Free Republic

Funnel week has come and gone in Des Moines, and while some good bills made it out of committee, several other good bills were allowed to die a death of apathy. Here's a rundown of what's what under the gold dome. * HF 208 - This bill would modify the disposal requirements of firearms and ammunition seized by or forfeited to Iowa law enforcement agencies, including DPS. It essentially gives the agency that seized the firearms or ammunition greater control over how it is disposed of, including sale to the public. (Assigned to a subcommittee of Baudler, Kressig, and Tjepkes...

We are still waiting on the Senate to decide the fate of a National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Bill, one that would provide a national standard in accordance with which nonresidents of a State may carry concealed firearms in the State. But in meantime, states are continuing to reach out to each other to forge state-to-state concealed carry reciprocity agreements (there’s no reason to wait on the Fed). The latest state to expand its reciprocal recognition program is Georgia, which added Iowa and Wisconsin to its list last month bringing its total to 26. Georgia currently reciprocates in recognizing firearms licenses with...

The Des Moines Register ran a story today that highlights the need for a strong “Stand Your Ground” law. Not just in Iowa, where it is being hotly debated right now, but anywhere in the country that the freedoms and liberties of citizens who are going about their day-to-day activities are expected to be more important than those of citizens who have little regard for the life and health of others in the community. In their story, the Register details the circumstances around a man, Jay Rodney Lewis, who was put in jail and stayed there for 112 days until...

WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM WITH ROMNEY?February 22, 2012 As governor of one of the most liberal states in the union, Mitt Romney did something even Ronald Reagan didn't do as governor of California: He balanced the budget without raising taxes. Romney became deeply pro-life as governor of the aforementioned liberal state and vetoed an embryonic stem cell bill. (Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich lobbied President George W. Bush to allow embryonic stem cell research.) Romney's approach to illegal immigration in Massachusetts resembled what Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona is doing today, making her a right-wing heroine. Romney pushed the conservative alternative to...

It’s easy to get distracted when presidential politics take over the political scene in Iowa every four years. With 24-hour cable news channels and unlimited campaign coverage via the Internet, one’s attention can easily become dominated by presidential politics even after the caucuses are long over. While caucuses allow us Iowans a chance to play in the big leagues for a while, they also take attention away from other important primaries that are quickly approaching. In just over three months, or 109 days to be exact, voters will pick the Republican nominee in two eastern Iowa congressional districts. Both the...

Is Barack Obama electable? Further evidence of the erosion of President Obama’s electability comes from Iowa as the liberal Des Moines Register’s latest poll shows the president is behind 3 of the 4 remaining Republican presidential candidates by 2 to 7 points — in a state he won by 10 points in 2008. The numbers: Ron Paul 49% Barack Obama 42% Rick Santorum 48% Barack Obama 44% Mitt Romney 46% Barack Obama 44% The increasingly irrelevant Newt Gingrich is down 51%-37% to the president. Iowa is one of 11 states that are considered “toss-up” by Real Clear Politics.

Gannett Rag - Link Only http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120218/NEWS09/120218015/Obama-trails-three-four-Republican-candidates-latest-Iowa-Pol

Des Moines Register articles may only be linked: Denied jobs, blacks in Iowa test new bias legal theory

She was dead. The woman lay on her back in the middle of the street. Her eyes were open and staring up at the sky, clouds reflecting on the haze forming over them. Pools of thick, dark syrup formed under her back, her life blood oozing out across the black asphalt around her body. I was there when she died. It's a hell of a thing, death. Anyone who has been around it knows about that moment when someone goes from being a person to a thing. It's a curiosity, almost magical in a way. You can't help but be...

[snip] Air Force Secretary Michael Donley met Tuesday with Michigan Reps. Candice Miller and Tim Walberg, who concerned about losing the A-10 mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. “Secretary Donley indicated that the Obama Administration is not open to making any alterations to their proposed cuts and all of the cuts outlined last week will be included in the budget the President plans to send to Congress next week,” the two Republicans said in a joint statement. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, left a Thursday meeting with Donley still frustrated with the Pentagon’s plans for the Iowa National Guard’s 132nd...

HJR 2005 and HF 2114 were debated in the House Public Safety Committee (PSC) today. Unfortunately for gun owners in Iowa, the true intent of both of these pieces of legislation was evidently lost on the Chairman of the committee. Representative Clel Baudler sided with the Democrat members of the committee, and both bills were watered down to the point of being useless. HJR 2005 was intended to add the right to keep and bear arms to the Iowa Constitution. Taking into account all of the challenges that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has faced over the years,...

DES MOINES — Matt Windschitl turned a half-swivel in his chair and stuck his right hand out, palm up, stopping National Rifle Association lobbyist Chris Rager from walking out the door. Windschitl, 28, a member of the House Republican leadership team from Missouri Valley, had just watched his “stand your ground” bill sail through a legislative committee. “This,” Windschitl said as Rager shook his hand, “is just the start.” The bill would allow Iowans to respond with deadly force if they feel threatened and would protect them from liability in some cases. This session Windschitl also has proposed legislation that...

AJ Spiker won a narrow election Saturday morning to become the new chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. Spiker eked by interim chairman Bill Schickel by a 9-8 vote on the second ballot. Spiker is a realtor from Ames, the former chairman of the Story County GOP, and represented Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District on the State Central Committee. He served as one of the co-chairs for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in Iowa. Spiker replaces former chairman Matt Strawn, who resigned in the middle of his second term. Strawn’s last official day on the job was Friday. “It feels great....

State Republicans want to bring Iowa's Constitution in line with those of 44 other states. Iowa is one of only six states in the Union that do not have a Second Amendment-like right to keep and bear arms enshrined in their Constitutions. Gun-rights advocates — such as Stephanie Samford of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action — say the resolution, House Joint Resolution 2005, is necessary to protect Iowans' right to have firearms. "We have to move beyond the idea of only having a handgun in the home for self-defence," Samford said. Advocates for the resolution have cited...

Gannett paper, link only: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120210/NEWS02/302100055/Kids-kept-53-laptops-Des-Moines-charter-school-tells-police

Newly released FBI memos detail a sensitive investigation into fundraising in the Carter White House that started with a comparison to Watergate but fizzled after uncovering special access for donors but no criminal wrongdoing. The memos were released from the file of Charles Manatt, an Iowa native and former Democratic National Committee Chairman who was interviewed during the investigation. The records became public after Manatt died in July at age 75 in Richmond, Va. Manatt grew up on an Audobon farm and studied rural sociology at Iowa State University before ascending to the top of the fields of law, business...

Twenty-One Republican Candidates Take Steps Toward ‘Young Gun' Status Washington- The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) today announced its newest round of ‘On the Radar' candidates. By reaching the second step of the four-step ‘Young Guns' program, these Republican candidates have reached the fundamental benchmarks to place them on the road to victory. Now, these 21 candidates are ready to take on the Democrat establishment and return fiscal sanity to Washington. "These candidates have worked hard to meet the benchmarks that have been laid out before them and are determined to hold Washington Democrats accountable this November," said NRCC Chairman...

IOWA – -(Ammoland.com)- Contact Public Safety Committee members today and urge them to vote YES tomorrow on HF 2114, the Iowa Firearm Preemption Act. Ask these members to vote YES and support current state law in Iowa code 724.7 and 724.28 that explicitly state that permit holders should be allowed to carry anywhere except where state and federal law allow. Punishing law-abiding citizens that are fully screened and have had extensive background checks by disallowing them access to public buildings is dishonoring to Iowans. It also puts honest, law-abiding citizens at risk of inadvertently violating these unnecessary, illegal laws that...

Iowa lawmakers are considering several bills aimed at enhancing gun rights, but critics say some of the measures are “pro-criminal” and will lead to more violence. According to the Des Moines Register, multiple bills have been introduced this year, ranging from one that would amend the state constitution to effectively eliminate all gun regulations to another that would “permit a shoot-to-kill response by anyone who believes he’s being threatened with death or serious injury by another person.” The Register reported Wednesday that advocates for changes to the state’s current gun laws believe most of the bills are necessary to protect...

SOMERS, WI (WISN/CNN) – It is said that "no good deeds goes unpunished," and that seems to be true for a 75-year-old Wisconsin man who fought of carjackers in his driveway after doing them a favor. Army veteran Alex Weber's kindness nearly cost him his car after he said a man and a woman asked for his help. "A woman got out of the car and said, ‘Hey we're out of gas,' and I said OK, I don't have any here but I'll get you some," Weber said. Weber said he took the man and woman for a ride to...