Explainer: How Trump’s Small Refinery Waivers Are Undercutting Farmers

On By josh-cook

Donald Trump will be in Iowa today, touring an ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, to celebrate the Environmental Protection Agency’s lift of a seasonal ban on E15, allowing for year-round sale of the gasoline mixture containing 15% ethanol. The ethanol tour was recently announced with Trump set to come to the state for a Republican Party fundraising event. The move to enforce year-round production and consumption of certain ethanol blends comes at a convenient time for Trump, but hasn’t gone without criticism. Farming advocates and Democratic presidential candidates call it an empty gesture, considering what else the White House is […]

Iowa Republicans Have Gone Trump

On By mark-smith

A guest post from House Leader Mark Smith As a lifetime resident of Iowa, I am proud of our state’s progressive history. We were vehemently opposed to slavery from our beginning days and we were one of the first states to call for public education for all children.  We were one of the first states to allow people of color to purchase land and Arabella Manfield’s admission to the Iowa Bar in 1869 made her the first female attorney in the United States. That’s why our motto – “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain” – has […]

Critical Next Two Weeks In Iowa For Trump And Clinton

On By prynard

For the next week and a half, Iowa is back in the center of the political universe, as is only right. But will we be after that? The presidential campaigns are barnstorming through Iowa over the next 10 days. Tim Kaine speaks today in Cedar Rapids. Jennifer Jacobs reported that Mike Pence will tour the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, while Donald Trump has promised to attend Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride the following Saturday. That’s a particularly big push for the Hawkeye State’s six electoral votes from the Republican nominee. Part of it might be a little bit of appreciation […]

Iowa GOP Courtship Of Trump Pays Off, But At What Long-Term Cost?

On By prynard

It seems the effort of many top Iowa Republican elected officials and leaders to ingratiate themselves with Donald Trump has succeeded. At the rally in Des Moines yesterday, Trump pledge to keep the Iowa Caucus first in the nation, even if he has some reservations about the caucus process. “Now, you know that Iowa, they’re talking about putting you at the back of the pack, you know that, right?” Trump told the crowd of about 2,000. “Not going to happen if I win, believe me. You’re going to stay right where you are. Because there’s a great history to it, […]

Iowa Republicans: The Most Pro-Trump Party In The Country?

On By prynard

“We need to support Donald Trump and his choice for vice president because he will make America great again!” boomed Governor Terry Branstad at the Republican Party of Iowa’s state convention this May. “We have an opportunity once again to make America great again,” Senator Chuck Grassley said in a warm introduction of Trump in Pella way back in January, one of the first Republican U.S. Senators to stand with him on a stage. “If you vote for him, Donald Trump, as the Republican nominee, the Republican Party of Iowa and this Republican chair will be behind him one thousand […]

Remember, Iowa: Here’s What Donald Trump Thinks Of Wind Energy

On By prynard

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took some time this past week to visit the all-important swing state of Scotland, during a visit to the opening of one of his luxury golf courses outside Aberdeen. Trump praised his son for his management of the property, took reporters on tours and used the occasion to praise the Brexit vote. What went unmentioned, however, was the long battle Trump fought with the locals in developing his golf course. His biggest enemy during that fight? Wind energy. “Ugly monstrosities” and “horrendous machines” is what Trump called the clean energy structures in the planned 11-turbine wind farm […]

Chuck Grassley Is Delaying Supreme Court Nomination For A Racist

On By prynard

There’s no other way to put it: Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is blocking President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination so that a racist can fill it instead. Donald Trump’s bigoted attacks on Judge Curiel’s Hispanic heritage finally did what so many other insane ramblings from the nominee haven’t: they shocked Republicans into condemnation. Paul Ryan called it the “the textbook definition of a racist comment.” Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk rescinded his endorsement and said he wouldn’t vote for Trump in November. An Iowa State Senator even left the Republican Party over it yesterday. What took them so long? Grassley, however, has been […]

No Joint Fundraising Talks Yet Between Trump and Iowa GOP

On By prynard

Politico reported earlier this week that the Donald Trump campaign is looking to set up a joint fundraising operation between them and the RNC and state parties. The structure they’re envisioning would allow for major donors to write much bigger checks that would eventually end up in the Trump and RNC’s coffers. It would also mark a more formal collaboration between Trump and the party infrastructure. So far, however, those talks haven’t made their way to Iowa yet. “We have not had specific conversations,” Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann told reporters last night. “We took a neutrality pledge, […]

5 Reasons Joni Ernst Will – And Won’t Be – Donald Trump’s Vice President

On By prynard

While many high-profile Republican leaders around the country have struggled in embracing Donald Trump as their nominee, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is all-in. So much so that he’s even offering up Iowa’s own Senator Joni Ernst as Trump’s potential running mate, saying he’ll personally press Trump on selecting her. Senator Chuck Grassley joined the chorus today, saying he thinks Ernst’s military background would help Trump’s shortcoming in that policy area. Does Ernst really have any chance of becoming Trump’s Vice President nominee? If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the 2016 campaign, you’d know that anything’s possible. Here’s our best […]

Who’s A Winner In American Elections? A Majority Or Plurality?

On By prynard

Guest post from Nate Willems This is America, whoever has a majority wins. This is America, whoever has the most votes wins. Which statement is more correct? We don’t seem to have a good or clear answer to this question. Put aside the law, the rules or the system. We lack a clear answer as to who should win or who deserves to win the Republican nomination. Trump appears on his way to winning the most Republican primary votes and delegates, but not a majority. Some believe Trump has no right to win the nomination in this situation – somebody […]