2018
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With A Nation Unraveling, When Will We Say Enough Is Enough?
Let’s skip the debate over whether our president bears even a smidgen of blame for contributing to the domestic terrorist incidents last week in the United States. Let’s agree we are never going to agree, so there’s no use driving each other’s blood pressure higher by talking more about that. Yes, there will always be…
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Major Water Polluter Funding Pro-Mike Naig Effort
A major hog confinement company that’s notorious for their record on water and air pollution is putting $25,000 into the dark money agribusiness group that’s trying to swing the Secretary of Agriculture race to Mike Naig. As Starting Line reported last week, the Iowa Farm Bureau organized a 527 organization named Iowans For Agriculture to…
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“It’s Game On.” Can Late Surge Topple Steve King?
J.D. Scholten couldn’t sleep Monday night. A new poll came out around 11 p.m. that showed Scholten down only a single point to Steve King. It sent him and his team into a flurry of late-night activity, readying a new fundraising push and spreading the news. The next day didn’t slow down any. Tuesday saw…
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Let’s Talk Iowa Rankings, Governor. Our Universities Are In Free-Fall
Guest post by Allison Engel, an Iowa State University graduate, has worked in higher education for the past 12 years. Yes, Gov. Reynolds, let’s talk about U.S. News & World Report rankings. But not the livability rankings, which do not include data from all 50 states in all categories. In this blinkered competition, Iowa snagged the…
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Iowa Gets A Two-For-One Team If They Elect Hubbell
Iowa voters get a bonus this year when they elect Fred Hubbell as Iowa’s next Governor: Charlotte Hubbell, Fred’s wife and life partner, comes along as part of the deal. The role of political spouses of elected officials vary greatly. Some play no role at all, while others play pivotal roles in successful administrations. Many…
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Far-Right Media Spreads The Real “Fake News” After Bomb Scare
After a very harried week of pipe bombs being sent to current and former high-ranking government officials, it looks like a suspect has been apprehended. Law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service Protective Detail, the ATF, the US Postal Inspection Service, the FBI and many other state and local law enforcement departments were working full…
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Ep67: IPERS, Mike Fitzgerald, Amy Klobuchar & Martin O’Malley
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard talks about all the recent IPERS controversy with State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald. And we interview Senator Amy Klobuchar and Governor Martin O’Malley during their visits to Iowa.
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Amy Klobuchar: Midwest Dems Won’t Be Left Behind Again
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar made a swing through Iowa this weekend to help boost some of her fellow Midwestern Democrats in important races. She noted at a canvass kick-off event with Cindy Axne that the party needed to refocus their attention to the region. “The other lesson we learned over the past two years is…
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Trump, Iowa Republicans Finish With Immigrant Fear-Mongering
It’s less than two weeks until the election and Donald Trump has been searching for a new message. In an act of blatant racial opportunism, he targeted the Central American immigrant caravan traveling toward the United States. The videos of thousands of poor and desperate immigrants heading for the southern border provided the perfect victims…
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Meet The 29-Year-Old Farm Girl Who Could Flip The Iowa House
As Democrats look to rebound in Iowa in 2018, one of their toughest tasks is winning back the rural voters that abandoned them for Donald Trump two years ago. Taking back the Iowa Legislature all but requires it, as several key swing districts are mostly rural. To accomplish that on the local level, the party…
