HF402, the expansion of the Direct Care Worker Registry bill, is on the House Human Resource Committee meeting agenda for TODAY, Tuesday Feb 23 at 1:00 p.m. Please submit your comments on how the care registry would be beneficial and that you are in support of the bill moving forward HERE
If one needs a palate cleansing after the bitter taste of the Trump years, Stacey Abrams’ Our Time is Now is just the book to read.
I didn’t know what to expect going in. I knew of her close Georgia gubernatorial race in 2018. I followed the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff elections last month and knew she played a role in voter turnout after declining to be a candidate herself. If anything surprised me about the book, it was how timely is Abrams’ message as the Biden-Harris administration gets to work.
There are some key takeaways:
She emphasizes the importance of counting everyone during the U.S. Census. Undercounting the poor, persons of color, and other disenfranchised U.S. residents serves to further disenfranchise them. President Trump attempted to politicize the U.S. Census. President Biden reversed Trump’s executive actions and seeks to give the Census Bureau needed time to make the best count possible. That means a delay in states receiving information required for their decennial re-districting process. Biden knows what Abrams suggested: the U.S. Census is important to restoring political power to people.
Abrams emphasizes that people should vote. She also criticized the voter targeting methods use in the 2016 and 2018 Democratic campaigns. Voter registration continues to play a key role in citizens gaining political power. It goes without saying voting does as well. The conclusion I drew from the book was that no voter should be ignored during campaigns.
The book refreshes our collective memory about voter suppression efforts by Republican lawmakers. Abrams’ story was she overcame systemic voter suppression during her Georgia gubernatorial campaign by the sheer number of new voters they activated. The permanent solution is for voters to take control of the electoral process by electing more Democrats at every level. With Democratic control of state legislatures, it is less likely voters will be suppressed.
As a child I learned the importance of civic engagement. Unlike most Americans today, I study the issues and candidates, and vote in every election. I don’t know what happened yet we need to return to that basic tenant of governance. If we seek to retain government by the people, participation is required. That is Abrams’ message.
I read a lot of political books and Abrams’ book is well-written and relatable. If we seek to move our country forward, elect more Democrats, then Stacey Abrams has provided a roadmap in Our Time is Now.
If we have learned nothing in the past year, in order to have a functioning economy it surely doesn’t hurt to have a public health care system that works, with competent leadership that will act in the interest of all.
If 2020 can serve as anything for this country and the world, it should be as a negative lesson on what NOT to do.
Hopefully we will commissions and private investigators digging out things done wrong generally and very specific things done wrong. There is plenty of material to investigate. Among the things that must be ferreted out is the extent to which public servants used their offices to profit from the Covid pandemic and other disasters of the yea, such as the USPS attempted dismantling.
Also, hopefully some butts will be parked in a jail cell when the dust clears. Certainly had norms, laws and regulations been followed it is doubtful things would ever have descended Inyo the hell that it became. Someone was responsible.
Unless there is some accountability, we will set the stage for it to happen again.
Amber Ruffin with her unique perspective: (6 minutes)
Out of fear that an election may break out at any minute, the Republican led Iowa legislature put on their Speedos to rush some major voter suppression laws through the legislative process in what may be record speed for legislation. If there were a huge natural disaster, I doubt they would move with such alacrity. Stopping Democrats from voting is much more important.
What is strange is that they have bothered to create time tables and other regulations when to be honest the bill they want to pass could come down to a simple sentence – “If you are a Democrat, we don’t want you to vote in Iowa.”
tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
“If you elect people who hate and fear government to run government, you get bad government
Bad government has consequences. Bad government can’t handle a crisis, won’t help its citizens, and can only blame others for its failure. Quod erat demonstrandum
Remember this. “- Stonekettle tweet
Answers:
I bet if Texas renamed their power grid to uterus, the state would be regulating the sh*t out of it. – Irishrygirl tweet
tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
(America never was America to me.)
It is Black History Month. I can only say this is one one my favorites. Read it multiple times.
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes – 1902-1967
from poets.org
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
The Republican Party is now over 40 years into their little experiment trying to prove night and day that government doesn’t work. Pretty much the first thing out of Republican politician’s mouth is that “government doesn’t work.” When that is company motto, the employees go all out to make sure it is true.
Somehow voters buy this message that government doesn’t work. Then is some sort of a fit of truly questionable logic, elect the politicians that claim government doesn’t work thinking in some strange backward way these folks will make government work. What voters don’t seem to realize is like so many things said during a campaign, this is not a statement of fact but a promise of what is to come.
Republicans seem to believe that private business somehow works much better. What they don’t consider is that private business may be better able to deliver a product, but only in a very narrowly focused selected area. Outside of that narrowly focused slice they are incompetent. Thinking that business by its nature will be better in any area than government is a huge leap.
The previous administration left is many examples of this kind of illogical thinking that will take a long time to dig out of. The first that leaps to mind is the USPS. While the Post Office has been hampered by previous Republican administrations the last one actively took dynamite to the Post Office in order to purposely put it out of business so its business could be sold off to private interests. At its best the USPS was the premiere mail service in the world.
The next example we have is Iowa’s legislature trying to give our tax money to private schools that claim they are better at education than the public school system. There is no comprehensive study showing that. Before Republican legislatures got into the yearly exercise of shorting Iowa’s public school funding, Iowa’s public schools were the best in the world. Now that the legislature has slowly dismantled the public school system in Iowa, they have an answer.
As you could expect, that answer involves private schools. In the case of schools, the schools are often not only private but also religious. Therefore the money that will be taken from public schools will possible go to a religious entity which should violate the first amendment of the constitution.
Use the money that will now be used to dismantle the public schools to fix the public schools. This would help the general public much more than a lucky few. If folks want to send their kids to a private school they can find a way to raise private money for scholarships.
Finally the mess in Texas shows just how bad the public can be hurt by the distrust of using public ownership of utilities and putting those utilities into private hands. Instead of having profits plowed back into the utilities to prepare for future, doing maintenance and adding improvements. Instead profits went into dividends giving the few owners big rewards. Now the public is suffering.
There are good sound reasons why we have common ownership of certain necessary utilities and services. In some areas, such as medicine there are both public and private sectors and in the endeavors less necessary for the functioning of society private ownership is common. In this area I think of things like entertainment.
When Republicans praise the glories of business the stories we get are often incomplete and the data enhanced by favorable conditions. Do private schools serve a full spectrum of students from the genius to the very slow? Are classes way over the recommended size? Have students in any way been selected in or selected out?
The mission of schools is to raise full citizens. The mission of the public mail system is to provide service to all corners of the country come hell or high water. The mission of utilities is to have said utilities functional at the times when they are needed most. In all the cases mentioned above privatized versions of these necessary services have failed.
This is not the 330 million individual people of the US. This is the United States where we set up systems to work for all, not the privileged few. It is time for voters to look for politicians who promise what works best for the whole, not for a few individuals. This is the underlying philosophy of this country.
The days of electing people who say “government doesn’t work” and then proceed to break the government to prove themselves right should be relegated to a century back in the 1920s when we first learned it was a bad philosophy that didn’t make sense for society.
From our inbox: Urgent re-count update from Rita Hart for Iowa.
22 voters still have not had their legally-cast ballots counted in this race, and it’s not right. Those voters are speaking out about why they want their votes to count in this race. Here’s what they had to say:
These voters are fighting for their right to participate in our democracy, and we need your help to make sure they’re being heard.Can you do your part to help by sharing this video on Facebook or Twitter today?
We’re proud to be standing with these voters and doing everything we can to help them get their votes counted. Even just liking our posts will help more people see them and make a difference in this race, so please, like and share today!
Thank you for your help! We are so grateful.
-All of us at Rita Hart for Congress
Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames responds to Republican claims that they have not repeatedly CUT state support for Iowa K12 schools. The truth? State support under Republican leadership has repeatedly failed to keep up with inflation, hurting both students and local property taxpayers.
If you are not able to see the video below, here is the original post on Facebook. View link
Lots of information here, much of it good news.
Iowa Environmental Council Legislative News Bulletin: February 15, 2021Activity is ramping up at the Capitol, as the deadline for bills to be introduced by a sponsor passed last week and the first funnel approaches on March 5. IEC is tracking several bills that are moving rapidly, including the Forest and Fruit Tree Exemption (SF 352) and the natural gas and propane requirement bill (HSB 166/SSB 1126).
Bottle bill issues have emerged once again this session, taking many different forms. Of the seven bottle redemption bills that have been introduced only one seems to have any traction. Bottle Redemption (SSB 1160), which attempts to raise the long standing one cent handling fee to a two cent handling fee, passed out of subcommittee last week. While the Iowa Grocery Industry Association and their membership support this bill, the Iowa Beverage Association and distributors are lined up in opposition.
Read our program recaps below for updates on key legislation and view our bill tracker to see all of the bills the Council is tracking so far this session.
The energy program continues to watch several bills introduced earlier this session as they advance at the state Capitol. We remain optimistic about the bipartisan support for expanding Iowa’s state solar tax credit and are working to cultivate grassroots support as HF 221 makes its way to the full House Ways and Means Committee next.
IEC continues to closely watch HSB 166 and SSB 1126, which restrict cities and counties from choosing clean energy resources and carves out a market for uneconomical gas imports. Iowa already enjoys an abundance of carbon-free electricity, and this bill would hinder communities from utilizing this local and cost-effective resource. HSB 166 passed out of committee this afternoon. IEC hopes to see the bill narrowed in focus and preserve the autonomy of local government.
A new set of bills were introduced last week, which would hinder wind development at the state level. SF 298 and SSB 1152 have been referred to the commerce and agriculture committees respectively, and aim to impose unfavorable regulation on wind siting and decommissioning. We will continue to monitor these bills closely in the coming weeks.
The Water Program continues to watch several bills, one of which is SF 352, the Forest and Fruit Trees Exemption, which lessens the tax exemption for forests and orchards from 100% to 75%. Senator Rozenboom chaired the subcommittee on the bill last year, and introduced it this year. He stated in debate that tax exemption for forests and orchards is a good idea, but problems with the current code need to be addressed in order to stop the shift of property taxes. While there are issues with the tax exemption that should be addressed, this bill goes too far by increasing the qualifying acreage from 2 to 10. Also part of the conversation was the devastating loss of trees in the derecho and the need to incentivize more tree planting, not less. The bill is ready for debate in front of the Senate this week. IEC has registered against the bill, and we will keep you updated on the bill’s progress and how the public can get involved.
Another bill of interest is SF 208, which would require schools to set up water bottle filling stations designed to filter out lead. This bill has been introduced in the legislature as a result of research done at the University of Iowa Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination (CHEEC) on lead in school water supplies. CHEEC has been assessing levels of lead contamination in school drinking water supplies across the state, and their findings indicate that tens of thousands of Iowa children may be exposed to unsafe levels of lead. Remediation approaches such as bottle filling stations have high health benefits relative to their cost.
Legislative Dates of Interest
2/15 – 2/19 – IFU Farm & Food Virtual Lobby Days
2/25 – IEC’s Environmental Advocacy Day (virtual)
3/05 – First funnel
3/26 – IEC’s March Legislative Lunch
4/02 – Second funnel
Take a look at an updated list of forums happening across Iowa this week.
Click for more info
