Members of the House Populist Caucus, chaired by Representative Bruce Braley (IA-01), held a press conference on Thursday to endorse a bill that would "assess a small fee on Wall Street day traders to pay down the national deficit and invest in America's middle class families."
Voters will elect a new state representative for Iowa House district 90 in a special election on September 1. The southeastern Iowa district leans slightly Democratic in terms of voter registration, but political scientists have found that special elections and by-elections often favor opposition parties, whose supporters are more motivated to turn out. (Democrats control both chambers of the Iowa legislature as well as the governor's chair.)
Neither Republican Stephen Burgmeier nor Democrat Curt Hanson has highlighted same-sex marriage rights during the brief campaign in district 90, but a major advertising campaign funded by the National Organization for Marriage is likely to put the issue front and center during the final stretch.
(the GOP has no new issues... - promoted by poligirl)
Iowans in House district 90 will elect a new state representative in a special election on September 1, and the Republican candidate appears to be planning to make same-sex marriage a major campaign issue.
(an update on those GOPer tactics... - promoted by poligirl)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Iowa Saturday for a major fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (minimum donation $2,500). She also tacked on a public event to discuss stimulus spending on education in Iowa.
The occasion gave us a glimpse of cutting-edge Republican strategery.
(GOP, healthcare, and budget reconciliation... - promoted by poligirl)
As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Chuck Grassley will influence the shape of health care reform. For that reason, he and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana were invited to lunch at the White House on Wednesday with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Grassley's message to the president and vice president, as well as to every journalist who'll listen, is that health care reform should be done through a bipartisan bill that can receive 70 or 80 votes in the Senate. (See also Grassley's recent guest editorial at Politico.)
Many Democrats want to include a health care bill in the budget reconciliation process, which would prevent a Republican filibuster. Grassley warns that it would be a mistake to reform such a large part of the U.S. economy without broad support from members of Congress in both parties.
After the jump I'll explain why Grassley is wrong, wrong, wrong about health care reform.
(the importance of down-ticket races... - promoted by poligirl)
It's the third year that Democrats control both chambers of the Iowa legislature as well as the governor's chair, and party leaders want to seize the opportunity to pass some good labor legislation. In 2007, Democrats controlled the Iowa House 53-47 but couldn't find enough votes to pass a "fair share" bill that would have forced individuals represented by unions to stop being "free riders." In 2008, Governor Chet Culver angered labor activists by vetoing a bill that would have expanded collective bargaining rights. That prompted several major labor unions in Iowa to stop giving to Culver's campaign committee.
This week a "prevailing wage" bill dominated debate in the Iowa House. The rest of this sad story is after the jump.
(what a whole lot of us were doin' one year ago today... :D - promoted by poligirl)
A year ago tonight, nearly 240,000 Iowans spent a couple of hours in overcrowded rooms during the Democratic precinct caucuses.
Thousands of others came to freezing cold Iowa to knock on doors or make phone calls for their presidential candidate in late December and early January.
Share any memories you have about caucusing or volunteering in this thread.
After the jump I re-posted my account of what happened at my own caucus. I was a precinct captain for Edwards.
I do most of my writing at the Iowa progressive community blog Bleeding Heartland.
Last year at this time I was scrambling to make as many phone calls and knock on as many doors as I could before the Iowa caucuses on January 3.
This week I had a little more time to reflect on the year that just ended.
After the jump I've linked to Bleeding Heartland highlights in 2008. Most of the links relate to Iowa politics, but some also covered issues or strategy of national importance.
I only linked to a few posts about the presidential race. I'll do a review of Bleeding Heartland's 2008 presidential election coverage later this month.
(Braley was an Edwards guy and boy do we need a populist caucus! :D - promoted by poligirl)
Just a quick hit to let the Progressive Blue community know that Congressman Bruce Braley (D, IA-01) is forming a new Populist Caucus.
Matt Stoller has the Dear Colleague letter Braley is circulating. The Populist Caucus will focus on tax, wage, employment, health care, education, consumer protection and fair trade policies to benefit working families and the middle class.
(a position that we could really use... - promoted by poligirl)
Iowa Democrat Ed Fallon, unsuccessful candidate in the 2006 gubernatorial primary and this year's third Congressional district primary, wrote Barack Obama a letter applying for the job of "White House Farmer."
Fallon campaigned for John Edwards before the Iowa caucuses but endorsed Obama immediately after Edwards dropped out of the presidential race. His letter to Obama is after the jump.
