Politicker.com -- Iowa News

[Blog for Iowa] Rural Iowa Democrats Launch Group, Hold First Event

Trish Nelson — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Rural Iowa Democrats Launch Group, Hold First Event
Calling all rural Iowa Dems! Now you can join with others to address concerns unique to rural Iowans. If you are not already on Facebook, you can sign up now and join this group. If you are already on Facebook, just put "Democrats of Rural Iowa" in the search box on your Facebook page.

Description:

Rural Iowan's understand that we face unique set of issues. Democrats of Rural Iowa is a place where we can ban together, formulate ideas, plan actions, discuss issues that effect our lives in the heartland.

Please join us for our first conference call!

It is open to all, but you must RSVP with your name, phone number and email address at DemsofRuralIowa@gmail.com

The agenda and call in number, with the access code, will be emailed to you.

If you have any questions please email DemsofRuralIowa@gmail.com

[Blog for Iowa] Iowans Should Support President Obama on Iran Policy

paul deaton — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Iowans Should Support President Obama on Iran Policy

by Paul Deaton

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

[Blog for Iowa] Air America and Iowa Progressives Share Gratitudes This Thanksgiving

Trish Nelson — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Air America and Iowa Progressives Share Gratitudes This Thanksgiving

Here is Air America's top ten list of things every progressive should be smiling about. Below that, a few more thankfuls from Iowa progressives. Happy Thanksgiving!

10) A president who can form a coherent sentence, and answer serious questions without a perpetual smirk.

9) Lou Dobbs running for president, disproving the theory that he is a narcissistic, arrogant, entitled demagogue who believes that he is of ultimate importance to everyone in the country.

8) The Internet, where within minutes we can pull up footage of Rudy Guiliani saying literally the opposite of what he said just several years ago about holding terrorist trials in New York.

[Blog for Iowa] Iowa Progressive Radio!! Fallon Forum Takes on Glenn Beck Tonight!

Trish Nelson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:09:00 -0500

Iowa Progressive Talk Radio! Fallon Forum Takes on Glenn Beck Tonight!
Please tune in at 7:00 pm on 98.3 fm or livestream at www.983wowfm.com

Call-in

(515) 312-0983

Is Beck bad for America? What do you think?

[Blog for Iowa] Iowa Ag Secretary Candidate Francis Thicke Talks to BFIA about rBST, GMOs, CAFOs, and Local Control

Jay Mattsson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:07:00 -0500

Iowa Ag Secretary Candidate Francis Thicke Talks to BFIA about rBST, GMOs, CAFOs, and Local Control

by Jay Mattsson

Today in Part II of a BFIA exclusive interview, Francis Thicke discusses his ideas for a better agriculture future for the state of Iowa.

Click here to read Part I.

BFIA: How do you feel about the BST controversy with milk and cows?

Thicke: You are referring to rBST, which stands for recombinant bovine somatotropin. For people who aren't familiar with rBST, this is a synthetically produced hormone that is similar to a hormone that cows naturally produce, but which is injected into cows so they have a higher level of the hormone, which stimulates them to produce more milk.

[Blog for Iowa] Health Care Reform Update: Science or Rationing?

Alta Price — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Health Care Reform Update: Science or Rationing?

by Alta Price, M.D.

Health care reform proposals to encourage the scientific study of medical testing or medical treatments will help improve our health and lower costs. The anti-reform myth that comparative effectiveness research is code for rationing is ridiculous. I guess it is just more evidence that the GOP doesn’t have much understanding of science – whether it is evolution, climate change, or medical research.

Although I think medicine is a great profession, it is not a very scientific discipline. I always loved science, which is why I specialized in pathology, the study of disease.

[Blog for Iowa] AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Jobs Crisis—Fix It Now

Tracy Kurowski — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Jobs Crisis—Fix It Now

Here is an excerpt from an article at the AFL-CIO blog, by Seth Michaels. Reprinted with permission.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, and other leaders have joined together to call for urgent action to create jobs and rebuild the economy.

In a live webcast panel discussion, the consensus was clear: Without quick action, an entire generation could be mired in economic turmoil. The nation can, and must, put people back to work—while addressing critical needs for the future of our communities. [see C-span coverage of the event]

The scale of the jobs crisis is obvious: Since the beginning of the recession, more than 8 million jobs have been lost.

[Blog for Iowa] An Iowa Perspective on Coal's Assault on Human Health

paul deaton — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

An Iowa Perspective on Coal's Assault on Human Health

by Paul Deaton

When we consider the use of coal in Iowa, there are many of us who remember the coal trucks plying the streets and alleys of our childhood, dropping loads of the black stuff down chutes leading to a basement coal bin and then to our gravity furnaces. Through the winter, people shoveled coal into the burning embers to heat their homes. Coal ash was shoveled out and in the spring, it was tilled it into gardens and spread on fields. Coal ash was also sent to dumps. On the farm, coal was purchased with seeds, feed and grain.

[Blog for Iowa] Get Senate Debate Updates Today From Health Care forAmerica NOW!

Trish Nelson — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Get Senate Debate Updates Today From Health Care for America NOW!

HealthCareforAmericaNow.org

Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled the health care bill he's going to bring to the Senate floor for debate. The bill makes health care more affordable for middle-income families. It would end insurance industry abuses. And it gives us the choice of a public health insurance option to keep the insurance companies honest.

To be sure, the bill is not perfect - health care should be more affordable for everyone, employers should be asked to pitch in their fair share, and while this bill is more fairly financed than previous proposals, it could be paid for entirely by asking those who can most afford it to pitch in their fair share.

[Blog for Iowa] On Nuclear Disarmament for Iowa

paul deaton — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

On Nuclear Disarmament for Iowa

by Paul Deaton

When Dr. Helen Caldicott moved from Australia to the United States, she became what Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy called, “the First Lady of the Nuclear Freeze Movement in the 1980s.” Less well known is that Dr. Caldicott traveled around Iowa with Tom Harkin during his first campaign for election to the United States Senate in 1984, so she has an Iowa connection. When speaking in Iowa and elsewhere, her tactic was to scare the daylights out of her audience with a graphic description of the medical consequences of nuclear war. At times, she would leave the audience in tears and then recruit them to the cause.