2017
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Will Senators Ernst And Grassley Kick Grandma Out Of Nursing Home?
The Republicans’ latest Senate bill to repeal Obamacare would cut $800 billion dollars from Medicaid, devastating the program that covers 69 million Americans. A great deal of the debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare has focused on people losing coverage on the Obamacare Exchanges. However, the Republican repeal both weakens the protections established under Obamacare…
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Senate Vote On E15 Could Be Early Test For 2020 Democrats In Iowa
An upcoming vote on a little-known EPA rule on E15 ethanol could pose an early first test for potential presidential candidates looking to come through Iowa. The U.S. Senate’s Environmental and Public Works committee will soon consider the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which allows E15 fuel to be sold during the summer months.…
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Bernie Sanders’ Progressive Movement Lives On, Grows In Iowa
You could have mistaken the packed hall of Citizens for Community Improvement’s annual gathering yesterday for one of the larger Bernie Sanders rallies during the 2016 Iowa Caucus. Or you might have thought it was the Democratic Party’s state convention (it was held in the same room) – except this might have had more people.…
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Dear Senators Ersnt And Grassley: My Family’s Cancer Story
Dear Senator Ernst and Grassley, I’ve never had cancer, but I have deeply loved someone with cancer and it is terror. The ability to work, to play, to function – all stops. There are brief moments of me pretending she isn’t sick and that everything will be fine, but cancer is never more than an…
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Businesswoman Leann Jacobsen Considers Run Against Steve King
One of the longstanding frustrations of moderate Republicans and some independents in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District isn’t so much the incendiary things Steve King says; it’s instead what local issues he isn’t talking about. While King is complaining on Twitter about immigrants and touting far-right European political movements, small town economies in Western Iowa are…
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Fireworks, Guns, Tax Credits And The “Speed Limit Phenomenon”
My wife and I were driving down Interstate Highway 80 on Sunday, and we experienced one of the cardinal rules of law-making. You don’t read about this in the textbooks. But it’s as certain as death and taxes. The rule amounts to this: When politicians give us something, it’s not long before we want more…
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Democrats Failing To Make The Case Against Joni Ernst
Despite the national outrage over Senate Republicans’ healthcare bill, Senator Joni Ernst hasn’t suffered much fallout in her popularity numbers in Iowa, James Lynch of the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported yesterday. Looking at the Morning Consult Senate Approval Rankings that polls every senator, Ernst’s approval rating has remained steady at 47% from September 2016 to April…
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Nate Boulton Shines Light On Real Iowans Hurt By Mental Health Cuts
The drastic budget cuts to mental healthcare programs implemented by Governor Kim Reynolds and her predecessor look awfully bad on paper. But what are some of the real-life impacts that actual Iowans are seeing in their day-to-day lives? That’s something State Senator Nate Boulton sought to find out and highlight this week with a roundtable…
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More Iowa GOP Leaders Want Ben Sasse Banned From Iowa
If Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse plans on coming back to Iowa, he may want to plan a detour on a different route than the usual I-80 one. Republican Pottawattamie County chair Jeff Jorgensen declared today that the neighbor-state senator should stay far away from his county, home to Council Bluffs. “LET ME MAKE THIS AS…
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Abby Finkenauer Raises $155,000+ In Quarter For 1st District
State Representative Abby Finkenauer brought in an impressive fundraising haul for her first reporting quarter as a candidate for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, a key swing seat that Democrats hope to retake in 2018. Her campaign told Starting Line they raised over $155,000 from over 550 donors, the majority of which were in Iowa, this…
