Free Republic

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to deliver a “spectacular” yearlong birthday party to mark 250 years of American independence. On Thursday, he will be in the U.S. heartland to kick off the patriotic festivities — and to celebrate the final passage of his sweeping tax cuts and spending package.Trump is expected to tout the major piece of his agenda when he takes the stage Thursday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, according to the White House. This comes just hours after the House pushed it through in a tight roll call...

A small Iowa town received a big surprise last week from an anonymous donor who shipped every household in town $150 worth of gift cards good at local small businesses. All 549 households in the town of 1,400 people received three $50 gift cards, according to the Des Moines Register, one each for West Side Bar and Grille, Hometown Market and Trostel’s Broken Branch. Collectively, the cards added up to $82,350, or $27,450 to each locally owned business. Mayor Jeff Lillie was in on the secret. On March 26, he was called by a man who said he was the...

~~~snip~~~ This couple (they didn't want to be named, and so I'll call them Mr. and Mrs. Dubuque), were typical of the Democrats I talked to across the Hawkeye State last week. They were generally happy with all three of their party's front runners and determined to beat the Republicans. Mr. Dubuque had settled on Obama, but his wife was undecided, between Obama and John Edwards. They weren't Clinton haters -- both of them liked her Senate record and would be happy to support her in November -- but it was clear to them Shaheen's comments, while couched as a...