President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget would totally eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS). Cutting PBS funding would be a significant blow to more than a thousand public stations across the country. Both Iowa Public Television and...
Many of you may recognize this as former Senator Tom Harkin’s comparison of the two political parties. He often used this comic line as a simple and easy-to-understand description of the difference between Democrats and Republicans. “Just remember one thing,”...
It’s hard to imagine anything positive resulting from Congressman Steve King’s latest anti-immigrant rants and tweets. However, there may be one silver lining to the dark and ugly racist cloud surrounding King: donations are pouring in to Kim Weaver, encouraging...
Iowans might assume the Iowa Republican controlled Legislature’s anti-labor collective bargaining bill resulted from a massive demand from their Iowa constituents. That assumption would be wrong and a bit naïve. The author of this shameful anti-labor bill and...
The promise by Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix to “kick in the door of government” should leave no question about the Iowa Senate Republican leadership’s extreme agenda. Senator Dix’s threat certainly sounds like a declaration of war on moderation, cooperation and...
The information age has created a totally new landscape of news sources. The shift from traditional print journalism to radio, TV and digital is dramatic and concerning. A decade ago consumers relied on newspapers as their main news source. Today according to Pew...
President-elect Donald Trump is continuing his war on the media. Throughout his campaign he would call out the press at nearly every event. He directed taunts at the press covering the events and called them out as disgusting and biased. He encouraged his rally...
Interviews with past and present Iowa Democratic Party Chairs provides a fascinating inside look at how they see the requirements of the job. Following the crushing Democratic election losses in Iowa, the role of the next IDP Chair will be crucial in rebuilding the...
There is one dominant issue emerging as Democrats sift through the recent election losses and search for answers: the developing debate over the role that “Identity Politics” played in the losses. Identity Politics refers to the way Democrats have divided...
It was 7:00 p.m. on December 23, 1967 on the floor of the United States Congress. Just two days before Christmas, former Iowa Congressman Neal Smith finally got his anti-nepotism legislation passed. 49 years later Smith’s legislation may prevent President Donald...
