Tag Archives: Tom Harkin

Former Des Moines mayor, Frank Cownie, discusses UN climate summits

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ACTION ON CLIMATE … OR NOT
COP veteran and former Des Moines mayor Frank Cownie joins me for a hard look at UN climate summits, past and present. Overall, this year’s COP was disappointing. That’s probably no surprise, given that there were more than 1,600 fossil-fuel reps in attendance, and petro-states continue to wield inordinate influence.

With more and more local governments refusing to wait on national and international action, Frank’s idea of decentralizing the COP process is promising. Some cities and counties are already launching initiatives.

Two recent actions in Des Moines exemplify this strategy. Last month, working with Kathy, me, and local non-profits, the City coordinated planting 36 fruit trees in a public orchard at Drake Park. This isn’t a one-and-out. City staff are researching other good locations for urban orchards.

Also, this month the City Council voted to establish the Food Sustainability Advisory Committee. This permanent body is an encouraging outgrowth of the Food Security Task Force that Kathy and I led the way to bring to fruition several years ago. Continue Reading →

Does America need a divorce, or just marriage counseling?

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Des Moines Area Community College poli-sci prof, Jeffrey Weiss, thinks so. He’s written a piece called We the people, to dissolve an imperfect union, grant a divorce to the United States of America. You oughta read it.

Weiss also makes his case on this week’s Fallon Forum. We discuss dividing the country along the Mississippi River — Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other. I ask tough questions like, “Who gets the nuclear weapons?” and “Won’t it just devolve into another violent civil war?”

Really, someone oughta organize a debate for us.

I’m not for divorce. I’m for marriage counseling. Let’s talk through our differences and brainstorm solutions. I believe that most Americans want to persevere and continue this grand experiment to build a more perfect melting pot of freedom, justice, and democracy. (I know, we still have a long, long way to go.)

As Kathy said to me after we recorded the program, “When a relationship is so bad that one party recommends ending it, both parties might suddenly wake up to the reality that splitting up would be harder than taking steps to make up.” Continue Reading →

Tom Harkin is right about Iowa’s water quality problem

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Iowa’s water is so bad it should be the top issue in the next election. We’ve known about the crisis for years, but state and federal officials have done nothing. As a result, Iowa’s water quality is now worse than ever.

That fact is evidenced by a comprehensive report just released by Polk County government, Currents of Change.

What’s contaminating our water? Fertilizer and manure runoff are the primary culprits. High levels of nitrates and other toxins are making people sick, and literally killing some of us.

Iowa has the second highest rate of cancer in the nation.

Des Moines operates one of the most expensive nitrate removal systems in the world, at a cost to residents of $10,000 per day. Beyond the cost, people are rightfully concerned about the system’s capacity to bring nitrate concentrations down to the federal level — a level some experts feel is too high. Continue Reading →

Solutions to Iowa’s “red-state” problem

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I first met Dennis Kucinich in 2003 when he ran for president. Unlike most politicians, when Dennis took a position on an issue, you knew exactly where he stood. There was no equivocation, no weighing of political nuances, no corporate donors to appease. Refreshing and, alas, rare.

I hope you’ll listen to my discussion with Dennis, which covers the sorry state of the Democratic Party, the Biden administration’s misguided foreign policy, and how “free” trade treaties have eroded the economic foundation of our country.

Here’s a quote from my interview with Dennis: “The Democratic Party used to stand for the small farmers trying to resist monopolies. Now you have agribusinesses that don’t give a damn about the soil, and we see taxpayers’ money helping facilitate the destruction of millions of acres of farmland to create shopping malls for the purpose of marketing goods from China.”
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 →

Joel Brown: Former Democratic lawmaker, Trump voter

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Joel’s interest in politics is driven by two key passions: decentralizing the economy and freedom of speech. “The first speech I gave as a lawmaker was on a bill to extend First Amendment protections to student newspapers, protecting students from school administrator censorship,” Joel told me. “In my mind, that’s a big part of what the Democratic Party was all about.” Continue Reading →

Copters for Kids

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Dear Friends, {Check out and “like” my Facebook Page for pics, videos and impressions of the presidential candidates . . . and for updates on my exploits with chickens and Continue Reading →