Category: Iowa Daily Democrat

Last week the Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said the fate of immigrant children in America is in serious jeopardy. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, is a 2012 executive order signed by former President Barack Obama that stopped deportation for nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrant children. These are the innocent children of immigrants, known as Dreamers, that were brought here by their parents. These kids didn’t intentionally break any laws but now the Trump regime may cruelly punish them simply for accompanying their parents across the border. Kelly told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus last week that the Trump administration […]

The Republicans’ latest Senate bill to repeal Obamacare would cut $800 billion dollars from Medicaid, devastating the program that covers 69 million Americans. A great deal of the debate on repealing and replacing Obamacare has focused on people losing coverage on the Obamacare Exchanges. However, the Republican repeal both weakens the protections established under Obamacare and it threatens to rip the basic Medicaid safety net out from under millions of elderly and disabled Americans. Over two-thirds of all nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid. These are elderly Americans that have depleted their savings and are dependent on Medicaid to […]

Dear Senator Ernst and Grassley, I’ve never had cancer, but I have deeply loved someone with cancer and it is terror.  The ability to work, to play, to function – all stops.  There are brief moments of me pretending she isn’t sick and that everything will be fine, but cancer is never more than an arm’s length away.  There are attempts to make her smile, although I know it probably won’t work because cancer is more than terror to her; it is her life.  Sleep becomes a drug, a way to forget as often as possible, but there is never […]

My wife and I were driving down Interstate Highway 80 on Sunday, and we experienced one of the cardinal rules of law-making. You don’t read about this in the textbooks. But it’s as certain as death and taxes. The rule amounts to this: When politicians give us something, it’s not long before we want more of the same. On Sunday, we were humming along at 70 miles per hour. Even at that speed, more cars and trucks were passing us than we were passing. I’m old enough to remember when the nation grudgingly went to “double nickels” — a national […]

Get ready for a wild weekend in Iowa politics. One of the most progressive organizations in Iowa, Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement Action Fund (CCI Action Fund) has scheduled their annual convention, Revolution Iowa: From Protest to Power, for Saturday, July 15 in Des Moines. Their Keynote speaker is Senator Bernie Sanders. Simultaneously, one of the most conservative, far-right Iowa groups, The Family Leadership Summit, is scheduled for the same day in Des Moines with a special appearance by Presidential Counselor Kellyanne Conway. More amazingly, they will be in the same convention complex at the same date and time, from […]

Timing is everything in life. For U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, he picked an especially poor time to pitch an idea last week. The politician from Alpine, Utah, said it is difficult for members of Congress who are not wealthy to maintain a residence back in their home state and also have a second home or apartment in Washington, D.C. Chaffetz said taxpayers should provide senators and representatives with a housing stipend of $2,500 per month — that’s $30,000 each year — to offset the extra housing expense. I don’t want to come across as cold-hearted, but it’s hard to muster […]

The 2017 blizzard continues this summer, not with blowing snow, but with political maneuvering taking place in Washington on ‘healthcare reform.’ For the record, it is really not ‘healthcare’ that is being addressed by the Republicans, but a ‘health insurance’ makeover – specifically for non-employer coverage purchased by individuals and Medicaid (for low-income Americans). Real ‘healthcare’ reform would aggressively attack the root causes that make insurance grossly expensive. Instead, the political insanity continues by focusing on the symptoms of the core problems – the exorbitant health insurance premiums we pay. In lieu of reducing the enormous waste built into American […]

This is the debate Democrats are continuing to have following the 2016 losses. As Democrats attempt to craft a winning message for 2018 and beyond, the internal debate within the Party is focused on how far left they should or must move the Party’s messaging. The debate spans issues from women’s reproductive choice to support for globalization and trade. The much larger question is whether the Party can move left and simultaneously remain a big tent that includes a broad range of viewpoints. For instance, is there room for pro-life candidates in our party? Recently we saw an example of […]

Republicans are fond of calling Democrats “big spenders” but it’s Iowa Republicans that aren’t capable of balancing the state’s budget this year. Republicans control all three branches of state government, so they can’t blame Democrats for their budget-busting corporate give-away spending. The GOP preaches about taking responsibility and holding people accountable. Then why is Governor Reynolds refusing to take responsibility while blaming others for the state budget catastrophe? Reynolds’ party exploded the state budget with reckless corporate give-aways, but is blaming farmers for her fiscal mismanagement. Why isn’t Reynolds holding her State Department of Revenue accountable for a huge error […]

The Senate Republicans’ Trumpcare bill is predicted to devastate rural Iowa hospitals and nursing homes. The proposed 25% cut in Medicaid spending will put these Iowa facilities at risk of severe cuts in services or outright closure. Will Senators Grassley and Ernst vote for a healthcare plan that these healthcare stakeholders warn will destroy rural Iowa communities? Iowa’s senators failed to raise their voices while their Republican senate colleagues arrogantly crafted a plan in secrecy, without public input and without hearings. Grassley and Ernst have betrayed their responsibility to represent their constituents by remaining silent. Governor Reynolds was asked about […]