Pass the popcorn: former Polk County Republican Chairman Ted Sporer will defend State Senator Kent Sorenson against a lawsuit alleging that he stole the e-mail list of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators to assist Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign.

Opposing all government funding for abortion is settled dogma among Iowa Republican activists and elected officials. For two years in a row, Senate Democrats have blocked attempts to write new restrictions on Medicaid abortion coverage into the budget for the state Department of Human Services. Now DHS Director Chuck Palmer has signaled that taking control of the upper chamber may not give Republicans the power to restrict the choices of low-income women.

Palmer’s action puts Governor Terry Branstad in an awkward position, and a legislature completely under GOP control could create a political nightmare for Branstad, a proud “pro-lifer” throughout his career.

For the fifth month in a row, registered Republicans in Iowa outnumber registered Democrats. The latest figures from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office (pdf) show 659,838 active no-party voters statewide, 620,584 active Republicans, and 598,995 active Democrats.

After the jump I’ve posted the latest active voter registration numbers in all 99 Iowa counties, grouped by Congressional district. The most evenly-split county is still Decatur in south-central Iowa, with 1,723 registered Democrats, 1,791 Republicans, and 1,751 no-party voters as of August 2.

Any comments about the 2012 elections in Iowa are welcome in this thread.  

What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? This is an open thread: all topics welcome.

It’s all Olympics at my house. Links on memorable Olympics moments and controversies (real and phony) are after the jump.

The U.S. House responded to this year’s widespread drought by passing an agricultural disaster assistance bill yesterday with unanimous support from Iowa’s five representatives. However, not all the Iowans were enthusiastic about the effort.

Meanwhile, four of Iowa’s five House members voted against adjourning for the August recess yesterday, in large part because of unfinished work on a farm bill. Details on those and other House votes affecting the agricultural sector are after the jump.

The U.S. House voted yesterday to extend for one year all the tax rates established by the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. Without Congressional action, those tax cuts will expire at the end of 2012. Once again, three-term Representative Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and eight-term Representative Leonard Boswell (IA-03) were among a small group of Democrats to vote for a GOP bill.

Few Iowa wildflowers are more “showy” than the trumpet vine. Pictures of this gardener’s favorite are after the jump, along with a video of a man performing the late Kate Wolf’s lovely song “Trumpet Vine.”

I’ve also included a bonus wildflower that is native to Europe but now widespread in North America: apple mint. UPDATE: Or possibly spearmint (see clarification below).

This is an open thread; all topics welcome.

A report compiled by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has uncovered huge waste of taxpayer money and poor educational outcomes at for-profit colleges across the country. Senator Tom Harkin led a two-year investigation of the for-profit higher education industry and has been publicizing the report this week.

For every Congressional vote this year on a bill that might become law, there are lots of votes designed solely to make a political point. So it was with yesterday’s U.S. House vote on a bill to ban late-term abortions in Washington, DC.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruled this month on three cases balancing the public’s right to know with an entity’s right to keep certain information confidential. In two of the majority rulings, justices found other considerations outweighed the grounds for disclosure, but three justices dissented from each of those decisions.

A former staffer on Representative Michelle Bachmann’s presidential campaign in Iowa has sued the candidate and several other former staffers over the alleged theft of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators statewide e-mail list last November.

An Iowa House member suggested last week that the state Environmental Protection Commission went “beyond the intent of the law” by calling a closed session to discuss a decision related to a hog lot expansion in Poweshiek County. However, a spokesperson for the Iowa Attorney General’s Office suggested that a “contested administrative law case that involves legal briefs, hearings, decisions, appeals” qualifies as a circumstance permitting a closed session under the Iowa Code.

All restrictions on television go out the window at our house during the Olympics. So far we’ve watched parts of the competition in archery, fencing, volleyball, beach volleyball, bicycling (men’s 250K road race and women’s 140K road race), swimming, tennis, table tennis, badminton, men’s gymnastics, and soccer/football (men’s and women’s). I wish NBC broadcast more profiles of outstanding non-American athletes and showed highlights from some sports where Americans are not necessarily medal contenders. The insane number of commercials makes me nostalgic for the years I watched the Olympics on state broadcasters in Europe.

Our state’s favorite Iowan-by-choice Gabby Douglas started competing today in the women’s gymnastics and did well enough to contend for the all-around gold later this week. I think it showed incredibly poor taste for her former coach in Virginia to complain to the Des Moines Register about Douglas’ decision to leave two years ago.

What Olympic sports are you watching? What else is on your mind this weekend? This is an open thread.

UPDATE: Fun story on Radio Iowa: “once again this year most of the [Olympic] swimmers will be wearing suits designed in part by a professor at Iowa State University.”

At least 28 eagles died from lead poisoning in Iowa between September 1, 2011 and April 15, 2012, according to data collected by the non-profit Saving Our Avian Resources. The real figure could be significantly higher, and even this statistic casts doubt on claims that hunting with lead ammunition does no harm to wildlife.

For a good example of gamesmanship on Capitol Hill, look no further than yesterday’s U.S. House votes on offshore oil drilling. Republicans pushed a bill that won’t go anywhere in order to score points against the president’s energy policy. Democrats added language about U.S. sanctions against Iran and Syria to their motion to recommit in order to accuse Republicans of showing “reckless disregard for American national security.”

Yet again, Representatives Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) were among the Democrats who voted with Republicans on legislation affecting the oil industry.

Iowa’s five U.S. House members helped approve one of Representative Ron Paul’s top legislative priorities yesterday.  

Iowa’s two U.S. senators were on opposite sides yesterday in near party-line votes on tax policy.  

I’m amazed almost every day to see healthy-looking patches of wildflowers blooming despite the ongoing horrible drought in Iowa. Today’s featured plant, partridge pea, is a bright yellow presence along roadsides, bike trails, in prairies, or at the edge of woodlands. Several photos are after the jump.

As a bonus, I’ve included two pictures of sweet peas in bloom. Unlike partridge pea, the sweet pea plant is indigenous to Europe, even though it has gone native throughout the continental U.S.

This is an open thread; all topics welcome.

Governor Terry Branstad will seek legislative action to increase pension contributions from Iowa’s police officers and professional firefighters. The change would offer relief for city budgets while cutting into the paychecks of public safety workers.

Donald Kaul announced in Sunday’s syndicated newspaper column that his professional writing days may be over.