|
Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.
|
defense 
|
|
Fri Mar 22, 2013 at 09:45:00 AM CDT
|
|
This week Congress approved a continuing spending resolution to fund the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year on September 30. Iowa's delegation split on this compromise, but not strictly along party lines. Details on the budget compromise and how the Iowans voted are after the jump.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1121 words in story)
|
|
Tue Mar 19, 2013 at 16:32:00 PM CDT
|
|
Ten years ago, President George W. Bush made the disastrous mistake of taking this country to war against Iraq. I've posted some links about the costs and casualties of war after the jump.
Any relevant thoughts are welcome in this thread. I appreciate the work and commitment of those who tried to derail the speeding train toward invasion, and of those who protested the war after it began. I did nothing to stop the war in Iraq--just sat in a rocking chair cradling a new baby, feeling horrified while watching the news on television.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1847 words in story)
|
|
|
|
Thu Mar 07, 2013 at 08:20:00 AM CST
|
|
Yesterday the U.S. House approved a bill to fund the federal government through the remainder of the current fiscal year. Dave Loebsack (IA-02) was one of 53 House Democrats to vote for the spending bill, along with most of the Republican caucus. Follow me after the jump for details and the latest sleight of hand by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1130 words in story)
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 26, 2013 at 16:50:00 PM CST
|
|
The U.S. Senate voted today to confirm Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense by 58 votes to 41. Although Hagel is a Republican, all of the votes against his confirmation came from GOP senators, including Iowa's Chuck Grassley. The entire Senate Democratic caucus, including Tom Harkin, voted to confirm Hagel, joined by four Republicans.
Earlier today, a cloture motion on Hagel's nomination easily passed by 71 votes to 27 (roll call). Just 60 votes were needed to pass the motion. Grassley was one of the 27 Republicans who tried to filibuster Hagel's nomination. Their effort failed because 18 Senate Republicans voted for cloture; most of them later voted against confirmation.
The 501(c)4 group American Future Fund, led by Nick Ryan of Iowa, was one of the big spenders in the effort to defeat Hagel's nomination. After the jump I've posted excerpts from a good piece explaining why the campaign against Hagel was a "win-win" for "dark money groups," even though they failed to prevent his confirmation. I'll update this post as needed if I see comments from Grassley and Harkin.
|
|
There's More...
:: (3
Comments, 409 words in story)
|
|
|
|
Tue Feb 19, 2013 at 07:10:00 AM CST
|
|
Catching up on news from last week, all four Iowans in the U.S. House supported a bill seeking to "freeze the pay of federal workers for the third year in a row" as well as the salaries for members of Congress.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1099 words in story)
|
|
Thu Feb 14, 2013 at 16:55:00 PM CST
|
|
A cloture motion on the nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel for U.S. Secretary of Defense failed by a single vote today.
|
|
There's More...
:: (5
Comments, 461 words in story)
|
|
Tue Feb 12, 2013 at 18:43:08 PM CST
|
|
President Barack Obama delivers another State of the Union address tonight, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is set to give the Republican response. I will miss most of the president's speech but plan to watch the replay later and will update this post with highlights. Meanwhile, feel free to comment on any topics raised during the speeches in this thread.
UPDATE: Highlights from the speeches and reaction from the Iowans in Congress are after the jump.
I find it depressing that when I came home to catch up on the news, the blogosphere and twitterverse were obsessing over Rubio taking a drink of water during his remarks. So sue him, he's not the most camera-savvy politician in Washington (yet). Who cares?
|
|
There's More...
:: (6
Comments, 6830 words in story)
|
|
|
|
Fri Jan 04, 2013 at 19:25:00 PM CST
|
|
Change is coming to President Barack Obama's cabinet, as is typical for a second term. After the jump I've posted some links and recent news on possible appointees.
Any comments about the cabinet are welcome in this thread.
|
|
There's More...
:: (4
Comments, 355 words in story)
|
|
|
|
Thu Dec 20, 2012 at 20:23:19 PM CST
|
Iowa's five representatives all voted no intended to vote no as the U.S. House approved the conference committee report on the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act today. UPDATE: Steve King meant to vote no but mistakenly voted yes. Details below.
The Iowans split on party lines over a bill designed to replace the "sequester" scheduled for early next year with deep spending cuts in non-defense domestic programs.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders retreated from a planned vote on House Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" at the end of the calendar year.
Follow me after the jump for details on all of the above.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 3416 words in story)
|
|
Fri Dec 07, 2012 at 12:13:24 PM CST
|
|
Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate approved its version of a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2013, outlining $631 billion in spending and setting policy in several other areas. The vote on final passage was unanimous, 98 to 0, but during five days of floor debate the Senate considered many amendments. After the jump I've summarized the important provisions of the NDAA and how Iowa's Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin voted on the most contentious amendments.
A conference committee will work out differences between the Senate's bill and the defense authorization act the U.S. House approved in May. More details on those differences are below.
UPDATE: Added a statement from Senator Grassley.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 2064 words in story)
|
|
Tue Nov 06, 2012 at 06:10:00 AM CST
|
|
Going into election day two years ago, Representative Dave Loebsack appeared to be in real danger of losing his seat in Congress. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was running attack ads against Republican challenger Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who had loaned her campaign about a half-million dollars in the absence of major financial support from the National Republican Congressional Committee. The American Future Fund was bashing Loebsack on television. Loebsack ended up winning re-election by only about 11,500 votes in what should have been a safe Democratic district. If not for the Iowa Democrats' early voting program, Loebsack might have been swept up by the wave.
This year's campaign in Iowa's second Congressional district is winding up without the suspense of 2010. A final review of Loebsack's race against Republican John Archer is after the jump.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 2326 words in story)
|
|
Mon Oct 22, 2012 at 19:57:35 PM CDT
|
|
In a few minutes President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will debate for the last time. Bob Schieffer of CBS News will moderate the final debate, which will focus on foreign-policy issues. I imagine the ratings will be much lower tonight than for the previous two debates, partly because foreign policy isn't a priority for most voters, and partly because the debate is up against Monday Night Football and game 7 of the National League Championship Series in baseball.
Any comments about the debate or the presidential race in general are welcome in this thread. I will update later with some thoughts and news clips. Most national tracking polls show Romney and Obama within the margin of error for each other; Gallup continues to show Romney leading and above 50 percent. The candidates haven't focused on foreign policy in many speeches or commercials, but the latest spot from the president's re-election campaign highlights the drawdown of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
UPDATE: Added thoughts and links after the jump.
|
|
There's More...
:: (10
Comments, 508 words in story)
|
|
Wed Oct 03, 2012 at 14:55:00 PM CDT
|
|
I thought Mitt Romney made a strategic error in choosing Paul Ryan as a running mate. However, after listening to clips from Ryan's campaign stops in eastern Iowa Monday and yesterday, I can see why many consider Ryan an asset to the Republican ticket.
|
|
There's More...
:: (0
Comments, 1016 words in story)
|
|
Tue Sep 11, 2012 at 08:05:00 AM CDT
|
|
One of Republican Mitt Romney's latest television commercials in Iowa asserts that cutting government spending and eliminating the federal deficit will create 130,000 jobs in Iowa. Meanwhile, in states with more military bases and defense sector industry, Romney campaign advertising promises to create hundreds of thousands of jobs by reversing planned cuts in defense spending.
|
|
There's More...
:: (2
Comments, 893 words in story)
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[Bleeding Heartland Logo]](http://www.bleedingheartland.com/upload/logo.jpg){kind=logo}
