Tag Archives: Iowa Capital Dispatch

Republicans refuse to address crisis in long-term care

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I was introduced to the rampant negligence in our elder care “industry” in the early 1990s, during my first term as a State Representative. On walks home from the State Capitol, I’d make unannounced visits to one of the nursing homes in my legislative district. Some of the conditions I observed were nothing short of appalling.

Sadly, things have only gotten worse. The for-profit nursing home industry has a powerful lobby, and it plays hardball through generous campaign contributions to key lawmakers, almost exclusively Republican.

A December 22, 2023 Iowa Capital Dispatch story by Clark Kaufmann lays out the nursing home money problem: The political action committee that represents Iowa’s nursing home industry had donated $30,000 to Reynolds’ 2022 reelection effort. David Chensvold, nursing home consultant and president of HealthCARE of Iowa, gave $20,000. Ted LeNeave, CEO of Accura Healthcare, gave $10,000, as did Lisa Toti, president of Accura Healthcare. Richard Allbee, CEO of the ABCM nursing home chain, gave $5,000, as did Douglas Johnson, CEO of Blue Stone Therapy.

Not every issue is this cut and dried. But when you follow the money, it’s clear that key Republican leaders are all kinds of cozy with the nursing home industry. Continue Reading →

Why Biden and the DNC killed the Caucuses

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Democrats across the US are celebrating the demise of the Iowa Caucuses. That’s unfortunate, because the passing of the Iowa Caucuses is a huge loss to democracy. And President Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are to blame.

Iowa has never gone well for Biden. In 1988, Biden polled poorly even before dropping out after he got caught plagiarizing Neil Kinnock. In 2008, Biden finished fifth in Iowa. In 2020, fourth. Ouch.

It’s no surprise that Biden would love to never have to campaign in Iowa again. He made that clear at a 2019 forum when he said to me and others in attendance, “All you guys in Iowa are pains in the neck, you know that?”

Continue Reading →

Marijuana: Legalize it!

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During my 38 years as a politician and activist, I’ve frequently been out of step with mainstream opinion on controversial issues. One of those is cannabis. After meeting Carl Olsen in 1992 during my first legislative campaign, I agreed to help push legislation to legalize marijuana.

Carl’s my guest on the first segment of this week’s program — and a veritable encyclopedia of weed wisdom. Carl has spent his adult life pushing to decriminalize marijuana. He understands the ins and outs of federal and state drug policy better than anyone I know.

With Carl’s guidance, in 1993 I was one of ten House members — nine Democrats and one Republican — who introduced HF 404. That bill would have authorized the lawful possession of marijuana for therapeutic purposes. Not surprisingly, in the Republican-controlled Iowa House, it went nowhere. Continue Reading →

At the polls or by mail — VOTE!

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My column last week created some confusion, sorry. The title was Don’t Vote by Mail!, and if that’s as far as you got, you might have thought I was telling people either to vote at the polls or not at all. Never! Going forward, I’ll try to be more diligent in my selection of titles, remembering that’s are as far as some readers get. Beyond that, thanks to conversations with election officials last week, I’m now more confident that when Iowans cast their votes by mail or at the county auditor’s office, they will be counted. Continue Reading →