Free Republic

The Iowa Omnibus gun law reform bill is close to passing the legislature, and is likely to be signed by Governor Branstad.From the desmoinesregister.com:House File 517, which has already passed the Iowa House, was approved on a 33-17 vote. Because the bill was amended, it must return to the House. But House Republican leaders are expected to accept the changes, which means it will likely be headed soon to Gov. Terry Branstad, who is expected to sign it.House File 517 is a weapons law reform bill. The authors of the bill appear to have searched through various weapons laws...

--SNIP-- The 5-year-old plant in deep-red Idaho sparked a firestorm, particularly from the far-right media. Breitbart News claimed that the plant brought refugees, crime and tuberculosis to the town. Ulukaya said he and the Twin Falls mayor received death threats. “It was an emotional time. People ... hate you for doing something right,” Ulukaya said. “There’s not much you can do.”

Health insurer Aetna Inc said on Thursday it will exit Iowa's Obamacare-compliant individual insurance market in 2018, citing financial risk and the uncertain outlook. Aetna said it is still evaluating its other remaining individual insurance markets, which include Delaware, Nebraska and Virginia. The company exited most markets this year but in January said it had more than 240,000 people in individual plans and expected to post losses on them this year. Insurers have said uncertainty over which rules will be in place in 2018 and the billions of dollars in government subsidies that make the plans more affordable to millions...

In a March 28 letter, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told FBI Director James Comey he wants a detailed description on the involvement of Deputy Director McCabe in the investigation of Russian ties to Trump associates. Grassley also wants to know whether McCabe’s involvement in the probe “raises the appearance a conflict of interest in light of his wife’s ties with Clinton’s associates” and whether it would merit McCabe recusing himself from the investigation. Grassley was referring to McCabe’s wife having accepted $700,000 in political contributions facilitated by Hillary Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe, the Virginia governor, for her state Senate run....

Before the week’s headline Supreme Court debate, senators are poised to get the Delta Queen back cruising America’s waterways. The legendary riverboat has been barred from carrying overnight passengers since an exemption to the 1966 Safety of Life at Sea Act for the largely wooden vessel lapsed back in 2008. Lawmakers from Cincinnati to St. Louis have pushed for the Delta Queen to get a new lease on life since then, and the Senate has scheduled a Monday evening vote on passage of a bipartisan bill that would do just that... Sen. Rob Portman, who hails from Cincinnati, remembers the...

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are backing newly filed legislation that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which would be the strictest ban in the country if enacted. A GOP-led House committee had been set to vote on the provision Tuesday night but lawmakers later adjourned without a decision. It’s expected to be taken up again Wednesday. The measure was added to a separate bill that would ban most abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy. The new version would include several abortion restrictions. Democrats criticized the legislation in an afternoon press conference, though they don’t have the...

An Iowa bill to protect unborn babies from painful, late-term abortions is one step closer to becoming law. The Des Moines Register reports a state House subcommittee approved the bill on Wednesday, moving it forward to a full committee for consideration. Iowa Senate File 471, which passed the state Senate earlier this month, would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks when strong scientific evidence indicates unborn babies can feel pain. It also would allow abortions up to 24 weeks on unborn babies diagnosed with an anomaly considered to be “incompatible with life,” according to the report. An individual who violates the...

Major cities along the East Coast may not have gotten the snowstorm meteorologists predicted this week, but every day snowflakes fly across the country on college campuses. These delicate student loan machines melt at the prospect of their “safe spaces” being invaded by things that are perfectly normal. We’re still a few years away from these participation-ribbon recipients even coming close to sniffing the reins of power, but if and when they do, we are screwed. I didn’t graduate college all that long ago, (December 2000, to be exact), but the culture on campuses has changed so dramatically in those...

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested 86 foreign nationals across five Midwestern states last week, including 26 in Minnesota. In a release Wednesday, the department said the operation targeted immigration fugitives, re-entrants and at-large criminal aliens over a three-day span. The operation included 32 arrests in Nebraska, 26 in Minnesota, 23 in Iowa, four in North Dakota and one in South Dakota. ICE said 52 of those arrested had prior convictions in addition to an undocumented status. Twenty-three had previously been deported and returned, which constitutes a felony. 

There are fundamental deprivations of justice, and then there's what happened to a male student at Drake University. The student, "John Doe," was expelled for sexual misconduct—ostensibly because he engaged in nonconsensual sex with a female student, "Jane Doe." In truth, John was punished for failing to realize quickly enough that he was actually the victim in the encounter. Drake officials still refuse to fix their mistakes. During the course of Drake's sexual misconduct investigation, administrators uncovered several pieces of evidence that made John's claim to victim status arguably stronger than Jane's: Jane had initiated the encounter, by her own...

Every heart beats true ‘neath the red, white and blue – although some people apparently see overt displays of patriotism as offensive to immigrants and refugees. George M. Cohan probably never thought about adding that coda to his patriotic anthem “You're a Grand Old Flag,” and the Iowa high school students who donned red, white and blue to support their men’s basketball team last week probably didn’t think about their actions being controversial. But the patriotic garb worn by some Valley High School students on Wednesday upset students at Des Moines North High School, which is described as being more...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has opened an inquiry into allegations the FBI worked with the British spy who authored a controversial opposition research dossier on President Trump during the 2016 election. In a Monday letter to FBI Director James Comey, Grassley asked for records pertaining to any agreements the agency may have had with Christopher Steele.[snip] “The idea that the FBI and associates of the Clinton campaign would pay Mr. Steele to investigate the Republican nominee for President in the run-up to the election raises further questions about the FBI’s independence from politics, as well as the...

Tom Godat, a union electrician who has always voted for Democrats, cast his ballot for Donald Trump last year as “the lesser of two evils” compared to Hillary Clinton. He’s already a little embarrassed about it. There’s a lot that Godat likes about President Trump, especially his pledge to make the country great again by ignoring lobbyists, challenging both political parties and increasing the number of good-paying jobs.

MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- The national trend of Republican lawmakers facing angry crowds of constituents arrived in Iowa today. Tuesday afternoon Sen. Joni Ernst sat through a 45 minute town hall meeting in Maquoketa. After taking her final question the crowd showered her with boos and chants of "Do your job."

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)-Iowa is one of only six states that does not have some sort of protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state Constitution. The other five states are California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Minnesota. One of the reasons for this lack is the difficult process that a state constitutional amendment has to undergo to be passed in Iowa.  First, the amendment must be passed by the General Assembly. Then an election must occur. Then the amendment must be passed a second time. Finally, the amendment is to be presented to the people,...

After decades as the crossroads of prairie populists and checkbook conservatives, Iowa has suddenly become solidly Republican like many of its Midwestern neighbors. It was one of four states — along with Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire — that flipped to complete GOP control in the November election, but Iowa’s rush of new legislation has been the most intense. In an all-night session last week, Iowa lawmakers approved a bill similar to one enacted in Wisconsin six years ago that strips most public sector unions of long-held collective bargaining rights, including health insurance. […] Among other items, Republicans also are...

Every year, the American Bible Society and Barna Group rank 100 of the nation’s most Bible-minded cities—that is, how many people read the Bible at least once a week and who strongly believe the Bible is accurate. And every year, cities from the Bible Belt—Chattanooga or Birmingham or Knoxville—come in first, while cities from the coasts—San Francisco or Boston or Albany—come in last. It’s all fairly predictable, except for one city: Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids, the second-largest city in Iowa, has ranked in the bottom five for the past four years, and its percentage of Bible readers and believers...

An Iowa legislative panel has approved a bill to restrict the state, cities, counties and universities from enacting policies that prevent them from helping to carry out federal immigration laws. The legislation prohibits enacting so-called sanctuary cities, which are municipalities that have adopted policies limiting local cooperation with federal immigration officials... About two dozen people attended a hearing Thursday to speak in opposition to the bill. No one, except for two Republican lawmakers who voted to advance the bill, spoke in favor of the changes. “This bill is coming from thousands of Iowans who are demanding that our immigration laws...

(Full article title: Out of work: Chelsea Clinton's husband Marc Mezvinsky shut down his hedge fund in December just weeks after Hillary lost election) Marc Mezvinsky quietly shut down his hedge fund Eaglevale Partners back in December. Bloomberg reports that Mr. Chelsea Clinton and his partners are now working to return money to investors, including Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein. The decision to shutter the fund came just a few weeks after Mezvinsky's mother-in-law Hillary lost the election to president Donald Trump. Mezvinsky has kept a low profile ever since Hillary's loss in the election, but was photographed by...

Iowa may become the latest state to strip government funds from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. According to an Iowa pro-life advocate who spoke with The Christian Post, pro-abortionists will not only soon lose funds but are losing control of their narrative. The Iowa state Senate voted 30-20 Thursday to defund groups that provide abortions and steer three million state dollars to women's health centers and comprehensive clinics that do not offer them. The vote fell along party lines with 29 Republicans and one independent voting for the measure and all Democrats opposing it, according to the Quad City Times....