Free Republic

The investigations spurred by the Iowa secretary of state’s office uncovered nine more potential cases of voter fraud recently. These charges are related to convicted felons registering to vote, and in some cases, voting in elections despite not having their voting rights restored. Last month, the secretary of state’s office announced charges in three cases of non-citizens registering to vote and voting in recent elections. The press release from the Iowa secretary of state’s office is below: Des Moines – Charges have been recently filed in nine potential cases of voter fraud. Eight of the cases were recently filed by...

Quietly abandons surgical abortions in Bettendorf and Sioux CityDES MOINES--January 22, 2014--Iowa Right to Life has discovered that Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has quietly laid off all but one employee (a center manager) at their Creston and Red Oak, Iowa locations. In addition, Iowa's largest abortion provider has halted surgical abortions at its Bettendorf and Sioux City abortion centers. This is not the first time PPH has tried to keep closings and layoffs quiet. Last November, IRTL alerted the media that PPH was closing centers in Ankeny, Fort Dodge, Mount Pleasant and Washington, after hearing of massive layoffs at...

The Des Moines Register ran a sad story this past weekend about awful sexual assault accusations against a school superintendent's son that have divided the conservative town of Treynor, Iowa.Kreighton Elwood, the 18-year-old son of Superintendent Kevin Elwood, was accused of sexually assaulting three different girls in 2012. He allegedly took them to a secluded area, forced them to remove their clothes, and hid their car keys and phones to keep them from escaping, according to court records cited by The Register. He also allegedly snapped photos of one victim nearly naked, a form of humiliation that is becoming all...

The facts 1. There are 21 US Senate seats held by Democrats in the 2014 election. 2. There are nine US Senate seats held by Democrats in the 2016 election. This is likely to be 10 due to a special election in HI in 2014. 3. Republicans need to pick up six senate seats to have a majority. The Analysis The failures of ObamaCare and broken promises by Democrat senators create a target rich environment in 2014. This is a year Republicans have to do well. Winning a majority in the senate by only one seat or maintaining the status...

A killer who was executed in Missouri for the 1987 murder of a 12-year-old girl was also responsible for a long-unsolved triple homicide in Iowa three years earlier, investigators announced Friday. New DNA evidence implicates Andrew W. Six in the 1984 bludgeoning deaths of 20-year-old Justin Hook Jr.; Hook's fiancee, 19-year-old Tina Lade; and Hook's mother, 41-year-old Sara Link, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Wapello County Sheriff Mark Miller announced. "What we know for sure is that Andy Six is responsible," Miller said at a news conference at his office in Ottumwa, in southeast Iowa.

It seemed more like an election night victory celebration than a campaign launch. It was unique, but perhaps it was appropriate as well. After all, for the Branstad-Reynolds team, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate. Terry Branstad made a triumphant return to Iowa politics four years ago, promising to return the state to prosperity. The governor believes he delivered on that promise. “Four years ago, I saw the future of our state getting bleaker. I love this state. I was sick of the direction we were going. I knew we could do better and four years ago, I came...

Gannett paper. Link only: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2014/01/14/hillary-clinton-fans-plan-des-moines-kick-off/article

For the past 40 years, the race for the American Presidency has begun in the state of Iowa, where Presidential hopefuls spend months traveling the state's 99 counties hoping to win its “first-in-the-nation” vote and prove themselves a viable candidate. In intimate, funny and sometimes emotional detail, CAUCUS tells the story of the 2011-2012 campaign in Iowa as eight Republicans fight to become their party’s standard-bearer and take on Barack Obama. But to win, each must first navigate state fairs, town hall meetings in pizza halls and agitated questions from the increasingly contentious GOP base. CAUCUS is a revealing look...

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa -- Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz is running for U.S. Rep. Tom Latham's House seat in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. Schultz announced his campaign Thursday in Council Bluffs where he used to serve on the City Council. Since he was elected secretary of state in 2010, Schultz has pushed for a state voter ID law and focused on combating voter fraud...

Federal health officials vowed this week to crack down on illegal immigrants who get Medicare.. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it could save nearly $70 million from 2015 to 2019 by preventing illegal immigrants from taking advantage of Medicare’s prescription drug program or enrolling in Medicare Advantage plans. “We are proposing to establish U.S. citizenship and lawful presence as an eligibility requirement for enrollment in [Medicare Advantage] and Part D plans,” said a proposed rule posted late Monday. Sen. Tom Coburn, Congress‘ top waste-watcher, said the agency is making the right move. “From here, CMS must show...

North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy will not seek reelection this year, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with their plans – marking a blow to Democratic efforts to win control of the House. The 57-year-old McIntyre, who was elected in 1996 to the Wilmington-area congressional seat, narrowly defeated Republican state Sen. David Rouzer in 2012 and was poised to face him in a 2014 rematch. His retirement from the heavily Republican district will further thin the ranks of Blue Dog Democrats. It comes less than a month after another Blue Dog, Utah Rep. Jim...

Governor Branstad announced on Monday morning that his campaign has raised a whopping $3.4 million dollars in 2013.  The impressive fundraising haul means that the Governor has over $4.1 million dollars in the bank as the election year begins.Iowa Democrats have had a difficult time finding a formidable challenger to challenge Branstad in 2014.  The lone Democrat in the race, State Senator Jack Hatch, announced a couple weeks ago that he gave his campaign $200,000.  Hatch made the move to scare away any likely primary opponents following State Representative Tyler Olson’s exit from the race due to him pending...

I have decided not to "throw my hat" into the ring and run for US House 3rd District/Iowa. I felt that I could not run a viable Campaign and it would reflect badly on both Tea Party and Free Republic people. Tom Latham is leaving and THAT was the important thing. I am looking CLOSLY at who is running and will endorse later.

"A well regulated Militia, being NECESSARY to the security of a free State, the RIGHT of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT be infringed." -- The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution Recently, we got the news that Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has set up a new political action committee in our state, in preparation for the 2014 and 2016 elections, for the purpose of advancing his anti-Right to Keep and Bear Arms agenda. I know I speak for many Iowans when I say to him, simply, “Go back to...

Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun is preparing to announce another bid for Congress, sources close to Zaun tell TheIowaRepublican.com. Zaun was the Republican nominee for Iowa’s Third Congressional District seat in 2010. The Urbandale native emerged from a crowded GOP primary field, but eventually lost to incumbent Leonard Boswell in a bitter general election battle. Last week, Zaun announced on his personal and “Zaun for Congress” Facebook pages that an announcement was pending after the New Year. “I hope each of you had a great Christmas! I will have some big news to announce after the first of the year...

<p>With demand for gun products booming, Brownells Inc. is building a large distribution and retail center along Interstate 80 in Grinnell.</p> <p>The city is home to Grinnell College, a selective liberal arts institution known for its commitment to social justice.</p>

DES MOINES, Iowa —The Iowa Department of Human Services said Friday that Iowans who have applied through the federal health care portal should reapply using the websites or call center. Officials said they were notified by federal officials that there would be an additional delay in getting needed information needed to process Iowan's applications from HealthCare.gov. "We are working hard to ensure that Iowans who applied through HealthCare.gov will be enrolled in health coverage. We are encouraging Iowans who applied at the federal portal to reapply through our state website and call center," said DHS Director Charles M. Palmer. "We...

An Iowa State University research team has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue its research into developing advanced soil sensors for sustainable agriculture practices.The four-year grant, which was awarded in September and announced last week, was one of 17 given to university research teams totaling a combined $12.5 million.The wireless sensors are being designed for burial in soil, where they would monitor water movement and soil nutrients such as nitrogen. That would help farmers predict crop yields and reduce runoff by using data that would be relayed to a base station above ground...

Yet a trip this week by tea party Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann, Steve King and Louie Gohmert has been quite hush-hush, even though they went to iffy places like Beirut, Cairo and even to Tripoli — where the U.S. embassy last week issued a “warning” notice “strongly advis(ing) against all but essential travel to Tripoli and against all travel . . outside Tripoli because of ongoing instability and violence.” And, as best we can figure, they even flew commercial, not only to the region but even within the region. They even went to embassy briefings and such. So this is...

Federal authorities have filed charges for six Chinese nationals in an alleged scheme to steal valuable corn seeds from U.S. seed manufacturing companies for the benefit of their China-based seed companies. Mo Hailong, Li Shaoming, Wang Lei, Wang Hongwei, Ye Jian and Lin Yong each have been indicted on conspiring to steal trade secrets from U.S. seed companies, according to an indictment filed on Tuesday in the U.S. Southern District Court of Iowa. Mo was detained last week, but the others remain at large, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Southern District Court.