Join the Rural Caucus with Secretary of Agriculture Candidate John Norwood and Soil & Water Board members from across the state as we discuss how to support these valuable institutions. The role they play in our upcoming November election cannot be overstated. Learn how you can easily make a sustainable impact on Iowa’s climate, soil, and water. We will discuss the value of these boards to your local economy and for building relationships with Iowa voters.
John Norwood is the current Soil & Water Commissioner for Iowa’s capital county. He has an MBA and master’s degree from Yale’s Forestry School. His professional background includes water utility experience in Boston, as well as experience leading an agricultural land trust in grape, nut, and cattle ranching in California, There, he worked to increase the base of irrigated ag while protecting farmland from development. He has also worked in farm-based renewable energy, specialty feeds, and marketing Iowa-grown local foods. He envisions Iowa being a world-class model for community-based regenerative agriculture in the U.S. with new opportunities for first-generation farmers, especially farmers of color.
Help crank up the heat on the IUB and CO2 pipelines Have you filed an objection?
On July 12, over 60 farmers, landowners, and climate fighters came together in Des Moines to tell the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) we don’t want false solutions to climate change or abuse eminent domain to line the pockets of people like Bruce Rastetter.
Throughout the meeting, board members urged us to submit objections through the IUB’s electronic filing system, saying they will read our comments and use them as evidence during all three CO2 pipelines’ hearings.
Let’s take their offer and flood them with comments! You do not need to live in an impacted county to submit a letter. Here’s how you can make your voice heard:
Reminder from State Rep. Lindsay James that under this year’s #IAGOP tax plan, it will take the average Iowan a CENTURY to receive the same tax benefits that the ultra-rich will receive in a single year.
I ran across this list about three weeks ago on dailykos.com. Kos has a policy of letting folks use their work as long as they get the credit. More than happy to do that. This list compiled by Good News Roundup was posted to remind people that Joe Biden was able to accomplish one hell of a lot of very progressive policy while senate Republicans did all they could to stop Biden from doing anything.
While the radical right in the US Senate has tried to stop Biden, (don’t blame it all on Manchin. If there was one or two Republicans with a spine, Manchin wouldn’t matter.) the extreme right corporate media has been pounding daily for months on inflation trying to drive Biden’s numbers down. It is an all. Out attack from the right on Biden.
Yet gas prices are going down, inflation is cooling some and despite the Fed trying to steer us into a recession, job numbers still look good. As you peruse through the list below you can easily note that in less than two years Joe Biden has done a pretty good job steering the ship of state.
Iowa’s Senator Joni Ernst who flaunts her veteran status as a major part of her political identity turned her back on fellow veterans as she changed her vote on the bill to expand health care to vets who came in contact with open air burn pits during their deployment. Once again, one of Iowa’s radical Republicans shows that their loyalty to insane party policy is much stronger than any personal convictions.
Jeremy Butler, chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, called out Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) for switching to a no vote Wednesday.
“After voting to support the #PACTAct and her fellow veterans, Sen. Joni Ernst turned her back on them yesterday and voted NO,” he tweeted. “What happened Senator? Iowa vets are still getting sick and dying from toxic exposures.”
Ernst once more proves that the radical Republican Party has moved from party to cult. As a headline in the Virginia Mercury states: “These People Don’t Care”.
And yet citizens will vote for them?
A) After a brain eating amoeba killed a Missouri man at Lake of Three Fires State Park in Iowa, the state of Iowa took what action?
B) Word leaked out this week that what government department was indeed investigating the insurrection?
C) The President was declared free from what disease after a relatively short period of 5 days?
D) Defamation cases have been decided in lawsuits brought by “Covington kid” Nicholas Sandman against the NYT, ABC and others. How were these cases decided?
E) A man who has been stalking Rep. Pramilla Jayapal’s home, threatening to kill her has finally been arrested and charged with what?
F) Treatment for monkeypox may be running into discrimination problem as the disease seems to be concentrating in what segment of society?
G) Former Iowa representative Jim Leach surprised some folks when he endorsed who in the 1st district congressional race in Iowa?
H) Leach also announced his endorsement of who in the Iowa senate race?
I) St. Louis area residents were inundated with a record rain of how many inches Tuesday morning?
J) Thanks to deal with Sen. Joe Manchin it looks like Democrats will be able to pass a reconciliation bill that will have major effects on what long range issue?
K) As Lyn Cheney noted “the dam has broken” in the January 6th insurrection investigation. Name two members of the Trump inner circle who were said ti have given testimony to the J6 Committee?
L) A White House wedding? Do tell me where and when? Boy, is the Secret Service ever relieved!
M) James Murray who announced his retirement as head of what agency, has delayed that retirement as the agency is going through a scandal connected with January 6th?
N) The Pope visited what country last week in order to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the abuse (and deaths) of the country’s indigenous people?
O) Vice President Kamala Harris visited Indianapolis last Monday as the Indiana legislature entered a special session focusing on what?
P) August 1, 1944. The last entry into what book written by a teen girl hiding out during WWII is made?
Q) The senate passed the CHIPS Act Wednesday. This Act will save the US from being dependent on computer chips being made elsewhere. How did Grassley and Ernst vote?
R)A new study revealed that although that vitamin is often recommended for bone, it really does lower risk of fractures in older adults?
S) Tony Dow’s death was announced Tuesday, then rescinded, then announced officially Wednesday. What was Tony Dow’s claim to fame?
T) August 2, 1776 is the actual date that members of the Continental Congress officially signed what document?
Celebrate with me: my tribe (the Oglala Lakota Nation) — has officially banned religious missionaries from the reservation. – Lakota Man tweet
(3:48) Listen as Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland explains the 2nd amendment to Radical Republicans:
The 2nd amendment was put in the constitution mostly so that the country would not have to have a standing army. Standing armies in Europe became trouble when heads of state would use them for nefarious reasons, often against citizens.
That is why the 2nd amendment has two clauses. The first clause establishes the need for “well regulated militias.” These militia were to be under control of the government and would be ready to take up arms against enemies Thus we did not need a standing army.
The second clause of the second amendment then basically says that if you are in a “well regulated militia” you will need a gun. Remember in those day of powder and packing and flintlocks is was hard to get off even a few shots. When the so-called “originalists” go into their cross-century mind reading act they never seem to take into account things like equipment change.
Seriously, folks, do you really think that the founders of our country wanted to put an amendment in constitution that would set things up so that citizens could overthrow the very government they had just started? No. That is why mechanisms were established to make changes peacefully.
Do you think the founders envisioned a society where grievances were settled with bloodshed daily? I can’t imagine anyone believes that. Yet for some reason the radically right wing Republican Party in cahoots with a greedy gun industry and an extremist media have worked to change the horror of murder into just another news item in the daily litany of horrors.
Do you want your children to be just another statistic in America’s unnatural love of guns? Do you want to fear going to eat in a restaurant, going to the grocery store, going to a campground or a movie because someone with a gun has decided they have a score to settle?
We seem to be living in an out of control old western shoot-‘em-up. But this is reality and those with a grievance have highly sophisticated weapons that should not be available to citizens. These are weapons of war.
The radical right, the gun makers and the far right media have come up with all sorts reasons why so many Americans are shot, but the honest underlying reason is that guns are so easy to get. There is no logical reason why guns should be so easy to get. That is not the way the second amendment was written.
Remember that not all victims of gunshot die. Many live agonizing years beyond their wounding. Some may be paralyzed, some many have severe medical complications, many will lose jobs.
Also remember that if you want to support police and other law enforcement agencies, there is nothing better we could do for them than to get all the guns off the street.
So far the radical right’s response to our national slaughter is to push for more guns. That is like fighting a fire with gasoline. This fall Iowa will be voting on a constitutional amendment to keep and bear arms. It is not needed. Iowans need to send a message to the merchants of death and their enablers that morgues and more guns is not the answer in a civilizedsociety.
The unmitigated gall of Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson never ceases to astound me and other watchers of things political. A little less than a week after both representatives voted against a bill to guarantee that people have access to contraception, these two introduced a bill that would- they claim – guarantee people would have access to contraception!
Cynical? Duplicitous? Downright misleading? However you describe it, these two representatives are doing what they can to play both sides of the fence. They voted against it and then tried to set up a situation where they ride in on a white horse to save the day!
The reason that the contraception has come up as an issue is because SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas put a target on contraception as an issue he wants to overturn with the extreme radical right wing that now serves as America’s Supreme Court. Rather than get blind-sided again like they did on Dobbs, Congress has decided to codify the right to control at least some reproductive rights.
So when the vote to codify access to contraception as a right for adults (remember, men access contraception also) both Miller-Meeks and Hinson said “NO!”. My guess is that vote must have garnered them a lot of response, very negative response. So about a week later in what looks like a very cynical ploy to pretend they were pro-contraception, the two came up with an idea to garner publicity that they were pro-contraception.
Brilliant! So about a week after voting against access to contraception, they introduced a bill to allow access to contraception. That should negate the bad publicity they got. Too bad for them that most everybody saw through their little game immediately.
Since there is no chance that the current House leadership would ever allow the bill to advance, these two charlatans can claim that they favored access to contraception but what they will refer to as ‘radical leftist Democrats’ stopped their effort. You may laugh at them now, I am.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks told Iowans last Thursday she values access to contraception and women making decisions for themselves. Then she voted against a bill that would protect women’s ability to do those two things.
Miller-Meeks said the oral contraceptive bill was better than the Right to Contraception Act, which protects the ability of a person to obtain or use multiple types of contraceptives. It also protects the ability of health care providers to provide or inform about contraceptives and pregnancy prevention generally.
Yet Miller-Meeks called the Democratic bill extreme and dangerous to women’s health without explaining how. She also said it allows non-FDA-approved contraception methods, which isn’t true. {note: my bolding – ed.}
These two clowns deserve derision for this fake maneuver. They deserve a slap on the wrist for wasting the House’s time and our time for this stunt.
Miller-Meeks and Hinson have been wasting valuable seats in the House by acting only in the interest of their party. This stunt really highlights what their tenure has been – a game to support their party while avoiding the extremist label that they and their party have earned. Remember, both have sought support from the former president who led a rebellion against our country.
Enough of them! It is time to vote for honest people who will not play games with their responsibilities.
In the first district we have Christina Bohannan, a law professor at the University of Iowa. Bohannan will be the voice of working Iowans, not a pawn for the party. She will listen and she will act on BEHALF OF IOWANS. We vote for people based on their character. Bohannan is steeped in character.
Liz Mathis in the 2nd district is also steeped in character. As demonstrated by more than a decade in the Iowa legislature and as a community officer for a child welfare and juvenile justice agency, Four Oaks, Liz Mathis is someone we can depend on.
We need a change. Iowa can’t continue with such pathetic leadership. We deserve better and we can have better. Make sure you are registered to vote. Then make a plan to vote this fall. Remember Iowa’s early voting has been cut back this fall. The first day to request an absentee ballot is the end of next month – August 30th. The first day of absentee voting is Wednesday October19th – make a plan!
Wednesday night, Senate Republicans blocked the PACT Act, which would have given more treatment options to veterans exposed to fallout from toxic burn pits and who now suffer health ailments years after those deployments – including myself.
This is personal for me because I know many veterans who fear that burn pits are this century’s Agent Orange. If my opponent Chuck Grassley truly cared about veterans like me, he could use his seniority in Washington to demand action from Mitch McConnell and get this passed…
Please, head over to McConnell’s office and push this across the finish line, Senator Grassley. You must do more.
We cannot let this slide. Toxins from burn pits will become another Agent Orange situation for generations to come if we do not act now. Enough of playing politics with our veterans’ health.
When I defeat Chuck Grassley and become the most senior military person ever in the U.S. Senate, bills such as this will get my full attention and support.
Just another example of why it’s time to retire Chuck Grassley this November.
Mike Franken, U.S. Navy (ret.)
To learn more about Mike Franken’s campaign to be the next Iowa U.S. Senator, click here.
After the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Iowa Department of Transportation has funding and is working on a plan to to deploy more electric vehicle charging stations across the state. Once the plan is finalized, it goes to the Governor for review, and hopefully, approval.
The Iowa Department of Transportation compiled this useful video to provide an update on the project. There are a couple of misnomers in the video, such as “renewable natural gas,” yet there is good information as well. View it with a critical eye, yet this reflects the state’s official position on an important topic.
If you are interested in electric vehicles and the expansion of charging stations, viewing this video is a must.
For more information, the Iowa Department of Transportation website about Electric Vehicles is here.
One of the best kept secrets of the Biden administration that shouldn’t be is his rural outreach program.
Each week I receive an email invitation from Will McIntee, associate director of public engagement. This one for today’s Zoom call is typical:
“On this week’s call we will provide updates on CMS’s proposed rule to implement the Rural Emergency Hospitals designation, as well as additional Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments for rural high speed internet through USDA.”
The meetings have been high level, informative and relevant to our lives in rural Iowa. They are off the record and closed to press.
The full schedule of calls is available on the registration site. If you live in rural Iowa, I recommend you register to give one a try. Here are the details for today’s call:
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)
Event by Iowa Democratic Party Rural Caucus
