Free Republic

Minnesota Governor and 2012 Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty needed to make an impressive showing in his first major speech in front of Iowa's most influential Republicans. He accomplished that goal. Pawlenty's speech at the Iowa GOP's fall fundraiser was peppered with humor, stiff jabs at Barack Obama, and well-placed, straight right wing points

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is planning a second anti-health care reform Tea Party at the Capitol -- this one scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday -- approximately the time when the House is due to vote on Democrats' public option bill, POLITICO's Jake Sherman reports. King and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) organized a rally Thursday that drew thousands to the west front of the Capitol, drawing chants of “Kill the Bill.” There were a handful of arrests. “We can kill this bill and stop the government takeover of health care,” King said in a news release. “We need the help of...

For conservative political junkies in the Hawkeye State, Saturday is a great opportunity to get your fix. Three major events take place throughout the day and they are spread out enough that you can check out all them. The first is the Iowa Tea Party Statewide Convention...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An aide says lawyer Roxanne Conlin will announce next week she'll seek the Democratic nomination for US Senate in 2010, seeking to oppose Republican Sen. Charles Grassley... The 65-year-old Conlin was the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 1982 and has been one of the nation's most prominent trial lawyers, at one point heading the National Trial Lawyer's Association...

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in two cases involving claims that the criminal justice system had gone badly awry. In one, Iowa prosecutors are accused of fabricating evidence that sent two innocent men to life imprisonment for murder. In the other, an Alabama prisoner attributed his death sentence to an appointed defense lawyer's failure to present evidence at the sentencing phase of his trial.... In the Iowa case, Curtis W. McGhee Jr. and Terry J. Harrington, having spent 25 years in prison, were freed after the Iowa Supreme Court's determination in 2003 that the main witness against them was...

A former state lawmaker will become the mayor of Cedar Rapids, as the city strives to recover from last year’s devastating flood. Ron Corbett overwhelmingly defeated his main challenger, city council member Brian Fagan on Tuesday. Mayor Kay Halloran did not seek re-election. Corbett says this election proves Cedar Rapids residents are dissatisfied with how city government responded to the flood. “It’s been 17 months, still no buyouts,” Corbett says. “Very little of the local option sales tax is getting into the pockets to help the flood victims, so a lot of frustration.” Corbett got about 62-percent of the vote,...

DES MOINES - Days before traveling to Iowa to headline a Republican Party fundraiser, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was noncommittal about whether he would run for president but didn't shut the door to a campaign. In recent weeks, Pawlenty has launched the Freedom First PAC, fueling speculation that he is gearing up for a presidential run in 2012. Pawlenty appears Saturday at a Republican Party of Iowa gathering at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, where he will keynote the event. Pawlenty said he'll make a decision about his future shortly after he finishes out his current term as governor. "But I...

My call to representative Leonard Boswell of Iowa

Buffett's Big Bet: $34B On 2nd-Largest Railroad Freight expectations: Warren Buffett goes `all-in' with $34B bet on railroads and the economy By Samantha Bomkamp,November 3, 2009 NEW YORK (AP) -- The biggest name in investing is making what he calls an "all-in wager" on the U.S. economy -- $34 billion to own a railroad that hauls everything from corn to cars across the country. The acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nation's second-largest railroad, would be the biggest ever for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investment company. It's a natural fit for the Oracle of Omaha, a city with a...

In Iowa, Euphoria Gives Way to Second Thoughts on Obama JEFF ZELENY November 2, 2009 WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa — Pauline McAreavy voted for President Obama. From the moment she first saw him two years ago, she was smitten by his speeches and sold on his promise of change. She switched parties to support him in the Iowa caucuses, donated money and opened her home to a pair of young campaign workers. “I really thought there would be immediate change,” said Pauline McAreavy, 76, a retired school nurse. But by the time she received a fund-raising letter last month from the Democratic...

Pauline McAreavy voted for President Obama. From the moment she first saw him two years ago, she was smitten by his speeches and sold on his promise of change. She switched parties to support him in the Iowa caucuses, donated money and opened her home to a pair of young campaign workers. But by the time she received a fund-raising letter last month from the Democratic National Committee, a sense of disappointment had set in. She returned the solicitation with a handwritten note, saying: “Until I see some progress and he lives up to his promises in Iowa, we will...

IOWA CITY — Wendell Potter refers to the health insurance industry as “masters of deceit.” It’s not a slam from an outsider. Potter, 58, of Philadelphia, was once one of them. After a 20-year career in public relations that ended as chief corporate spokesman of CIGNA Corp., one of the nation’s largest health insurers, Potter left last year. “I told them I just didn’t want to do it anymore,” he said in a phone interview with The Gazette. At the time, he didn’t plan on speaking out against the industry where he had honed a successful career. But after seeing...

Sanford Bishop (GA-2) WASHINGTON OFFICE 2429 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington DC 20515-1002 Phone- (202) 225-3631 Fax- (202) 225-2203 ALBANY OFFICE 235 Roosevelt Avenue Albany Towers, Suite 114 Albany GA 31701 Phone: (229) 439-8067 Fax: (229) 436-2099 COLUMBUS OFFICE 18 Ninth Street, Suite 201 Columbus, GA 31901 Phone: (706) 320-9477 Fax: (706) 320-9479 THOMASVILLE OFFICE 137 East Jackson Street, Thomasville, GA 31792 Phone: (229) 226-7789 Fax: (229) 226-7860 Contact him http://bishop.house.gov/display.cfm?section_id=13 Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sanford-Bishop-Jr/18910585219 Dan Boren (OK-2) Muskogee Office 431 W. Broadway Muskogee, OK 74401 (918) 687-2533 (918) 686-0128 fax Claremore Office 309 W. 1st Street Claremore, OK 74017 (918) 341-9336...

Sarah Palin and Fred Thompson had the guts to do what Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and the entire Republican Party would not do. One month ago, Thompson became the first prominent national Republican to endorse Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the New York District 23 Congressional race. Palin made an even bigger impact by endorsing Hoffman a week and a half ago. In doing so, Palin lived up to her penchant for going against the mainstream and taking on powerbrokers inside her own party.

Palin says 'not now' to Iowa invite

Bill Gates took on the Famine Lobby while addressing a forum on the world food supply in Iowa. Speaking at the World Food Prize Symposium in Des Moines, Gates took aim at the chorus of environmental leftists and organic food advocates who believe Africans should starve rather than eat genetically modified (GM) foods. “Some voices are instantly hostile to any emphasis on productivity. They act as if there is no emergency, even though in the poorest, hungriest places on earth, population is growing faster than productivity,” he said.The opposition is significant, because Gates is left-of-center himself. The Bill and Melinda...

She’s not coming, but would like to in the future. She’d also come for free. Bryan English at the Iowa Family Policy Center just sent the following press release: "10/30/09 Pleasant Hill, IA – Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION received word this morning that Governor Sarah Palin is unable to accept our speaking invitation due to her book tour contractual commitments, which cannot be changed. We extended our invitation knowing she would be in the middle of her book tour and the chances of her being able to accept any invitations were extremely slim. She has asked if she could...

The Iowa Family Policy Center makes official what Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton suggested to me earlier this week: that the former Alaska governor won't be appearing before the social conservative group later this month. Apparently, issuing a statement before she commits suggesting she may be coming and dangling $100,000 at her isn't the way to coax Palin into an appearance. "Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION received word this morning that Governor Sarah Palin is unable to accept our speaking invitation due to her book tour contractual commitments, which cannot be changed. We extended our invitation knowing she would be in...

The news is everywhere. Voters are realizing that the current Democratic/Republican party system is no longer responsive to the voice of “We the People.� In New York, third party candidate Doug Hoffman is now leading in the polls in the special congressional election. In New Jersey, Independent Candidate Chris Daggett is taking a big bite out of his Republican and Democratic opponents. The myth that an Independent candidate can’t win, a myth that is intentionally perpetuated by the two major parties, is being dispelled. In his farewell address, George Washington warned about the corrupting danger of political parties. His fears...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front. "We went to South Dakota and went to the Circle B Ranch," said Chenoa Martin, Jazmine's mother. "There's a show of the old West -- a stampede. Had a gun shoot-out and stuff like that. When they fire their rifles, they do it into the crowd. It...

In an October 28, 2009 House Judiciary Committee hearing, Congressman Steve King questions NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on comments he made regarding Rush Limbaugh. VIDEO Rush's Response to Commissioner Goodell's Answer: Of course, Goodell's a total weasel. He had no answer about the Dolphins' owners so wouldn't even address the question, and he got on his high horse about how McNabb is a fine player and a fine person and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin, when I (a) never said he was not a fine person; (b) never said he was a bad QB...

CARROLL, Iowa -- Police said they had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into a Carroll apartment. Police were responding to a call about an attempted burglary when they pulled over a car matching the alleged suspects' vehicle. Inside the car, officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. Police said the caller described two men with painted faces attempting to break into an apartment Friday night before driving off. Twenty-three-year-old Matthew McNelly and 20-year-old Joey Miller were arrested at gunpoint after officers were told they might be armed. Neither man had a...

A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front.

A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front.

A federal grand jury in Davenport is investigating a nationally publicized, animal-rights-related break-in at a University of Iowa lab in 2004, according to a 20-year-old woman from Minneapolis who says she is a possible target of the inquiry. Carrie Feldman refused to testify when she was subpoenaed to testify at the federal courthouse on Oct. 15, she said. She will refuse again at a second ordered appearance on Nov. 17, she said. Ultimately, she could be held in contempt of court and taken into custody. At least four masked people released hundreds of animals and caused hundreds of thousands of...

Attorney Roxanne Conlin (D) is saying that she is “more likely than not” going to challenge Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in 2010. Conlin, the losing Democratic nominee for governor in 1982 and a former president of the trial lawyers’ national association, on Thursday told the Des Moines Register, “I don’t know how this is going to come together, but I have reached the point where I would like to do it.” Democratic leaders are promising a vigorous challenger for Grassley, who has won all four of his Senate re-election bids with at least 66 percent of the vote against weak...

Nice catch by The Minnesota Independent’s Andy Birkey. During an interview with the Sioux City [Iowa] Journal published Tuesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she was not weighing a run for president — despite recent suggestions that she may hold ambitions for higher office — but she did offer an endorsement of her own: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). From The Minnesota Independent: “Steve King is mentioned as a potential nominee,” Bachmann said. “I have a very high opinion of Steve King and his ability, so I would encourage him to consider any position for higher office.” Like Bachmann, King is...

The Sioux City Journal’s Bret Hayworth sat down with Minnesota’s controversial Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann Tuesday, and when talk turned to the 2012 presidential campaign she offered up a name that hasn’t surfaced as a potential contender: Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron. From Hayworth’s blog: Additionally, I asked Bachmann if she is being prodded to seek the 2012 presidency, given her growing national profile. She said she has no doubts the GOP will produce a good crop of presidential candidates, and threw out King as a name of interest. “Steve King is mentioned as a potential nominee. I have a very...

Ignacio Ponseti, MD, whose pioneering, non-surgical, low-cost clubfoot treatment has benefited hundreds of thousands of children worldwide, died Oct. 18 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics at age 95 following a sudden illness. Ponseti's gentle methods and soft-spoken compassion were a hallmark of a six-decade commitment to helping children, and belied a sometimes tumultuous, even dangerous, early career in medicine. Ponseti was born in 1914 on the Spanish island of Minorca. As a teenager, he worked summers in his watchmaker father's repair shop. Hours spent learning to make and replace tiny, delicate watch parts were lessons in patience and...

SPENCER, Iowa -- A Northwest Iowa plant that makes engine seals for the automotive industry is closing, costing 65 workers their jobs. Michigan-based Freudenberg-NOK announced Wednesday it would close its Spencer plant and distribution center over the next six months and transfer the work to two facilities in Ohio. A Freudenberg-NOK spokeswoman attributed the decision to the economic downturn, which reduced sales to the manufacturing industry. The firm was forced to reassess its operations, and consolidate its maufacturing facilities, which have been operating at reduced capacity, said Sarah O'Hare, the company's vice president of human resources and communications.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Office furniture and fireplace insert manufacturer HNI Corp. said Friday it plans to close a Kentucky factory to reduce costs. The company said it notified workers and union officials of its decision to close the Owensboro, Ky., office furniture factory beginning in the fourth quarter. The work will be absorbed by other factories. The closure should be completed by the end of the second quarter 2010.

George Pataki will be in Iowa next month to raise money for local Republicans. The former New York governor will be the headline speaker at a fundraising event on November 10th, according to Brian Kennedy, finance director for the Scott County Republican Party. The visit could boost speculation that Pataki is planning to run for the Republican party nomination in the 2012 election. Other potential GOP candidates, such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, will be at an event in Des Moines three days prior. Pataki spent time in Iowa during the 2008 presidential election; however, he did not seek the...

President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul the nation's health care system is expected to clear its last committee hurdle Tuesday -- but almost certainly without the strong bipartisan endorsement he and some moderate Republicans have sought. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on a plan to would require nearly all Americans to get coverage, while barring insurers from denying people policies because of pre-existing conditions and imposing excise taxes on insurers' most expensive plans. The committee is the last of five congressional panels considering the measure. Once Finance is done, Senate leaders and the White House will merge...

I have a confession to make. Simply, I have been unworried, untroubled and unconcerned. I was unwilling to take the time to study the subject of life and unenthusiastic about preserving it. Abortion didn’t affect me, so, why should I invest any thought into the debate? Although I did not believe in abortion, I was disposed to allowing the mother to make her own decision … she would have to live with it. In short, it was none of my business. A few years back, during the process of a sexual assault investigation, I was sent to get evidence at...

More cuts to come in FY2011, the governor says Gov. Chet Culver has ordered an across-the-board cut of the state’s budget of 10 percent, or about $600 million. The cuts will likely result in “hundreds of state employees” losing their jobs, Culver said. The cuts could also result in the wholesale elimination of some state programs, although no specific programs were named. No department or program will be spared. All tax increases are “off the table.” In making the across-the-board cuts, Culver dismissed the idea of calling a special session of the legislature in order to make targeted cuts, a...

Iowa at Disney encouraging gays to move to Hawkeye State October 2nd, 2009 by Eric Carpenter Figuring that plenty of gay couples in California are frustrated by the inability to get legally married here, representatives from Iowa have set up a booth at Gay Days at the Disneyland Resort encouraging them to consider moving to the Hawkeye State. Iowa is one of four states nationwide that allow gay marriages. That state’s Supreme Court made the decision earlier this year. Two representatives for three regional visitors bureaus flew out for the three-day Gay Days, when 30,000 partipants roll into town to...

www.iowacarry.org. Iowa Carry, an organization devoted to preservation of Second Amendment rights, will hold a rally noon Saturday in Library Square in Estherville. A free lunch will be provided. According to Larry Walders, Iowa Carry Emmet County coordinator, Saturday's rally is to acquaint local citizens with the concealed carry law in Iowa. "There's 99 counties and there's 99 different policies," Walders said. Walders said a bill will be introduced in next year's Iowa Legislature to change the law from stating that county sheriff's "may issue" to "shall issue" concealed weapons permits to applicants. Walders said the legislation will provide that...

A lesbian political activist who donated thousands to Democrats and homosexual causes is suspected of embezzling nearly $6 million from one of the world's largest insurance firms. Despite her $40,000 a year salary as an insurance compensation specialist, Phyllis Stevens purchased two homes valued at more than $550,000 and gave thousands of dollars in donations to Democratic Party political candidates and homosexual groups. The 58-year-old chairs the Midwest Chapter of Marriage Equality USA, a homosexual "marriage" advocacy group. She is accused of embezzling the money from health insurer Aviva over a period of five years. A civil complaint filed in...

see links in post below

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) tells NRO that he looks forward to reading former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s upcoming memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, once it is published on November 17. “Sarah has jumped onto the scene and has been hammered by the mainstream media,” says Santorum. “This is an opportunity for her to show a more thoughtful side. She has a gift for prose. Hopefully that comes across.” Santorum says he knows how it feels to be a conservative author dealing with unfriendly critics. In 2005, he published It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good....

ACORN is using a tangled web of tax-exempt organizations to funnel tax money to itself according to a detailed review released last night by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.Some or all of them may be nothing more than shell companies used to pass money from the government directly through to ACORN and its affiliates. “This analysis regarding the vast number of charitable organizations that ACORN set up to funnel money to itself raises questions about whether ACORN used the entities to advance the charitable mission of helping poor people get housing, or whether...

Lowell Vos believes in playing fair. The rural Kingsley man also believes in standing up for his rights, even when the odds are against him. Vos waged a David versus Goliath battle last year when he refused to pay a fine levied on him by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). His problems began in January of 2007. That's when he received notice that manure from his cattle yard was supposedly running off into Elliot Creek, a charge he knew was unfounded. "I told my wife 'This isn't right. I did everything right,'" he explained. He was one of four Iowa cattle...

Longtime Republican Senator Charles Grassley has a nearly two-to-one lead over his likeliest Democratic challenger Bob Krause in the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of Iowa voters. Grassley leads Krause 56% to 30%. Seven percent (7%) favor some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. Grassley who is expected to seek a sixth term in the Senate next year captured 70% of the vote in November 2004. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, he is a member of the so-called “Gang of Six” who thus far have been unsuccessful in coming up with a...

he nation’s economy has taken its toll on incumbent governors across the country, and Iowa Governor Chet Culver is no exception. Add to that the difficult political environment for Democrats at the moment, and Culver’s potential vulnerability becomes clear. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of the Iowa governor’s race shows Culver trailing badly in a match-up with one of his predecessors and running even with a lesser-known challenger. Terry Branstad, now president of Des Moines University, leads Culver 54% to 34%. Branstad, a Republican, was the youngest governor in Iowa history and served longer than anybody else,...

Many immigrants are drawn to the Midwest for the same reasons that anyone moves to the heartland: job opportunities, the strong educational system and the high quality of life. However, new immigrant workers are too often vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation or unsafe working conditions, according to Amy Weismann, University of Iowa Center for Human Rights deputy director. The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded a grant of $50,000 to the UI Center for Human Rights, the UI Labor Center and Nebraska Appleseed for Law in the Public Interest to extend significant outreach activities to immigrant workforces in Iowa and Nebraska....

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has blocked the ambassadorial nomination of Alan Solomont, currently chairman of the board of the government agency that oversees AmeriCorps, in retaliation for what Grassley says is the administration's stonewalling of Congress over documents relating to the firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. Specifically, Grassley has sought, and been denied, information relating to the White House's role in the decision to fire Walpin. Solomont, a major Democratic donor, is chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes AmeriCorps. His term ends in October, and President Obama has nominated him to be U.S....

State Highway 9 is a two lane strip of asphalt that cuts across the northernmost tier of counties in Iowa, from Larchwood to Lansing. If you drive its 320 miles, as I have done many times, you will not be dissuaded from the stereotype of Iowa as a flat boring expanse of cornfields. The few points of interest include Lake Okoboji and the headquarters of Winnebago in Forest City. It takes you near Mason City, the model for "River City" in Meredith Willson's The Music Man, and the site of the plane crash that claimed Buddy Holly after a February...

Regulators close subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana at a cost of $850 million to the FDIC. BY BEN ROONEY NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Regulators closed subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 94, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

> The giant crop is good news for farmers and livestock producers, who should benefit from lower feed costs, but it probably won't make a big difference to the cost of groceries. Although corn is a key ingredient in countless products, from Coke to corn flakes, most of a product's cost is tied to labor and transportation... >

PDF so I can't cut/paste. Grassley letter to Chairman of FCC about problems with Mark Lloyd. Now's the time to take out another czar. http://grassley.senate.gov/upload/Letter-to-FCC-Chairman.pdf