Indivisible Iowa Responds To Simon Conway’s Bizarre Attack

On By prynard

Yesterday Simon Conway of I Heart Radio’s WHO AM 1040 irresponsibly posted screenshots from an Indivisible closed Facebook group.  The post contained member names and profile pictures and had to be edited to contain the disclaimer, “UPDATE: Any threats of violence will be removed and the poster banned from the page. Period” after Conway’s supporters posted death threats on the post to members of Indivisible.     Indivisible Iowa and Action Iowa issue the following statement: In the days following the events in Charlottesville, our non-partisan groups began productive discussions on the removal of Confederate memorials in the state of Iowa. […]

Radio Host Simon Conway’s Attempt To Smear Democrats Backfires Immediately

On By prynard

Conservative WHO Radio host Simon Conway thought he had a big scoop today, “exposing” Iowa Democratic activists’ conversations in a private Facebook group about a Confederate monument in the state. His attempt to demonize Iowa citizens quickly backfired. Calling it a “MUST READ,” Conway posted a story on WHO Radio’s website that predicted that liberal activists were about to cause trouble, calling up visions for his rightwing audience of violent vandals. “It looks like some people want to bring trouble to Iowa,” Conway wrote. “We have very little in the form of Confederate monuments, but the one put up in […]

One Iowa Calls For Iowa GOP To Pull Anti-Transgender Ad And Apologize

On By prynard

The use of an inflammatory TV ad in the special election for House District 82 is drawing criticism from LGBTQ advocacy groups in Iowa. As Starting Line reported earlier today, candidate Travis Harris and the Republican Party of Iowa are running ads in the Ottumwa media market that attack Democrat Phil Miller over his votes on a transgender bathroom policy. It’s particularly upsetting to some local residents considering a recent tragedy of a transgender teen taking his own life in mid-June. One Iowa Action, the Iowa LGBTQ advocacy group, put out a statement this afternoon condemning the Republican ad and […]

Even After Teen’s Suicide, Iowa GOP Inflames Transgender Fears In Special Election

On By prynard

Just a month after a transgender 13-year-old’s suicide in Fairfield, the Republican Party of Iowa and candidate Travis Harris are running attack ads on transgender bathrooms that are reigniting a bitter controversy that divided a community last year. Their target is Phil Miller, the Democratic candidate in the special election for House District 82, who as school board president voted to keep in place a policy on the matter mandated by both Iowa and national law. Community members and former students are increasingly worried about the psychological impacts on local LGBTQ students that the Republican ad campaign could be causing. […]

Rushing To Vote Iowans Off Health Insurance

On By mike-owens

We have seen this film before. Legislators propose new law that they claim will improve health care, but pushes millions off of health coverage, strips away protections in current law, tells cash-strapped states to pick up the tab, and gives big breaks to the wealthy who don’t need help. Did you walk out of the theater the first two times? Will you stay for this one? More importantly, will our senators? In the coming days, we will get an analysis of the new Senate bill from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The analysis may come with little time in advance […]

Senate Vote On E15 Could Be Early Test For 2020 Democrats In Iowa

On By prynard

An upcoming vote on a little-known EPA rule on E15 ethanol could pose an early first test for potential presidential candidates looking to come through Iowa. The U.S. Senate’s Environmental and Public Works committee will soon consider the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which allows E15 fuel to be sold during the summer months. Renewable fuel advocates see it as a key priority for expanding ethanol usage. Currently, you can only sell E15 for eight and a half months out of the year. The issue has to do with Reid vapor pressure restrictions, which sees fuel evaporation rates climb […]

Bernie Sanders’ Progressive Movement Lives On, Grows In Iowa

On By prynard

You could have mistaken the packed hall of Citizens for Community Improvement’s annual gathering yesterday for one of the larger Bernie Sanders rallies during the 2016 Iowa Caucus. Or you might have thought it was the Democratic Party’s state convention (it was held in the same room) – except this might have had more people. Well over 1,000 progressive activists filled the chairs for Bernie Sanders’ afternoon keynote address, but it was nearly just as crowded for the early morning issue advocacy training sessions. Saturday’s event highlighted the exponential growth that progressive advocacy groups like CCI have seen since the […]

Democrats Roll Out Plan To Protect Children’s Safety In Iowa

On By prynard

Following Governor Kim Reynolds’ appointment of Jerry Foxhoven to head Iowa’s Department of Human Services, Democrats have continued to press the agency to take larger steps to protect the safety of foster children. Foxhoven replaced Chuck Palmer, who resigned after controversy built over the death of two girls living with foster families. The department and legislative Republicans had pushed back against Senator Matt McCoy’s effort to institute more oversight following those deaths. Only one legislative oversight hearing was held, however, and the state has contracted an outside consultant to investigate department practices, a process which Democrats contend is going too […]

Iowa Democratic Leaders Embracing Progressive Healthcare Ideas

On By prynard

As debate in the country has raged on over Republicans’ terribly unpopular ACA repeal bill, those on the Democratic Party’s left have argued that now is the time to push for ideas like universal healthcare, single payer and/or a public option. They charge that the lack of a public option in Barack Obama’s ACA was a serious mistake, gave the health insurance companies too much power and helped lead to the situation in Iowa where the three major insurers are pulling out in 2018. They should be encouraged then by what Democratic leaders in Iowa are proposing. Last week Senator […]

On “Midwest Nice” And Our Not-Nice Politics

On By cassandra-hoch

A guest post from a fellow campaigner and native Wisconsinite, who’s officially retired from politics but unofficially comments on political news and more at explainher.com. A few years ago, over some now-forgotten holiday, a younger cousin still in college mentioned the homeless people near her apartment building in Milwaukee. “Gross,” she said. “I wish they’d go away.” After a beat or two of uncomfortable silence, my uncle shushed her: “That’s not nice; don’t say that.” He didn’t say it was wrong of her to say that, or note that the people she so clearly disregarded were suffering, too, and over a […]