Iowa Woman Arrested, Charged, Tried, For…Voting

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Trish Nelson

kelli griffinWhen we have to rely on the national cable news media to give the appropriate coverage to events happening right here in Iowa, it’s pretty bad.

Thank you, Melissa Harris-Perry and MSNBC reporter Zachary Roth for covering this egregious incident.  The woman in this story was a victim of domestic violence who served 5 years probation for a drug-related crime.  When she successfully completed her sentencing, she set out to put her life back together and to her, that included the civic responsibility of voting.  But instead of being able to move forward with her new life, she was arrested and charged with the crime of voting.

Kelli Griffin had no idea that the law had changed since Branstad got back in office.  Her lawyer had told her her voting rights would be restored. She had no idea it was now illegal in Iowa for people who have served time and who have paid their debt to society, to vote.  She even had to stand trial for making this honest mistake that harmed no one. Fortunately, a jury acquitted her.

This is the work of the Terry Branstad administration.  The irony is he is considered “moderate.”

http://player.theplatform.com/p/7wvmTC/MSNBCEmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_mhp_8vote_150208_472656

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Iowa Dogs In Puppy Mills Need SF 168

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Trish Nelson

puppy lawsHere is an Action Alert from Iowa Voters for Companion Animals:

Thanks to Sen. Matt McCoy, a bill has been introduced into the state senate which will help provide protections to the 15,000 adult dogs in Iowa’s 220 puppy mills. The bill is SF 168 and has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.

Please click here to be directed to a page with super simple instructions and recommendations for generating your message. Then it will go directly to your senator! You don’t need to do anything except compose a 1-2 sentence message.

Please contact the committee members ASAP and ask them to “Pass SF 168 as it is written.”

Because the dogs have been waiting oh so long….

Click here to send your message

Thanks!

 

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Iowa Law Makers: “We Have No Money This Year”

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Trish Nelson
Iowa State Capitol

Iowa State Capitol

Posted on Iowa Labor News,  an electronic newsletter for the Labor Movement, specifically in Iowa, sponsored by the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO

By Charlie Wishman
Secretary/Treasurer Iowa Federation of Labor

All over the capitol, you’ll hear the same refrain from legislators from both parties. “We have no money this year.” It’s amazing what short memories they have, since many of them helped to cause this situation. We warned them two years ago that if they passed the “Largest Tax Cut In Iowa History,” (which was a massive property tax cut for corporate Iowa) we’d be in trouble in a short amount of time. It hasn’t taken long, and the effects are starting to show.

The Governor and his party have made some dangerous choices in reaction to the situation. One example is that they have proposed closing the mental health institutes in Clarinda and in Mount Pleasant. Not only on the worker side is this problematic as they plan to close two of the larger (union) employers in these communities, just as with other short sided decisions like closing the Iowa Juvenile Home they don’t seem to have a workable plan as to what to do with the residents of the facilities.

Another example of bad budgeting is the Governor and his party proposing to seriously short change our education system, proposing a 1.25% increase in funding next year followed by a 2.45% increase the second year. These proposals fall far short of the 6% recommended by our friends at the Iowa State Education Association and lower than the Iowa Senate’s plan that includes a 4% increase.

There has been positive movement in the House Labor committee by holding several sub-committee hearings on the issue of payment to employees with pay cards (HSB94). More and more Iowans are being paid on a card of some kind, sometimes without knowing what charges the cards have when trying to use the money they earned. Is this bankers and employers working together to rip off workers? No matter what anyone’s motives are, this has led to a unique form of wage theft that needs to stop, and rules need to be in place so workers and employers both know what expectations the state has. There are many issues that need addressed about these cards because currently this form of wage payment is not addressed in the Iowa Code.

The fight for a livable wage took a bad turn this week, with Senate Democrats signaling they would settle for a much lower minimum wage than the $10.10 we and many other of our partners have advocated for. SSB1151 would only raise the minimum wage to $8.75 by 2016, which is still not enough for a family to live on. We should do better as a state, and Iowa Senate Democrats should be leaders on this issue.

Contact your state Representatives and Senators and let them know that working families need a higher minimum wage than $8.75, and that we need a budget that looks out for all Iowans – not just corporate interests.

If you don’t know them or how to contact them, you can find that here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators

Posted in Iowa Federation of Labor, Iowa legislature 2015, Labor | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Iowa Law Makers: “We Have No Money This Year”

Local Schools, Middle Class, Health Care: The Courtney Report

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Dave Bradley

Courtney Report

Ed. note: this is an excerpt from the newsletter from state Senator Tom Courtney. To read the full newsletter, please go to http://www.senate.iowa.gov/senator/courtney/newsletter/

WE CAN TAKE A STEP FORWARD FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS
This week, Iowa Senate Democrats announced a plan to increase state aid to schools to ensure that every Iowa child gets the best education possible and that they are prepared to compete for the jobs of the future.

Our plan calls for a 4 percent increase in basic state aid for Iowa schools for each of the next two school years. Our plan would reverse Iowa’s slide downwards in per-student investment. We are now 35th and falling. Other states are investing more and achieving better results than Iowa.

The House’s party-line vote for a 1.25 percent increase in school funding will continue Iowa’s slide even further downwards in per-student investment and student achievement.

Parents, students, educators and other concerned Iowans tell us that the funding approved by the Republican-controlled House is not enough to keep up with the cost of providing a high-quality experience in our local classrooms. School superintendents across the state say that their schools are facing larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, outdated materials and staff layoffs.

The House-passed version would also raise property taxes on many Iowans, while shortchanging our best and brightest students. We must do better.

IOWA NEEDS MORE SKILLED WORKERS TO EXPAND MIDDLE CLASS
Iowa has a shortage of skilled workers. Employers say it’s the No. 1 obstacle to growing our economy.

A new report from the Iowa Student Aid Commission highlights the need for training and education after high school. The Condition of Higher Education in Iowa 2014 reports that 36 percent of working-age Iowans hold an associate’s degree or higher, but 62 percent of all the jobs in the state by 2018 will require postsecondary education. In fact, seven out of the ten fastest growing occupations in Iowa require some education or training beyond high school.

Skilled workers are in demand because they are more productive, more adaptable and more able to meet the changing demands of the modern economy. The good news is that our community colleges are stepping in to provide the education and training Iowa workers can use to fill job openings. Iowa’s community colleges offer programs that meet state and regional economic needs.

Many Iowans have taken advantage of worker training programs at our community colleges. Iowa’s workforce today represents nearly 25 million credit hours and more than 138 million contact hours related to past and present community college training.

Those who make the commitment to improve their skills see a payoff. Community college students completing their degree have a 24 percent rate of return on their education investment in the first 10 years after completion. They make on average 18.4 percent more 10 years after completing their program than high school graduates.

Spending by Iowa community colleges and their students contributes to the creation of 18,000 jobs across the state and $684 million annually in income. Nearly 84 percent of Iowa’s community college students remain in Iowa after graduation, building a stronger workforce and growing our economy.

IMPROVING ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE SERVICES
Becoming the healthiest state in the country isn’t just about eating nutritious foods and making time for exercise. Iowans also deserve access to affordable health insurance and good healthcare providers – doctors, nurses and others – in our local communities.

Unfortunately, Iowa lags behind much of the nation in healthcare workforce recruitment. In particular, compared to the rest of the nation, Iowa struggles to attract mental health professionals. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Iowa is ranked 44th in the nation for mental health workforce availability. Of particular note, Iowa ranks 46th for the number of psychiatrists per capita and 47th for the number of psychologists per capita.

The Senate Human Resources Committee recently heard a presentation from the Iowa Department of Public Health to better understand existing healthcare workforce training and recruitment programs. NAMI and the IowaCare Givers also presented ideas on ways to improve current programs. Recommendations ranged from making programs at the Department of Public Health more efficient and effective to establishing more residency programs for doctors after they complete their medical training.

Iowa recently redesigned its local mental health and disability services system, and now we must take the necessary steps to train and attract high-quality health care providers who can offer services to Iowans in every corner of the state.

The Governor’s proposal to close the Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant makes the need even more urgent.

ARTS EDUCATION BOOSTS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The Iowa Alliance for Arts Education sponsored its second annual Fine Arts Advocacy Day at the Iowa Statehouse, giving fine arts advocates the chance to talk with legislators about the importance of arts instruction in our schools.

Among the advocates was opera great and Iowa native Simon Estes, who has performed at the world’s major opera houses for presidents, popes and other world leaders. He told the Senate Education Committee that the arts are a core educational experience for all students.

The Committee also heard from Sarah Dougherty, the 2013 Outstanding Elementary Art Educator. She is currently the coordinator of the Turnaround Arts Program at Findley Elementary in Des Moines. The Turnaround Arts Program is a new initiative to help narrow the achievement gap and improve student engagement through the arts.

Findley was chosen to be one of eight schools featured in the program through a highly competitive national selection process, and will receive intensive arts education resources, expertise and the involvement of high-profile artists. Thanks to the Turnaround Arts Program, Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker has been working with Findley for the past year.

Grant Ganzer of Johnston, a finalist on The Voice, told legislators that music in his school was important to his success in the TV music contest. Grant auditioned and was chosen by Blake Shelton to be a contestant on the show. For Grant, the experience has set the stage for what he hopes to accomplish here in Iowa: to inspire other young musicians to follow their dreams.

Research shows that:

• Arts-engaged students are much more likely to have excellent attendance records and to be recognized for academic achievement.

• At-risk students site arts engagement as a reason for staying in school.

• High-poverty arts-engaged eighth graders score higher on reading and science assessments.

• Students in the arts outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT by 91 points.

• Arts-engaged students are more likely to participate in civic engagement and community building.

Posted in Courtney, Courtney Report, Health Care & Medicare, Iowa Legislature, Iowa legislature 2015, middle-class | Tagged | Comments Off on Local Schools, Middle Class, Health Care: The Courtney Report

Sunday Funday: Bridge To The Future Edition

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Dave Bradley
Cheaper to fix while they are still up

Cheaper to fix while they are still up

Since the legislature is in session we have heard almost daily about raising the gas tax to fix Iowa’s roads and bridges. At that same time we have heard the fear mongering engineers and realists try to scare us with stories of bridges that might fall in. “Iowa has the 3rd worst bridges in the country” they say. “Call me when we are #1” I say! The legislature after cutting taxes all over the place for the rich cries poverty and claims we have no money and folks won’t pay another dime in taxes. Branstad says he wants new ideas. This is where Sunday Funday shines!

I propose the state sell life insurance policies at every bridge in the state at say $2 a pop for a million bucks insurance for your trip over the bridge. It is a win/win. If the bridge doesn’t cave in and you don’t die you continue your journey to a successful conclusion. If the bridge falls, your family is well taken care of. Sort of like this life insurance policies they used to (maybe still do) sell at airports.

Glad to help. Were you paying attention?

1) Four presidents were born in February. Washington, Lincoln and Reagan most know. This last one was barely a blip on the radar. Who is the fourth February birthday president?

2) A bill in the Iowa senate would ban the sale in Iowa of what supposed anti-bacterial agent that has been linked liver damage?

3) Once the cutting edge technology chain, what retailer is in negotiations to sell some stores to Sprint and close all the others in a bankruptcy deal?

4) What two giant office supply chains are looking for approval to merge?

5) A measles outbreak was reported at a day care center in a suburb of what major US city?

6) Break out the violins. What major oil concern reported a loss of $4.4 billion in the 4th quarter of 2014?

7) Once considered the “World’s Greatest Athlete” what celebrity announced he/she would transition to being female?

8) Once thought to be a symbol of truth and courage what once world renowned athlete admitted that he had his girlfriend claim she was driving after he hit 2 parked cars?

9) After a short layoff of 55 years what reclusive author will have a second book published this summer?

10) Which unlikely industry is looking at drones to do a variety of jobs?

11) Born on the very same day as Abraham Lincoln, what naturalist had a great impact on the world with his Theory of Natural Selection?

12) Ranking at 113th in the world, the United States is behind even Zimbabwe in vaccination for what disease?

13) Sun Prairie Jimmy apparently had had enough and so did what?

14) For the first time in a thousand years what religious structure is being built in Iceland?

15) Ronald Reagan and John Wayne believed they fought in WWII. Which network anchor recanted a story of being in a helicopter hit by an RPG in Iraq he told for 12 years?

16) What online tax service was hit by a major hack attack announced this week?

17) Also hit with a hack attack this week was what major health insurance company?

18) Good news for wage earners this week as wages rose and the economy added how many new jobs in January?

19) Maybe he is coming to do the daily invocation? What religious leader has booked an appearance before a joint session of congress for Sept. 24, 2015?

20) What midwest governor who is trying to prove right wing economics really works announced he would cut another $45 million from an already starved public education system?

Why doesn’t Iowa just buy the Brooklyn Bridge? Some guy too;d me it was for sale. About as sensible as some of their other policies.

Answers:

1) William Henry Harrison

2) triclosan

3) Radio Shack

4) Staples and Office Depot (does Bain Capital still own Staples?)

5) Chicago. Pallatine is the suburb. Most children too young to have been immunized.

6) BP (and they still haven’t cleaned up the Gulf)

7) Bruce Jenner – 1976 Olympic Decathlon champ

8) Lance Armstrong

9) Harper Lee

10) agriculture

11) Charles Darwin. Happy 206th Chuck and Abe

12) measles

13) Bit the ear of the mayor of Sun Prairie, Wisc. Jimmy is the weather forecasting groundhog of Sun Prairie.

14) a Norse temple. Seems paganism is gaining adherents very fast there.

15) Brian Williams – he and Armstrong should do a radio show.

16) Turbo tax

17) Anthem Blue Cross in California

18) 257,000. The Republicans are sure having a hard time selling their “stagnant economy” story.

19) Pope Francis

20) Sam Brownback of Kansas. Many school districts in Kansas are already suing the state for lack of funds. This won’t help.

February Birthday boy:

He'd be drummed out of the Republicans today

He’d be drummed out of the Republicans today

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on Sunday Funday: Bridge To The Future Edition

Great Prognostications In American Conservative History

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Dave Bradley

conservative prognostications

I saw this on democraticunderground.com and it really caught my attention. A tip of the hat to poster MrScorpio.

This is just a short list highlighting some of the more egregious predictions. No doubt most of us could easily put together 5 or ten conservative predictions that were laughable within a few years. I daresay from the dawn of man there have been those who have warned us about everything from fire to the wheel to electricity. They have served to impede progress, not stop it.

America was once a country where conservatives were scoffed at for impeding progress. Now they hold the megaphones of society and can spread their message of fear of the unknown far and wide and deep. Thanks to ownership of media they can nearly totally blot out voices of progress and vision and promote voices of fear and darkness.

So have a little fun this weekend. Think of some wonder of the world that you enjoy and try to remember or look up what the conservative voices had to say about it.

Oh, by the way, the term ‘conservative’ is truly a misnomer. True conservatives try to save things of value such as the environment. No, these folks are far from conservative. They are reactionaries.

Here is another point of view from Bill Maher last weekend. While conservatives stop progress, socialism built a great middle class at least for a time:

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Boehner, SCOTUS and the ACA

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Dave Bradley
Oops - make that 56 and 0

Oops – make that 56 and 0

My apologies if this is similar to yesterday’s post. The potential destruction of the ACA by an unelected body is an issue of monumental consequence.

There is about a month before the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will be hearing arguments concerning whether or not a drafting error in the Affordable Care Act would render the very fabric of the law moot. Did Congress really mean to make the ACA only offer subsidies to states that had their own exchanges (note: Iowa does not)? Or was there simply an error in drafting the law that was not by congress? Even as major of an opponent of the ACA and one of the senators most involved in writing the law as our own Chuck Grassley said such a challenge is “ridiculous.”

So what happens if SCOTUS rules in favor of the challengers? Simply stated, millions of Americans (including around 40,000 Iowans) would lose their subsidy and thus health care would most likely be unaffordable. Therefore, the affordable part of ACA changes and most likely millions will need to drop their health care. Not sure what that would do to the requirement that all Americans carry health insurance. If the subsidy is not available, then is the requirement therefore no longer in effect except in states that have their own exchanges? That is one of the possibilities.

An almost certain effect will earlier deaths for those who will lose their insurance. Joan McCarter at dailykos took a brief look at what how many might be given an early death sentence should the SCOTUS decide to rule in favor of the challenge in this case. In her article she quotes the American Public Health Association estimates that as many as 10,000 will die early.

Not that this is any big deal to the right. In a editorial for the Washington Post, American Enterprise Institute(AEI) “scholar” Michael Strain claimed that more Americans dying is OK in service to achieving certain ends. That is the old “ends justify the means” argument that is a never ending controversy. Allowing people to suffer and die to achieve some undefinable goal of freedom seems like a strange concept.

With John Roberts having been the swing vote on the SCOTUS’ previous decisions on the ACA we may expect that he would once more be in that position once again. With the criticism he took last time over his decision to let at least part of the ACA to go into effect one might think Roberts would feel some need to make amends to the Republican base on the ACA with this decision. With this as a background it is not hard to feel very concerned when the SCOTUS hears this case in March and rules on it in June.

This is where John Boehner comes in. Boehner has led his chamber in some 56 assaults on the ACA without ever having any hope of success. He has continued his crusade while in place of doing any work on what he apparently believes are much lesser issues such as jobs, infrastructure, outrageous student loans, immigration and many other pressing issues. Should the SCOTUS rule that suddenly a major portion of the ACA is no longer valid, then it should fall into Boehner’s lap to lead his colleagues to deal with the problem.

As anyone who has followed Republicans (actually Tea Baggers) in congress recently knows that party is really split 3 ways. One of the issues they are split on is health care. Therefore Republicans have never articulated any plan to replace the ACA despite their constant attempts to get rid of it. Their focus is on killing the ACA only. The SCOTUS may fulfill Boehner’s fondest dream without him having to even getting his hands dirty. Since they have been preaching “repeal and replace” for years and with the SCOTUS doing the repeal portion for them, what will Republicans do to replace?

Since Joni Ernst used that trite phrase over and over in her campaign, I called her office for some enlightenment a couple of weeks ago. There is nothing being worked on.

It is looking more and more that if a portion is repealed then the emphasis will be on killing the rest of it as quickly as possible, not replacing anything. I expect that the replacement pieces they will offer will be the two old standbys that they have floated for decades:

1) limit awards in torts which they claim will lower liability insurance costs and thus lower charges to patients. This has been shown over and over again to be false. Here is one such study.

2) Allow people in one state to buy health insurance across state lines. What this will do is allow states with few regulations to sell essentially worthless policies for low prices. While there are some guarantees of payment in the ACA, those would no doubt be attacked through the court system also.

If the SCOTUS rules for the challenge in King vs. Burwell it could surely be a really bad day not just for poor Americans who will probably lose their health insurance, it will be a bad day for all Americans who will still be depending on a ridiculous insurance system to ameliorate medical costs.

Single payer, single payer single payer. I can’t say it enough.

Posted in Affordable Care Act, John Boehner, Joni Ernst, Obamacare, SCOTUS | Tagged , | Comments Off on Boehner, SCOTUS and the ACA

GOP: “Have We Got A Plan For You!”

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Trish Nelson
Good luck with that!

Good luck with that!

Silly us! And we thought the Republicans had no plan.  They have now come up with a “plan” that is getting some attention in the media, but don’t hold your breath. It is the same old plan that they’ve always had and that is to take back (repeal) the affordable health care benefits won by millions of people through President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordability Act and to replace it with… wait for it…nothing.

According to the New York Times, Republicans said their plan would “rebut criticism from Democrats who say the Republicans have no ideas on health care.”  Because of course that is their true priority – to make it look like they have a plan where there is none.  Sorry GOP, but we already knew about your plan to take back health insurance from the millions who are now covered because of the ACA.  This is just more of the same.

Will the media coverage point this out or let them have a pass and call this a health care plan?  That remains to be seen, but it appears that their “plan” is nothing more than their continued efforts to undo everything President Obama has accomplished, while doing damage control for their continuing unconscionable behavior and their lack of ideas.

Here is what the GOP plan would do among other things according to the NYT:

– halt the expansion of Medicaid and scale back subsidies for middle-income people to buy private insurance.

– reduce federal requirements of insurance policies. States would be allowed to specify the “essential health benefits” that must be provided by insurance.  In the GOP plan, insurance policies would no longer be required to cover maternity care.

– reinstate the pre-existing condition problem applying the ACA rule that says “no one can be denied health insurance due to a pre-existing condition” only to people who have had continuous insurance coverage. For people who are uninsured, the Republican plan envisions “a one-time open enrollment.”

– states could opt out of the provision allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health care plan until age 26.

(click here to read more)

Jason Easely at Politicsusa also has harsh words for the GOP plan.

“The Republicans have introduced a health care plan that doesn’t contain any health care. At the very bottom of the list of what the bill does, you will see that the legislation will provide tax credits for people to buy health care. The problem for tens of millions of Americans will be that they will first have to buy the policy in order to qualify for the tax credit. If a person or family can’t afford the policy, they won’t have insurance.

It also does not contain any mechanism for transferring people who are currently enrolled in health care exchanges to new subsidized coverage. Instead of expanding Medicaid, the Republican plan caps funding. This means that all of the people who have gotten health care through the Medicaid will be thrown off of their insurance.

These are the same old ideas that Republicans have been trying to dress up as health care reform for decades. The Republican plan will drive up health care costs, and throw millions of people off of their current coverage. It will allow insurance companies to discriminate and price gouge. It will drive up the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. The Republican plan would also toss 3 million children off of their parents’ health insurance.

 “Repeal and replace” is another GOP empty slogan that may have (arguably) worked well enough in the mid-terms in certain races.  We can only hope Republican-voting Americans will soon snap out of the fog they are in regarding the Republican party’s true nature and the path that they are leading us down.

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Koch Funded Groups Lobby Against Funding For Biking And Walking Transit Projects

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Trish Nelson

bike transitRing of Fire Radio

by Amy Eddings

A collection of 50 groups, including the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners, and the Club for Growth, [BFIA: and the lovely Grover Norquist] recently sent a letter to Congress calling for the federal government to cut what little funding goes to walking and biking transit projects,  StreetsBlog USA (SB) reported.

The groups argued that, instead of raising the gas tax which has not risen to meet inflation rates over the past two decades, these programs should lose the miniscule federal funding as a means to fix the federal transportation budget.  [BFIA: The letter laughably argues, “Washington continues to spend federal dollars on projects that have nothing to do with roads like bike paths and transit.”]

They claim that an increase on the gas tax would result in a “regressive tax hike” on lower-income Americans. Nevermind the fact that many struggling financially rely on walking, biking, or other means of transportation rather than spending money on gas.

President of the League of American Bicyclists said in a statement,

“This scorch-earth proposal would eliminate the ability of local transportation agencies to invest in their own transportation priorities and lock us all into a 1950’s-style highway-and-car-only mentality that flies in the face of common sense – not to mention economics and what the free marking and simple demographics have been telling us for years.”

As SB pointed out, federal funding for biking and walking projects actually are incredibly cost efficient, and eliminating them won’t fix the transportation budget. In fact, the savings “wouldn’t even be enough to cover the cost of rebuilding a single interchange in Wisconsin.”

While these GOP-backed groups claim that eliminating these types of projects is actually a move that would save the American taxpayer money, this move is nothing more than a way to make the country that much more dependent on fossil fuels. The Koch brothers are willing to take away the only means of transportation that some of America’s poorest have in efforts to increase their profits.

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Joni Ernst Co-Sponsors Repeal of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Trish Nelson
joni ernst 2*UPDATE*  See blogforiowa.com/gop-have-we-got-a-plan-for-you/
Blog for Iowa called Ernst’s office and was told there is no Republican health care plan on the table or in the works.  See the conversation at blogforiowa.com/2015/01/24/about-that-replacement-health-care-plan-ms-ernst/   This confirms that the “replace” part of  “repeal and replace” is all for show. They  have little interest in making sure everyone has access to affordable health care.From the website of Senator Joni Ernst:

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) announced her co-sponsorship of S.339 to repeal the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” also known as ObamaCare. The Iowa Senator is among 47 original cosponsors to the bill, introduced by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), which authorizes full repeal 180 days after enactment in order to allow a six-month window to replace ObamaCare with patient centered, affordable, quality solutions.

“Too many Iowa families and businesses have been hurt by the painful effects of ObamaCare – from rising costs, to losing access to doctors, to hampering businesses’ abilities to hire new employees. We must start over by repealing and replacing this disastrous law in order to craft and implement real solutions for affordable, patient centered alternatives,” said Senator Ernst.

Posted in Health Care & Medicare, Joni Ernst, Obamacare | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments