Austin Frerick’s Rurally Good Deal for Iowa

 IA-3 Congressional Candidate Austin Frerick Releases the Rurally Good Deal To  Revitalize  Rural Communities

 “Incremental change isn’t enough,” Frerick says. “This is a new deal-style project to get rural Iowa thriving again.”

 austinfrerick.com 

WINTERSET – Iowa Third District congressional candidate Austin Frerick today announced a series of New Deal inspired-policy initiatives known as The Rurally Good Deal. The investments are aimed at revitalizing rural communities across America.  

Frerick’s plan calls for (1) free community college, (2) direct federal investment in high speed internet for rural communities, (3) national expansion of the highly-acclaimed Vision Iowa program, (4) doubling the funding for the Conservation Reserve Program, and (5) creating a series of advanced manufacturing hubs.  

“When I’m out meeting with residents of the Third District, it’s clear to me that incremental change isn’t enough. Too many of our communities have fallen behind. This is a moment for bold action to revitalize our rural communities. The can has been kicked down the road too many times before,” Frerick says.  

Frerick continued, “What I hear time and time again is that people want the chance to climb what Tom Harkin called the ‘rungs on the ladder of opportunity.’ People want both public sector and the private sector to make a positive change in their lives. Instead of giving huge corporations another tax break, we can make real changes that enable places like Red Oak and Atlantic to be the hubs that assemble new turbines or build hybrid tractors.” 

“There’s a future for advanced manufacturing in Iowa,” Frerick added. “The problem is that nearly all manufacturing jobs since 2000 have required an associates degree. The Rurally Good Deal expands access to those jobs through free community college. And by creating advanced manufacturing hubs, we will give people the opportunity to get back to work, innovate, and create new industries.”  

“It’s just up to us to build the communities we want. Not the communities that Tyson or Monsanto want,” Frerick said. “This plan not only creates good paying jobs, but it also improves the environment and quality of life.” 

 Frerick’s Rurally Good Deal proposal can be funded, in its entirety, by closing estate and gift tax loopholes. 

Additional information on the proposal:  

 1. Free community college 

2) Major investments in high speed internet 

  • Just over 50% of people in rural U.S. locations have download speeds above 25 mbps, which is what the government considers “adequate service,” compared with 94% in urban areas, according to a 2016 Congressional Research Service report. 
  • High speed internet is essential for the growth of precision farming technology  
  • Estimated to cost $80 billion. 

3) National expansion of the highly-acclaimed Vision Iowa program 

4) Double the Conservation Reserve Program 

  • Marginal land would be removed from agricultural production for environmental benefits ranging from improved water quality to soil erosion prevention 
  • Double the number of protected acres from 24 million to 48 million. 
  • Doubling the number of protected acres would cost approximately $4 billion a year. 

5) Advanced Manufacturing Hubs 

  • Based on a highly-successful German model, these hubs create a public-private partnership between universities and the private sector. 
  • I first proposed this idea for Iowa in a Des Moines Register op-ed.  

About Austin Frerick: 

Frerick is running as the first antitrust candidate in the country. He is an Iowa native and lives in Winterset. He has worked as an economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Tax Policy, and at the Congressional Research Service in the Domestic Social Policy Division. He has published research on executive compensation, pharmaceutical corporate charity abuses, and the growth of monopolies in the U.S. economy. 

 He was the first in his family to attend college, graduating from Grinnell College and completing his Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin La Follette School of Public Affairs. To cover his tuition, he took out student loans and worked four jobs, including as a Special Needs Care Provider for the Arc of East Central Iowa. 

About Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District: 

 The 3rd Congressional District covers Iowa’s southwestern corner, and includes Polk, Dallas, Guthrie, Warren, Madison, Adair, Cass, Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Page, Montgomery, Taylor, Adams, Union and Ringgold counties. 

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Press for Austin Frerick

Candidate for U.S. Congress (IA-3)
Winterset, Iowa
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Occupy the World Food Prize 2017

 

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Impending Environmental Crisis in Iowa

And now a word from Activate Iowa.  Follow Activate Iowa on Facebook

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How to Support Immigrants In Your Community

This was passed along to us from Anne Spencer at strongwomenjoco@gmail.com, a group of activists in Iowa City.  

At our Immigration Issues event on Wednesday 10/18/17, attendees heard from a very knowledgeable and active panel of strong women who are working to support our Johnson County immigrant population. They provided us with valuable information and good suggestions for helping those new to our community who struggle to understand our culture, language and system as they look for jobs, education, affordable housing and a better life.

Here is a list of suggested ways community members can help that our experts provided:

1. Language tutors: Language barriers make everything more difficult. IC Compassion provides one on one tutoring but consistently have a waiting list of non-English speakers waiting for a volunteer. They meet once a week for one hour to help new immigrants learn English.

2. Hosting a family: Again, through IC Compassion, matching up with a family to provide logistical support for practical day to day tasks (where to shop, transportation options, a listening ear, etc), orientation to our culture, navigating our system is welcoming and reduces stress for newcomers, as well as very gratifying to the giver.

3. Orienting/Training Employers: Those who employ immigrants need training and education as well as support to better understand the customs and potential confusions of potential or existing immigrants employees.

4. Habitat for Humanity housing:  Every year, this organization builds houses for immigrant families and welcome anyone interested in assisting.

5. Donate Supplies:  Beds and mattresses are needed regularly. Other items as well, but these are a consistent need. IC Compassion handles these donations.

6. Publicize Immigrant Stories:  Get the word out about the stories these new community members bring to our town. Provide opportunities for them to share in small groups, at churches, schools, gatherings. This puts a face to the population and builds understanding, trust and sense
of community to all.

7. Be Active! Work to repeal the Medicaid Act of 1996 which provides medical care for those new to our country for only 8 months, then not until they have been in the country for over 5 years.

8. List of resources:

Here are websites of organizations that provide volunteer information and opportunities. Please add to this list as you find additional resources!

http://refugeeimmigrant.org

www.ICcompassion.org

http://iowavalleyhabitat.org/

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FCC Asks for More Public Comments on Sinclair-Tribune Merger

Everyone should go to freepress.net, sign up for emails and complete the contact form to the FCC opposing the Sinclair-Tribune merger. They have filed a Petition to Deny the merger with the FCC.

You can still send a comment directly to the FCC.

You can see the filing here.   https://www.freepress.net/resource/108253/free-press-petition-deny-sinclair-tribune-merger

Media action alert from Demand Progress

The FCC has just paused its review of the Sinclair-Tribune merger.

The FCC announced that it is putting its consideration of the merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media on hold for two weeks to allow for more public comments.1

This announcement comes just as a union representing news employees at some Sinclair stations has said it is planning a public campaign against the merger.2

Momentum to shut down this awful merger is in our favor. Now we need to drive as many comments as possible to the FCC’s website in order to stop Sinclair from airing Trump TV into all our homes.

Sinclair has a long history of pushing its pro-Trump, ultra-conservative political agenda through the local stations that it owns across the county. It requires local news anchors to read prepared statements in support of Trump’s policies, forced affiliates to air Trump fluff pieces when he was a candidate, and gave airtime to fake news infomercials attacking President Obama.3

And if the pending merger is allowed to go through, Sinclair will be able to air its Trump TV through television stations in 3 out of 4 homes in America.4 In several markets, like Seattle, where both Sinclair and Tribune own stations, cities would lose jobs and news coverage if this merger is completed.5

But our outcry about this terrible merger has finally gotten the FCC’s attention, and now we have a chance to raise the public’s voice and shut down this deal for good. Will you chip in $5 to stop Trump TV?

chip in $5 to help stop the Sinclair-Tribune merger.

Thanks for standing with us,

Kurt Walters, Demand Progress

Sources:

1. Variety, “FCC Puts Two-Week Pause on Review of Sinclair-Tribune Merger,” October 19, 2017

2. Politico, “Union boss threatens campaign against Sinclair,” October 19, 2017

3. The Huffington Post, “This Sinclair-Tribune Merger Is A Rotten Deal For America,” September 6, 2017

4. The Guardian, “This is Sinclair, ‘the most dangerous US company you’ve never heard of’,” August 17, 2017

5. Politico, “Union boss threatens campaign against Sinclair,” October 19, 2017

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Is The Answer To Iowa’s Water Pollution Already Available?

Image (1) IPP-webbanner.jpg for post 16869

As anyone knows, drainage of farm chemicals into Iowa’s waterways has been one of the most contentious issues in the state in recent years at least if not longer.

Farm chemicals that have not been used by the plants in growing go someplace and when they do they often cause problems. You may remember that earlier this year a lawsuit filed by the Des Moines Water Works in which they were looking for upstream counties to do something about farm chemical pollutants in the water that Des Moines was using as the source for their drinking water. The amount of chemicals was making purifying the water more expensive and more difficult.

There have been various proposals in the state legislature, but leadership has failed to move on anything at the state level.

Last week, the Iowa Policy Project (IPP) released a proposal that would use the existing structure of the drainage district, a quasi-governmental unit on a local level, as the group that could be instrumental in solving this problem without needing more legislation or state involvement.

This is a proposal that should be given some serious thought.

On their website, IPP has both a full report on the proposal and a 2 page summary. While the summary gets to the points quickly, reading through the full report really adds much background that explains why this proposal makes such good sense.

A couple of paragraphs from the full report help to understand the thrust of what the report is proposing:

Because of the quasi-government organization of drainage districts, the possibility already exists to leverage the eminent domain and tax levying rights of drainage districts for the mitigation of water quality impacts within districts and to progress toward one of Iowa’s NRS goals. Drainage districts have the ability to raise funds to develop mitigation actions at the source or at discharge points that could include their eminent domain rights to acquire and manage wetlands and other conservation areas below their intermediate or final discharge points. If members of any drainage district object to their association using its powers for the good of the environment, any of the associations could ask for additional authority from the Iowa Legislature. While they may have the powers now, explicitly stating that drainage districts have an obligation to reduce nutrient pollution would not be inappropriate. 

An incentive for drainage districts to act is that they discharge water and contaminants at point sources making them potentially vulnerable to future re-interpretations of the Clean Water Act. Tile line discharge points are quantifiable and easily observed sources of water outflow. Drainage district-scale policies to reduce nitrate contamination entering public waters should be based on principles that either (1) increase the presence of plants during more months of the year (thereby reducing contamination at the source); or (2) remove contamination off site. Generally, addressing contamination at the source is both socially and economically more effective than cleaning up pollution offsite, once it enters public waters. Further, implementing mitigation at the drainage district level allows for local buy-in and tailoring mitigation methods specific to the needs of a drainage district.

Existing Voluntary Soil and Water Conservation Practices

The second mechanism through which drainage districts have the ability to improve water quality is the continued reliance on voluntary conservation practices to reduce nutrient loads entering our waterways; however, these measures have yet to be proven effective for achieving Iowa’s NRS nutrient reduction goals. Organizing and coordinating conservation measures at the scale of a drainage district — or among several adjoining districts — potentially can improve the outcomes of voluntary efforts using the existing quasi-public mechanism of drainage districts. Additionally, as drainage infrastructure ages and requires maintenance and replacement, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources permitting process should include requirements to improve the environmental quality of discharge water. Project engineers should confer with IDNR on cost-effective mitigation as part of system renovations.

farm chemical runoff

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Sunday Funday: Flag And Cross Edition

Molly Ivins wrapped in the flag

What Sinclair Lewis is often cited as saying appears to be something neither he nor anyone else ever exactly said. Yet somehow it has been rolled into one of the most famous “quotes” of the 20th century. It goes like this:

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

According to that hunter of truth, snopes.com, as far as they could tell neither Lewis nor anyone else said or wrote that in those words. Their full discussion of it is here. Not to be deterred our current leader has been putting out his best effort to both carry the bible (note that I did not say read, only carry) and wrap himself in the flag. So far, not both at the same time, but that may be his Halloween costume this year.

Here we go:

1) White nationalist Richard Spencer held a much worried about rally at what university Thursday?

2) Al Franken once more drilled what cabinet member on his knowledge of Russian ties to the current administration in a Senate Judiciary hearing?

3) Hearings were held Monday in Des Moines concerning the rules for the implementation of what law passed last year by the Iowa legislature?

4) In a phone call to the widow of a slain Green Beret soldier, the current president told the widow that the fallen soldier knew what?

5) Other people listened to that call on speaker phone including a congress member from what state?

6) 55 years ago today, President Kennedy announced what action would be taken against Cuba thus precipitating the Cuban missile crisis?

7) To deflect criticism that he did not call the families of the fallen soldiers in Niger, the current president claimed what as a defense?

8)  Hurricane Ophelia made landfall on what unlikely island last week?

9) While most of America would give the administration a very low mark on Puerto Rico hurricane response, the current president rated the response a what? (on a scale of 10)

10) Once again the Iowa Revenue Estimating Commission is calling for tax revenues to be higher or lower in the next quarter?

11) What administration official defended the current President’s action in the badly handled call to the Green Beret’s widow?

12) What congressional gun violence victim said that mass shootings are the cost of the second amendment?

13) It is possible that by the time you read this what Spanish province may have already declared independence?

14) Schizophrenic? After praising a compromise healthcare bill put together by what senators on Tuesday, the current president than blasted it on Wednesday?

15) October 25th, 1917 was the start of what uprising that would affect world politics in the 20th century?

16) In Austria, what is so unusual about the man who will be putting together the coalition government?

17) Who has offered a $10 million reward for “information leading to the impeachment of Donald Trump?”

18) What hashtag popped up last week where women can share their tales of sexual assault or harassment?

19) A public elementary school in Jackson, Ms. will change its name next year from what civil war leader to what American leader?

20) Ever there for Trump, what senator stated he will not force AG Sessions to answer questions concerning conversations he had with Trump about firing Comey?

Here is Trump carrying the bible (figuratively) at the “Value Voters Summit” last weekend. I don’t expect anyone to watch this. It is only here as proof of his sucking up to the hypocrital evangelical voters who don’t seem to understand Trump follows zero commandments. Or maybe they love him because there are exactly the same. (31 minutes)

Answers:

1) Florida in Gainesville

2) AG Jeff Sessions

3) voter verification

4) “he knew what he signed up for” what a slap in the face

5) Florida- she is a close friend of the family

6) Kennedy placed a naval blockade on Cuba to stop missiles from coming in from the USSR

7) That in the past other presidents did not call families, especially Obama.

8) Ireland – seemingly too far north and east for a hurricane

9) a 10. Yep he considers what’s been done in Puerto Rico perfect

10) much lower again

11) Chief of Staff John Kelley. Blamed the problem on the congress member who complained.

12) Steve Scalise

13) Catalonia

14) Sens. Lamar Alexander (R_Tn) and Patty Murray(D-Wa)

15) The Russian Revolution

16) He will be the youngest leader in Europe. Sebastian Kurz is 31.

17) Larry Flynt of Hustler magazine

18) #MeToo

19) from Jefferson Davis to Barack Obama – the school is primarily African-American.

20) our own Chuck Grassley!

And here is Trump wrapping himself in the flag (figuratively) while letting a certain group of bad citizens (you can tell because they are mostly black) know that he is mad about the protests during the national anthem:

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Can We Talk About Guns Yet?

Image (2) warren-burger-on-guns-300x300.jpg for post 32938

There hasn’t been a mass shooting in the US that appears to be worthy of mass media attention in the past three weeks, so IS NOW THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT GUNS? Can we finally get something started before the arbiter of gun conversations – the NRA –  calls another moratorium on serious discussions on ending this unconscionable slaughter and waste of life in this country.

While Las Vegas was the last mass shooting that the media chose to pick up on it is hardly the last mass shooting in this country. Since the Las Vegas incident there has been at least 12 mass shooting incidents leaving 13 dead and 38 injured. We have now had 285 mass shootings in this country this year on the 294th day of the year. So we are slightly below an average of a mass shooting a day.

I just wrote both of my senators and my representative with this message:

Senator,

It has been 18 days since the mass shooting in Las Vegas.Is this now the time to talk about guns and gun violence in our society?

I have children and grand children. I do not want any of them to be targets for any goofy bastard that can get his hands on assault rifles that shoot 800 bullets a minute.

I am trusting that like me, you do not want your close relatives and loved ones to be targets for some crazed person that can get their hands on weapons designed for mass execution.

However you have power to do something about it. I do not. Therefore I am sure you will work for the safety of your loved ones and mine and begin the process of passing some sane gun laws.

Now is the time to start that conversation. NOW!

If each of us reaches into our lives we will be amazed at how much we have been affected by gun violence. The human mind is often great at repressing memories of traumatic experiences in our lives. Many victims of sexual abuse have been able to repress the memories. This allows a person to continue to function, else they would be consumed by those memories – I speak from experience on this one.

Military aside, one has to wonder how many civilians in this country have been around guns shooting that they did not anticipate (like hunting) or have had family members or close friends or loved ones killed or wounded by guns. I have been shot at at least 4 times and have known at least half a dozen people who have lost their lives to guns. This is in a small farming town in Iowa.

My kids were pre-teen when they first encountered gun deaths. Sadly, I do not think our family is that unusual. For a period of time we had a neighbor who loved his guns and had a fight going on with the ‘establishment.’ That was many years back before the fear of the black man in the White House was used to spur gun sales and heighten fear.

This is a time when we need leaders with guts to stand up to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and tell them that our America’s citizens right to live far outweighs their drive to sell guns for the gun lobby. Certainly it is long past time that the NRA and true constitutional judges read the full second amendment, including the opening clause:

       “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Going to school, walking down the street, waiting at a bus stop, eating at a fast food restaurant, going to a concert, enjoying a night on the town, driving down the street, practicing for a congressional softball game or holding a town hall should be events that Americans should be able to attend without fear that they may be shot because our laws were so lax that anyone could get a gun.

Recently women have noticed that if the anti-abortion laws so in favor among the extremist right wing were also applied to obtaining guns, it may go a long way toward lessening guns in society.

gun control gloria steinem

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Impeachable Offenses: Failure To Uphold The Law

http://bradblog.com/?p=12337  start at 4 minutes ends at 22:15.

from bradblog:

First up, Trump’s recent comments and actions to sabotage American health care are, as I argue, in violation of his sworn oath to “protect and defend the Constitution”, which includes the Article 2 requirement that the President must “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

Instead of faithfully executing the law, Trump is undermining it, and putting millions of Americans at risk of losing access to affordable health care, as provided by the Affordable Care Act. In addition to his unforgivable lies about ObamaCare on Monday, thanks to his announcement late last week that he will stop payments to help cover out-of-pocket expenses such as deductibles and co-pays for low-income citizens (as mandated by the ACA), insurance premiums have now sky-rocketed in a number of states, including in Pennsylvania, which, its insurance Commissioner announced on Monday, will see average increases of more than 30%. (Similar increases are also slated for Florida, Arkansas, Oregon, Alaska and dozens of other states, thanks to Trump and the GOP’s attempt to gut the Obama-era law that has helped some 30 million obtain and pay for health care, while improving health care insurance plans for hundreds of millions of Americans.)

Repeat – Article 2 section 3 of the Constitution of the United States states that:

“he {the president} “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

Note what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say “execute the laws he agrees with” nor does it say “he may choose not to execute laws as he sees fit” nor does it say “the president may actively work to undermine laws he doesn’t like.” Doesn’t say anything like that. Nope – it is pretty clear even to the dullest of wits. The constitution states once more that ‘”he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

Doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room there. Yet some 10 days ago or so, the current president declared that “Obamacare is dead.”

Trump explicitly states that he has cut off the CSRs – therefore stating loudly that he is refusing to enforce the law as it is written. Not much question.

Now the question is whether the congress will use their constitutional authority to check a president who has simply decided that he will choose which laws it will enforce and which laws it will not only refuse to enforce but will actively seek to destroy. The constitution was put together with checks and balances. Remember that concept from 7th grade Civics?

Checks and balances means that each of the 3 co-equal branches of our government holds a check on the other two such that if any one of the branches tries to exercise power outside of their constitutional authority then one or both of the other two branches have an authority that can be used to bring that branch back to a balance. In this case congress has the power of impeachment against a president who is clearly acting outside of his authority.

The president does not have power to choose which laws he will enforce. If he did then why would we even need congress? If the president could choose the laws he would enforce, it would be only a small step to grabbing the power to decide what should become law. Then we have crossed the line from a democracy to a dictatorship.

The judiciary may yet decide that the current president does not have power to withhold the CSR payments, but it has no power to enforce its ruling. Should the judiciary so decide and the current president refuse to accept their decision we would be in a constitutional crisis of epic proportion.

With the current president simply refusing to faithfully execute laws passed by congress, it is well time for the congress to exercise its constitutional authority to bring the government back into balance through the impeachment power.

Do republicans in congress have the courage to stand up and enforce the constitution? I doubt it.

Remember this next year when you vote after millions have lost their access to health care and your own health premiums have skyrocketed due to Republicans failure to stand up for you and the constitution. 

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Ernst And Grassley Vote To Cut Medicare And Medicaid

Image (1) Grassley-Trump-300x200.jpg for post 33850

As part of the budget bill passed late Thursday night by the senate Medicare will be cut by a massive $500 billion over the next ten years and Medicaid will be cut by an even more massive $1 Trillion over that same period.

To write those numbers out that is $500,000,000,000 from Medicare and $1,000,000,000,000 from Medicaid.

Every Iowan will be affected by these cuts. Medicare supplemental insurances will have to raise their rates probably beyond clients ability to pay. Doctors and hospitals will have to raise rates to make up for those unable to pay, which will raise insurance rates for those with regular insurance. This will also shift care to emergency rooms which is by far the most expensive way to get health care. 

Elderly and the disabled on Medicare will forego care due to inability to pay. Along with that, fewer people will retire in order to get insurance from their jobs. Thus this will block entrance and mobility in the jobs market.

Medicaid has been a huge target for Republicans forever. The trillion dollar cuts will simply leave many of our most vulnerable without health care.

Thousands will die very prematurely if these cuts are made. All this in order to give huge tax cuts to the very wealthiest in our society. THE VERY WEALTHIEST!

That means people like Donald Trump himself. And Charles and David Koch. And Steve Mnuchin. And Michael Bloomberg. And Bill Gates. And Warren Buffet. And a few thousand more.

Iowa’s senators, Ernst and Grassley, voted to let people die so they can give huge tax cuts to those wealthiest of Americans.

It is as if the vast majority of Americans are being punished for being poor by the Republican Party. It is not bad enough to be poor, the Republican party has to take away your health care also.

From commondreams.org:   

Though the budget resolution itself is nonbinding, MoveOn.org’s Ben Wikler notes how the Senate passage on Thursday represents the “starting gun for what might be the most consequential legislative fight of the Trump era: the looting of the U.S. treasury to reward billionaire GOP donors and mega-corporations, at the expense of the rest of us.” And with the Senate resolution now in place, a reconciliation process can begin with Republicans in the House, meaning the GOP can “shoot for a tax bill without a single Democratic vote.”

From Senator Jeff Merkley:

Senator Jeff Merkley 

✔@SenJeffMerkley

Replying to @SenJeffMerkley

In what world does it make sense to rob trillions from the nat’l treasury, all to grant a massive windfall to the very richest individuals?

Just to put things in perspective – All of this has come about through the massive amounts of money now spent on our campaigns. That money became available due to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizen’s United decision handed down in 2010. The Court that handed down that decision was filled with a couple of extreme right wing justices that were nominated by George W. Bush. Bush actually lost the popular vote for president and upon further examination probably should have lost the electoral vote.

However, Bush was installed into the presidency by a 5 to 4 vote by the Supreme Court in 2000. The 5 who voted to install Bush had been put on the Court by previous Republican presidents.

Be sure to thank Grassley and Ernst for voting to reward the wealthy for them while leaving the rest of us to choose between going broke or dying.

Grassley contact telephone numbers:  https://www.grassley.senate.gov/explore/regional-offices

Ernst contact numbers:   https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/office-locations

Tell them to quit representing the wealthy and start representing Iowans!

joni-ernst-the-perfect-Koch-investment

Posted in #trumpresistance, Blog for Iowa, Budget, Charles Grassley, David Koch, economic inequality, Joni Ernst, Medicare, Republican Policy | Tagged | Comments Off on Ernst And Grassley Vote To Cut Medicare And Medicaid