Labor Day weekend is also the unofficial start of campaign season, the beginning of the end for Donald Trump and his Republican party. So pick a candidate and volunteer, donate, make calls, text from home, vote EARLY. Help flip the Iowa House. Support our congressional candidates J.D. Scholten, Cindy Axne, Abby Finkenauer, and Rita Hart. Help Theresa Greenfield defeat do-nothing senator Joni Ernst. Visit Joe Biden’s official campaign website.
This week has been enjoyable if for no other reason than to see Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden on the virtual stump making speeches that make sense and that point out that the Armageddon that his opponent predicts is already here due to his opponent’s horrible leadership.
Biden’s vision of America is the kind of vision that many of America’s great leaders have had for us. An America of inclusion where the benefits of societal growth is shared with all, not just gobbled up by the top 1%.
This election will be a battle of visions. The vision Biden is painting is one of a country of equality, where the rights of citizenship are extended to all citizens no matter what the religion, skin color or gender of the citizen. Biden also talks of the government leading the charge to conquer the corona virus and then moving forward.
On the other hand the Republican candidate paints a bleak picture of a country at war with itself, based on race and ideology. He also says nothing about conquering the virus unless it is an occasional reference to a miraculous end to the ongoing disaster. There are no goals or vision for our country, just a weak statement that one authoritarian figure can fix everything.
In short, Joe Biden is the kind of candidate that Americans used to flock to and vote for. Someone with hope, vision, empathy and optimism.
Expect VP candidate Kamala Harris to be jumping in next week to add to the Democratic vision in the next week or two. It should be a dynamic duo.
I am having a strange feeling that I haven’t felt in nearly 4 years. The feeling of HOPE. The feeling that America can once more become the greatest country, leading the recovery from the virus and also leading the fight to reverse climate change.
Tomorrow is Labor Day. It is long past time that the slide of workers share of the American Dream also be reversed and returned to their fair share.
Do what you can to turn this country around. Volunteer, donate, be sure to check your registration and be sure to vote – absentee is best for this year. We need all hands on deck to turn the direction we are headed.
Like our military heroes, workers have also been in line for total disrespect from Dear Leader and his administration. Who can forget that workers in packing plants and other “essential” jobs were forced to return to work or be fired with little protective equipment or process changes. Many have suffered from the virus and some have died.
Accountable Iowa in an email has called for workers who contracted the virus to be compensated while those in power seek to make businesses exempt from any responsibility for the workers illnesses:
Workers who contract COVID-19 on the job struggle to receive workers’ compensation They are often called heroes – the men and women here in Iowa and across the country who risk their health and family to work in an environment that exposes them to greater risk for contracting COVID-19. Health care providers in our hospitals and nursing homes, emergency responders, grocery store and retail service workers, and the thousands who labor in Iowa meat packing plants, just to name a few. If anyone in these high-risk occupations were to suffer life altering injury or even death after contracting the disease, they or their families should look to workers’ compensation for financial support.
That’s exactly what the family of Tyson Foods employee Kenneth Jones did when the father of two and stepfather to four died of the disease in June. Jones, 60, was one of hundreds of COVID cases tied to the Tyson plant in Storm Lake, and among thousands of cases connected to the meat packing industry overall. Sara Jones, Kenneth’s wife, recently filed a workers’ compensation claim against the company for survivor benefits for her and her children. –>You can read and share that story here.<–
Advocates for workers are pushing to assure these benefits are paid. The insurance industry will fight to deny these benefits, but this is a fight that can and should be won.
The debate around workers’ comp coverage and COVID-19 is taking place against the larger national conversation about legal immunity, which allows corporate wrongdoers to harm, kill, or rip people off during the pandemic without consequence or accountability. This immunity was passed in Iowa for dangerous corporate nursing homes, packing plants, and other companies. Now the U.S. Senate is considering similar actions at the Federal level.
So where does that leave those we say are our heroes as they and their families are increasingly stripped of their right to trial by jury, and their ability to seek accountability in our court system? Many states are considering legislation that would automatically qualify these heroes for workers’ compensation protection, shutting down attempts by the insurance industry to deny benefits… Iowa didn’t. Iowa’s heroes deserve better.
Is there any low Dear Leader will not stoop to?
Answers:
tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
From elemental.medium.com:
Earlier this summer, the Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee set about crunching data on more than 40,000 genes from 17,000 genetic samples in an effort to better understand Covid-19. Summit is the second-fastest computer in the world, but the process — which involved analyzing 2.5 billion genetic combinations — still took more than a week.
When Summit was done, researchers analyzed the results. It was, in the words of Dr. Daniel Jacobson, lead researcher and chief scientist for computational systems biology at Oak Ridge, a “eureka moment.” The computer had revealed a new theory about how Covid-19 impacts the body: the bradykinin hypothesis. The hypothesis provides a model that explains many aspects of Covid-19, including some of its most bizarre symptoms. It also suggests 10-plus potential treatments, many of which are already FDA approved. Jacobson’s group published their results in a paper in the journal eLife in early July.
According to the team’s findings, a Covid-19 infection generally begins when the virus enters the body through ACE2 receptors in the nose, (The receptors, which the virus is known to target, are abundant there.) The virus then proceeds through the body, entering cells in other places where ACE2 is also present: the intestines, kidneys, and heart. This likely accounts for at least some of the disease’s cardiac and GI symptoms.
But once Covid-19 has established itself in the body, things start to get really interesting. According to Jacobson’s group, the data Summit analyzed shows that Covid-19 isn’t content to simply infect cells that already express lots of ACE2 receptors. Instead, it actively hijacks the body’s own systems, tricking it into upregulating ACE2 receptors in places where they’re usually expressed at low or medium levels, including the lungs.
Thus starts a report of the findings of analysis when the super-computer at the Oak Ridge Tennessee was given the task of making some sense, to see some patterns in all the various samples collected on those with the corona virus. As many have noted for years the number crunching powers of the computer took a nearly impossible task and in this case in a relatively short space of time was able to come up with some insights.
Pitting a wonder of mankind – the super-computer – against what seems to be the almost perfect disease agent feels like the making of a great science fiction story. Instead this is a real science story with perhaps millions of lives on the line and stopping decades of suffering in the balance.
The Covid-19 virus has only been around for a short time, but the damage it has done is frightening with a promise of much more to come. More than that, this virus seemed capable of causing damages in humans that didn’t make sense. From one patient to another, the virus has produced very different symptoms or in many cases no visible symptoms at all.
The story of what the super-computer found is relatively short, but of major importance. Certainly we must understand our opponent in order to do battle with it. This analysis appears to give us a good starting point for treatment of those who have the virus and may help in the search for an effective vaccine.
While this is promising research, don’t let your guard down. Keep those masks on, keep those hands clean, don’t touch your nose or mouth and stay away from crowds, especially indoors. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the current president and the Iowa’s current Governor plus Iowa’s senator who is up reelection are dong nothing, nothing to stop the spread. So you must protect yourself.
Knowledge is power. Stay informed!
Theresa Greenfield
From Greenfield campaign email:
My opponent, Senator Joni Ernst, is pushing a debunked conspiracy theory, accusing doctors and nurses of inflating the number of COVID-19 cases for profit. In fact, she even said she’s “so skeptical” of the numbers.
Health care professionals have been working tirelessly to keep us all safe during this pandemic. Our health care workers aren’t lying — they’re putting their lives on the line, for us. But Senator Ernst has the audacity to question their integrity. This is after she OPPOSED more resources for our hospitals when they needed them most.
Iowa currently has the highest rate of positive COVID-19 cases in the country. Instead of spouting dangerous conspiracy theories and questioning frontline health care providers, I called for a statewide mask mandate. Senator Ernst should join me.
Iowans get through tough times by looking out for one another, and this pandemic is no exception. Unfortunately, our leaders in Washington aren’t doing the same. In the Senate, I will always follow science and facts, and make decisions based on both.
I’m appalled and disgusted that Senator Ernst would push dangerous conspiracy theories. Iowans are doing our part to get through this, we expect our leaders to do the same.
My take on Ernst’s statement that the coronavirus is way overblown:
Ernst Replaces Steve King As Top Iowa Embarrassment
Now that sitting Iowa Senator Joni Ernst has outed herself as a QAnon conspiracy theorist, it is time for Iowans to step up and say a loud NO! to supporting such extreme politics. What Ernst is trying to prove by making such an extreme comment on the disease that is ravaging society is unclear, but she certainly represents only the very extreme few percent in Iowa.
Add this to her continuing effort to end health care for low income Iowans, her continuing efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare and her refusals to truly stand up to an out of control president on trade, ethanol and finally refusing to impeach a president who clearly has invited foreign interference in our elections.
Who is Joni Ernst working for? It is obviously not Iowans nor all Americans. There must be a small, extreme following she represents. With her comments trying to diminish an imminent threat to our country she moves into the world of shadowy conspiracy theorists.
Iowa needs a senator who will deal with reality. Iowa is now the hot spot of the world for corona virus. We can not attack the virus with leadership that denies its power and devastation. Ernst needs to be removed and replaced with someone who will deal with the reality of the times.
As shown in her response above Theresa Greenfield understands the problem and is prepared to deal with it. Greenfield also has respect for those battling on the front lines of the pandemic. It is almost unbelievable that Ernst would claim that doctors and nurses are using the pandemic to make huge profits.
The one good thing that comes out of this is that Ernst has outed herself for what she has always been, a tool of the extreme right wing.
Just to add that we are also still waiting for Joni Ernst to comment on The Atlantic article concerning Trump’s comments on our soldiers. Ernst has always touted her service. Will she say nothing to Trump’s dissing of our own military.
Joe Bolkcom and Timi Brown-Powers
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Guest Opinion
Our nation faces multiple crises due to the failed leadership of Donald Trump. Our public health system is struggling to overcome the worst pandemic in over a century. Our economy has endured more damage than at any time since the Great Depression, and as summer draws to a close, our public school systems are struggling to safely return to the classroom. Trump refuses to take responsibility for keeping people safe, dismissively remarking recently about the death toll that’s surpassed 180,000 souls, “It is what it is.” Trump’s paltry executive actions are little more than an attempt to distract from his failed leadership in the midst of historic crises.
To be clear, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have done their job. In May, the House passed the HEROES Act: comprehensive COVID relief legislation that would provide an enhanced federal Medicaid match to bolster state Medicaid programs, and financial assistance to state and local governments to help cover the costs for first responders, medical professionals, teachers and other heroes on the front lines. To offset income lost due to Trump’s failed economy, the HEROES Act would also provide direct payments of up to $1,200 per individual.
The bill would also expand paid sick days, family and medical leave, unemployment compensation, nutrition and food assistance, housing assistance and payments to farmers. The House-passed bill would modify and expand the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans and grants to small businesses and nonprofits, and establish a fund to award grants for employers to provide pandemic premium pay for essential workers. It provides funding and guidance for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing and eliminates cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments to alleviate any additional burden on patients. And, it extends the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures.
McConnell claimed to have a Republican alternative, but he has refused to present his legislation for a vote, and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst certainly isn’t pushing for it. Maybe it’s because McConnell’s bill, which many Republicans don’t even support, did not provide adequate funding for schools and provided no funding for nutrition or food assistance. Instead of offering support to struggling Americans, the Republican-led Senate continues to give political cover to the president, who has failed to address the pandemic.
Senate Republicans are doing what they do best: making life harder for American families.
For Senate Republicans to leave town without relieving our economic plight or shoring up our public health system in the midst of a pandemic is more than just irresponsible, it is cruel.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We deserve active, effective leadership from our elected officials, but right now, we’re getting exactly the opposite from Sen. Ernst.
Senator Joe Bolkcom represents Iowa Senate District 43. Timi Brown-Powers is a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing District 61.
Rita Hart releases plan to lower health care costs, expand access, and put patients first
Rita Hart, lifelong Iowan, farmer, 20-year educator, and Democratic candidate for Iowa’s Second Congressional District is releasing her health care plan entitled: “Patients First: My plan for lower costs and better care.”
“Health care is the issue I hear about more than any other – even before coronavirus,” said Hart. “Like it is for so many Iowans, health care is personal for me. My mom struggled with chronic conditions and my nephew requires home health care. I’ll work to protect coverage, expand access, and lower costs.”
The plan, available here, focuses on seven planks:
As a State Senator, Rita prioritized lowering healthcare costs for small businesses and Iowa’s farmers. In Congress, she will take the approach that has earned her Republican endorsements, working with both parties to protect coverage for pre-existing conditions and lower prescription drug costs.
About Rita:
Rita Hart is a lifelong Iowan, farmer, and 20-year educator running for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional district. A graduate of North Iowa Area Community College and the University of Northern Iowa, Rita taught in the Calamus-Wheatland and Bennett Community school districts. After leaving the classroom, she led programs that facilitated career pathway opportunities for students with local businesses and served as an active volunteer in her eastern Iowa community. Rita is also a former member of the Iowa Senate where she represented a swing district and worked with both parties to deliver results for hard working Iowa families, small businesses, and farms. Rita and her husband Paul have five grown children. She and Paul live on their family corn and soybean farm near Wheatland, which they’ve owned and operated since 1986.
Click here to volunteer or donate to Rita’s campaign
Charles Clayton HD 9 Fort Dodge
Support your local state house candidate. Democrats only need to win four more seats to be in the majority.
“I don’t know anything about politics. But I know how to be a public servant.”
“I think that if democracy is going to work in America, then everybody needs to be included. But everybody also needs to participate. So I really can’t turn this down.”
– Charles Clayton, Democrat, candidate for Iowa House District 9
I won’t I will
I won’t apologize for being black
But I will try to respect, love and understand those who are not
I won’t lose my common sense for 100% loyalty to any one cause
I will try to educate myself to find common ground
I won’t become a political robot to be elected
I will fight the good fight and if need be get into the good trouble
I won’t stop loving republicans friends who have different view points then mine,
I will try to get them to see and understand my side and to find a way for everyone to be empowered
I won’t change my passion and not speak from the heart
I will speak for those who can’t be a voice for themselves
I won’t stop loving and fighting for my community even when I feel hopeless
I will reach out to friends of mine who are ministers and ask for prayers to give me strength to continue to fight.
I won’t stop thinking police are killing innocent black people
I will continue to meet locally with chief Roger Porter, and other law enforcement, to create change
I won’t stop being frustrated and saddened that black are killing and shooting other blacks right here in dodge
I will continue to try to change this mindset by working with you and families.
I won’t stop calling out people because it might hurt my image
I will work with anyone who is true of heart and have good intentions.
Win or lose this election to serve fort dodge ( district 9) on a larger scale I won’t ever change my passion, my love, my voice , my truth
I will educate and surround myself with people who will make me an even better leader.
Charles was born and raised in Ft. Dodge, Iowa. His mom worked for the Fort Dodge school system in the laundry room and then as a custodian. His father was a cook and mechanic. Growing up, Charles enjoyed playing sports with friends in the backyard and in high school played on the 1988 state championship basketball team. He also played the saxophone in school.
In high school and as a young man, Charles struggled to follow the rules and was arrested for shooting a rifle into the air on New Year’s Eve in 1992. While no one was hurt, Clayton received a felony conviction and completed his sentence.
Clayton used the defining moment in his life to be accountable to himself and turn his life around. For the last 25 years, Charles has dedicated his life to working with kids and he uses his own powerful story of redemption to prevent them from making the same mistakes he made as a kid.
Charles is the co-founder and executive director of Athletics for Education & Success (AFES). Launched in 2004, the non-profit organization provides after school programs, sports teams, mentoring groups, drumline groups, education and cultural opportunities for kids and families. The goal is to teach kids to be leaders on and off the field while stressing the importance of education and living a positive lifestyle.
Charles has three grown sons and one grandchild. His sister, Shirlely, lives in Kansas City and was in the Air Force. His younger sister, Jackie, passed a few years ago. He enjoys reading, coaching, sports, and spending time with his new grandchild.
Follow the candidate on Facebook where you will see many commenters saying they are voting for him because he is such a good guy, even though they are not Democrats. Follow Charles on Twitter
In The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream, Thom Hartmann takes the reader from the founders’ fight against the monopoly of the British East India Company to the borking of the country by President Donald J. Trump.
Like his other Hidden History books, this one is a quick but important read for people who want or need to review the history and origins of today’s concerted, well-organized campaign by corporations to control commerce, government, and thereby our lives.
“Today, giant corporatism — the commercialization of just about everything at the expense of our civilization’s civic, spiritual, health, and safety values, and other conditions needed for the well-being of future generations confronting poverty, addressing planetary climate crises, and averting nuclear war — is crushing our democracy,” Ralph Nader wrote in the book’s forward. “It is corrupting our elections, and astonishingly enough, controlling the vast commons — public lands; public airwaves; vast pension and mutual funds; and industry-creating, government-funded research and development — owned by the American people.”
Thom Hartmann
We’ve heard the phrase “taxation without representation” as it pertains to the founding of the United States. Hartmann turns this around to what was really at stake: a monopoly on tea and other products sanctioned by the British government. It was concern with monopolies, the British East India Company specifically, not taxation that caused the Boston Tea Party. Founder Thomas Jefferson had monopolies on his mind even after the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789 according to Hartmann.
Nontheless, monopolistic practices grew during the 19th Century with the rise of industrialization. In his book The Robber Barons: The Classic Account of the Influential Capitalists Who Transformed America’s Future, Matthew Josephson described the rise of men like John D. Rockefeller, J. Pierpont Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and others who pioneered vertical integration of companies, a form of monopoly. Their actions led to significant control over oil, railroads, steel making, coal mining, banking and other industries during the Gilded Age.
Beginning in 1887 with the Interstate Commerce Act, the U.S. Government began to regulate big business. It was followed by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. If the founders opposed monopolies and they formed anyway, it was the role of government to regulate them. Hartmann well-describes this history.
It was president Ronald Reagan, under the guidance of Robert Bork and the Chicago School economists, who began de-fanging antitrust regulations.
Many of us are familiar with the July 1, 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court and how Senator Ted Kennedy rose in the well of the U.S. Senate to oppose the nomination within 45 minutes of its being made. Previously, along with Milton Friedman, Bork pioneered the phrase, “consumer welfare.” It changed everything.
“In essence, (Bork) argued, it didn’t matter where a product was produced or sold, or by whom,” Hartmann wrote. “All that mattered was the price the consumer paid. As long as that price was low, all was good with the world.” The corollary was that business profitability was another measure of antitrust. Since Reagan the latter gained preeminence. This is referred to as the borking of America.
By the end of the book I became highly agitated and outraged that our government has become an instrument of corporations intent on shaking down the American people, giving any return on capital to a group of about 100 billionaires as Hartmann describes.
The Hidden History of Monopolies is written in classic Hartmann style and can be read over a weekend. If readers are concerned about banking abuses, dairy farmer bankruptcies, insulin price fixing, the cost of internet and telephone service, big agriculture, and more, Hartmann traces their roots to giant corporations and a systemic borking of America that deregulated business and freed corporations from constraints.
Highly recommend.
Don’t have time to read the book? Here’s a fifteen minute interview of Hartmann by David Pakman that covers some of it.
Beat Trump and Save Democracy
If you’re like us, you might be feeling overwhelmed by everything you’re seeing on the news — we don’t blame you. So much has happened since our last National Activist Call, not to mention the stress of the election coming up full speed ahead. With just 65 days before November 3, we have a lot to talk about and we need everyone in our movement to be up-to-date on everything we’re working on.
Ready to join us? Come to our National Activist Call on Thursday, September 3 at 8 pm ET/7 Central so that you can stay in the loop. Our monthly national activist calls are a space for group leaders, members and other Indivisible activists to hear about our key priorities and updates while building connections across the network. Besides being informative, we hope it can be a space to lean on each other for support during this deeply painful time. If you can’t make it to the call but still want to get involved, sign up for a Windivisible phonebanking shift!
To preview, we’ll be discussing big topics like the Biden-Harris ticket and what a Democratic trifecta (a blue White House, Senate, and House) means we can achieve in 2021, give you updates on the state of the Postal Service, and share details about how you can get involved in our next Windivisible Week of Action. We’ll also be addressing the violence we’ve seen this week and give you ways to support Black Lives Matter activists in Kenosha and across the country.
Here are the details:
| What: Indivisible September National Activist Call Who: Political and Organizing Teams and you! When: Thursday, September 3 at 8 pm ET/7 Central Where: RSVP to let us know we’ll see you there! |
As you’ll hear during the call, this president is committed to lying and cheating his way back into office by making voting more difficult and more inaccessible — and don’t even get us started on how the Senate hasn’t passed a new COVID relief bill. If we’re hoping to win the White House, flip the Senate, and keep the House, these are the issues that voters need to know about so they can make informed decisions. By signing up to phonebank with Windivisible, you can reach voters directly and drive turnout in key states we need to win.
Ready to make some calls? Click here to sign up for a Windivisible phonebanking shift.
As always, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving your all to this movement. We hope to see you on Thursday for the National Activist Call and sometime soon during one of our phonebanking trainings!
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
