Category: Iowa Daily Democrat

Local Iowa television stations WHO in Des Moines and WQAD in Davenport could become considerably more politically conservative as a result of their acquisition by Sinclair Broadcasting. WHO is the NBC affiliate in Des Moines and WQAD the ABC affiliate serving Davenport, Iowa and Moline, Illinois. In addition, they will have a direct connection to the Trump Administration thanks to a deal struck by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Another concern is the Sinclair acquisition violates the previous size limit on the number of stations one broadcaster can own. Conservative media giant Sinclair Broadcasting announced May 8th it is acquiring […]

Reality had a message for the Republicans when it came to their oath to “Repeal & Replace Obamacare.” For the past seven years, Republicans all promised to repeal it, then they promised to repeal and replace it, and by the end of 2016 they promised to “rip it out by its roots.”  This was, of course, bluster and nonsense designed for a campaign audience.  In reality, the Republicans had no sustainable plan and wasted their time rushing a terrible piece of legislation through several committees in President Trump’s first 65 days. Good legislation takes time, hard work and compromise before […]

Each week Congressman David Young sends out a “60 Second Survey” seeking the opinion of those who read his weekly newsletters. He should be commended for seeking feedback from constituents, but virtually all of his surveys are bogus or – at best – disingenuous. Last week he stated, “If people – as many have wished – get their way and the ACA continues to remain the exact same as it was signed into law by President Obama, the health care access for tens of thousands of Iowans begins to dry up. If President Obama’s law is not changed by a single word, every single one of the […]

A Beaverdale mom decided it was time to act when Congressman David Young flip-flopped and voted for the House Republicans’ Obamacare replacement. Young had vowed he would vote no on the previous version, but switched his vote at the last moment. As a member of the Northwest Des Moines Democrats, Vanessa Phelan had been brainstorming with the group about possible actions to counter Young. One of the options they discussed was renting billboards to express their disagreement with Young’s vote. NW Des Moines Democrats is one of 15 Polk County Democrats neighborhood groups. Following Young’s Obamacare flip-flop vote, Phelan began […]

It was quite a week last week with the buzz about impeachment. Relax. I’m not referring to President Donald Trump. I’m talking about the mayor of Muscatine. Diana Broderson was removed from office by a 7-0 vote of the city council on Thursday. The meeting lasted 3 minutes. There was no discussion by the council members, and they offered no explanation of their votes. Earlier this year, the council directed the city attorney to prepare a statement of impeachment charges against the mayor. Then the council heard two days of testimony during a “trial” this spring. The charges involved an […]

Council Bluffs Democrats have reorganized and reenergized following the devastating loss of the long-serving Senator Mike Gronstal. The former Iowa Senate majority leader’s loss combined with losses by other Senate Democrats resulted in Republicans taking complete control of the Legislature. For Iowa Democrats the incredible legislative damage done by Republicans has only compounded the loss of Gronstal’s leadership. Linda Nelson, the Pottawattamie (affectionately known as Pott County) Democratic County Chair didn’t give up, and she is working even harder to rebuild the county party. She launched a number of new initiatives following the November election and was recently reelected as […]

Education reviews of the Republicans’ mismanagement of the Iowa state budget has focused on the inadequate funding of K-12 schools.  They actually brag about increasing K-12 funding by 1.1% or $40 million even though most independent analysis suggest 4-6% is needed to keep pace. In addition, they cut state funding of Iowa’s public universities for both 2017 and 2018 significantly below the 2016 levels. Republican legislators totally ignored the public universities request for a 2% increase and cut their funding. That inadequate funding of our Iowa public universities has resulted in a 5% tuition increase for Iowa college students. Republicans […]

Over 70,000 Iowans will lose their access to health care on January 1st, 2018. For all these thousands of Iowans this is an urgent emergency. It is a catastrophic blow to these Iowa families’ ability to have access to quality healthcare. Lacking the opportunity to buy health insurance coverage for themselves and their families puts them into a healthcare crisis. The three principle insurance companies offering coverage: Wellmark, Aetna and Medica have announced that they plan to leave Iowa’s Obamacare exchange effective 2018. The future of Gunderson, a small carrier handling a few counties in NE Iowa, is unknown. These […]

Trump’s campaign made anti-trade a key part of his political messaging. During the campaign he talked about unfair trade and outsourcing of American jobs. However, Iowa agriculture and manufacturing have benefited from trade by increased exports. Now Trump’s anti-trade tirades are threatening Iowa exports and the rural economy. Iowa Democrats have been nearly silent about the impact that a Trump trade war could have on Iowa exports and the Iowa economy. Many Iowans voted for Trump and the Republicans based on their promises to bring jobs back and rebuild rural Iowa. Now Trump’s trade policies threaten to alienate Iowa’s best […]

The enthusiasm and energy generated at last week’s newly formed neighborhood group, the Des Moines West Side Democrats, made it feel like the 2018 midterm is right around the corner. It’s unheard of to have this much excitement barely over 100 days into a new Republican administration, especially following an election that swept Democrats from power at all levels. Rather than commiserating and mourning their recent losses, these Democrats are reenergized and already organizing like the midterm election is at hand. Their actions confirm that Trump’s election and the Republican legislative debacle has ignited a powerful organizational firestorm among Democrats […]