August 2017
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Iowa Is Abandoning Nursing Home Safety For Apple Handout
Where are our priorities, Iowa? Two news stories that grabbed the headlines in Iowa last week leave me shaking my head and asking, is this really what we want from our state government? The first was news that the Iowa Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman has eliminated virtually all travel by its employees to…
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Iowa Republicans Should Boot John Thompson From SCC
It was not a good summer for the credibility of Iowa Republicans’ stances on moral values. The lurid details from the Senate Republican sexual harassment trial, along with Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix’s continued refusal to take responsibility for the matter, confirmed what many critics think Republicans actually feel about women in the workplace. That…
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Army Veteran George Ramsey Sees 1st District Race As Patriotic Pursuit
To Cedar Rapid’s George Ramsey III, running for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District is an extension of the service to country he pursued in his recently-ended military career. Ramsey spent 31 years in military service before retiring in 2016, and for much of this summer he’s been traveling around Northeast Iowa in preparation for a congressional…
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Will Hurricane Harvey Finally Convince GOP On Climate Change?
Some of the adjectives used to describe Hurricane Harvey: unprecedented disaster, catastrophic losses, all-time record breaking rainfall, economic calamity, biblical flooding, unparalleled devastation. When rainfall totals reach 50 inches and meteorologists talk about 500 and 1,000 year floods, it’s clear this isn’t what most of us think of as normal weather conditions. This storm isn’t…
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Turned Down By Rod Blum, 1st District Voters Meet With Democratic Challengers
Constituents in Iowa’s 1st District couldn’t get an in-person meeting scheduled with their two-term Republican Congressman Rod Blum this summer despite repeated attempts for months. So they set up meetings with the next best thing: the four Democrats running to replace Blum in 2018. The candidates in the 1st District Democratic primary – Abby Finkenauer,…
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Open Letter To Rod Blum: Divest Your Fossil Fuel Investments
An open letter to Congressman Rod Blum from a 1st District constituent: Congressman Blum, at your Cedar Rapids town hall in May you told the crowd politicians’ financial disclosure forms reveal more than their tax returns. On that advice, I scrutinized your financial disclosure forms and my jaw dropped. How many of your constituents know…
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Kyrstin Delagardelle Shelley Pushes For More Inclusive DSM Schools In Campaign
The elections for school board in Iowa are fast approaching, the first big round of races that are seeing new leaders step up in the wake of the 2016 outcome. One candidate that’s drawing a lot of attention in Central Iowa is Kyrstin Delagardelle Shelley, who was recently endorsed by the Des Moines Education Association…
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Trump’s Pardon Of Racist Buddy Arpaio Is Clear Abuse Of Power
It should come as no surprise that Trump would reward ex-Sheriff Arpaio with the get-out-of-jail-free pardon. They have been attached at the hip since their partnership in their looney birther crusade about President Obama’s birth place. President Trump and Sheriff Joe Arpaio have both used the same hateful, racist and anti-immigrant bombast for years. The…
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Senate Must Reject Unqualified Conspiracy Theorist Sam Clovis
President Trump has nominated the right-wing radio host, Sam Clovis as the top scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Clovis, who is from Sioux City, served as Trump’s co-chairman and adviser on agricultural issues. He’s a former college economics professor and conservative talk radio host. Senators’ Grassley and Ernst serve on the…
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Campaign Updates: Olson In, Hubbell Endorsers, Boulton Education Push
It’s been a busy couple of days for Iowa campaigns. Here’s a quick look at many of the new developments. Tyler Olson Is Back On The Ballot Former state representative and 2014 gubernatorial candidate Tyler Olson is running for an at-large Cedar Rapids City Council seat. He announced on Tuesday that he would seek the…
