2019
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2020 Candidates Pitch Sectoral Collective Bargaining To Bolster Unions
A few 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have proposed creating a sectoral collective bargaining system in the United States, or plan to rewrite the law forcing unions to negotiate solely with their employers. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the self-proclaimed “most pro-worker member of the United States Congress,” Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a former labor-side lawyer, and…
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Iowa Senate Candidate Michael Franken Staffs Up
Michael Franken, a retired Navy admiral, Monday morning rolled out a list of staff and advisers for his bid for the U.S. Senate. Franken, originally of Sioux Center, in Northwest Iowa, is one of four Democrats challenging Republican Sen. Joni Ernst in 2020. This is Franken’s first run for public office, and political insiders have…
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Housing Issues Rise In Importance, Urgency For Iowa Caucus
Photo: Julian Castro touring a trailer park in Waukee where rents spiked with local activists in June. Affordable housing as a political issue is taking the stage nationally during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in a way it never has before. Experts say this election is the first time candidates are seriously discussing affordable housing…
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Steve King’s Tin-Foil Conspiracy Theory With FBI, DOJ, CIA, State Dept.
Iowa Congressman Steve King has been sharing a mass conspiracy theory about why he thinks federal charges were never brought against former FBI Director James Comey or Hillary Clinton. It includes a cover-up that involves the State Department, the CIA, the FBI and the Department of Justice, with an end-goal of undermining Donald Trump’s presidency.…
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Joe Biden Builds Out Iowa Field Army, Taps Old Relationships
Joe Biden is ramping up his Iowa ground game as the caucus race enters the final months and as his top Democratic opponents narrow the gap in the polls. The Biden campaign plans to have about 110 total staff in Iowa by the end of September, over 80 of which will be on the field…
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Iowa Safe Schools Plans Anti-Bullying Conference
Bullying doesn’t look like kids being shoved into lockers or calling each other names anymore, and intervention isn’t about just about standing up to bullies in the hallway. Iowa Safe Schools knows that. Organizers there also know that children who identify as LGBTQ, or are perceived that way, report instances of bullying almost double that…
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Ernst In April: “Heaven Forbid” We Change Social Security
Joni Ernst has made headlines recently for saying politicians should “sit down behind closed doors” in order to avoid scrutiny as they change Social Security policy, but it’s not the first time this year she’s made interesting comments on it. Ernst can be heard talking about Social Security in a video taken during a stop…
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Top Iowa Gun Safety Activist Backs Elizabeth Warren
A featured guest at one of Elizabeth Warren’s very first campaign events in Iowa is now endorsing the senator in the Iowa Caucus. Amber Gustafson, the former Iowa chapter leader of Moms Demand Action, made her choice public today. “Elizabeth Warren doesn’t just talk about ‘big, structural change’ because it sounds good in a tweet.…
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Ep111: What Doomed Iowa’s Virtual Caucus
Pat Rynard sits down to discuss what is happening in Iowa this week with presidential candidates, as well as the three big factors that led to the demise of Iowa’s Virtual Caucus option.
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How To Ease The Worry About SCOTUS Health Scares
With Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recent hospitalizations and Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death in 2016, public attention has been understandably glued to the health of the Supreme Court justices. And with the ideological balance of the Court ever at risk, the stakes of an illness can unnerve any partisan. A number of suggested reforms to…
