Meanwhile, even the Republicans who are actively running for governor are struggling to raise money and support now that former Governor Terry Branstad has said he’s seriously thinking about running again. Branstad told a Republican gathering last week that he will decide by October whether to challenge Governor Chet Culver.
Post any comments about the governor’s race or the Republican Party in this thread.
Fed up with the conservadem approach to slowly killing healthcare reform, a coaltion of Unions have taken their gloves off and launched radio ads in Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, and Arkansas asking key Senators from those states What Side Are You On?
I wasn’t living in Iowa during the 1990s, so I had never heard about this episode before reading today’s New York Times:
Hopes for co-ops may also be tempered by the experience of Iowa, home to Senator Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee, which is trying to hash out a bipartisan health care proposal.
In the 1990s, Iowa adopted a law to encourage the development of health care co-ops. One was created, and it died within two years. Although the law is still on the books, the state does not have a co-op now, said Susan E. Voss, the Iowa insurance commissioner.
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield collects about 70 percent of the premiums paid in the private insurance market in Iowa and South Dakota.
To become established, a new market entrant would have to offer lower prices or better services, Ms. Voss said, adding: “Wellmark has a huge advantage. They already have contracts with practically every doctor in the state.”
I am shocked, shocked to learn that senators hauling in huge money from the insurance industry want to scuttle plans for a public health insurance option in favor of cooperatives that would not provide any meaningful competition in the marketplace.
For a guy who wrote a short book’s worth of blog posts as “The Armchair Economist,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Christian Fong has been saying some boneheaded things about the state budget lately.
Senator Jay Rockefeller speculated two weeks ago that the Republicans working with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on a health care bill were only trying to delay reform and diminish the bill as much as possible before voting against it. On Monday, “gang of six” member Senator Chuck Grassley went on MSNBC and in effect admitted Rockefeller was right:
“I am negotiating for Republicans,” he said. “If I can’t negotiate something that gets more than four Republicans, I’m not a good negotiator.”
When NBC’s Chuck Todd, in a follow-up question on the show, asked the Iowa Republican if he’d vote against what Grassley might consider to be a “good deal” — i.e., gets everything he asks for from Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D) — Grassley replied, “It isn’t a good deal if I can’t sell my product to more Republicans.”
Up to now, Baucus and the White House could use Grassley as cover for giving away the store to corporate interests. (Republicans conveniently insist on the same things the drug and insurance lobbies want in or out of the bill.) But if Grassley won’t even commit to voting for a bill that contains everything he wants, what is the point of continuing this charade?
“…If (Democrats) do go ahead (on their own), this is what I fear. They get done what they want, they’re going to change our health care system forever. You understand I feel a little bit like the boy sticking his finger in the dike, trying to stop the ocean from coming in…If I had not been at the table, there would have been a bill through the (Senate Finance) Committee the week of June 22 and it would have been through the senate by now because there’s 60 Democrats so I think that I have, by sticking my finger in the dike, I’ve had an opportunity to give the grassroots of America an opportunity to speak up as you’re seeing every day on television and I think that’s a good thing.”
Two Democratic former state legislators, Tom Fiegen and Bob Krause, are working on 2010 Senate bids to face Republican deather Chuck “pull the plug on grandma” Grassley. Despite Grassley’s increasingly Looney Tunes demeanor, he does have just over $3.8 million in the bank as of the end of June.
I’m told by mostly reliable sources there is a well-known mystery candidate who’s about 75 percent ready to join the race. The mystery candidate supposedly has name recognition and money.
I don’t publish enough linkfests at Bleeding Heartland. Here are a few pieces that any Democrat should read before deciding to accept a health care reform compromise without a strong public option. The first three are personal stories.
A cardiologist recommended a nuclear stress test for this middle-aged man with a family history of fatal heart attacks. The scheduled test was canceled after the patient’s insurance company refused to cover it. Who’s getting between patients and their doctors again?
AdmiralNaismith explains how his wife’s embolism left his family “drowning in medical bills, despite insurance.”
Downtowner explains “How I lost my health insurance at the hairstylist’s” and how medical checks she needs are unaffordable now that she is uninsured.
Ian Welsh discusses the economic and political consequences of passing an individual mandate to buy health insurance with no public option. Spoiler alert: they’re not good unless you think “a regressive tax which will rise faster than wages or inflation” is a political winner.
Bruh3 explains the crucial flaw in President Obama’s negotiating strategy on health care. No one believes he will walk away from the table, no matter how bad a bill Congress sends him.
UPDATE: Some White House officials told Marc Ambinder that Sebelius misspoke, or the media misinterpreted her remarks. I would prefer a clear statement from the president.
Sebelius said the White House would be open to co-ops instead of a government-run public option, a sign Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory on the must-win showdown.
“I think there will be a competitor to private insurers,” she said. “That’s really the essential part, is you don’t turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition.”
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said co-ops might be a politically acceptable alternative as “a step away from the government takeover of the health care system” that the GOP has assailed.
Last Wednesday, I attended a health care forum in Iowa hosted by Senator Tom Harkin. Following it, I wrote a diary, “Now I understand why war happens (a health care forum story).” In it, I asked the question, how can you defeat the bullies who are overrunning most of these meetings?
The problem in dealing with the teabaggers, deathers, birthers, racists, anarchists and radical libertarians who are overrunning health care forums nationwide is simple to describe.
They. Don't. Listen. Ever.
So, you can't really talk to them. When they have stacked the room, the intimidation is palpable. That's how they win.
I couldn't for the life of me think of how to beat these people, short of overpowering them somehow – hence the title of the diary. But, even as I wrote it, I knew that overpowering them just feeds into their fear and paranoia, and realistically, it's impossible anyway.
Today, after a little sleep and some reflection, I realized that the effect of the teabaggers' aggressive intimidation made me stupid for about eight hours. Anger is an amnesic agent. It makes you forget what you know. I was angry, depressed, agitated, and clueless all at once.
Two and a half weeks before the September 1 special election in Iowa House district 90, Republican Stephen Burgmeier’s campaign launched its first television commercial:
The producers fit quite a few misleading statements into one 30-second ad. The visual suggests Iowa has taken on “a billion dollar debt,” and the voice-over emphasizes the word “billion,” even though the I-JOBS infrastructure bonding initiative was for $830 million.
The commercial accuses “Governor Culver and his allies” of borrowing “almost a BILLION dollars to pay their bills.” However, the I-JOBS program was created to fund infrastructure projects and has nothing to do with meeting state government’s ongoing spending obligations. (Click here for a breakdown of how the money will be spent.)
During this recession, several other states have been forced to borrow money to pay their bills, but Iowa is borrowing for capital investments. Credit analysts and national institutional investors understand the difference, even if Iowa Republicans don’t. That’s why “investor enthusiasm and high market demand” drove down the interest rate on the I-JOBS bonds.
Next, Burgmeier’s ad shows a man saying, “That’s money taxpayers are on the hook for,” implying that taxes will go up to repay the debt. In fact, existing gaming revenues will provide the approximately $43.2 million in annual payments on the bonds.
The ad begins with a voice-over asserting that “red ink is rising in Des Moines” and later shows a woman saying, “Stop the red ink.” Those statements, along with the cartoon of red ink drowning Culver and the capitol, wrongly suggest that the infrastructure borrowing is deficit spending.
The second part of the ad promises that Burgmeier will vote for a new budget law “to make it harder to waste tax dollars.” I’d like more details about how such a law would work, and I’d also like Burgmeier to specify which of these investments he considers wasteful.
The ad promises Burgmeier will “serve as a check and balance to Governor Culver’s runaway spending” and closes by saying Burgmeier will bring “balance and spending restraint back to our government.” Iowa Republicans may believe Culver is very unpopular in district 90, or they may have decided to run against him in order to rile up their base. It’s notable that the ad never uses the word “Republican” and doesn’t identify the candidate’s political party. I guess the outside interest groups running the Burgmeier campaign don’t have much confidence in the Republican brand to carry the day.
The Iowa GOP didn’t announce the size of the ad buy, which networks would run the ad or which programs have been targeted. If you live in the viewing area for this district, let us know whether you’ve seen the ad, and if so during which television shows. If you prefer not to post a comment here, you can send me a confidential e-mail at desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com. Please also report on any radio ads you’ve heard.
I’m curious to see whether this will be Burgmeier’s only television commercial or if his campaign will mention other issues, including same-sex marriage, in later ads.
Having spent no time in this district lately, I have no idea whether Burgmeier or Democrat Curt Hanson has an edge. Political scientists will tell you that as a general rule, the party out of power does well in low-turnout by-elections and special elections. Both Democrats and Republicans are working hard to get out the vote in district 90. State GOP Chairman Matt Strawn and some other Republicans view this race as a must-win.
Let’s go to the bill text, shall we? “The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary’s need for pain and symptom management, including the individual’s need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning.” The only difference between the 2003 provision and the infamous Section 1233 that threatens the very future and moral sanctity of the Republic is that the first applied only to terminally ill patients. Section 1233 would expand funding so that people could voluntarily receive counseling before they become terminally ill.
You shouldn’t have counseling at the end of life. You ought to have it done 20 years before you’re going to die. You ought to plan these things out. I don’t have any problem with things like living wills, but they ought to be done within the family. We should not have a government program that determines you’re going to pull the plug on grandma.”
Some of the current draft health care reform bills would cover counseling to help people create living wills before they ever get sick, which is what Grassley says should happen. In contrast, the 2003 bill he voted for only covered such counseling for people who were already terminally ill.
By the way, Grassley convinced Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to drop the end-of-life provisions from that committee’s draft bill. I didn’t think it was possible for Baucus to prove himself to be any more of a tool for Republicans. Talk about negotiating from a position of weakness. I hope Howard Dean is right in predicting that those provisions will be restored in the final version of the bill.
Bob Krause has been exploring a Senate bid for several months. You can learn more about his campaign at KrauseforIowa.com.
Neither Fiegen nor Krause is going to beat Grassley next year, but it’s important to have Democrats committed to making the case against him. That could reduce the number of Democratic and Democratic-leaning independents who cross over to vote for the incumbent, and we need as much straight-ticket voting in 2010 as possible.
UPDATE: Dueling statements from Representative Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Grassley are after the jump.
SECOND UPDATE: I missed this story on Wednesday–Grassley was promoting Glenn Beck’s book in Winterset. Great partner in constructive bipartisan negotiations!
Twelve thousand years ago, in the wake of a glacier, the land that would become Northern Iowa was a geologic wasteland. Glacial materials conveyed from the north had obliterated the biological diversity of the previous era. But then nature’s ecological processes began anew, creating-over twelve millennia-a prairie ecosystem with its fertile, productive soils.
How did that happen? Gradually, plants, animals and microorganisms colonized the desolate landscape, creating an increasingly diverse and complex ecosystem. The ecosystem’s plants and animals generated organic materials which soil microorganisms used to develop fertile soils from raw geologic materials.
It has been estimated that fifty million bison once roamed the prairies and plains of North America. Bison herds roving the prairie landscape are a useful model we can use to design animal production systems that are resilient, energy-efficient, and biologically diverse. (continues after the jump)
(Thanks for this first-person account, even though it is frightening. - promoted by desmoinesdem)
(crossposted from Daily Kos)
Yesterday, I saw our problem first hand. We are in a world of trouble, people.
Mobs are powerful and wholy beyond reason. Yet, they must be stopped, because they are extremely dangerous. There are a lot of very angry, very frightened people out there, and about 150 of them turned out on a Wednesday afternoon to harass Senator Tom Harkin, shout incoherent political slogans (the same ones that have been diaried to death here in the last week), and to let him know that they are very angry about the idea of government in general and government health care in particular. The total crowd was limited to about 210 by the fire code.
The Iowa State Fair opened today and runs through Sunday, August 23. Senator Tom Harkin stopped by the Iowa Democratic Party’s booth in the Varied Industries Building (photos here).
Post any memories, comments or advice about the fair in this thread.
I like to park along Grand Avenue. You usually can find a spot within a few blocks of the entrance to the fairgrounds, and you don't have to walk through the midway like you do if you drive in from E. University. Also, the traffic can be very bad between the freeway and the fairgrounds all along E. University. Better to get off I-235 at E. 14th St, head south and then east on Grand.
Walking in through the Grand Avenue entrance, you're close to the DNR's building with lots of fish tanks on your left (kids love this). The Varied Industries Building is not far away on your right.
My kids like going through the animal barns, but I strongly recommend carrying young children (3 and under) in a comfortable backpack or soft carrier to keep them from stepping in manure.
If it's a hot day, kids like to cool off in the fountain area just south of the Ag Building. I buy lemonade from the honey producers in the ag building (tastes great, and they offer the best price at the fairgrounds). I never miss the Bauder's ice cream truck either.
Check the schedule ahead of time to see when there are shows you'd like to see. There's a huge variety of free entertainment at the fair. It could be a horse show or a frisbee-catching dog show or a musical act or a magician.
Tune out the corporate ag propaganda and enjoy looking at the animal babies in the Animal Learning Center, a little north of the ag building. Right next to that is a "little hands on the farm" outdoor activity that is so fun. Kids pretend to plant crops, then harvest them (riding on toy tractors) and sell them. When they leave the exhibit they get to exchange their pretend money for a real treat in the general store.
Similar to past releases of this report, the 2009 State Report Cards also provide five different outcome measures compared among the states for each year: (1) Incidence Rates, (2) Cases Missing Work, (3) Median Disability Durations, (4) Delayed Recovery Rate; and (5) Key Conditions: Low Back Strain. An essential requirement for production of this report was the proprietary crosswalk program that has been developed by Work Loss Data Institute, which converts OSHA-reported data into an ICD9 code format. More details on the methodology used are located at http://www.odg-disability.com/…
Iowa performed the best of all the states for 2006 and Minnesota came in a close second. Both states received a grade of “A+” based on an average of their 2006 scores in the five categories above. Illinois came in last, with Wyoming, Rhode Island and New York very close to the bottom. In total, nine of the 43 states received a grade of “F” in 2006. A summary of each grade for all states is shown on a U.S. Map Showing Grades by State, located at http://www.odg-disability.com/…
In terms of the tier ranking system, the Tier I states are Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Utah and Virginia. Tier I means that the state had an average grade of “B+” or better, and a trend going up or level. Those five states were doing great and continuing to improve.
Look for Iowa Republicans to keep claiming that this is a terrible place to do business despite the conclusions of independent analysts such as the California-based Work Loss Data Institute.
“Now, I think that there are some of my Republican friends on Capitol Hill who are sincerely trying to figure out if they can find a health care bill that works – Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Olympia Snowe from Maine have been – yes, I got to admit I like Olympia, too. They are diligently working to see if they can come up with a plan that could get both Republican and Democratic support.”
In addition, Thomas Beaumont of the Des Moines Register noticed that Organizing for America is not mobilizing Obama’s supporters to show up at Grassley’s town-hall meetings in Iowa. Instead, Organizing for America is trying to drive turnout to events hosted by Iowa’s Democrats in Congress.
(Promoting this diary as a reminder to Democrats that big corporations are not our friends. Not that partisan politics should play a role in the Iowa Utilities Board ruling on the allowable rate of return for MidAmerican's new proposed wind farm (click here for background on what MidAmerican is seeking). - promoted by desmoinesdem)
Just to catch everyone up, MidAmerican Energy is attempting to keep their iron grip on the wind energy production in Iowa, and have been fighting tooth and nail during hearings these past two days. The Des Moines Register reported this afternoon that they were accused of being so desperate to submit something to the utilities board, they “effectively mailed in four boxtops of Cheerios and asked for approval.”
Now, let's take a trip down memory lane. MidAmerican Energy is the same company who dumped $25,000, along with RJ Reynolds (big tobacco), into the “Iowa Leadership Council's” negative ad campaign. Their campaign targeted Art Staed, Elesha Gayman, Bob Kressig, and Eric Palmer– ALL DEMOCRATS.
And Art Staed ended up losing his election.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Now, flash forward to today, and you are looking at the reason why I hope with every inch of my being that they “lose” the hearing, or whatever they would consider to be a “loss.”
Check out the crazy ads they helped run, after the jump.
