You Can Still Register To Vote While Voting In Person

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Trish Nelson

iowapublicradio.org/how-to-vote-in-iowa-in-the-final-days-of-the-2020-election

Iowa’s deadlines for requesting an absentee ballot and for voter pre-registration have passed, but there are still opportunities for everyone to register and vote. These are your options in the final days of voting in the 2020 general election.

You haven’t requested an absentee ballot and/or you haven’t registered to vote:

Vote early in person Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Monday (Nov. 2). Check your county auditor’s website to find your early voting location (most are at the county election office).

Vote in person on Election Day from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Look up your polling place before you go. Many voting locations have changed because of the pandemic.

Bring your Iowa ID when voting in person. Click here to see other accepted ID options. You can also register to vote while voting in person. Click here to see what’s required.

If you have a felony conviction and completed your sentence, your voting rights have likely been restored. Find more information here.

You have an absentee ballot, but you haven’t returned it yet:

Recommended: Fill it out, sign and seal the affidavit envelope, and bring the ballot to your county election office by 9:00 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. This close to Election Day, this is the best way to make sure your absentee ballot gets counted. Some counties have a ballot drop box outside the office. County election offices will also be open Saturday, Oct. 31 to receive ballots.

Vote the ballot, sign and seal it, and mail it to your county auditor. It must be scanned by the post office by Nov. 2 and received by noon on Nov. 9 to be counted. Election officials recommend mailing your ballot before Nov. 2.

Vote in person on Election Day. Bring the blank absentee ballot with you and surrender it to a poll worker.

You requested an absentee ballot but it hasn’t arrived, or you lost it:

You can vote in person early or on Election Day. You’ll be asked to sign a declaration that says your ballot was lost or never arrived.

On Election Day, you’ll vote a provisional ballot. It’ll be counted in the week after Election Day as long as the election office doesn’t receive your voted absentee ballot in the mail. This prevents double voting, which is illegal.

You already returned your absentee ballot, and you’re not sure if it was received:

Click here for the state’s absentee ballot tracker. It will show you when your ballot was received by county election officials.

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JD Scholten Asks For Your Vote And A Prayer

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Trish Nelson


Have you voted yet? 

Click here for voting information.

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Health Care On The Ballot: Join A Virtual Health Care Discussion Today

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Trish Nelson

Action alert from Progress Iowa:

Iowa’s health care is at risk. Will you join us for a discussion today on the stakes of this election?

The Trump-Republican lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act goes to the Supreme Court on November 10, one week after the election. Now, with the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett the threat to the ACA is dire. We need to make it clear: Iowans will not support efforts to take away our health care. 

Efforts to repeal the ACA would put the health care of nearly 230,000 Iowans into question and risk the protections of 1.3 million Iowans with pre-existing conditions. That’s why we must take action before the end of this election.

Together, we will discuss all we can do to protect our care, including following the new health care voter guide.

Will you join us at 10:30 AM today?

Matt Sinovic
Progress Iowa Executive Director

WHO:

Debbie Koopman, Healthcare Advocate
Susan Blocker, Small Business Owner & Cancer Survivor
Matt Sinovic, Progress Iowa Executive Director

WHAT: Health Care Is On The Ballot – Press Conference via Zoom

WHEN: Thursday, October 29 at 10:30 AM CT

WHERE: VIA ZOOM – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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Grassley And Ernst Vote To Confirm Trump SCOTUS Nominee

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Trish Nelson

Progress Iowa:

 Sens. Grassley, Ernst Vote To Repeal ACA, Overturn Roe, Strip Away Rights With Confirmation Vote

Des Moines, Iowa — A coalition of Iowa grassroots and advocacy organizations released a joint statement tonight in response to the votes of Senators Grassley and Ernst in favor of the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court Justice:

The following statement can be jointly attributed to Progress Iowa, AFSCME Council 61, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund, Iowa Citizen Action Network, and Indivisible Iowa:

“Senators Grassley and Ernst just voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, overturn Roe v. Wade, and strip away the rights of LGBTQ Iowans, minorities, workers, and millions more across this country by putting Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court.”
 
“It is reprehensible but not surprising that Grassley and Ernst would put politics above the priorities of Iowa families in this way, just eight days before the end of the election, and after more than seven hundred thousand Iowans have already cast their ballot.”
 
“The message from Grassley and Ernst should be crystal clear. They are telling Iowans that they care more about their political power grab than they do about listening to the voice of the people. We will continue to make sure Iowans have a voice in this process, and encourage them to speak out in every way possible to hold their Senators accountable.”
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Hy-Vee Tells Employees Good Things Come From Corporate Tax Breaks

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Trish Nelson

Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker: “…the [Trump] changes in taxes were part of the way we were able to bring a lot of  good things to the employees this past year.”  

One has to wonder what are the “good things” Hy-Vee has done for employees this past year because of Trump.  Surely forcing them to come to work during a pandemic while the public wanders through the stores without masks couldn’t be considered a “good thing.”  I’ve been in Hy-Vee.  Customers are not required to wear masks. Real caring for the employees there!  So, can anyone answer the question what did Hy-Vee do this year for employees due to Trump’s tax policy?  Anyone?

According to Iowa Capital Dispatch

Randy Edeker, CEO of Hy-Vee, is concerned about the election, specifically how it will affect taxes.

In a video to employees, which aired in employee break rooms across the grocery-store giant’s eight-state region, Edeker stated:

“I never endorse and I try not to ever push a certain candidate or a direction. I always try to speak about Hy-Vee. I have some of the concerns about some of the policies that are being discussed by some of the candidates. Some of the tax policies would be very impactful to Hy-Vee. And the changes in taxes were part of the way we were able to bring a lot of  good things to the employees this past year. Social unrest unfortunately continues to be a problem around the community and we continue to invest in our local groups who we really think can bring unity to our towns.”

Edeker’s message is clear: Donald Trump and the chaos of his presidency have been good for business.

Read more at IowaCapitalDispatch.com

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History of the U.S. Supreme Court since the 1930s

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Paul Deaton
United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.

Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American daily newsletter gained wide popularity during the coronavirus pandemic. In her Oct. 23 issue she outlines the history of Republican efforts to rescind a certain interpretation of the 14th Amendment in a style that is cogent and clear. Please click through to read the entire letter. Here is the first paragraph of the letter.

Today the United States had at least 82,600 new cases of coronavirus, our highest daily level of cases in a single day since the pandemic started. The outbreak is widespread, meaning it will be harder to move medical personnel around to address the crisis. We have lost close to 224,000 Americans to Covid-19. As it spreads through Republican-governed states, leaders refuse to use government authority to slow its reach. “It’s not a job for government,” North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum said.

Click here to continue reading.

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Positions Of Trust

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Dave Bradley

It is not YOUR money, Guv.

Here we go again. The Governor of Iowa takes tax payer money that came from the federal government to help small businesses that have been harmed by the pandemic and uses some twisted logic to decide that money to ameliorate the damage of the pandemic could best be spent to buy a new computer system for her administration.

The logic works something like this: Government is a large and hard to manage bureaucracy. The pandemic has made it really hard to manage the bureaucracy with all its vacation, sick days and cross coverages. Much of what the bureaucracy is doing these days is centered around the pandemic, so it only makes sense to get a new computer system to help with that management.

Well, sounds like weak logic to me. For some it may make sense until you consider what the money was supposed to be used for. This was money that was meant to help small businesses hang in as the corona virus pandemic continues to lay siege to the business environment. Once this is all over we will once again be turning to small businesses for our needs. This money was supposed to help those businesses survive.

According to Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the computer upgrade was already planned prior to the pandemic, so Reynolds was reallocating money toward an already planned project. Thus funding should have already been established.

Reynolds also reallocated money earlier in the year from the CARES Act to pay staff in her office.

The point in bringing this up is that governmental positions are positions of TRUST. In particular, We, the People, trust our elected officials to operate within established laws and norms as they go about the state’s business. We place our trust that governmental business will be conducted legally and above board.

In the example cited above we should reasonably expect that the Governor should have used that money only to help small businesses in a non-partisan way where recipients of government help would be chosen in a fair way. To use money earmarked to help small businesses to pay for a project in her own administration is a breach of the public trust. Same is true of her use of previous funds to pay staff. That was not the purpose of the funds and as such is a breach of the public trust.

As Republicans have been been placed in charge of legislatures across the country we have seen another form of breaching the public trust. That is to abandon promises that they run on and switch in wholly unexpected legislation in its place. Despite outcries from citizens on both sides of the aisle on being blindsided, such power plays have more become the norm than the exception.

We trusted what they said, what we got was a breach of promise or a breach or our trust.

Iowa was not the first state to jump into this kind of breach of trust. Wisconsin under Scott Walker was the first. Iowa jumped in quickly,  though. The new majority Republican legislature wasted little time in rolling back what were considered pretty fair public union labor laws. The Republicans breached our trust. Next were things like privatizing Medicaid and changing the way judges are appointed turning that into a highly partisan system.

From the White House on down to the county courthouse Republicans have taken the laws and norms of being in positions of public trust and simply demolished the TRUST that had taken so long to build in governance. At this point we could write books on the current administration and their purposeful destruction of OUR government. Think of YOUR Post Office, for instance.

We have slightly over one week until the election season ends. If you are at all undecided, ask yourself which person or party has truly won your trust to do what they said would do. I will bet that you will come to understand that Democrats earn the trust of the public. I can’t think of any Republican that hasn’t betrayed the public trust.

Joni Ernst betrays our trust nearly daily these days from farmers to women, all have been betrayed by Ernst.

Do you trust the Republican congressional candidates claiming to support health care even as their party pushes hard to have the SCOTUS end the Affordable Care Act? I sure wouldn’t. Especially at the height of a pandemic!

On and on goes the roll call of republicans who promise one thing and deliver something entirely different – something much more pleasing to their wealthy donor base.

Posted in #trumpresistance, 2020 election campaign, Affordable Care Act, Covid-19, Joni Ernst, Kim Reynolds, SCOTUS | Tagged , | Comments Off on Positions Of Trust

Sunday Funday: Scary Week Edition

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Dave Bradley

This is that odd year when Halloween lands on a Saturday. Normally that would delight fans of the holiday like yours truly. However, the one of the biggest monsters ever stepped in early to put a stop to most Halloween partying this year. The giant orange monster known as Trump – who had the power to at least slow down a horrifying disease chose not to try to stop it since it might disturb his beauty sleeps – let the disease take over the land called America. 

So no partying Saturday night or you may end up with the curse of the monster Trump. Too bad kids, better luck next time!

I also have a reminder concerning time. Yep it is that time of year. Republicans are trying to ram through a new Supreme Court justice. That will be later this week. If they do so, women will be advised to turn their clocks back to 1789 or 1889, I can’t remember which. Prospects are that they will lose their reproductive rights and may revert to being property of their husbands. You can thank the Monster Trump for this also.

Now to our regularly scheduled quiz.

  1. Among the many surprises of the week was that our Dear Leader has a previously unmentioned or disclosed bank account in what supposed enemy nation?
  1. Do we know what the value of the above bank account is?
  1. Presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani was caught on video by what comedian while he (Giuliani) was apparently trying to get ready for sex with a young girl?
  1. New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin was suspended after what incident Tuesday during a Zoom conference call?
  1. The big news in Iowa is that the “Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin” was awarded to the PrairieMoon on Main restaurant in what small Iowa town?
  1. What major national politician showed up Wednesday with hands so black and blue that it looked like they had been run over by a car?
  1. “I am the least racist person in this room.” This old racist trope was trotted out once again by what major politician?
  1. Pope Francis surprised the world when he became the first pontiff to endorse what for gay people?
  1. In a really strange incident October 25th, 1983 the US invaded what tiny country?
  1. Corona virus cases and deaths in the US are on an upswing or downswing right now?
  1. Where does Iowa’s current corona virus infection rate per million stand in the US?
  1. A lawsuit in what state is challenging a ruling by the Secretary of State that what can not be carried into polling places?
  1. Jake Tapper of CNN called out what member of the Trump family for mocking Candidate Biden’s stutter during an interview on his “State of the Union” show?
  1. 827,000 Iowans had requested absentee ballots as of 10/20. How many total votes were cast in Iowa for president in 2016?
  1. Dear Leader walked out during an interview Tuesday that was being taped to be shown tonight on which TV program?
  1. What pharma company company faces up to $8.3 Billion in fines for its part in the promotion and marketing of the opioid Oxycontin?
  1. As the corona virus picks up in Iowa, word leaked out that that Iowa would do what to its Test Iowa drive through locations?
  1. During a campaign rally last week, Dear Leader said he could call what company and ask for a campaign donation in return for government favors?
  1. A girl in Frisco, Texas won a $25,000 science contest sponsored by 3M for her discovery of a possible way to stop the corona virus from entering a healthy cell. How old is this girl?
  1. Lawyers appointed by a federal judge say they have yet to track down the parents of how many children separated from their parents at the border?

Answers:

  1. China
  1. No, but we do know Trump paid $182,000 in taxes on it from 2013 – 2015. So it must be substantial.
  1. Borat
  1. Toobin thought he had shut his camerawomen down during a break and was seen masturbating by other members of he call.
  1. Prairieburg @ 30miles NE of Cedar Rapids
  1. Mitch McConnell – he refused to talk about it.
  1. Dear Leader
  1. Civil unions – while this is a step forward it is well short of actual marriage.
  1. Grenada. Still no real reason but to make a president look powerful.
  1. They are on a big upswing, averaging over 60,000 a day with days over 75,000
  1. We are number 7 with 35,783 per million
  1. Guns – Michigan is an “Open carry” state.
  1. Lara Trump
  1. 1,566,000 
  1. 60 minutes
  1. Purdue – but no jail time.
  1. Shut down 2/3rds of them November 6th
  1. Exxon-Mobil
  1. Anika Chebrolu of Frisco, Texas is 14. She is of south-east Asian (Indian) heritage.  
  1. 545 – this is shameful and a stain on America.

225,000 people are dead in this country. Vote for their families. There are black men and women being oppressed in this country who are regularly murdered by police. Vote for their families. There are 545 children who may never see their parents again. Vote for humanity. – Chelsea Handler

Posted in #trumpresistance, Covid-19, Humor | Comments Off on Sunday Funday: Scary Week Edition

Matt Tapscott Iowa Senate District 28

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Dave Bradley

Last spring a most interesting move took place. Incumbent Iowa state senator Michael Breitbach announced his retirement. District 28 is in Iowa’s very northeast corner, bordering both Minnesota and Wisconsin. While many might think the district is rural and therefore Republican, senate district 28 is very hard to pigeon hole.

Matt Tapscott had already stepped up to challenge for the seat before Breitbach announced his retirement. Given the nature of the district, this is a senate seat that could change hands.

from tapscott for senate website

Tapscott is a former Marine. He is also a small business owner. For 24 years Matt has owned and operated Almost Home Early Learning – Naturally, an Iowa Department of Human Services regulated Child Development Home. I don’t know about you, but to me Iowa’s most important asset is its future generations.

From Tapscott’s campaign website:

Matt believes we must invest time, resources, and creativity into our state’s childcare system and believes the emphasis on high-quality childcare improvements should be to restore childhood to Iowa’s children.  Our childcare system needs to allow children to be children and learn through child-centered, play-based programming, supportive of children’s social-emotional development.

Improving our childcare system must include the needs of Iowa’s hard-working parents who struggle to pay for quality childcare, and we must address workforce issues of quality providers delivering this critical need service.

Community Volunteer

Tapscott serves currently as President of the Iowa Family Child Care Association, a statewide network of Family Child Care providers whose mission is to strengthen the profession of Family Child Care. Matt is a regular presenter at Child Care conferences at both the state and national level and taught childcare classes for Iowa’s Child Care Resource and Referral system for many years. He also served on Governor Tom Vilsack’s Childcare & Early Learning Task Force. He serves on the Board for the Toys Go ’Round Toy Lending Library, which services families throughout Northeast Iowa. He previously served on the Decorah Human Rights Commission, Decorah Public Library Board of Directors, and as Chair of the Winneshiek County Democratic Party.

Matt is married to Denise Tapscott. They have 3 children. He and Denise are also outdoor enthusiasts in one of Iowa’s most beautiful natural areas.

Tapscott, like most Democrats, prioritizes issues such as Health Care, Public Education, the environment and an economy that will be good for all. His take on the economy:  

Matt believes whenever necessary, we must use the strength of our government to model the mindset of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone: “We all do better when we all do better.” We start by raising Iowa’s minimum wage, now just $7.25 an hour. Next, we restore local communities’ authority to set wages at a rate a community deems appropriate, something the Republicans in the Iowa Legislature removed from our local control. We need wages sufficient to grow all of our communities. We must ensure the availability of high-quality, affordable childcare which supports Iowa’s economy by supporting Iowa’s hardworking families. Quality childcare is an economic issue.

Very forward thinking.

Time is short. If you want to help elect Matt Tapscott to the Iowa Senate you can go to his webpage and click on that big DONATE button in the (where else?) north east corner of his web page.

At the doors last winter. From the tapscott for senate website

 

 

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Survivor Urges Ernst to Reauthorize VAWA

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Dave Bradley

In this video from Progress Iowa, citizen Margi Stephens calls out current Iowa senator Joni Ernst for Ernst’s action – or rather lack of action – on the once totally uncontroversial Violence Against Women Act or VAWA. As Stephens runs down how Senator Ernst just sat by and did nothing as VAWA ran out we see half of the screen taken up with a staring, unemotional Ernst seemingly acting as if she cared. She doesn’t.

If we got the honest truth from Ernst on VAWA, her loyalty does not lie with the women and children, but with those who dumped huge amounts of money into her first campaign. Her loyalty in this case lies with the NRA – the gun lobby group that oiled her campaign machine with $3 million in 2014.

VAWA is hardly the only issue that Joni Ernst shows that she is beholden to higher powers than the people of Iowa. As Trump screwed farmers over with his insane tariffs, Ernst grew silent for fear that Trump would attack her as he had attacked so many in their party.

We still haven’t heard much from Ernst on the corona virus that is killing a thousand Americans a day and devastating families. Once again Ernst fears standing up to Trump insane policies.

In the past few weeks we have seen Ernst turn herself into a pretzel justifying the unprecedented partisan push for putting radical right wing Amy Barrett on the Supreme Court. This culminated with her flowing with the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve Barrett Thursday. Much like her non-action on VAWA, Ernst’s vote for Barrett will turn the clock way back on women’s advancement in this country.

In one of the hottest senate races in the country, Iowa is fortunate to have a woman who will actually stand up and fight for women when she takes her seat in the senate.

Theresa Greenfield will stand up for women.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Theresa believes in women’s constitutional right to make their own health care decisions, and she understands that we cannot take these freedoms for granted.

For decades, politicians in Washington and in states across the country have attacked women’s health care rights with the goal of shutting down Planned Parenthood and pushing rigid, uncompromising restrictions that jeopardize women’s health and safety and interfere in complicated and deeply personal decisions. Thousands of people in the heartland rely on Planned Parenthood for their health care, serving a crucial part of our population.

Theresa believes all women, regardless of where they live or how much money they make, should have access to safe, high-quality, affordable health care. And at a time when maternal wards of rural hospitals are closing, leaving pockets of Iowa without the care they need to safely deliver children, Theresa knows we need to expand our compassionate care to every corner of Iowa.

Theresa is proudly endorsed by EMILY’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice America, and she will always work to defend women’s rights and health.

Greenfield will also stand up for all Iowa citizens – not just those with deep pockets. Greenfield has shown more than once that her Iowa values are deep. Greenfield’s stands on the issues are not dependent on the wealthy backing them. She will fight for us.    

This will be especially important as Republicans try to ensure the end of medical care for even the least of us as they put Amy Barrett on the Supreme Court to end the ACA. Iowa and America need Theresa Greenfield.

Theresa Greenfield

Posted in #trumpresistance, 2020 election campaign, Covid-19, Joni Ernst, Progress Iowa | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Survivor Urges Ernst to Reauthorize VAWA