Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The explosive politics of health care have divided the nation, but America's governors, Republicans and Democrats alike, suggest that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is here to stay. While governors from Connecticut to Louisiana sparred on Sunday over how best to improve the nation's economy, governors of both parties shared a far more pragmatic outlook on the controversial program known as "Obamacare" as millions of their constituents begin to be covered. "We're just trying to make the best of a bad situation," Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, of Iowa, who calls the health care law "unaffordable and unsustainable,"...

**SNIP** Midterm elections are often a reflection of the approval rating of the incumbent president and now President Obama stands at 42.8%. And elections in the 6th year of a PresidentÂ’s term are usually not good for the incumbentÂ’s party. To make things even worse for Democrats, the issues of a weak economy and Obamacare make November look bleak for Harry Reid and his Senate Democratic cohorts. â—¾Alaska, Mark Begich â—¾Arkansas, Mark Pryor â—¾Louisiana, Mary Landrieu â—¾Michigan, Open Seat (liberal Democrat Carl Levin retiring) â—¾Montana, John Walsh â—¾North Carolina, Kay Hagan â—¾South Dakota, being vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson...

On February 18, a bill was filed in the Iowa Legislature that would repeal all of last year’s improvements to Iowa’s homeschool law. The new homeschool options would disappear. If you agree that the new homeschool options deserve to stay, please act today! Help us send a strong message to the lawmakers who have signed as co-sponsors of the bill, House File 2308, that Iowa will not turn the clock back on freedom. Action Requested Please send an email to each of the lawmakers below asking them to withdraw their support for HF 2308. If one of them is your...

Doug Reuhl, president and CEO of American since 1988, blamed an unforgiving economy, especially over the past five years, for the closure and said the company would begin a going-out-of-business sale Thursday to liquidate its entire inventory of furniture, electronics and appliances. "While this is a sad moment, it is also a proud moment," Reuhl said in a news release. "It's a moment to be proud of our efforts and to be proud of what we have delivered to the community." A switchboard operator at American TV refused to answer additional questions Monday or transfer a reporter to anyone else,...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is expected to receive a "hero's welcome" when he travels to Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming months after he again stood up against the GOP establishment on the vote to raise the debt ceiling without any reductions in spending. Conservative activists, according to the The Hill, are cheering Cruz for forcing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and others to vote to advance the legislation. On March 18, Cruz will keynote a Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators rally. On April 12, Cruz will attend the New Hampshire Freedom Summit, which is sponsored by Americans For Prosperity....

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) says the Treasury Department is overstepping its bounds with a memo outlining how banks can provide services for businesses selling marijuana. Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it’s illegal for banks to deal with marijuana sale proceeds, and that only Congress can change those laws. “The administration can’t change the law with a memo,” he said in a statement released late on Friday. “While the Justice Department’s memo tries to guide prosecutorial discretion, that discretion shouldn’t be used to facilitate illegal conduct.” Grassley said the Justice Department was encouraging an “improper use...

credit Greg Nash Conservatives in Iowa and New Hampshire are preparing a hero’s welcome for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after he showed up Senate Republican leaders during a crucial vote on the debt limit. Cruz infuriated his Senate Republican colleagues this week when he filibustered a clean bill to raise the debt limit. His objection forced Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and 11 other Republicans to vote with Democrats to advance the legislation. But in Iowa and New Hampshire, two important presidential primary states, conservative activists are cheering Cruz’s stand and buzzing about a possible presidential run in 2016....

Today, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in the case of Wagner v. Jones. Our friend Peter Berkowitz discussed the case in a Wall Street Journal op-ed (it’s behind a pay wall). Teresa Wagner accuses the University of Iowa College of Law of violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by refusing to hire her for its legal analysis, writing, and research program due to her strong pro-life views and activism. Her accusation is strongly supported by a comparison of her qualifications for the position and those of the two individuals selected by the law school. Wagner...

NORWALK, Iowa —A Norwalk 8th grader said she was humiliated Wednesday when she was denied a school lunch because there wasn't enough money in her account. snip “I was really embarrassed when I walked out of there, and then my friend she looked at me and she's like 'Where is your lunch tray?' I'm like 'They didn't give it to me,'” said Gillian Richardson. Gillian’s mother, Pam Richardson, said her family has enough money to pay for her daughter's school lunches, but didn't get a notification from the school that the balance was negative. “The policy of taking lunches away...

On Feb. 13 in St. Paul, Minn., the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in Wagner v. Jones. The appeal is procedurally complex. But the legal question at the heart of the original case has potentially far-reaching implications for public and private legal education. To wit, whether a state law-school may deny employment to faculty candidates because of their political beliefs. In a trial concluded 15 months ago, Teresa Wagner accused the University of Iowa College of Law of violating her First Amendment right of free expression and 14th Amendment right of equal protection under the law when...

The Republican-led Iowa House passed a ban on telemed, or webcam, abortions on Tuesday. 52 Republicans and three Democrats voted in favor of House File 2175. Rep. Tom Shaw of Laurens was the lone Republican not to vote in favor of the bill. He did so primarily because it does not ban all abortions.The bill was authored by Rep. Matt Windschiltl of Missouri Valley and Rep. Kevin Koester of Ankeny led the floor debate. Koester cited federal Food and Drug Administration reports that 14 women have died from taking the abortion-inducing drugs used in webcam abortions.“A huge thanks to my...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), a tea party favorite, will speak at a homeschooling rally in Iowa next month, signaling his continued interest in a possible 2016 presidential bid. The event, which will take place on March 18 at the Iowa state capitol in Des Moines, will be hosted by the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE), a politically-engaged group that has previously hosted presidential contenders.

A candidate for U.S. Senate in Iowa, who calls himself a “life-long Republican,” once donated $1,000 to the Senate campaign of Democrat Jon Corzine. Mark Jacobs, a Republican businessman who is running for the Senate seat of retiring Democrat Tom Harkin this year, gave the money to Corzine, the CEO of Goldman Sachs who was running for Senate in New Jersey in 2000. Jacobs was working for Goldman Sachs in Houston at the time. ...In 2009 and 2010, Jacobs gave a total of $3,000 to the PAC supporting Arlen Specter, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania who in early 2009 switched...

The Summary Version is: IOWA Police execute a search warrant based on suspected credit card fraud – However, they smashed down the door in a “no-knock” raid replete with full battle armor. Then the police tried to destroy the CCTV system which was recording their behavior. When questioned about the ridiculously excessive “use of force” things get worse because the police justify the execution of the warrant, the extreme measures invoked, based around the principle the occupant was a legally registered gun owner and therefore represented a more significant risk to them. <—- Think about that. Personally I have come...

Our friends at the American Silencer Association have asked us to spread the word on a pending bill that would allow citizens of Iowa to possess suppressors. As a native of that great state that values liberty, it’s something near to my heart. Last week, State Rep. Matt Windschitl, (R-Missouri Valley) introduced House File 384 to the Iowa State House. The purpose of the bill is to legalize the possession of suppressors for the law abiding citizens of Iowa who complete the proper Federal NFA transfer process.Iowa is currently one of only 11 states that prohibit the possession of suppressors...

The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party was forced last week to apologize for a graphic posted on its Facebook page that suggested charges of racism are invariably concocted to smear innocent white people. It was removed, as was the site manager who posted it, after it garnered outrage on The Daily Beast. Headlined "Is someone a racist?" the post reflects a claim growing popular with opponents of diversity, affirmative action and other efforts at inclusion, triggered in part by the election of a black president: that the real racism is against white people. "Are they white?" asks the post....

Smart people often make the biggest mistakes. There is no shortage of smart people in Washington, and no shortage of big mistakes. The city is a magnet for self-confident talent from all over the country, people with 4.0 GPAs and degrees from elite universities. Smart people wrote cap and trade legislation, Obamacare, and the Senate Gang of Eight’s immigration bill.

In a brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, 19 Democratic senators are siding with the Obama administration against evangelical Christian businessmen who argue that paying for their employees’ birth control, a requirement under Obamacare, violates their company’s religious freedom. The senators—five of them women—argue in their “friend of the court” brief that the owners of the Oklahoma-based crafts store chain Hobby Lobby are not exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate simply because some forms of birth control offend their religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby’s owners, David Green and his family, are suing the federal...

Gannett paper, link only: http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20140125/NEWS01/301250002/Iowa-City-ID-cards-could-fill-gap-groups-say

My name is Tom Hoefling, and I’m from Lohrville, in Calhoun County. I’m running for governor because I believe that Iowa Republicans deserve to have a choice in the June 3rd primary election, a conservative choice. After all, the word “election” means “choice.” I have a proven track record of more than twenty years of consistently fighting for the bedrock principles upon which republicanism rests, across Iowa, and across the nation. In brief, I support Representative Tom Shaw’s House file 138, which will ban abortion and restore equal protection to all persons in our state. I defend one man-one woman...