So Far Out Of Touch

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Dave Bradley

Just to remind you how Miller-Meeks represents her district here she is running from Social Security Works director Alex Lawson who wants to ask here about her vote to drastically cut Medicaid: (45 seconds)

Rep. Miller-Meeks  (from Facebook 10 AM Friday morning) (captured before the post was marked unavailable) 

The University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom should live up to its name by honoring a true defender of free speech and open debate.

Charlie Kirk dedicated his life to advancing intellectual freedom, empowering students, and challenging the cancel culture mob that seeks to silence dissent.

That’s why I strongly support renaming it the Charlie Kirk Center for Intellectual Freedom, a lasting tribute that would inspire generations of Iowans to stand boldly for liberty and the truth.

Miller-Meeks is totally out of touch with Iowans, who she supposedly represents to the federal government. Miller-Meeks is proposing that a center dedicated to intellectual freedom be renamed for a person who mission in life was to spew hate and dehumanize those he despised. Those he despised included a majority of humanity. Kirk made his living on hate.

Naming anything beyond a toilet after Charlie Kirk would be a travesty and show a complete misunderstanding of what the man stood for. Instead of shoving radical right wing ideology down the throats of hard working Iowans, Miller-Meeks should do her job and work to end water and air pollution, get health care for all Iowans (she voted to drastically end Medicaid), work to secure funding for education, health care including Medicare and Medicaid and create markets for Iowa’s farmers.

This is probably the most blatant example of Miller-Meeks true self – an exceptionally radical right winger and defender of the Felon In the White House. She is far, far to the right of voters in her district. She has made it very plain that she represents Trump and Trump only and her constituents are little concern to her. 

Just to give an idea what kind of thinking Charlie Kirk represented that Miller-Meeks is so enamored of that she wants to put his name on a public institution, I give you this:

found on democraticunderground.com

I had no intention of talking about the death of Charlie Kirk beyond noting that the eternal message of  “live by the sword, die by the sword” had once again been proven true. However, Miller-Meeks egregious proposal just stirred something in me. 

Hopefully, Iowans will finally understand what Miller-Meeks true nature is and put her out to pasture. There are some great alternatives running in the Democratic Party who will actually do the job of representing our needs and beliefs to the national congress. 

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The Four Phases Of Climate Denial

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Dave Bradley

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island unveils the inner workings of the Climate Denial industry.

This video is 32 minutes long, but well worth the time to watch. Listen to Senator Whitehouse explain how money in politics has set up a world in which our way of life and our lives in general are imminently in danger. Listen as the Senator also explains how Republicans have tied their policies to that money and given the climate denial industry everything it wanted at our expense.

I believe this is a video you will want to share with friends and neighbors:

After watching this I hope many are inspired to ask candidates like Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Randy Feenstra why they have voted to destroy our future at the hands of the climate denial industry. 

Remember that while your attention is focused on your own day to day problems and possibly on the current president’s anti-American policies, members of congress have been slowly handing the country over to the wealthy to destroy. In the next election cast your vote against those who will sell you out for a song.

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DNR Wants Your Feedback On Iowa’s Water Quality

Posted on September 12, 2025 by Trish Nelson


Action alert from Citizens for Community Improvement:

Iowa DNR is asking for feedback on Iowa’s water quality!

They are hosting 2 virtual public hearings for a Triennial Review of water quality standards. “Under the Clean Water Act, a state shall, from time-to-time, hold public meetings for the purpose of reviewing applicable water quality standards and, as appropriate, modifying and adopting standards. This review includes, but is not necessarily limited to: designated uses, water quality criteria, and antidegradation.”

  • The public hearings are Sept 18 at 9:30am and Sept 23 at 2:30pm. Zoom links to join found here. The DNR agenda is the same for both hearings with questions and public comments at the end.
  • After the first hearing they will also take public comments via email through Oct 20. Stay tuned – we’ll send out an action alert when the public comments are open.

Are you able to participate on one of the public hearings? If so, please reply to this email to let me know which one.

Whether you’re able to attend the DNR hearing or not – –  join us to talk about it! The water testing crew meets on the last Thursday of the month. We’ll get folks up to speed on what we heard, and we can strategize together about how to take advantage of the public comment period.

Click here to get registered for our next monthly Zoom on Thursday, September 25 at 5pm.

THEY dump it. WE drink it. WE won’t stop until THEY clean it up.

P.S. Join CCI’s Citizen Science – click here for more info and to order a Nitrate Watch test kit.

Important links for resources and opportunities: 

Contact information:

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Message To Americans From Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Trish Nelson

 “Think of how much more is at risk”

This is a great short explainer to share with friends who may not be paying as much attention as you are or who say they don’t do politics.

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Miller-Meeks Copies Trump’s Pattern Of Manipulating Public Opinion

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Trish Nelson

L-R: Joni Ernst, Chuck Grassley, Mariannette Miller-Meeks

 

In case you missed it, there was a terrible murder in Charlotte, North Carolina last month. It was a tragedy that does not deserve to be a talking point for Republicans to make fake arguments about crime and shamelessly use the woman’s death as a convenient opportunity to blame Democrats for everything (see my post earlier this week, Campaign 2026: Beware Of Dirty Tricks).   But that is what they are doing.

I would like to point out that the hypocrisy is obvious. We didn’t see much Republican outrage about state legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband who who were killed at their home in Minnesota in June. We’ve had a school shooting in our own state of Iowa in 2024, yet Republicans can’t find their way to find outrage about America’s gun problem. Nor did we hear much outrage from Joni Ernst when a constituent at Ernst’s town hall brought up that her vote on Medicaid cuts meant people would die. Everyone heard Ernst respond by reminding us “well, we all are going to die.”   So their crocodile tears and fake outrage now are not credible. It’s easy to see what they are doing, as laid out here in the NYTimes.

The New York Times:

“The police arrested Decarlos Brown Jr. soon after and charged him with first-degree murder. But the brutal killing did not capture widespread attention until the security footage was released on Friday, at which point it became an accelerant for conservative arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets in the Trump era.

The outrage over the Charlotte killing is a part of a pattern in which President Trump and his allies highlight horrific crimes to bolster their case that the country is plagued by “American carnage,” as Mr. Trump put it in his first inaugural address, despite statistics that show crime is dropping. In Charlotte, overall crime was down by 8 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the police, while violent crime was down by 25 percent.  NYT

Judge for yourself. Below is a copy/paste of Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ newsletter to constituents using a story from The National News Desk, a daily television news program produced by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Wikipedia

Notice the newsletter does not include the story, but only the headline and the photo, followed by Miller-Meeks’ message to constituents using the same old Republican talking points dating all the way back to Ronald Reagan.

SAY HER NAME

Image

Dear Fellow Iowan,

Iryna Zarutska was just 23 years old. She fled the war in Ukraine, survived Russia’s bombs, and came to America in search of safety.

But in Charlotte, she was brutally murdered on a light rail train, by a career criminal who should never have been free to roam the streets.

This tragedy is not an accident. It is the direct result of failed progressive policies that put violent repeat offenders ahead of innocent victims. Soft-on-crime policies have turned too many American cities into danger zones, and if they had their way, Iowa would be next.

No family should ever have to live in fear that a dangerous criminal, released again and again, will destroy their lives.

That’s why I’m fighting to ensure violent criminals stay behind bars where they belong. Public safety must always come first.

But I want to hear from you:

Do you support keeping violent repeat offenders locked up?

Yes
No

 

In Congress, I will continue working to protect Iowa families and make sure tragedies like Iryna’s never happen here.

Sincerely,

Image

 

 

Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks

Posted in Blog for Iowa | Tagged | 1 Comment

Food Without SNAP

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Paul Deaton

SNAP cuts: how will they impact eastern Iowa? How can our community respond?

Please join Fairness for Iowa for a Town Hall event that discusses how the $1 billion of cuts to SNAP in Iowa will impact our communities in eastern Iowa. These cuts are a direct result of the recent Trump tax bill that was voted for by all our federal representatives including Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Senator Joni Ernst, who prioritized tax cuts for billionaires over feeding hungry kids and community members.

At the event, attendees can hear from panelists across the local food system including Hai Huynh, Associate Director, Coralville Community Food Pantry, Sandra Komuhiimbo, Coralville Community Leader, and Nicki Ross, Executive Director, Table to Table. Learn more about local food insecurity issues and how our local food bank and pantry system is responding to the increased needs of our community as a result of the SNAP cuts.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to take further actions to push back on SNAP cuts at the federal and state level, and call out Congresswoman Miller-Meeks and Senator Joni Ernst for their votes and actions to not stand up for their constituents, and instead increase food insecurity in our communities.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a goods donation for the Coralville Food Pantry to the event. The greatest need is for:

  • baby food
  • diapers (adult and children, all sizes)
  • period products (tampons, menstrual cups, panty liners, etc.)
  • personal care products (toilet paper, shampoo, soap, etc.)
  • pet food (dog & cat)

Where: Meeting Room A, Coralville Public Library

When: Thursday Sept. 11, 5 until 6:30 p.m.

This is a chance to hear directly from community leaders and food security advocates about how this legislation could impact access to food for thousands of Iowans. Bring your questions, bring your voice, and bring a donation to help area food pantries. 

Let them know you are coming at this link: https://www.mobilize.us/progressiowa/event/832997/

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Know Your Rights

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Paul Deaton

ICE rolled out “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago yesterday. News media reported federal troops had been positioned at Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago for more than a week, and the president announced his plans to kick off their activities in Chicago on Mexican Independence Day, Sept. 16. Obviously he couldn’t wait, impulsive dolt that he is.

Like all Democratic U.S. House members in the Chicagoland area, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois’ 9th Congressional District is preparing constituents for increased federal immigration enforcement activities. Rep. Schakowsky wrote this helpful letter, which she sent in her congressional newsletter the same day.

President Donald Trump even considering deploying the National Guard to Chicago is outrageous and is nothing but political theater. We are a hardworking community made up of workers, families, and organizers.

This is not the first time Trump has used the National Guard as a political weapon. We all remember when he ordered a militarized crackdown on our nation’s capital in 2020 and then failed to deploy the National Guard on January 6, 2021, Washington, D.C.’s most lawless and violent day. 

Now, five years later, we are seeing history repeat itself, this time, under the guise of a public safety emergency. Crime rates in Chicago have gone down. Our communities need investment, not intimidation. Sending troops into our neighborhoods will not help public safety, it will only escalate tensions.

We are a nation of immigrants and our diversity is our greatest strength. It is crucial that you KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. Stay informed so that you can protect yourself and your loved ones. Please go to my website for more info or call my office, (773) 506-7100, if you need assistance.

No American city should be ruled through force, surveillance, and intimidation. We will not stand by as our city is used to score political points. Chicagoans do not want, or need, our city turned into a military state.

Be well,

Click here for a link to help you know your rights.

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No Kings 2.0 Coming

Posted on September 9, 2025 by Trish Nelson

Announcement From Indivisible:

In June, we mobilized millions of people to take to the streets and declare with one voice: America has no kings. Trump’s birthday parade was drowned out by protests in all 50 states and throughout the world. His attempt to turn June 14 into a coronation backfired, and the story of the day was about the strength of a movement rising against his authoritarian power grabs.

The millions of people who turned out in June helped create one of the largest single days of protest in US history, and their courage and commitment set an example for others to follow. Since then, we’ve seen more and more political leaders and institutions choosing to resist the regime rather than play dead.

But we knew June 14 was just the start. Trump is doubling down on his authoritarian tactics. He is disappearing immigrants to sprawling concentration camps, sending troops into our cities, threatening to interfere in elections, rigging maps to steal power from the voters, and orchestrating a massive giveaway to his billionaire allies as families struggle.

Trump is ramping up his attacks on our rights and democracy, but we’re not backing down. On October 18, we’re taking to the streets in more cities and in larger numbers to remind Trump, his cronies, and those on the sidelines looking for hope: America has no kings.

On October 18 we say No Kings

Right now, we’re in round the clock coordination with our No Kings partners to make the next No Kings one of the largest days of protest in US history. Next week, we’ll have events up on the map and the ability to register protests in your area. Until then, here’s what you can do to help make No Kings as big and powerful as possible:

Share the date with your friends and neighbors and sign up to be the first to know when our map of rallies and protests goes live.

Since June, this movement has only continued to grow. New Indivisible groups are forming every week, hundreds of thousands have joined our trainings on strategic non-cooperation, and we’ve launched new campaigns to resist Trump’s attacks on our elections, universities, and immigrant communities.

But with Trump escalating his authoritarian tactics, it’s critical that we respond to his power grabs loudly and publicly. We need to show up with millions of people — in demonstrations even larger than June’s — to show that the resistance is still here and growing. And every time Trump levies another attack on our rights and democracy, our movement only grows stronger in response.

Just picking a day on the calendar won’t be enough to generate the kind of response we need in this moment. A national day of protest takes time and immense resources to prepare — tech and online infrastructure, marketing materials, security investments, staging/sounds, and so much more.

So once you sign up to tell us you’re in, please consider chipping in to help make No Kings a historic day of protest. Together, we can move complacent politicians into action, bring new allies into the movement to save our democracy, and show Trump and his cronies that this movement is growing and getting stronger every day.

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

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Campaign 2026: Beware Of Dirty Tricks

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Trish Nelson

I’m aware of the redundancy of saying “beware of dirty tricks” while we already have a convicted felon occupying the White House engaging in impeachable, lawless behavior on a daily basis. No wonder the party sacrificed the waffley Joni Ernst and now would like to install Joni Ernst on steroids, Super MAGA Ashley Hinson who says she is “running to be President Trump’s top ally in the United States Senate.”  So if you were thinking she is running because she cares about Iowa and wants to represent we the people,  that’s not what she and her buddy Trump are thinking.  Laura Belin has a Substack post up, Ashley Hinson’s Senate rollout: Short-term success, long-term risks. 

Here in Iowa, for Democrats and our candidates, things are looking up but we have many  challenges, thus I would like to put forth a few entreaties for candidates and our party from the view out here in Grassrootsland.

1- Be confident and positive but don’t get braggy – it only alerts MAGAs that they could lose and drives them even harder to come up with a juicy false smear campaign that they will spend millions of dollars on, plastering ads all over the media in order to scare the base with the idea that their world will fall apart if a single Democrat wins a seat at table. I understand they will do this anyway but we don’t need to egg them on. Keep your cards close to your chest as far as they are concerned.

2 – Please beware of MAGA dirty tricks and schemes. They come up with things that we could never even think of let alone consider doing. In all the blaming that has gone on of Democrats on that infamous caucus night somehow this video of Rachel Maddow reporting phone line jamming by MAGAs never seems to be part of the conversation. I still can’t figure out why. I guess too much truth makes people squeamish. This is certainly true about the media.

3 – They will have an October surprise in 2026 and they will not wait until October. During the current administration, we seem to have an hourly October surprise. Please, please be ready and don’t be surprised.

4 – They are going to continue the drumbeat of how bad, terrible, no good Democrats are. They are going to try to control the dialogue by baiting, lying, exaggerating and forcing candidates off of what we want to talk about and onto what they want to talk about.  They will try their best to define Democratic candidates and they will use their endless stash of cash to do so.  They will use their own media but the regular media will follow suit. Do not be naive just because things look good from your point of view.

5 – They are like voyeurs. They want to control people’s private lives and choices.  What we read, who we marry, parenting practices, birth control methods.  They will dream up horrifying scenarios and say Democrats support them, like after-birth or partial-birth abortion (no such thing) or people eating cats and dogs, school teachers with sinister motives grooming children. Do not think this stuff doesn’t work.

6 – They never say die, never back down, never admit they are wrong. This became a thing when Fox News founder Roger Ailes told them a few decades ago this is how they should be in order to win elections.

7 – MAGA policies are horrific and therefore, so unpopular no one who can see what they are doing would vote for them.  They have to resort to undemocratic methods to stay in power.  In addition to vote suppression, this includes making stuff up out of whole cloth. Fox News is there to make sure there is always a certain number of people who will not see through them. Notice no matter what Trump does his approvals, while dropping, still haven’t dipped below thirty-some per cent. You would think an insurrectionist wanna be dictator trying to destroy American democracy would have a lower approval rating.  *More about the Fox News effect below

8 – They have trackers in campaigns right now that you wouldn’t think they would be worried about. That’s for intimidation and because they have endless resources.

Trump has been losing popularity among Iowa Republicans since before the 2024 election. So much so the party chair Jeff Kaufmann had to yell for about fifteen minutes at fellow Rs who were feeling queasy about him, browbeating them and instructing them to fake support for him.

If you listen to the next video long enough you will get to hear Kaufmann go off the rails wailing on Andy McKean, the longest-serving Republican in the Iowa state legislature, who left the party to become a Democrat because of his discomfort with Trump and the Iowa GOP’s super right-wingyness.

Watch this video for a bizarre glimpse into GOP opposite land where “hairy beasts” enter girls locker rooms and everyone but Republicans are the dishonest liars.

*The Fox News Effect refers to a measurable influence of the Fox News Channel on voter behavior and political discourse, particularly its impact on shifting viewers’ policy preferences in a conservative direction, increasing the Republican vote share, and influencing perceptions on national candidates and policy issues. This effect is attributed to partisan coverage, where Fox News selectively reports information that reinforces conservative beliefs and potentially leads to viewers developing a biased set of facts and a distrust of opposing information sources.  – AI overview

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Thank You, Joe Biden And The Democrats!

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Dave Bradley

I usually don’t like to get personal, but I just got a heck of a deal.

Our car is getting old – old enough to graduate from high school in a year or two. It has been reliable and dependable. But it is getting old. Also I am tired of buying gas and changing oil that supports the industry that is most responsible for making life on our space earth tenuous.

I am also quite tired of cooling systems and transmissions and all the various accessories that make owning a internal combustion engine car a true pain in the butt.

We had kind of targeted Spring of 2026 as a goal to start looking for a vehicle. Then as he often does the Felon in the White House once more inserted himself into our lives. For a party that claims they stay out of people’s lives, they sure get in the way a lot. 

In this case the FIWH made a point to go after the $7500 tax rebate (or whatever it was) on EVs built in America. No doubt the FIWH targeted the rebate as a favor to his oil billionaire buddies. However, for many Americans it just moved their time table up on looking for a new vehicle. The FIWH and his congressional minions put an end to the rebates for September 30th.

Well with that new time table we started hunting. As I said we had a time table so we had been saving toward that goal. So fortunately we had money in savings. Thus over Labor Day weekend we found something we liked. With the government rebates and other incentives we came in at a price much below what we had anticipated.

For what it is worth we got a Chevy Equinox. This about 30 years after I swore I would never buy a GM car again. Here is hoping they grew up in the past three decades.

Here is a short video on the Chevy EV. I am in no way trying to shill for GM. May I also mention that with all the controls and choices it is like I am having to do a lot of learning. 

6 minutes:

One last reminder: if you want to break from the dying internal combustion engine while getting a nice rebate, the tax rebate program ends on September 30th. If you are going to look for one you do not have a lot of time left.

Oh and it appears I will be helping some person out with a reliable car while they get back on their feet. BONUS! 

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