April 2017
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Celebrate Iowa Immigrants At The May Day Rally
The Iowa immigrant community is under great stress from the Trump Administration’s conflicting and contradictory statements on deportation. It’s not at all clear who is subject to deportation and how deep Homeland Security will reach into the community. Will they just deport those that have committed serious crimes or simply those that are undocumented? The…
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Todd Prichard’s Plan For Universal Access To Community Colleges
The 2017 legislative session was a disaster for working Iowans. I have never seen an administration fight so hard for low-paying jobs. Iowa can and must do better, particularly for rural and smaller communities – like my hometown of Charles City – that too often have been left behind. The challenges in that “forgotten Iowa”…
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Climate Time Bomb Clock Running Out – March This Weekend
Time is running out in order to slow and reverse the warming of the earth. The catastrophic consequences associated with climate change are rapidly becoming more evident. It’s not too late but the world must act soon in order to prevent the worst of these environmental disasters. Scientists predict the globe will reach a tipping…
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Dirk Deam Passes On 4th District, Fred Hubbell Rumors Heat Up
Iowa State University professor Dirk Deam won’t be running for the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s 4th District this cycle. His now-ended campaign informed Starting Line that some new family health obligations will keep him from devoting the full time he felt he needed to run an all-in candidacy. Kim Weaver was already strongly favored to carry the…
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Teamsters’ New TeamCAN Partners With Indivisible Iowa
Iowa Teamsters Local 238 has created an exciting new organizing group and are quickly reaching out statewide to partner with other progressive groups. In March they launched a Teamsters Community Action Network (TeamCAN), a 501(c)3 nonprofit which is separate from their traditional Teamsters labor union. The first TeamCAN organizational meeting in Cedar Rapids in March…
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Republicans Show No Fear After Divisive Legislative Session
If Iowa Republicans were concerned about a voter backlash in response to the deeply conservative agenda they passed in the Iowa Statehouse this year, they’re not letting on. After a legislative session in which new GOP majorities passed sweeping rightwing reforms that transformed the very nature of Iowa government and society, Republicans are promising to go even…
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Pete D’Alessandro Launches 3rd District Bid
In what could easily become the most interesting 2018 campaign to watch, Pete D’Alessandro filed papers today to form an exploratory committee for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. D’Alessandro is a longtime Iowa political operative, with a resume that includes prominent campaign positions for Tom Vilsack, Chet Culver and Leonard Boswell. His most notable recent role was…
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Rural Iowans Give Urban Iowans Some Tough Advice
The Iowa Democratic Party has been conducting a 2016 post-election postmortem on why they lost rural Iowa so badly. One recommendation resurfaces in every one of these autopsies conducted over these losses. The suggestion is that urban Democrats must listen to the needs of rural Iowans if they ever expect to gain their votes. However,…
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It Begins: Klobuchar, Sanders Schedule Iowa Events
In the state where presidential politics never ends, two potential 2020 Democratic contenders have scheduled Iowa visits in the coming months. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar will speak at the Polk County Democrats Spring Dinner on May 7 in Des Moines. Senator Bernie Sanders plans on keynoting Citizens for Community Improvement’s annual convention on July 15,…
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Consumer Rights Eroding Under GOP And Trump Administration
In the first ninety days of Donald Trump’s presidency, his actions speak more to his business background than of politics. He has been frank about his disapproval of government laws, which are oftentimes burdensome to businesses but essential for the safety of consumer rights. He has followed through on his campaign promise of cutting funding…
