Free Republic

A top aide to Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin supplied an answer last year to a thorny question a friendly witness would face the next day at a pivotal hearing on for-profit colleges, raising questions of witness tampering, an email obtained by The Daily Caller shows. As Harkin prepares for another event on the same subject at 2:00 p.m. today, the email raises fresh concerns about the senator’s committee conduct after he recently faced accusations from Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators that he pressured them on an error-ridden report unveiled at the very same hearing. That Senate Health, Education, Labor...

Boeing Labor Fight Takes Over Harkin HearingBy Melanie Trottman May 12, 2011, 4:47 PM ET An effort by Senate Democrats Thursday to highlight the problems of the middle class turned into a partisan debate over the merits of Boeing Co.’s effort to build a non-union airplane factory – a project now under attack by the National Labor Relations Board. Chicago-based Boeing’s general counsel, invited by Republicans to be a witness at a Senate panel led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) , portrayed Boeing as a company that could be frustrated in its effort to create good-paying manufacturing jobs by...

For 16 years I've been telling you that if the Democrats gained enough power in Washington, they would attempt to seize the money you have in your 401K, IRA and private pension plans. Many of you poo-pooed me, calling me "over-the-top" or unable to back up my claims. Maybe you might be interested in knowing that just last Thursday, a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on retirement savings and security. WebGuy forwarded me lots of emails of people asking me to prove it. So here you go. You can watch the committee meeting right here...

The week of August 2 the U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin debate on a new comprehensive energy bill introduced by majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) have offered an amendment that is being strongly endorsed by corn growers and other ethanol supporters. The Harkin-Lugar amendment would: Mandate the production of flex fuel vehicles by requiring all new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. be flex fuel, Require the installation of blender pumps nationwide to dispense mid- and high-level ethanol blends, Create a federal loan guarantee program for pipelines to carry ethanol...

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) suggested Thursday that Democrats might attempt to move "card-check" legislation this year, perhaps during a lame-duck session. Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, strongly disputed that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, or "card-check") was dead in the Senate. "To those who think it's dead, I say think again," Harkin said on the liberal Bill Press radio show. "We're still trying to maneuver," the Iowa Democrat added, explaining that if Democrats can't move the bill in its entirety, they might try to pass key parts of the union-organizing legislation...

I don’t blame you if you’re thinking ” New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Des Moines. Yes – Des Moines, Iowa. You see, not every corporate insurance job is where you might expect it to be. Des Moines is a fine example of that. Unless you’re an insurance “insider,” Iowa is probably the last place you’d think to go to find a high-powered insurance career, but you’d be making a big mistake by not looking there. As amazing as it seems, over 60 major insurance companies have chosen Des Moines to locate their corporate headquarters. On top of that,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top Democrat on the Senate health committee says insurance companies who refuse coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions are engaging in discrimination. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa told participants at the White House's health summit that such refusals are akin to racial discrimination that was legal during parts of the last century. Harkin says it's time to end discrimination based on health in this century. Democrats are pushing a health care overhaul that would make it illegal for insurance companies to refuse coverage to people who have conditions such as asthma or diabetes.

"I love Tom Harkin. I'm totally familiar with his idea," Reid said during a news conference on the Capitol on Thursday. "It takes 67 votes, and that, kind of, answers the question."

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) soon intends to introduce legislation that would take away the minority’s power to filibuster legislation. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) in the next few weeks intends to introduce legislation that would take away the minority’s power to filibuster legislation.

December 22, 2009 Harkin: Dems Focused on Health Reform Big Picture Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, responded Tuesday to widespread criticism that Democrats only garnered the 60 votes needed to defeat Republican stalling tactics on the health reform bill by catering to self-interest, saying Democrats are focusing on the big picture; "trying to cross a demarcation line." Harkin dismissed deals dubbed vote-buying by GOP senators as "small stuff" that distracted Americans from the primary focus of the overhaul bill. "We have to keep our eyes on what we're trying to do here. We're trying to cross a demarcation line," Harkin told...

Party leaders who spoke at a weekend fundraising banquet urged Iowa Democrats to “stand up” against Republicans and “stick with” the president. Congressman Bruce Braley of Waterloo was among the first to speak at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner on Saturday night.“It’s not acceptable for Democrats to be walking around looking glum because now is not the time for doubt. Now is not the time for fear,” Braley began.  “And now is not the time for silence.” Braley brought the crowd of Iowa Democrats to its feet by the end of his six-minute speech.“I want, as she sits in her...

A new Des Moines Register poll is great news for Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, as well as GOP gubernatorial hopefuls Terry Branstad and Bob Vander Plaats. It is very bad news for Iowa's current Governor.

Harkin to Succeed Kennedy as Health Panel Chair Sen. Tom Harkin, the next most senior Democrat on the Senate panel focused on overhauling the nation's health care system, will fill the seat held on an interim basis by Sen. Chris Dodd. FOXNews.com September 08, 2009 WASHINGTON -- A fierce proponent of the public option and proud, self-identified firebrand liberal will chair the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, formerly held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, FOX News confirmed late Tuesday. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the next most senior Democrat on the Senate panel focused on overhauling the nation's...

Harkin get hammered at Des Moines Town Hall!

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS. YOUTUBE VIDEO

Health-care outbursts foreshadow a hot August (with links to info on LIAR Tom Harkin, see below) DES MOINES, Iowa -- Loud outbursts, hot tempers and pleas for civility at town hall meetings around the country Saturday foreshadowed a long, hot August as Democratic lawmakers returning home faced resistance to proposals to reform the nation's costly health care system. At a meeting in Des Moines, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, was interrupted several times by people in the audience shouting criticism and questions, even though he said he didn't expect Iowans to take part in what he called "scare tactics, misinformation...

A health care event sponsored U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin erupted into a shouting match Saturday afternoon, when opponents of health-care reform yelled pointed questions and criticisms to the Democratic senator. It echoed other health care events sponsored by members of Congress around the country in recent days that have been disrupted by protestors, although no one was arrested at Saturday’s event. Uniformed police officers were present as roughly 200 people turned out to see Harkin at an inner-city health care center to voice their opinions or ask questions about health care. “This is not health reform, this is control, control...

A group of senators are discussing dropping a key provision in the card-check bill in order to win centrist support in the upper chamber. But congressional aides and union officials said no agreement has been hammered out yet on an alternative to a bill that is organized labor’s top legislative priority. They stressed that that every piece of the legislation is up for discussion in order to earn 60 votes to beat back a certain Senate filibuster. A report in The New York Times Thursday said senators led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) had decided to remove the card-check or...

Notes: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 15, 2009 Statement by the President on the Health Care Reform Legislation Passed Today by the Senate HELP Committee "Today, thanks to the unyielding passion and inspiration provided by Senator Edward Kennedy, the HELP committee he chairs has produced a proposal that will finally lower health care costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry. Like the legislation produced by the House of Representatives, this proposal would offer Americans...

Democrat Al Franken, right, with his wife Frannie Franken smile as they meet the media at their house in MInneapolis Tuesday June 30, 2009 after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Democrat in the Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. (AP Photo/Andy King) Al Franken, the newest member of the U.S. Senate, will be the guest speaker at Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry Sept. 13. Franken, who is expected to be seated in the Senate next week after winning recounts and court challenges in his upset of Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, will headline Harkin's 32nd...