…because they didn’t write it… and apparently, haven’t read it.
From Iowa House Dems Facebook page
Need more proof #ALEC #KochBros #AFP wrote the bill to gut collective bargaining behind closed doors without input from Iowans? Watch this. The Republican Chair of the Labor Committee can’t answer basic questions and doesn’t even have a copy of the bill. #ialegis #saveIAworkers
Daily Action – My favorite activist tool
I signed up a few weeks ago to make daily phone calls to Congress (and other officials) as part of the Resistance. I am using a tool called Daily Action. https://dailyaction.org/
Every week day you will get a text about the daily call, with a phone number to call for talking points. You enter your zip code and will be connected to your Senator’s or Representative’s Washington office. You go through it twice to reach the other Senator, but it is still quick. If the Washington office is busy, I call the local offices (I have their phone numbers in my favorites).
The first week’s calls included:
The next week included calls to oppose various Trump cabinet nominees, save the EPA, and to investigate Kellyanne Conway for advertising Ivanka’s product line.
You can read more at their website. I signed up there. But you can also text the word DAILY to the number 228466 (A-C-T-I-O-N). You’ll be prompted to enter your zip code and that’s it – you’re signed up.
Now I just wish we had the same tool for Iowa state and local level actions! Can someone develop that?
Alta Price
Senator Nate Boulton kicks off Monday’s rally at the Iowa Statehouse.
SHARE this video and visit saveiowaworkers.com to TAKE ACTION.
Senator Chuck Grassley in Williamsburg, Iowa in 2010. Photo by the author.
Our Senators are planning to hold several Town Hall events over the next two weeks. See Ernst and Grassley schedules below.
The Indivisible Field Team is working with groups and organizing across Iowa.
Indivisible Iowa is also organizing into Iowa state senate and house districts throughout Iowa in closed FB groups.
Click on the link below if you want to join Indivisible Iowa on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/370033640032251/
If you plan to attend a Town Hall, register your Indivisible Action on our website and take the lead in getting your group to turn out for the event. Registering your action on our website will help other folks in the area connect with you and get involved — growing your voice and impact. We are stronger when we stand indivisible.
If this is your first time attending a Town Hall event, check out our Town Hall Tips for more information about how your group can best leverage the Town Hall to make your voices heard. It would also be a good idea to confirm the time and location of the Town Hall by calling your MoC’s district office.
Thank you!
**Important note from BFIA**
You can join Indivisible Iowa in your House and Senate District.
There is a list here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/370033640032251/permalink/387999414902340/
(2 minutes)
Looks like Republicans will finally achieve one of Terry Branstad’s dreams: public unions are on the verge of being effectively destroyed in Iowa.
The Iowa Policy Project did an analysis of the effects of the republican attacks on collective bargaining. While some legislators no doubt deeply believe that they are serving a major smack-down to unions that are out of control and way overpaid, they seldom think of the ripple effects.
As IPP notes the ripple effects will be especially felt in rural areas where state and local governments are some of the best employment opportunities in this areas.
Public employees are a significant share of the Iowa workforce and live and work in every Iowa county, from the most urban to the most rural. Of the nearly 1.6 million nonfarm payroll jobs in Iowa, about 1 in 7 jobs — 238,500 — are in state and local government. These workers are important to the state’s economy, as taxpayers supporting local schools and state and local services, and as consumers supporting local businesses and other private sector jobs.
Potential impact of changes in a law directly affecting the working conditions of such a large number of Iowans, who are engaged in every aspect of essential public service from the local to the state level, will be significant and widespread. From snowplow drivers to nurses, teachers to custodians, police, dispatchers, fire fighters, county clerks, librarians, social workers, corrections officers, paraeducators, and many other public employees in communities across Iowa could see changes in their pay, benefits and working conditions. Such changes would, in turn, have consequences for local economies, public services, and Iowa’s labor market as a whole.
New limitations on collective bargaining predictably opens the door to erosion of wages, benefits, and working conditions in public employment, and corresponding spillover effects of downward pressure on wages and working conditions in the private sector. Such labor market effects have become evident in Wisconsin five years after dramatic collective bargaining changes were enacted, and lawmakers in Iowa should be wary of the statewide economic impact likely to accompany any such changes here. Since 2011, Wisconsin has fallen to 40th of 50 states in job growth, and 42nd in wage growth.[3]
Any decline in the number or quality of public sector jobs will have a disproportionate effect on Iowa’s rural communities because, as the USDA notes, the public sector is a “major source of earned income in rural areas” that tend to attract far fewer of the financial, professional, or information service activities concentrated in urban areas.[10] Eroding the quality of public sector jobs in Iowa will further exacerbate recent effects of unprecedented declining public-sector employment levels following the last recession, which USDA data suggests are already causing negative effects in rural counties, along with negative multiplier effects on private-sector employment.[11]
The article goes into much greater detail documenting the potential effects. The point is simply this: Unions have not caused any problems in the Iowa economy. They do not exist in a vacuum and the huge changes to the current system that will result in negative impact on the workers will have a great effect on the Iowa economy as a whole.
Drastic changes like this dovetail nicely with Republican long term goals of destroying unions. The major reason behind the destruction of the unions is the unions role as the main base for the Democratic Party and their legally recognized role as bargaining units. As bargaining units unions were once able to help the common worker achieve middle class and dignity.
Since unions were given legal backing during the New Deal, Republicans have had unions in their legislative sights.
Republicans have used a vast amount of lies to push for the end of unions. Now they are within grasp of that goal. This has been one of the main reasons that businesses and corporations have backed Republicans. Without legal recognition of unions, corporations believe that their profits will soar as they can get labor on the cheap. This is of course the logic behind moving their manufacturing offshore – cheap labor.
What they forget is that in order to sell their widgets and other crap, they must have customers. As wages stagnate and even depress, as other fixed costs such as health insurance and housing squeeze the family budget even more, the customer base is drying up. As with many things the small business person is hit first.
Nothing happens in a vacuum.
What the heck? An administration spokesperson can’t use their position to hawk goods for the bosses daughter? Who knew?
The White House’s chief strategist seems to be trying to push the Pope out of his job? That does not make the president look good? Who knew?
Not sure what a strong dollar means? You shouldn’t ask your National Security Adviser? Who Knew?
A senator can’t read a letter from a prominent American concerning the character of a cabinet nominee on the Senate floor during open debate? Who Knew?
The Secretary of Education should be smarter than a 5th grader? Who knew?
Once more this week we will include some questions on black history. Were you paying attention?
1) 45 took to Twitter to lambaste what company for not carrying his daughter’s merchandise Wednesday?
2) Which administration official then did an impromptu commercial on Fox News for Ivanka the next day?
3) The current administration claims terrorist attacks that never happened. What long ago Republican senator claimed to have a list of communists in the State department that never existed either?
4) Feb. 12, 1809. What two men were born that would have a major impact on human history?
5) What was the Great Migration?
6) How did Iowa’s senators vote on the confirmation of Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary?
7) “She was warned. Nevertheless she persisted.” Thus explained Mitch McConnell as Elizabeth Warren was banned from speaking on what subject in the senate?
8) What Bush era ‘torture-is-good’ memo writer say 45 has gone to far for even him?
9) What is the chapter of the Iowa code Republicans claim to be updating as they destroy Iowa’s public unions?
10) Attacks on the judiciary by administration officials were labeled “disheartening” by what administration nominee?
11) Fannie Lou Hamer led an integrated delegation of Democrats from what state that tried to unseat that state’s regular delegation?
12) February 12, 1999 what dramatic vote took place in the US Senate? (hint: concerned Clinton)
13) The city council of Seattle, Washington withdrew it money from Wells Fargo because of that bank’s funding of what project?
14) Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American on the Supreme Court. Who appointed Marshall to the Court?
15) The leader of which country visited the US Friday?
16) Next week Rep. Ted Lieu of California will introduce a bill to have a full time what at the White House?
17) What Indianapolis company will move operations to Mexico despite public shaming by the administration?
18) Kamala Harris of California is the second black woman in the US Senate. Who was the first?
19) Gun sales have dropped since the fear of who confiscating guns has passed?
20) Sean Spicer said he hoped that if who were still alive, she would support Jeff Sessions for Attorney General?
Tweet from Hillary Clinton Thursday after the Appeals Court handed the administration a loss on banning immigrants from certain countries: “3-0”
Answers:
1) Nordstrom’s
2) KellyAnne Conway
3) Joseph McCarthy
4) Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin
5) the migration of southern blacks to northern cities for economic reasons from 1916 to 1970
6) of course both voted to confirm
7) Jefferson B. Sessions confirmation.
8) John Yoo
9) chapter 20
11) Mississippi
12) The senate voted not to impeach Pres. Clinton
13) DAPL
14) Lyndon Johnson
15) Japan
16) a psychiatrist
17) Rexnord Corp. Indy will lose 300 jobs.
18) Carol Mosley Braun of Illinois
19) Obama
20) Coretta Scott King. Yep her really said that.
Listening to the radio Thursday a radio host threw out a question to a guest: How long before Jeff Sessions puts the weight of the Justice Department behind enforcing federal marijuana law? The guest mused that they had to destroy Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid first, so she thought about 6 months or so.
Some questions popped into my head immediately. Will the administration go about this in their usual ham-handed way and announce one day that they are going to enforce the laws and then start rounding up elderly and disabled medical marijuana users within the hour, dragging them into lockup.
If they do this, once more the administration will make the object of their hate look extremely sympathetic in the public square. For an administration that is supposed to be so publicity savvy, these guys have been the greatest thing that has ever happened to their perceived enemies.
All during the campaign and then right out of the box Muslims were a major target based solely on their religion. They then enforced their rule by detaining any and all Muslims entering this country at airports. This creates huge sympathy among the American public for American Muslims and others who work or live in the US with green cards or as permanent residents.
What it also does is give anti-American jihadists the best recruiting posters ever. “See” they say, “It’s just like we told you – they hate Muslims and want to kill you.” Jihadists immediately labeled the Muslim ban by the administration as the “blessed ban.” Thus they can claim that the US is showing its true colors about Muslims.
Or how about the shutting down of Elizabeth Warren as she attempted to oppose the nomination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. When Republicans invoked some real ancient rule to gag her and then went on the news to explain it they gave Senator Warren much, much more publicity than she ever could have garnered any other way. Then when Mitch McConnell gave his explanation for gagging Warren he summed up the Republican attitude toward women – “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” McConnell also gave Warren a much better campaign slogan than any group of advertising brains could ever concoct.
The administration has picked cabinet secretaries based on their opposition to the department they have been picked to lead. Thus naming Betsy DeVos at Education has really helped highlight the problems of public education in this country while the administration will be trying to destroy public education.
Civil Rights has had some focus as anti-civil rights crusader Jeff Sessions takes the helm at the Justice Department. He is a stark reminder of the reasons why such legislation as the Voting Rights Act was needed. Once again as the administration seeks to really roll back civil rights, the public is given a reminder course on why such laws are so necessary.
Looking ahead we all know that healthcare (the ACA, Medicaid and Medicare) will soon be targets as will Social Security. My expectations are that their attacks on those programs will be so fumbled that all these programs will enjoy renewed popularity.
So what about cracking down on marijuana? For one thing, my guess is that it will come out that such a crackdown was pushed by a couple of industries like alcohol and privatized prisons. Neither of these industries elicit much sympathy. When law enforcement starts locking up granny or the kid that gets cannabis oil for epileptic seizures any sympathy falls totally to marijuana users.
One silver lining to the cloud that is 45’s administration is that when they start banging the drums of war against Iran, most Americans including the corporate media, will be extremely wary of anything that comes from the current White House.
(6 minutes)
The Country Reels
They Have Been Dreaming About This One For Nearly A Century.
One can only guess what kind of wet dreams Republicans are having after this week.
At a national level they proved that qualifications mean nothing. All of the levers of government will now be controlled not by men and women of knowledge and experience but by those who have something much more important – the right ideology. The only logic I can get out of this is that they believe that there is something divine that will keep the US from erring, as long as they run the government with the right ideology.
At both the state and national level schools and teachers felt a real kick in the crotch and boot in the face as republicans started lining up the strategy to demolish the public education system.
Installing Betsy DeVos as education secretary was a double finger and a moon to Americans. This is Republican’s way of letting us know that our kids only have value to them as a commodity to fill their for profit schools.
In Iowa the ongoing starvation of education took a huge step forward as Republicans piggybacked on a shortfall in revenue to take the knife to education. Once upon a time in Iowa – in an Iowa that actually valued education – such a situation would be met with a temporary tax or at least a bi-partisan study to save the best education system in the land. Times like that seem like a dream.
Now on both the state and the national level, the push is to make public education looks so bad that parents will be begging for private for profit education systems to save their kids from the horrible public schools.
You may think this is an outrage and you would be very correct. So what are you going to do? Vote the scoundrels out? Sorry but they are a step ahead of the masses. While Democrats were tweaking existing voting systems to represent everyone, Republicans were busy destroying both the system and the confidence in it. Along with destroying our public education system Republicans already have several steps into making our voting system heavily in their favor.
With 32 states having the toxic combination of control of both houses of the state legislature and the governor’s chair, expect an onslaught of new voter restriction laws. Expect Iowa and many others to adopt the interstate voter cross-check strategy that threw millions of voters off the the rolls last election.
Expect the national congress to adopt some form of interstate cross check to national elections. What, you think somebody should stop that? Like who? The only agency in the federal government that had only a smidgen of power to stop such shenanigans is being destroyed by republicans in congress.
In the meantime, while The Netherlands announces that, due to hacking fears, they will do away with computer tabulation machines in favor of hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots (“Democracy’s Gold Standard”) for their upcoming election, Republicans in the U.S. House moved to abolish the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the only federal agency tasked with setting standards for our nation’s oft-failed, easily-hacked electronic voting and tabulation systems.
See how Republicans are setting things up so that solutions such as privatized for profit schools are the only answer? Think they can’t do that to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security? Think you can vote them out of office next election.
Now that the country has jumped in bed with the extremist Republicans ideologues it will not be easy to crawl out of that bed. Do you think Republicans are just going to let America walk away when they have a grip on its neck? Of course not. That is why they are restricting the vote. They will also ramp up the propaganda to an incredible level. Plus the lies will be coming fast and furious at a speed that will almost be impossible to keep up with.
Will we be able to stop this onslaught through public protests and court actions? One need only look at the lesson of Wisconsin to see that once the extremist Republicans gain power they don’t give it up easily. Immediately following Scott Walker’s assumption of the governorship in Wisconsin with a majority in both houses of the legislature.
Walker immediately went after unions and schools. None of his proposals were even mentioned during the campaign. More than 100,000 showed up to protest in the cold of Wisconsin in 2011. The protests lasted for months, but Walker and the Republicans waited them out. By summer the unions had been busted, the schools had been starved and the protestors had other stuff to attend to.
An attempt to recall Walker in 2012 was unsuccessful as huge amounts of money came pouring in to the Walker campaign thanks to the SCOTUS decision in the Citizens United case.
See how it all fit together for Walker? It is even much worse now. Republicans have literally worked for this moment for decades. You certainly do not expect them to see the errors of their way and walk away from the electoral and ruling frameworks they have set up do you? Their dreams of dismantling the New Deal, rolling back civil rights and privatizing everything is within their grasp. Their dream of a ruling elite is already here. The dream of corporations unfettered by laws is within grasp.
They believe and have said out loud that fatigue will set in on our side as it did in Wisconsin. They also believe with the apparatus they have set up for elections that it will be nearly impossible for us to ever gain an overwhelming majority. They already have mechanisms set up to stop legislation in most states and in Congress in the off chance that Democrats ever do gain power. Witness the incredible obstruction of the Obama years.
Their war against America is not just starting, but in full swing. Can we stop it? It will take a huge and sustained effort.
We need a fifty state strategy with a long range plan. At the same time we need an incredible effort to win in 2018.
And I didn’t even mention the media control which will soon be strengthened by ending of internet neutrality.
Today, I am writing to ask you to help speak up over the next five days for our public workers – teachers, firefighters, police, correctional officers, human service social workers, sanitation workers, snow plow operators, and many others – who do so much on our behalf to make our communities and our state better.
On Tuesday, Republicans proposed SF213 which would gut the rights of our public workers to organize and negotiate contracts for wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions with local and state elected officials. You can read that bill at the legislative web site, www.legis.iowa.gov.
Among other things, this bill would make it harder for Iowa to recruit and retain great teachers and public workers, would drive down take-home pay for our public workers, and would take away the voice of our public workers.
Instead of attacking public workers, we should be considering legislation to improve the rights, wages, and benefits for all workers in our state. Unfortunately, Republicans are rushing this bill through the legislative process, and we expect they may try to vote on the bill on the floor of the Iowa Senate early next week.
When I sent out a survey to constituents in early January, 73% agreed that “Iowa workers should have the opportunity to organize and bargain for fair wages and benefits.” Only 16% disagreed. That’s why it is so important that you speak up now to help us find five courageous Republicans in the Iowa Senate and ten in the Iowa House who are willing to reject or soften this attack on our public workers.
Here are three events in the next three days where you can participate to help speak up for our public workers:
Mason City Rally for Iowa Working Families
With Senator Ragan and Representatives Steckman and Prichard
Saturday, February 11, at Noon
Mason City Central Park, N Federal and 1st St. NE, in Mason City
https://www.facebook.com/events/245039512609938/
March for Iowa’s Teachers
Sunday, February 12, from 2:00 p.m.
Stewart Square near Iowa State Capitolhttps://www.facebook.com/events/373424353032673/
Public Hearing
Monday, February 13, at 6:00 p.m.
Iowa Capitol, Room 103
You can sign up to speak with this link: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees/publicHearings?action=viewOnlineSignup&meetingID=24398
You can also attend one of the legislative forums this weekend. For a complete list, visit: http://www.infonetiowa.org/calendar/events/
You can contact state legislators directly. For contact information, visit http://www.legis.iowa.gov. You can call the Branstad-Reynolds Administration at 515-281-5211, and please speak up in public.
Finally, mark your calendars now for our next legislative forum in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, February 18, from 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. at Mercy Hospital, 701 10th Street SE, in Cedar Rapids. I hope to see you there.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions, and I will do my best to respond.
Rob
Senator Rob Hogg
Senator Rob Hogg
Senate Democratic Leader
Cedar Rapids
(515) 281-3901 (office)
(515) 281-4610 (assistant)
(319) 247-0223 (home)
[UPDATE: September 24, 2023. Not much has changed in the Iowa talk radio landscape since 2017. At initial glance/review of stations it’s possibly worse. Limbaugh is gone but is still on the air in “best ofs.” There are many new up and comers you’ve never heard of. Watch for our new complete list coming soon.]
Right wing media is alive and well on local stations throughout Iowa. Here is a list of local stations. Call your local station. Tell them to stop broadcasting hate speech, lies and misinformation.
In Iowa, at least 700 hours a week of right-wing propaganda is being broadcast on the AM dial. **UPDATE: The following list has been updated as of *September 6, 2017.
Iowa commercial radio stations that broadcast multiple hours a day of conservative talk:
KCPS Burlington – 12 hrs/day,
KBUR Burlington – 6 hrs,
KXEL Waterloo-CF – 12 hrs,
WOC Quad Cities – 11 1/2 hrs,
WHO Des Moines 11 1/2 hrs,
KSJC Sioux City – 13 hrs,
WMT Cedar Rapids 8 hrs,
WDBQ Dubuque, 6 hrs,
KILR Estherville – 15 hrs,
KGLO Mason City – 9 hrs,
KFJB Marshalltown, 6 hrs, *updated 09/06/17
KASI Ames, 6 hrs, and
KICD Spencer, 5-6 hrs.
