Tag Archives: Iowa Democratic Party

If Iowa Democrats lose in November, blame this

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Why do I think Democrats are headed for another train wreck? Let me take you back to 2006, when I ran for governor. Rural Iowans of all political stripes were fed up with Republicans’ unwillingness to fix the Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) problem. That issue was a key factor in Democrats winning the governor’s office that year and taking control of the Iowa House and Senate.

With a new party in charge, Iowans expected results. Voters gave Democrats four years to fix the CAFO problem. Democrats failed — miserably, in fact, arguably making the problem worse.

Today, the political landscape in Iowa is much the same. Republicans refuse to help rural Iowans threatened by 2,000 miles (yes, 2,000!) of CO2 pipelines. Once again, they’ve handed Democrats a winning issue.

And what does the leadership of the Iowa Democratic Party do? So far, it has refused to take a stand against this property-rights-trampling, public-health-menacing, faux-climate-solution greenwashing scheme. Continue Reading →

Iowa Republicans hand Democrats a golden opportunity

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Republicans just handed Democrats a winning issue: EMINENT DOMAIN! With nearly 2,000 miles of Iowa farmland in the crosshairs of three CO2 pipelines, most rural Iowans are concerned that their land could be taken by force.

The Poobahs of the Iowa Republican Party — Reynolds, Branstad, Grassley, Ernst, Rastetter — are all on board with CO2 pipelines.

What about rank-and-file Republican lawmakers? Hard to say, but it doesn’t look like legislative leaders have the guts to buck the Poobahs. Continue Reading →

How an industry took over a political party that took over the US

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Rosenwald talks about how, early on in his career, Limbaugh was a failure, being fired from one radio stint after another. Limbaugh wasn’t very political. He didn’t bother to vote until his 30s. It will probably surprise you that Rosenwald says, “Limbaugh was so entertaining that he would have been equally successful had he been a liberal.”

Ouch. Opportunity squandered … perhaps. Entertainment (and the advertising revenue it brought in) was Limbaugh’s bottom line. He had no political agenda at first, and often used, even abused, parody.

Once, by way of taking a shot at the Great Peace March (my first foray into social change work!), Limbaugh told his audience that if you play Una Paloma Blanca backwards you’ll hear the voice of the devil. Limbaugh knew he was making it up. Much of his audience believed it. Continue Reading →

Navigator Pipeline Hearings Scheduled

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Two carbon dioxide pipelines are now formally proposed to tear through approximately 1,600 miles of Iowa farmland. That’s over four times the length of the Dakota Access Pipeline’s footprint across Iowa!

With Iowa landowners and other concerned residents still trying to process information from thirty Summit Pipeline public hearings that just wrapped up, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) wasted no time announcing a new set of hearings for the Navigator Pipeline.

We can’t sit back. We’ve gotta respond. These big corporations and their bought-and-paid for allies in state government hope to wear us down. Continue Reading →

Presidential Primary, 2024: A Modest Proposal

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In 2024, voting would begin on Tuesday, February 6. One state would vote each of the first six Tuesdays. We give states with the smallest populations precedence, since that allows the greatest candidate exposure. After that, four states, roughly in the same region, would vote each week through May 28. Continue Reading →

Politics: Steyer sinks as Iowa women rise

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Dear Friends, I caught the tail end of Tom Steyer’s bait-and-switch press conference yesterday. With great flair and grandiosity, Steyer announced he wasn’t running for President. Instead, he’ll invest his Continue Reading →

Midterm Election: The Color Purple

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Dear Friends, First, I want to thank Matt McCoy for calling out Matt Whitaker (President Trump’s new acting Attorney General) for Whitaker’s politically-motivated witch hunt against McCoy in 2007. Whitaker Continue Reading →

Politico calls Rob Sand a “young Robert Mueller”

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Dear Friends, The excitement around November 6 is above and beyond what we normally experience leading up to an off-year election. Coast to coast, young, progressive candidates are fueling that Continue Reading →