Jon Huntsman’s exit from the presidential race leaves five Republican candidates taking the stage tonight for a Fox News debate, co-sponsored by the Wall Street Journal and the South Carolina GOP.

I will update this post later with highlights. I don’t expect Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry or Rick Santorum to do any real damage to Mitt Romney. Any comments about this debate or the GOP primary campaign are welcome in this thread.

UPDATE: I missed part of the debate, but some thoughts are after the jump.

Last year, Governor Terry Branstad made only a brief appearance and declined to give a speech at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event in Des Moines. He wasn’t dumb enough to make that mistake twice.  

Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital is under increasing scrutiny as opponents try desperately to stop him from winning next Saturday’s GOP primary in South Carolina. Some of the anti-Romney narratives can’t stand up to the same level of scrutiny. I’ve posted some links on the “Bain way” and other factors in the Republican presidential race after the jump.  

Although the 60 Republicans and 40 Democrats in the Iowa House haven’t changed since last year, I thought it was worth updating this post, because some committee assignments have changed, and House Democrats reshuffled their ranking members somewhat.

Majority and minority leadership teams are after the jump, along with all members of standing House committees. All 100 House districts are on the ballot every two years, so I’ve noted the new district numbers for state representatives seeking re-election in 2012, as well as which House members have said they will retire after this year’s legislative session.

Iowa’s well-documented problems with roads in disrepair and deficient bridges have prompted many calls for raising the gasoline tax in recent years. I’ve been skeptical that a divided state legislature would agree to raise an unpopular tax during an election year-session following redistricting. However, key lawmakers continue to insist that a gas tax hike is on the table. Arguments for why this proposal will and won’t pass are after the jump.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a new database yesterday showing 2010 greenhouse gas emissions for large facilities across the country. After the jump I’ve posted the top 10 emitters in Iowa.

Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey filed suit against the state, Governor Terry Branstad, and several other officials yesterday over attempts to remove Godfrey from office and cut his pay between December 2010 and July 2011. The lawsuit also accuses several state employees of defaming Godfrey by publicly claiming that his poor job performance motivated attempts to replace him.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that laws banning workplace discrimination do not apply to many employees of religious organizations. Conservatives are hailing the ruling as a victory for religious freedom. It also appears to undermine one of their arguments against marriage equality and civil rights protections for LGBT Americans.

Republican Amy Sinclair and Democrat Dick Schrad have launched campaigns in the new Iowa Senate district 14, an open seat in south-central Iowa. Former Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley lives in this district but decided not to seek a fourth term.

Follow me after the jump for a district map and background on the two declared candidates.

Polls just closed in New Hampshire, so here’s a thread for talking about the results as they come in. PBS will be updating vote totals here.

Any comments about the presidential race are welcome in this thread. It’s hard for me to see any of the other Republicans stopping Mitt Romney, especially with Rick Perry helping to splinter the conservative vote ahead of the South Carolina primary on January 21. Nor can I see any path for Jon Huntsman, even if he finishes a strong second or third tonight. I’m highly amused by Newt Gingrich’s strident rhetoric against Bain-style vulture capitalism.

UPDATE: With two-thirds of the vote in, Romney is the clear winner by a double-digit margin (38 percent to 24 percent for Ron Paul and 17 percent for Huntsman, with Gingrich and Santorum at 10 percent). Right now Perry trails “other.”

SECOND UPDATE: With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Romney has 39 percent, Paul 23 percent, Huntsman 17 percent, Gingrich and Santorum 9 percent each, and Perry 1 percent.

As Bleeding Heartland user albert pointed out in the comments, President Barack Obama received only about 82 percent of more than 50,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary. Nearly 10 percent of Democratic primary voters wrote in candidates. Of the 13 other named candidates on the Democratic ballot, two received more than 1 percent of the vote: Ed Cowan, who ran on a platform of “major change,”, and Vermin Supreme, a performance artist running on a joke platform.

Governor Terry Branstad delivers his “Condition of the State” address to the Iowa House and Senate this morning. Iowa Public Television will livestream the speech here, and I’ll update this post later with highlights. The governor’s commercial property tax reform plan will be a centerpiece of the address. As part of that plan, Branstad indicated yesterday that he will seek unprecedented limits on local government taxing authority in Iowa.

UPDATE: A few details from the governor’s proposed budget are now below, along with some reaction from Democratic lawmakers. Branstad is asking for a significant spending increase in the 2013 fiscal year.

Republican State Senator Merlin Bartz set the bar high for irony on the opening day of the 2012 legislative session. Bartz sought publicity for a bill he has introduced to remove “frivolous, obsolete, and redundant mandates” from the Iowa Code.

On the one hand, that’s a worthwhile effort for the ranking member of the Iowa Senate Local Government Committee. On the other hand, a guy who’s using a 19th-century law to force neighbors to pay for half of his new fence might not be the best standard-bearer for this cause.

Leaders representing both parties in the Iowa House and Senate outlined their priorities in their opening remarks to this 2012 legislative session. Even the Republicans said next to nothing about social issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage or promoting religious education.

The Iowa legislature’s 2012 session begins today with several major policy reforms on the agenda. Making progress on even one of those issues would be daunting under any circumstances, but particularly during an election year when different parties control the Iowa House and Senate. Lots of links are after the jump.

What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? Today is Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday. The Mirror published 17 things “you need to know” about the renowned physicist. I haven’t read A Brief History of Time or any of Hawking’s other publications for adults, but my kids and I are big fans of the three children’s books he co-wrote with his daughter, Lucy Hawking: George’s Secret Key to the Universe, George’s Cosmic Treasure Hunt, and George and the Big Bang. Highly recommended for children with any interest in science, especially if they are fascinated by space travel or the solar system.

Doctors do not know why Hawking has lived for so many years with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He has credited the excellent care he has received through Britain’s National Health Service. In a 2009 editorial against government-run health care, the American conservative publication Investor’s Business Daily claimed that a person with physical handicaps like Hawking’s “wouldn’t have a chance in the UK.”

This is an open thread; all topics welcome. After the jump I’ve posted excerpts from yet another reaction to Stephen Bloom’s harsh commentary on Iowa for The Atlantic monthly. This one is by Peter Feldstein, who co-authored The Oxford Project with Bloom. Bleeding Heartland readers discussed Bloom’s essay a few weeks ago in this thread.  

Six Republican candidates are debating twice in 15 hours this weekend ahead of Tuesday’s primary in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney, who’s way ahead of the field, will be playing not to lose. Everyone else will be under pressure to trip him up.

Any comments about the ABC debate on Saturday night or Sunday morning’s encounter on “Meet the Press” are welcome in this thread. I’ll liveblog the ABC debate after the jump.

Moderate Republican Fred Karger was excluded from these and all previous televised debates, but he has been campaigning in New Hampshire and has a tv ad on the air. Transcript: “Fed up with the Republican Party? Well, there’s one candidate you just might like. Fred Karger is the only moderate Republican running for president. He’s pro-choice, supports gay marriage, and wants us out of Afghanistan now. Send the Republican Party a message: vote for Fred Karger for president.”

UPDATE: Added excerpts from the Meet the Press debate transcript at the end of this post.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new employment figures yesterday, showing nonfarm payroll employment up by 200,000 in December 2011, and the unemployment rate down slightly to 8.5 percent. Several members of Congress from Iowa cited the news a Their statements are after the jump.

I’ve also enclosed reaction from U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin to President Barack Obama’s recess appointments of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three members of the National Labor Relations Board. While Harkin welcomed Cordray’s appointment, Grassley slammed the president for “upending years of Senate practice and legal precedent.” Grassley was among Senate Republicans who filibustered Cordray’s confirmation last month.

Now that we’ve had a couple of days to digest the Iowa caucus results, I want to invite Bleeding Heartland readers to discuss how the outcome affected the Republican Party of Iowa. My thoughts are below; please share your take in the comments.  

Iowa House Assistant Majority Leader Steve Lukan announced yesterday that he will not seek a sixth term in the state legislature. His retirement improves Democrats’ prospects of picking up the new Iowa House district 57.

UPDATE: Democrat Nancy Dunkel is running in this House district. Background from her January 6 press release is below.

Mitt Romney may have wrongly been declared the winner of the Iowa caucuses due to a tabulation error, according to an exclusive KCCI-TV report today.