April 2018
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Labor Expands Influence Within Iowa Democrats With SCC Wins
Iowa Democrats held their district conventions this Saturday, the third step in their caucus-to-convention process. Unlike the precinct caucuses and county conventions, there were no blizzards. The most consequential part of the day was elections for the party’s State Central Committee. That’s the board that nominally governs the Iowa Democratic Party and elects its chair…
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Fired Staffer At Jamison’s IFA Claims Discrimination, Improper Spending
There were even more problems at the Iowa Finance Authority during former director Dave Jamison’s tenure than sexual harassment, claims a former staffer who has filed a discrimination complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Gabrielle Riesterer, who worked as the assistant to the Iowa Title Guarantee director from December of 2015 to September of…
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Iowa Republicans’ Copycat Tax Scam For The Wealthy
Iowa Republicans’ tax negotiations continue shrouded in secrecy without input from Democrats or major stakeholders. They are ramming their reckless tax changes forward with an Iowa farm economy that is already distressed. If President Trump pushes his agriculture-killing tariffs forward, the Iowa economy could crater. In February the USDA released their annual net farm income…
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Dave Jamison Report Raises All New Questions
The truth comes out… some of it, anyway. Yesterday’s release of the three-page document of sexual harassment claims against fired Iowa Finance Authority director Dave Jamison revealed disgusting new details and raised further questions about Reynolds’ handling of the situation. Chief among those was why Reynolds’ office had denied the existence of the document in…
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Big Isn’t Bad, But Dumb Certainly Is
The executives at Wells Fargo & Co., nation’s third-largest bank, should send a nice sympathy card and a big bouquet of flowers to former president George H.W. Bush. Were it not for the death last week of Bush’s beloved wife Barbara, the latest installment in the ongoing scandals that have rocked Wells Fargo would have…
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America Has A Simple Choice On Gun Violence
The solution to gun violence in America should be a simple choice, according to high school students. They have eloquently simplified the public debate about guns into just two choices. Students are demanding that the public choose between a society with unlimited guns with few restrictions or a society dedicated to saving the lives of…
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Report Sees Multiple “Risks” For Steve King’s Reelection
Is Congressman Steve King at risk of losing reelection? Every single cycle, Democrats hope and pray that this will finally be the year that the reviled Republican will go down in electoral defeat. And every cycle, the conservative lean of Iowa’s 4th Congressional District dashes those hopes. But this year at least one major political…
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What’s She Hiding?
Governor Kim Reynolds acted swiftly and decisively in firing Dave Jamison upon being informed of “credible” allegations of sexual harassment. Except, wait, we can’t tell you about what any of those allegations were. Oh, and also, there was no written documentation of the complaint or our decision. No… no, hang on, there actually was documentation,…
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Ep28: Thomas Heckroth Interview & China Trade Wars
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard speaks with Tim Gannon, Democrats’ Secretary of Agriculture candidate, about Iowa’s agriculture economy & how it is/will be affected by China. We also do a little bit of Agriculture 101. And then we interview Thomas Heckroth about his campaign for Iowa’s 1st Congressional District.
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Protecting The Environment Used To Be Bipartisan
This past Sunday, April 22, the nation celebrated a day dedicated to the environment. However, the support for this recent Earth Day event has changed dramatically since that first celebration in 1970. The original Earth Day was truly a bipartisan celebration and a commitment by both Democrats and Republicans to protect the environment. Today, the…
