congress can have dignity and integrity. She will represent her district, not try to divide us into warring camps.
Check your registration now while you have time. Make sure you know the rules on voting next November. Christina Bohannan will need your vote to help bring congress back to being a dignified organization.
It really is progress that we are now finally talking on TV about Fox News being a propaganda network. For a long time it was a taboo topic. It wasn’t that long ago that Elizabeth Warren shocked everyone by saying on The View that she would not do a town hall on Fox because of Fox being not news but a propaganda network. Gasps from the crowd including the show’s best liberal Whoopi Goldberg. So I was happy to see Jim Acosta laying it all out on CNN. I just hope we’re making progress fast enough.
“Just as Tucker and the Bolshevik factor are putting our democracy in peril acting as a mouthpiece for Putin, they are doing something perhaps even more destructive. With the US approaching 1 million deaths from Covid, Fox and the people ultimately in charge there, the Murdoch family, are inflaming a public health crisis.
To the Murdoch family, it’s your network. You own this. You own Tucker’s program that is putting all of us in peril for ratings – for money – so these American oligarchs can keep pumping out bullshit into our homes. Now if only there were a vaccine for all of that.”
We were tempted to post Bobby Kaufmann embarrassing himself but why waste perfectly good blog space on a state rep. at an extreme right wing event giving the finger to people who disagree with him. Was that on the taxpayer dime? Are we paying the kid to give us the finger? If so he should be docked pay. Click here if you haven’t seen it.
Enjoy weekly updates from Jennifer Konfrst, House Democrats leader. Follow Iowa House Dems on Facebook
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)
We were tempted to post Bobby Kaufmann embarrassing himself but why waste perfectly good blog space on a state rep. at an extreme right wing event giving the finger to people who disagree with him. Was that on the taxpayer dime? Are we paying the kid to give us the finger? If so he should be docked pay. Click 
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