2018
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Elected Officials Shouldn’t View The Public As An Annoyance
My role as executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council has taken me from border to border in our state. The message I’ve preached at each stop is a simple one: Transparency is a fundamental part of good government, and government officials risk undermining their respect and credibility when they try to minimize…
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Iowa’s Obama/Trump Voters Still Mostly With Trump, Poll Shows
A new poll has warning signs for Democrats in Iowa who are working to win back the voters they lost to Donald Trump in 2016. According to a recently released poll from Monmouth College, 63% of voters in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District who backed Trump in 2016 after previously voting for Barack Obama in presidential…
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Ep29: Dave Jamison Mess & John Paschen Interview
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard & show producer Chance Dorland discuss all the different components of the ongoing Dave Jamison firing & Iowa Finance Authority misuse of funds, followed by an interview with Iowa 4th District Democratic candidate John Paschen.
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Gone But Not Forgotten – Labor’s Struggles With Itself
A guest post from Johnson County Supervisor Kurt Friese. Each year at the end of April, Labor organizers across the country hold a vigil of remembrance called “Workers Memorial Day.” Here in Johnson County, it was just this past Friday. We gathered to remember and to hear speeches, but more importantly to hear the names…
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Are Democrats Getting Overconfident About A Blue Wave?
Democrats’ growing talk of a coming blue wave in November could backfire. The Democrats’ winning of special elections have fueled more talk about the anticipated blue wave. Even in the special elections that Democrats have lost, they are encouraged by the Republicans’ reduced margins. However, Democrats must beware of over confidence, particularly if it impacts…
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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…
