Data Points To Corporate Influence

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Paul Deaton

U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Is the Ohio federal court’s recent release of Drug Enforcement Agency data about manufacture and distribution of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills significant?

Maybe.

I found last week’s Washington Post presentation of scrubbed data engaging for the ten minutes or so it took to drill down to Iowa and the county in which I live. Readers can do likewise by clicking here.

The data doesn’t change much. If anything, it confirms what I wrote in 2016:

Fanning the embers of opioid abuse into a raging wildfire serves the interests of Big Pharma and its minions in the U.S. Congress. The opioid epidemic represents another opportunity for corporations to mold government in a way that serves their interests.

According to data, Iowa took delivery of 562,927,414 of these pills manufactured by Actavis Pharma Inc., SpecGX LLC., and a few other companies between 2006 and 2012. They were delivered to Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee, and a number of other independent and chain pharmacies.

I live in Johnson County, which took delivery of 12,158,306 pills, or enough for everyone to have about one per month. Two days a week I drive by the Walgreens in Coralville which received the highest number of pills in the county. I had no idea, and in the long view, I’m not sure it’s significant. In part, the opioid epidemic is driven by availability and ease of access. The drug companies are making sure the pills are available.

There is a human aspect of the massive distribution of narcotics. The Washington Post intends to mine the data for stories beginning with those of southwestern Virginia where my father’s family first appeared in the 17th Century, and distribution of opioids was highest in the country. I haven’t enjoyed the coverage of Norton, Virginia and surrounding Wise County.

For comparison, Wise County took delivery of ten times the number of oxycodone and hydrocodone pills as Johnson County, Iowa, with the highest number delivered to Family Drug in Big Stone Gap. In Norton, Virginia, 306 pills per person were delivered according to the Washington Post. Dennis Boggs of Norton summarized the problem to the Washington Post. “There’s not a lot to do,” Boggs said. “It gives them something to do around here.” He was talking about using these legal narcotics.

“What they did legally to my state is criminal,” Senator Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told the Post. “The companies, the distributors, were unconscionable. This was not a health plan. This was a targeted business plan. I cannot believe that we have not gone after them with criminal charges.”

Manchin has a point and it serves mine. Pharmaceutical companies are executing a business plan, one that includes substantial influence of the Congress. If the human misery of easy opioid availability is hard to take, look at it from a business standpoint. Companies are working an abstract plan designed to maximize revenue and profits within current regulatory framework. Once lobbyists have set the rules for prescription, manufacture and distribution of opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone, such regulation turns out to be very little regulation at all, at least when it comes to protecting the public.

This distribution of oxycodone and hydrocodone is a different face on the same problem, the influence of corporations on our government. It is important not to be distracted by the drama.

Last year Governor Kim Reynolds signed HF 2377 into law. The law focuses on narcotics users and those who prescribe them in hope of reducing the number of opioid users in Iowa, according to the governor’s press release. The vote for the bill was unanimous in both the Iowa House and Senate. Given the comparatively low level of opioid pill distribution in Iowa, revealed by the Washington Post data, aren’t there other, bigger problems for political focus? Things like fixing Iowa’s disastrous privatization of Medicaid which impacts lives as well.

Data can measure the success or failure of HF 2377. What is hard is to measure the intent and human impact of large corporation business plans. The newly revealed data is pointing to corporations as the problem in the opioid crisis.

Posted in Progressive Community, progressive values | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Data Points To Corporate Influence

A Climate Action For Every Iowan

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Paul Deaton

Image of Earth 7-6-15 from DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory)

Iowa Public Television devoted its weekly Iowa Press program to climate change.

Dr. Gene Takle, Professor Emeritus at Iowa State University and Dr. David Courard-Hauri, Professor and Director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Drake University faced reporters David Pitt with Associated Press and Katarina Sostaric of Iowa Public Radio.

No new ground was broken in the 27-minute program because the nature of climate change as we experience it in Iowa is reasonably clear: it’s about moisture, too much in the spring, or too little during the growing season. World-wide warming atmosphere and oceans contribute significantly to extreme weather in Iowa.

Some don’t believe what goes on in Iowa falls into a broader trend or context. Courard-Hauri made an important point about this.

And one thing I’d add is that we focus a lot on this question and if you look at surveys it’s about 20 percent of the people who actively argue that climate change is not caused by people. And the majority of people either, well the majority of people believe the climate is changing, you can see it now, it’s at that level. And then the large majority are aware and concerned and so when we spend a lot of our time focusing on that really small minority, it’s a larger minority of lay people that (sic) it is scientists obviously, but if we spend a lot of time talking about that then I think we miss the fact that most people are wondering what can we be doing, what should we be doing?

What can we be doing about the climate crisis?

A few years ago State Senator Joe Bolkcom made the best case I’ve heard on what to do: join with like-minded people around a cause.

In a society where the myth of rugged individualism persists, and the expansion of media in the form of radio, television, smart phones and computers brought with it a new form of social isolation, that is hard to do. Do it we must and it’s not just me saying it. At some point the climate crisis becomes so obvious and threatening almost everyone wants to answer Courard-Hauri’s question.

An article by Cathy Brown at Yes! magazine last week pointed out there is a climate action for every type of activist.

“Susan Clayton, a professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster, says getting involved with a group can help lift your climate-related anxiety and depression in three ways,” Brown wrote. “Working with like-minded folks can validate your concerns, give you needed social support, and help you move from feeling helpless to empowered.”

Bolkcom’s point was similar to Clayton: groups are more effective than individuals.

The reason I’m involved with environmental groups is to work on inter-generational issues. I won’t likely be around when the worst of the climate crisis hits but people I know and love will be. As I ease into retirement it is important to allocate some time to work on the issue.

When Iowa Public Television is doing a program on the climate crisis, the concerns are mainstream. While we expect a lot from our government, politicians need nudging from voters and that is where joining with others in our communities is important. As Brown’s article suggests, there is a way to get involved for every personality.

View Iowa Press episode on climate change here.

Read Cathy Brown’s article at Yes! magazine here.

Posted in Climate Change, Environment | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sunday Funday: Catch-22 Edition

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Dave Bradley

So let me see if I got this straight:

Dear Leader can’t be indicted for crimes he committed while running for president. 

The reason he is president is because of the crimes he committed while running and for which he can not now be indicted. 

That is a really special prize, isn’t it? 

No person is above the law – except the president.

Last week was about as low as I hope we ever go. However, that seems to be every week anymore.

  1. Police in Tennessee appealed to a certain segment of the public asking them to quit doing what since what they did may really affect alligators?
  1. Broadway lost millions in revenue last Saturday as what hit New York City?
  1. Chlorpyrifos was greenlighted for use by Dear Leader’s EPA despite the pesticide’s link to brain damage in what group of people?
  1. The son of what late Supreme Court Justice appears to be the choice as the next Secretary of Labor?
  1. Speaking of SCOTUS, former Justice John Paul Stevens died at age 99 last week. Who nominated Stevens to the Court?
  1. Since Dear Leader made such a big deal about it, what country did Ilhan Omar’s family emigrate from?
  1. Must be true love. Dear Leader hung pictures of himself with what foreign dictator on West Wing walls last week?
  1. After 7 years of litigation, an Iowa jury found found what former Iowa official discriminated against an employee because of the employees sexual orientation?
  1. What long, successful journey ended July 24th, 1969 in the Pacific Ocean?
  1. The US House voted Tuesday to condemn what high government official for racist tweets on Tuesday?
  1. What 4 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for that resolution?
  1. Right wing Billionaire Peter Thiel (PayPal) last week said that what Democratic Presidential candidate scared him?
  1. Britain announced that what WWII hero and computer science pioneer would be honored with his picture on the 50 pound note?
  1. What former South Carolina governor, representative and hiker of the Appalachian Trail is considering a run for the presidency?
  1. A Facebook event is in the works for over a million people to turn up and storm what supposed space alien secret location?
  1. After 5 years just as the statute of limitations ran out, the Justice Department announced there would be no charges brought in whose death?
  1. Puerto Rico is undergoing mass protests in an effort to get what official to resign?
  1. What accused criminal offered to pay as much as $100 million in bail to be released from prison before his trial?
  1. The WHO classified an outbreak of what in the eastern Congo as a “public health emergency of international concern” ?
  1. What two senators blocked the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund vote in the senate?

John Fugelsang

‏Donald Trump wants you to know he didn’t approve of his supporters chanting ‘send her back’ after he lied about Ilhan Omar hating America & calling Israel evil & having pride in Al Queda & that she had married her brother.

And that’s why he tried to stop them by doing nothing.

Answers:

  1. Flushing their drugs, including meth, down the toilet.
  1. A blackout that shut many shows down
  1. Children, What does this administration have against children?
  1. Judge Antonin Scalia’s son Eugene appears to be the choice as secretary of labor
  1. Ford
  1. Somalia
  1. Kim Jung Un
  1. Terry Branstad
  1. The Apollo 11 moon landing. All they brought back were some rocks
  1. Dear Leader
  1. Will Hurd (Tx), Susan Brooks (In), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) and Fred Upton (Mi)
  1. Elizabeth Warren. Warren said “Good!”
  1. Alan Turing
  1. Mark Sanford
  1. Area 51 in Nevada
  1. Eric Garner in NYC
  1. Their governor Ricardo Rosselló.
  1. Jeffrey Epstein
  1. Ebola
  1. Rand Paul and Mike Lee both Republicans.

@itsJeffTiedrich

it’s so lucky for Hope Hicks that she’s just a privileged white woman up to her eyeballs in conspiracy, perjury, contempt of congress and obstruction of justice, and not, say, a black man selling loose cigarettes on a street corner, because there are serious consequences for that

Posted in #trumpresistance, Blog for Iowa, Humor | Comments Off on Sunday Funday: Catch-22 Edition

Playing The Oldies

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Dave Bradley
Carter warning

President Carter tried to warn us at the beginning.

“Go back to where you came from!” When I heard that tweet from Dear Leader I remembered the first time I heard it and understood what it meant. I was around 12. There was no mistaking it was a racist comment then. Every time I have heard it uttered since then there was no doubt that it was meant as a racist remark.

When Dear Leader tweeted that four Democratic congress women should “go back where they came from” there was no doubt exactly what it meant. Any story that he didn’t know what it meant has to be a lie. There may be a few truly disconnected humans in this country that don’t know what that phrase means, but that is doubtful. 

Among the voluminous stories on this tweet that have come out this phrase has been cited as a specific phrase that can get you fired from most jobs in the US. So there is little doubt that Dear Leader didn’t know what he was saying.

What Dear Leader is doing is not leaving any any doubt that race will be an issue in the next election. Race was actually perhaps the major issue in 2016 but was not named out loud. In 2016 the first speech Dear Leader made was about race and he just went from there. It was a bit more covert in 2016, covered by questions of things like immigration or “patriotism.” This time it looks like he and his base are ready to be much more open. 

What is surprising is that there were very few in his party, almost no one, who immediately called Dear Leader out for his terrible tweet. To a person there was an eerie silence in the Trump Party. The silence was only broken by fearful congressional leaders trying to defend this ignorant tweet. When the tweet was followed by a rally in Greenville, NC Wednesday, the lack of condemnation was again deafening.

What else must be understood is that there is also a real misogyny in Dear Leader’s actions. If you are keeping score, Dear Leader almost always lashes out against women. From Hillary Clinton to Elizabeth Warren to the US women’s Soccer team to now the congress women. Like all bullies, Dear Leader attempts to attack weaker opponents.

Dear Leader and the Trump Party, if they get away with this, will not stop there. Eventually there will be only a few acceptable people according to them. We have seen this movie before with different casts, but the very same concept.

Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about this whole incident and the others like it is the silent consent by nearly the whole Trump Party. The few who have said anything have spoken mainly to defend Dear Leaders actions.

Iowa’s members of the Trump Party in Washington. Oddly, Steve King who suddenly became a persona-non-grata in the Trump Party after the Party took a major thumping in the election of 2018 and King’s overt racism was seen as a cause. This would have been a good spot for King to speak up. What a silly thought. King saying something about Dear Leader doing the same thing King himself did.

Perhaps the one that amazes me is Joni Ernst. Once again Ernst talks a good game but does little. She let women down with her vote for Kavanaugh for SCOTUS. Now, according to radioiowa.com, Ernst didn’t exactly condemn the tweets:

Reports say Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Joni Ernst, when asked Monday if she thought Trump’s comment was racist, said, “Yeah, I do.” Later, Ernst was asked by a CNN reporter to repeat her statement as to whether the comment was racist. She responded, “Uh, yeah. They’re American citizens,” and called the president’s comment “not constructive” and “not helpful.”

And while all this foofarah is drawing our attention in that direction the administration continues to dismantle all sorts of regulations and rules that have helped build the strong country that we have enjoyed over the many decades. While Dear Leader pushes to strengthen his base his administration works hard to dismantle the very government we all depend on for something. After promising health care and maintaining Social Security and Medicare, these have become the top targets with nothing to replace them.

While his administration is dismantling the government Dear Leader and all the swamp denizens he brought into the administration are doing all they can to profit off the government. It is called corruption. While America has seen corruption in its day, there has never been anything like this before. 

And in the end, Dear Leader is giving his base the hate that they want while he picks their pocket day and night and dismantles the programs they will need. Meanwhile, as the government begins to look like a Jenga tower just before its big collapse, representatives from Dear Leader’s party pretend nothing is happening. 

This all reminds me of a quote from LBJ on how to divide and conquer in US politics:

President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

Dear Leader divides and conquers. Members of Dear Leader’s party are so scared of him they will not stand up for what is right. Cowardice in leadership leads to failures in government all the time.

Posted in Blog for Iowa | 1 Comment

Unadvertised Features

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Dave Bradley

Image (1) branstad21.jpg for post 18475

Back in my working days I was among the front line of system changes for my area. Despite planning and investigation and using our imaginations when a system was rolled out there were always what we referred to as “unadvertised features.” Those were unexpected results when the various computer actions were carried out. These were always a surprise. As I said we spent a lot of time up front planning and investigating. No matter how much we did, there were always surprises.

Those “unadvertised features” came to mind this week when the verdict in the sexual discrimination lawsuit against former Governor-for-life Terry Branstad was announced. People thought they elected a pretty straight forward person as governor but we are now finding out there were some dark “unadvertised features.” 

There didn’t seem to be anything in Branstad version 1.0 that indicated that he was capable of doing such a thing. However, in the intervening years from Branstad version 1.0 to Branstad version 2.0 the CPU (as it were) that is the Republican Party changed dramatically. His party moved much further to the right especially in their reaction to legalized same sex marriage in Iowa.

We don’t know if that had anything to do with his attempted dismissal of Chris Godfrey which was then followed by a cut in pay. Whatever the reason was, a jury decided Monday that there was discrimination. The plaintiff, Chris Godfrey, was awarded a $1.5 million verdict.

Like so many “unadvertised features” there are often consequences for people who had absolutely nothing to do with the glitch – like you and me, for instance. From my understanding, Branstad won’t pay a nickel.That comes out of your pocket and mine. Branstad’s feelings may have been hurt, though – if that is any consolation.

Just to add a little insult to injury, according to the Des Moines Register we may also have to pony up to pay lawyers from both sides including the plaintiffs bill:

State taxpayers could wind up spending more than $6 million on Chris Godfrey’s sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit, his attorney said Wednesday.

A Polk County jury Monday awarded $1.5 million to Godfrey, a former state administrator who sued former Gov. Terry Branstad, alleging Branstad cut his salary and tried to force him to quit because Godfrey is gay.

Godfrey’s lead attorney, Roxanne Conlin, said Wednesday she intends to request reimbursement for more than $2.6 million in attorneys’ fees. That’s the approximate tab her team racked up before the six-week trial started, she said. The private defense attorneys Branstad hired have received more than $1.2 million from the state so far, and Conlin predicted the defense’s total bill will top $2 million.

State taxpayers are to bear all of those costs.

That is bad enough by itself. We must remember also that this is one in a line of discrimination suits that have been levied against the state in recent years. According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

If the $1.5 million award stands, it will add to the mounting total of millions the state has paid out in the recent past to settle gender, sexual harassment and sexual orientation discrimination complaints from state employees.

In February, The Gazette found the tally of recent legal settlements involving alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation by state employees was over $14 million.

In one of the costliest, the University of Iowa paid $6.5 million to former athletic administrator Jane Meyer and field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum to settle their claims of gender and sexual orientation discrimination.

A reminder here that the bad actors in these cases are not paying the costs. You and I are.

The one that still makes me mad is the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus cost to you and I of $1.7 million for harassment of their employee Kirsten Anderson. 

The Gazette has a short summary of these suits here.  

One theme I see throughout this string of cases is that one party seems to be involved in nearly every one. Apparently an “unadvertised feature” of voting for Republicans.

Posted in Branstad, Republican hypocrisy, Republican Policy | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Unadvertised Features

Getting Attention On Climate Change

Posted on July 19, 2019 by Paul Deaton

Ed Fallon in His Garden

Ed Fallon is a friend of Blog for Iowa and we support what he does with his radio program and his advocacy against oil and natural gas pipelines in Iowa.

He caught the attention of Democrats in Cedar Rapids last weekend with a performance art piece, staged by his group Bold Iowa, in which three individuals posed in a gallows with a noose around their neck, standing on blocks of melting ice under a sign that said, “As the arctic melts the climate noose tightens.”

While many on social media and in-person viewers of the piece took a dim view of this direct action, if you know Ed at all, not thinking things through is a feature, not a bug of his work. There is no denying deterioration of the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic, and the Antarctic ice shelves is a planetary problem that could cause environmental disruptions not seen in living human memory. Bold Iowa’s performance piece was successful in that social media was abuzz discussing its meaning and appropriateness. It was unsuccessful in that major media outlets did not appear to be covering it with the notable exception of the Cedar Rapids Gazette which ran a story on Wednesday framing the piece a racially callous because of its use of a noose, invoking for some an association with lynching in American history.

“We underestimated the way it may trigger folks who either are concerned about the rise in racism in this country, in many respects because of Donald Trump,” Fallon said in an interview with the Gazette. “And also people who were affected by a family member who maybe committed suicide by hanging. … Our focus is to get people to understand just how urgent of a situation climate change is. We really are at a point where human extinction is a possibility.”

In a July 16 email, Fallon wrote he planned to write a blog post about the incident while promoting his Fallon Forum podcast, saying,

Pascha Morgan joins (the Fallon Forum) to discuss Bold Iowa’s provocative performance art, which involved a gallows (representing the threat of extinction) and large blocks of ice (representing accelerated ice melt in the polar regions).

Bold Iowa’s action demanded that Democratic presidential candidates make human survival their first act as president. The banner above the gallows declared, “As the Arctic melts, the climate noose tightens.”

The action received some enthusiastic support. Yet despite what organizers thought was clear messaging, it also experienced some strong pushback. In addition to this week’s live on-air discussion, I’ll publish a more in-depth blog later this week, responding to criticism of the action and apologizing to people offended by the imagery.

Thursday, July 18, Fallon made a post titled An Error of Judgement on the Bold Iowa website. In it he apologized to people offended by the imagery of the noose and accepted full responsibility for what he called an error in judgement. The post also ran as an op-ed in this morning’s Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Our support for Ed Fallon’s work continues. If one reads Fallon’s book Marcher Walker Pilgrim: A Memoir from the Great March for Climate Action there is a clear sense of the haphazard way Fallon goes about planning direct action. The fact is people continue to talk about the performance art piece five days after it happened. To the extent fingers are pointing at Ed’s quirky and in this case considered yet somewhat tone-deaf approach to direct action as the problem, the performance art failed.

Listen to the Fallon Forum live Mondays, 11:00 – noon CT on La Reina KDLF 96.5 FM and 1260 AM in central Iowa. The program is also available on podcast later in the day at FallonForum.com.

Posted in Climate Change, Fallon Forum | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Getting Attention On Climate Change

Algae And The Politics Of Denial

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Paul Deaton

Algae Bloom in Lake Erie, Oct. 5, 2011. Photo Credit – NASA Earth Observatory

During his July 8 speech on the environment, the president mentioned his administration’s fight with “toxic algae” in Florida 50 miles from his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Bruce Hrobak, a bait and tackle shop owner in Port St. Lucie, Fla. gave a testimonial at the event about the great job he thought the federal government did to help his business which was “devastated by toxic algae from Lake Okeechobee.” His praise was about more than the government.

“You jumping into this environment brings my heart to warmth, knowing that what you’re doing is going — is the truth,” Hrobak said. “It’s going wonderfully. My business in 2018 was so horrible, we — I own two stores — we closed several days a week because of, you know, the algae and people being frightened, if they were afraid to touch the water and everything. I have a marine mechanic — I just wanted to say really quickly — has a bad infection in his arm from the marine algae and stuff.”

Mr. Hrobak gushed about the attention his problem had received and mentioned his wife was yelling at him less because business was better this year. People laughed and applauded. Rhetorically anyway, Trump halted advance of the red tide.

Iowans are familiar with the problems of algal blooms. The nutrient-rich soup that comprises our lakes and streams has been a hindrance to public recreation. We’ve restricted access to public beaches and educated kayakers, swimmers and boaters about the dangers of exposure to blue-green algae and the microcystins they produce. Iowa’s response to the problem amounts to shrugging our shoulders.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources doesn’t plan to follow new federal recommendations for beach water quality that could lead to more public warnings about toxins in the water, according to a June 20 Cedar Rapids Gazette article by Erin Jordan.

Instead of adopting federal standards for algal contamination, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources spokesperson told the Gazette, “The group does not agree with the formula and science used to develop the eight micrograms per liter for cyanotoxins microcystins standard.”

Arguing with science is the new normal for government doing what it wants. The other new normal is the president asserting he has addressed a problem when in fact he is ignoring it.

Mother Jones reported July 12 on a toxic algae problem not being adequately addressed by the administration:

In June, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projected a Massachusetts-sized dead zone would alight upon the Gulf of Mexico, driven by a vast algae bloom fed by fertilizer runoff from the upper Midwest. As the bloom decays, it sucks oxygen out of the water. As a result, as NOAA puts it, “habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts.”

And on Thursday, NOAA predicted that Lake Erie, which provides drinking water to 11 million people, will also experience a massive harmful algae bloom, starting in late July. The bloom is fed largely by phosphorus runoff in the Maumee River basin in Ohio, where the land is dominated by corn and soybean farms as well as massive indoor hog farms. Phosphorus is a key nutrient for plant growth, and farmers apply it to fields in the form of fertilizer (which comes mainly from phosphate mines in Florida) and hog manure.

People argue in social media that algae blooms are a naturally occurring phenomenon, that they are nothing to worry about. While that is partly true, they do occur naturally, they are fed to grow very large by agricultural runoff. For political reasons, government won’t connect the dots and take action on the much larger issue of nutrient runoff.

“Science is a fundamental part of the country that we are,” Neil deGrasse Tyson said. “But in this the 21st century, when it comes time to make decisions about science, it seems to me people have lost the ability to judge what is true and what is not… When you have people who don’t know much about science standing in denial of it and rising to power, that is a recipe for the complete dismantling of our informed democracy.”

The president is addressing red algae in his back yard. What has he done about blue-green algae for the rest of us? He denied us a solution and distracted us from the problem. This while his minions in the audience for the speech stood and applauded.

We’ve go to do something better.

Posted in Environment, water | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Toward A Challenger For Joni Ernst

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Paul Deaton

Two of three people running for the Democratic nomination to be U.S. Senator from Iowa spoke at State Senator Zach Wahls’ birthday fundraiser at Walker Homestead in Johnson County on Sunday.

Clutching a microphone in one hand and her hand-written speech notes in the other, Theresa Greenfield of Des Moines went second to last in a 90 minute series of speakers that included five presidential hopefuls.

Eddie Mauro of Des Moines had arrived early to the event and introduced himself to some of the more than 200 attendees. When he stepped onto the stage surrounded by straw bales, he was the last of twelve speakers.

Kimberly Graham, a Democrat from Indianola, was first to announce her bid to challenge U.S. Senator Joni Ernst. While she did not attend Wahls’ event, there was substantial press coverage of her May entry into the race.

Of the three candidates, Theresa Greenfield is said to be the front runner, however, there are challenges ahead for whoever is the party’s nominee. Joni Ernst won the 2014 general election with 52 percent of the vote and in a recent Ann Selzer poll, more than 57 percent of Iowans approve of the job she is doing. The goal for Democrats is to prevent Ernst from becoming an institution, making her a single term senator.

Democratic activists I know haven’t begun to dial into the U.S. Senate race yet, focusing more on the February 2020 presidential caucuses. Following are some links to information about the three Democratic candidates, including the verbatim about page from their websites.

Kimberly Graham

Launch video

Website

About Page:

I’m Kimberly Graham. I never thought in a million years I’d run for office. But it’s time for a government “by the people, for the people.”

Senator Joni Ernst campaigned on a promise to “make ’em squeal” in Washington D.C. and get rid of corruption, but the only people squealing are Iowans harmed by her votes.

Because our “By The People, For The People” campaign will be funded only by donors like you, and *never* by corporate PACS, the NRA or the Koch Brothers, I won’t be influenced by lobbyists and companies whose only interest is increasing their wealth. Instead, I’ll be representing the majority: you and Iowans who deserve better representation than you’ve been receiving.

What I’ve seen from Washington D.C. the last couple of years is the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class shrinking. We need more people from working-class backgrounds serving in government, representing the majority of us and not mega-corporations. So I’m running for United States Senate.

I lived in rural Iowa longer than anyplace else, for 24 years. I chose to raise my son in Indianola.

My maternal great-great-grandfather had a farm in Zearing and my paternal grandmother was born in Mt. Ayr. My dad was one of 11 siblings born in Des Moines. He was a Marine, later a bridge-builder, and mom was a clerk at the phone company. Neither of them went to college but had good union jobs and worked hard to give my brother and me a solid working-class upbringing.

I’ve been working since I was 14: in a dry cleaner, as a waitress, store clerk, and housecleaner. I worked my way through college. I wanted to help people for a living so I went to law school, paying my own way and taking out student loans. I still have student loan debt. Now I work as an advocate for abused or neglected kids in court.

Living in rural Iowa and raising my son, I watched as the furniture, clothing, shoe stores, and other businesses on the square closed after fast-food chains and mega-stores moved in.

I’ve watched farmers struggle with increasing costs while being paid less for crops, with fewer companies from which to purchase seed and being treated unfairly as our current president enacts tariff after tariff, harming family farms. Iowans want and deserve a level playing field and a real chance at thriving small towns and thriving cities.

I’ve watched medical insurance premiums, mine included, rise to the point that families are paying more for medical insurance than for housing. Many simply can’t afford insurance anymore. Medical care costs of a serious illness are bankrupting families and forcing them to spend their life savings. It’s not right, that in the wealthiest nation on earth, this is happening.

In my work as the guardian ad litem and attorney for kids of participants in Family Treatment Court, I’ve watched the opioid and meth epidemics rip families apart and damage our communities. I’ve seen veterans return from service, experiencing trauma, and not receive services quickly or locally enough.

Iowans deserve better. As I mentioned above, Senator Ernst campaigned on a promise to “make ’em squeal” in Washington D.C. and get rid of corruption, but the only people squealing are Iowans harmed by her votes. I support major campaign finance reform and sweeping anti-corruption legislation to return our government to The People. We must get Big Money OUT of politics. No more politics as usual.

I’m running for U.S. Senate because the government should truly be “by the people, for the people.” It should work for the benefit of the majority, not the small number of wealthy. I’m not worried about them. They’ll be fine whether they have 50 million dollars a year income or 40 million. But I am worried about the rest of us.

We need Medicare for All, farmers to be treated fairly, good jobs all over the state and a level playing field so monopolies can’t destroy farms and small towns. Iowans need clean air and water, a justice system that treats everyone fairly and equally, and good public schools that provide the same high-quality education to all children, regardless of whether they live in Clive or Creston. We need representation in the U.S Senate that isn’t bought by corporations, drug companies or any special interests.

My goal is to be the best senator money *can’t* buy. Please join me in a movement For the People, By the People of Iowa.

Theresa Greenfield

Launch video

Website

About Page:

Theresa Greenfield grew up on a family farm, where she and her four siblings learned the value of hard work and self-reliance. Her father Derald encouraged his daughters to do everything the boys did on the Greenfield farm, and at 16, Theresa and her sister began helping with the family crop-dusting business, meeting with farmers to negotiate terms, and mark out fields while Derald was in the air lining up his plane for the next job.

When the farm crisis of the 1980s hit rural families like Theresa’s, she did not give up on her dream to attend college. With the help of financial aid and multiple part-time jobs, she put herself through school. Theresa married and as she and her husband were expecting their second child, he was killed in an accident at his job as a union electrical worker. Theresa set out on a path to provide for her two boys as a single mom.

Theresa worked as an urban planner and then joined Rottlund Homes, where she rose quickly through the ranks and soon moved to Des Moines to lead the company’s Iowa Division. Today, she serves as President of Colby Interests, one of Des Moines’ oldest family-held real estate and development companies. She lives with her husband Steve in Des Moines and together they have four grown children: Tanya, a media specialist; Nick, a horticulturist; Phil, a healthcare consultant; and Dane, a soldier in the U.S. Army.

Now, more than ever, Iowans need more leaders like Theresa in the U.S. Senate: a farm kid with farm kid values whose get-it-done attitude will help get things done for working families — from investing in education, to making it easier for small businesses to thrive, to cutting healthcare costs.

Eddie Mauro

Recent Video

Website

About Page:

Eddie J Mauro is a business owner, father, coach, community volunteer and former teacher who is committed to working hard to improve the performance of our government and empower people.

Additional links to resources about the candidates would be welcome in the comments.

UPDATE: On Monday, Aug. 26, Michael Franken announced his intent to run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Iowa. View his launch video here.

Posted in 2020 election campaign | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Toward A Challenger For Joni Ernst

Can Democrats Change The ‘Roberts Five’ Majority?

Posted on July 16, 2019 by Paul Deaton

United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.

If Democrats hope to undo the conservative lean of the United States Supreme Court it won’t be as simple as Republicans had it in 2016.

Many said the 2016 general election was as much about the Supreme Court as it was about electing a president. It was a unique historical opportunity, where appointing two associate justices could impact the court for decades, with Iowa’s senior senator Chuck Grassley playing a key role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

With the 2005 appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts and two recent associate justice appointments, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, Republicans have remade the high court in a way that consistently delivers opinions in favor of their interests.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote about the Supreme Court and the “Roberts Five” majority in an April Issue Brief for the American Constitution Society:

It turns out that Republican appointees to the Supreme Court have, with remarkable consistency, delivered rulings that advantage the big corporate and special interests that are, in turn, the political lifeblood of the Republican Party. Several of these decisions have been particularly flagrant and notorious: Citizens United v. FEC, Shelby County v. Holder, and Janus v. AFCME. But there are many. Under Chief Justice Roberts’ tenure through the end of October Term 2017-2018, Republican appointees have delivered partisan rulings not three or four times, not even a dozen or two dozen times, but 73 times. Seventy-three decisions favored Republican interests, with no Democratic appointee joining the majority. On the way to this judicial romp, the “Roberts Five” were stunningly cavalier with any doctrine, precedent, or congressional finding that got in their way.

These cases fall into four categories according to Whitehouse.

(1) controlling the political process to benefit conservative candidates and policies;
(2) protecting corporations from liability and letting polluters pollute;
(3) restricting civil rights and condoning discrimination;
(4) advancing a far-right social agenda.

Even if a Democratic president returns to the White House in 2021, something far from assured, there may be only two opportunities to appoint associate justices when octogenarians Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer die, retire or otherwise move on. Such appointments wouldn’t impact the ideological balance of the high court. In fact, if justice were blind, would there even be an ideological balance to talk about?

No amount of liberal outrage will fix this Republican-made court. What’s a Democrat to do?

First, understanding what’s taking place in the Roberts Court should be a high priority. A beginning is to read Senator Whitehouse’s article here to understand the damage done since Roberts was appointed chief justice.

Second, the Republican strategy of holding judicial appointments open until a Republican president was elected was a multi-year, long-term strategy that worked. Whether or not politicizing the court system is a good idea, one has to ask, what is the Democratic plan to change the mix of justices? There may be one. If there is, how is it actionable for rank and file voters? I’m not sure chasing third tier Democratic presidential candidates around Iowa before the caucus is a positive contribution to the effort.

Finally, Democrats must do a better job of picking their battles. Outrageous behavior is a feature, not a bug of the Trump administration and Republican legislators. There will always be an outrage as long as Trump is president, because if nothing is going on, he will gin something up. When Republicans make us feel outraged, they also maintain control of public dialogue. In order to break their hold on voters we must work differently that we have recently. It begins by de-emphasizing social media and talking directly to friends and neighbors about how to resolve the issues society faces.

It’s not a flawless approach, however, we have to do something.

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Can A Democrat Beat Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell?

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Paul Deaton

Amy McGrath Photo Credit – Campaign Website

Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath announced she was running to beat Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell in the Nov. 3, 2020 general election.

She raised $2.5 million during the first 24 hours after her announcement.

With 20 years in the United States Marine Corps and 89 combat missions under her belt, she demonstrated substantial courage and grit. If she can focus on one thing, beating McConnell, she may have a better path to election than any other recent challenger.

People are nit-picking her campaign apart after her July 9 announcement and it boils down to one thing: do Democrats want someone to take on McConnell or not? It won’t be easy for McGrath and it wouldn’t be easy for anyone. If there are better candidates out there, they should step forward.

What seems obvious from the blow back to McGrath’s campaign is we need a reminder of why Mitch McConnell has to go. Here’s Thom Hartmann interviewing Senator Jeff Merkley on that topic at Netroots Nation over the weekend.

It’s hard to tell whether anyone can beat Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. Democrats must step up and have Amy McGrath’s back if they are serious about taking the senate back.

Here’s McGrath’s biography from her campaign website:

Amy McGrath, a retired US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel raised in Kentucky, is running for the US Senate to fix Washington and give Kentuckians back their voice.

Amy was born the youngest of three children to Donald and Marianne McGrath. Her father was a high school English teacher and her mother was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Kentucky medical school.

When Amy was 13 years old, she dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot, but women were not yet allowed to serve in combat roles in our military. So she wrote to her elected officials to ask them to change the law. She never heard back from her senator, Mitch McConnell.

Amy graduated from the US Naval Academy and overcame the odds to become the first woman in the Marine Corps to fly a combat mission in an F/A-18 fighter jet. She served 20 years in the Marines where she flew 89 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, targeting al-Qaida and the Taliban, before retiring and moving back home to Kentucky to raise her family.

Amy lives in Georgetown, Kentucky, with her husband Erik, a retired Navy pilot and registered Republican, and her three children, Teddy (7), George (5), and Eleanor (3).

Amy became a Marine combat pilot to fight and defend her country and now she is taking the fight to Washington to solve the problems Kentuckians face in their every-day lives. Amy was a registered independent for 12 years, so she always prioritizes practical solutions over partisan interests. She’s not running for Senate to get rich and join the Washington swamp. Amy is ready to take on career politicians like Mitch McConnell and bring accountability and leadership back to Kentucky.

To learn more go to amymcgrath.com.

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