I was intrigued by an article in today's Des Moines Register about Dr. David Nash, who advocates training “oral health therapists” to handle simple procedures for children's teeth.

My cousins who are dentists probably wouldn't like this idea, but Nash made a compelling case:

Nash, who spoke at a conference in Johnston, framed the problem as an issue of justice and fairness. He criticized fellow dentists for concentrating on profitable treatments, including cosmetic procedures. He said they should spend more time on public-health needs, including care for poor children insured under Medicaid.

Dentists often say they limit their Medicaid work because the program pays them too little. But Nash said states that have dramatically raised reimbursements have not seen corresponding increases in dentists willing to accept more Medicaid patients. “Many dentists just do not want to see these people in their offices,” he said.

[…]

The professor has made waves nationally with a proposal to create a new class of “oral health therapists,” who would receive two years of training in the treatment of children. They could perform typical dental-hygienist duties, plus simple fillings, crowns and extraction of baby teeth. They could be posted in schools, pediatricians' clinics or mobile clinics, he said. Such therapists provide safe, economical treatment in 53 countries, including New Zealand, Britain and Canada, he said.

I have a friend whose family is on Medicaid, and I know she has struggled to find a dentist to fill her daughters' cavities. The family dentists or pediatric dentists recommended by me and other friends do not take Medicaid patients. She wants to avoid getting mercury amalgam fillings, and the only dentists in the Des Moines area she can find who take Medicaid patients use mercury in the fillings.

I'm sure there are arguments to be made against Nash's idea, but it seems to merit serious consideration. 

Nice try. Two top executives from Regency Homes sought to avoid repaying about $2.7 million plus interest owed to Wells Fargo on personal lines of credit:

A Polk County district judge rejected arguments from Richard Moffitt, Regency’s chief executive, and John Gamble, Regency’s former chief financial officer, that Wells Fargo & Co. exerted “undue influence and economic duress” against the executives and prevented them from repaying the debt.

The men – along with Regency executives Jamie Myers and Rob Myers – say Wells Fargo put a chokehold on the leaders’ income in December 2007, when it demanded all net proceeds from Regency’s property sales. The leaders claim Wells Fargo’s actions denied them their ability to repay their personal lines of credit.

Moffitt had a $2 million line of credit with Wells Fargo; Jamie Myers, Regency vice president, has $1.5 million; part owner Rob Myers had $1 million; and Gamble had $750,000. Leaders said the lines were used to invest in residential and commercial developments.

The sound you don’t hear is the world’s saddest song being played on the world’s smallest violin.

Give me a break. These guys had a pretty good run during the housing bubble. I am sure that they accumulated plenty of securities and other assets that could be liquidated in order to repay personal lines of credit.

Too many Americans are happy with “high risk, high reward” investments as long as they are reaping the rewards. When they get burned by the risks, they try to weasel out of paying the price.

Meanwhile, “Iowa banks with ties to Regency Homes or other real estate-related businesses continue to report troubles with loans to that industry.” It will be a while before we know the full extent of the fallout from Regency’s suspension of operations last month.

I got a fundraising e-mail yesterday from Tom Harkin’s campaign manager, Jeff Link. He is trying to convince me that the third Republican to start campaigning against Harkin, former State Representative George Eichhorn, is a real threat to the four-term incumbent because he “released a list of 33 prominent Republicans” who have endorsed him.

For more information on Eichhorn, check out his campaign website or click here for more about his official announcement this week.

With all due respect to Eichhorn, I can’t see how he could possibly build up enough name recognition and support in the next six months to defeat Harkin in what is likely to be a banner year for Democrats in the Congressional races.

I understand that raising money is part of a campaign manager’s job, but let’s face some facts. Harkin’s campaign started the year with more than $3 million cash on hand. His approval/disapproval rating in April 2008 was 55/38 according to Survey USA, prompting the “Senate Guru” (who runs a great blog) to declare Harkin “as safe as they come.”

Other analyses declaring Harkin’s seat safe include about.com’s US politics rankings and CQ Politics.

So don’t take this the wrong way, Senator Harkin, but the $35 I spent on my steak fry ticket last September was the last money you’ll see from me for a long while.

As I’ve said, I am directing my campaign contributions to races where it might make a difference.

The full text of the e-mail from Jeff Link is after the jump.

Matt Stoller put up a post at Open Left today regarding the latest attempt to get retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies into the House version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

As you may recall, the Senate version of the FISA bill includes retroactive immunity for telecoms. House Democrats have so far beaten back several attempts to add that provision to the House version of the FISA bill.

On Thursday, May 8, one of the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee tried to get the Senate version of the FISA bill added to the fiscal 2009 Intelligence authorization bill. That effort was defeated by a vote of 11-10.

However, twelve Democrats serve on the House Intelligence Committee, which means that one of them voted with the nine Republicans to try to get telecom immunity in the FISA bill.

The question is whether the Democrat who voted with Republicans was our own Congressman Leonard Boswell. He is one of two likely suspects, because he and Bud Cramer (AL-05) were the only two Democrats on this committee to sign a letter in February advocating retroactive immunity for telecoms in the House version of the FISA bill.

In March, Boswell changed his position and stood with the majority of House Democrats who do not want to grant telecoms immunity in the FISA bill.

Democrats in the third district deserve to know whether Boswell has quietly reverted to his initial position, in favor of telecom immunity. According to the Open Secrets website, Boswell’s PAC contributions for the 2007/2008 election cycle alone include $10,000 from AT&T and $2,000 from Verizon.

I am trying to get a comment on this from the Boswell campaign, and I will update this diary if and when I hear back from them.

As far as I can remember, it’s been 10 to 15 years since I ate at a Burger King, so there’s little point to my declaring a boycott of the company’s restaurants.

But let’s say you want to eat less fast food and are looking for a little extra motivation not to stop at Burger King. I recommend this diary by orangeclouds115.

Apparently Burger King hired someone to infiltrate and spy on a student group that is trying to raise wages and improve working conditions for migrant workers who pick tomatoes in Florida. Click the link for details, and cross Burger King off your list.

Check out Bike Iowa’s page on Bike to Work week:

http://www.bikeiowa.com/asp/bi…

There’s a ton of information there about special events, promotions, benefits of cycling, and lots of other topics.

I am not working outside the home now, but if you or your employer are participating in Bike to Work week, please put up a diary to let us know how it goes!

I noticed that on the morning of Monday, May 12, Congressman Leonard Boswell is organizing a bike ride to his office in downtown Des Moines. Good for him. May I suggest that he become a co-sponsor of the Safe and Complete Streets bill that Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) just introduced in the House of Representatives:

The bill would make sure that roads built and improved with federal funds safely serve everyone using the roadway-including pedestrians, bicyclists, bus riders, as well as those with disabilities.

“Once again, gas prices have hit record highs this week. As American families continue to feel the pain at the pump due to the skyrocketing costs of gasoline, they are driving less and less,” said Rep. Matsui. “By diversifying our roadways, we can provide real alternatives to travel by car.”

Boswell sits on the Transportation Committee and could help move this bill along.

Tom Harkin and Thomas Carper (D-DE) have already introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

This week Governor Culver signed into law a bill that establishes a statewide 1-cent sales tax for school infrastructure. That tax will replace the local-option sales tax for school infrastructure, which has been adopted in all 99 counties.

The problem with the local-option sales tax has been that school districts in counties with a large retail base get much more funding per student than school districts in counties without many local retail options. Why should students in Warren County have to learn in crumbling schools because there are more shopping options in Polk and Dallas counties?

A few years back there was an uproar in Des Moines when it emerged that the school district didn’t have enough money to fix up all the schools. Partly that was due to poor budgeting, but the explosion of big-box retail in Dallas County played a role as well, because fewer local-option sales tax dollars were staying in Polk County.

Des Moines’ alternative weekly Cityview doesn’t like the new law. They may be right that the motivation for passing it was to make sure voters wouldn’t be able to ditch the extra penny sales tax. The old law forced counties to get voters to renew the local-option sales tax every ten years, and many people think Polk County voters would have rejected any proposal to renew the local-option tax approved in 1999.

The new statewide sales tax won’t expire until 2029.

Cityview is also troubled by the move away from “local control,” but here I am 100 percent with IowaVoter:

This crazy local-option sales tax was created in a previous Republican-run legislature.  It siphons money from counties with little retail trade to counties with larger trade, such as Polk county.  It sounds like something rural Republicans should have opposed, but they always go for regressive taxes.  The local control aspect took the burden off them, too.

Thank Democrats for partly fixing this folly.  The tax is still regressive but now it will give rural areas a fair shake.  Republicans lost control of the legislature for a reason.  Democrats should not shrink from the burden of correcting old errors, even if Republicans drag their feet.

Cityview doesn’t seem to get how the current system operates and is bothered that the new law

expects taxpayers in Des Moines, for example, to bail out crumbling schools in Sioux City or Davenport or some other place where we have no say in how our money is being spent. It isn’t that Iowans shouldn’t bond together to help one another, but it should be left to local taxpayers to vote on how their money is spent as a way to keep school districts in line – not a group of bureaucrats.

But of course, the current system gives people in the majority of Iowa’s counties little more than the illusion of local control. Whether or not they approve a local-option sales tax in their own county, they still end up pumping money into school districts located in other counties–and neither they nor their local school boards have any say in how that money is spent.

Students should not be punished for living in a county without many retail options.

Ed Fallon’s campaign is keeping up the pressure on Congressman Leonard Boswell to agree to a debate before the June 3 primary:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fallon Encourages Groups to Host Joint Debate

Hopes Boswell will Reconsider

Thursday, May 8, 2008, (11:00 AM CDT) – Late yesterday, Ed Fallon sent a proposal to ten media outlets and organizations to join together to host a debate between him and Congressman Boswell. These ten were chosen because they recently issued their own debate invitations to Fallon and Boswell. Fallon accepted all ten invitations, while Boswell has not accepted one.

Fallon said, “I believe ten invitations reflect a clear mandate from the voters that they want a chance to see and hear from Congressman Boswell and me. Maybe Congressman Boswell will reconsider participating in a debate if this group can bring enough pressure to bear. It may be incentive enough for him to change his mind.”

Fallon has already heard back from four of the groups and all have expressed an interest in pursuing a joint debate. Fallon encourages any other groups interested in joining this effort to contact his campaign by Monday, May 12th. The Fallon campaign is only initially facilitating the effort to bring groups together to take the lead as the sponsoring organizations. Those interested should contact Stacy Brenton at stacy@fallonforcongress.com or 515-822-3029.

As I wrote earlier this week, Boswell’s excuse that he is just too busy to debate is not credible. He has been visiting the district for fundraisers and various public events. I saw him myself in Waukee on Sunday. Why couldn’t he have scheduled a debate for this past weekend, when he was planning to be in the Des Moines area anyway?

It’s not uncommon for an incumbent to refuse to debate a challenger, so as not to risk making a mistake or giving the rival favorable media exposure. But if Boswell is going to duck debates, the least he can do is be honest about his reasons.

On a related note, I mentioned on Tuesday that I hadn’t seen any yards with signs for both Hillary and Fallon. That changed this morning when I was walking my dog a mile or so from my house.

If you’ve seen Obama/Boswell or Hillary/Fallon combos in someone’s yard, please let us know.

Also, please post a comment or a diary if you’ve seen our “too-busy-working-in-Washington-to-debate” Congressman at an event in the third district recently.

UPDATE: I posted a diary about this at Open Left, and Bob in AZ asked if any organization would be willing to host an “empty chair debate,” which would attract even more media attention to Boswell’s refusal to show up and talk about the issues. That is a great idea. I would encourage the Fallon campaign to try to make that happen.

It’s 10:30 am on Thursday, and I just got off the phone with a very aggressive phonebanker for Barack Obama. I don’t know where this guy was from. It sounded like his accent was from somewhere in the northeast, and it sounded like he was calling from a phonebank, and not working as a volunteer from his home.

I explained at least 10 times that I am not going to give money to Barack Obama’s campaign this year, because I don’t feel that he needs my money, and I am going to focus on supporting state and local candidates who need my money more.

This guy was tenacious, though (some would probably find his manner obnoxious). He kept telling me that Obama does need my money more, that this is the most important thing, why can’t I give to Obama and local candidates, it’s going to come down to every last dollar, etc.

Finally I just started laughing. I told him that he and I have a respectful disagreement, but I’m still not giving Obama any money this year.

I wonder if their scripts tell them to be that insistent when someone has already said more than a half-dozen times that she is not going to contribute. I did emphasize that I will certainly vote for Obama.

Obama has been raising money hand over fist all year, and he recently passed 1.5 million unique donors. John McCain has underperformed in fundraising since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee. If Obama loses the general, it’s not going to be for lack of resources.

Iowa Independent has published a good interview T.M. Lindsey did with Gigi Durham, a journalism professor at the University of Iowa who has published a book called “The Lolita Effect.”

“A lot of very sexual products are being marketed to very young kids,” Durham said in a press release. “I’m criticizing the unhealthy and damaging representations of girls’ sexuality, and how the media present girls’ sexuality in a way that’s tied to their profit motives. The body ideals presented in the media are virtually impossible to attain, but girls don’t always realize that, and they’ll buy an awful lot of products to try to achieve those bodies. There’s endless consumerism built around that.”

Durham will read from “The Lolita Effect” at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8, at Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City.

If anyone makes it to the reading, please put up a comment or diary afterwards to tell us about the event.

If you are concerned about the way the media and various industries sexualize young girls, Mothering.com occasionally publishes news and action alerts about this issue.

Another good resource is Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a group dedicated to “reclaiming children from corporate marketers.” That organization, in collaboration with the group Dads & Daughters, launched a successful letter-writing campaign two years ago, which prompted toy company Hasbro to shelve a planned line of eroticized “Pussycat Dolls” for young girls.

A current letter-writing effort organized by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is urging a children’s hospital not to give naming rights to Abercrombie & Fitch, “among the worst corporate offenders” when it comes to sexualizing children.

Speaking of Lolita, since I studied Russian literature in college I want to let you in on a little secret: it’s not the best novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Seriously, I’ve never met a Russian lit professor or graduate student who thought that was Nabokov’s best work.

If you’re curious about Nabokov, read Invitation to a Beheading (a relatively early novel), The Gift (the last novel he wrote in Russian), The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (the first novel he wrote in English), Pale Fire (probably my own favorite), or Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle.

The Iowa Citizen Action Network sent out this action alert on Wednesday:

ECONOMIC RECOVERY THAT INVESTS IN  AMERICA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This year Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN) has been talking about the need to invest in Iowa by expanding health care coverage for  kids, and our

state legislature has taken bold steps to meet this need in the coming years. Now as Iowans continue to struggle with a whole host of economic issues including health care, foreclosures, unemployment, and the rising cost of gas and food; We must tell Congress to take bold action to invest in  America .

America is now in a recession. The economy has lost 296,000 private sector jobs in the past quarter.  Unemployment claims have surged upwards to a four-week average of 376,000. And many Americans are still in jobs, but with reduced hours. Now things are getting a lot worse.

Together we can ensure that Congress passes a package that provides a shared recovery and an economy that works for all of us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

URGE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS TO DO

MORE TO REVERSE THE RECESSION

Congress is currently discussing a growth package that would stimulate the economy and provide relief for low-to-moderate-income people. It’s up to us to make sure their proposals succeed in reversing the impact of the recession for ordinary Iowans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CALL TODAY — YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time is of the essence: the House and Senate leaders are discussing what should be included in an economic recovery package that can invest in the people who are most impacted by the recession.  That’s why we need to call our representatives right now and tell them to vote to help people recover from the recession.

Call Your U.S. Representative toll free 1-888-460-0813* on May 7, or 1-202-224-3121 any other day. Both reach the capitol switchboard.

Call right now and urge Sen. Harkin, Sen. Grassley, and your representative to vote for recession relief for low-to-moderate income people. Find your Rep. at: www.house.gov.

Too often Congress loads these emergency stimulus packages with corporate tax breaks and gimmicky gestures toward working people, so I appreciate ICAN’s efforts to move these deliberations in the right direction.

Another day, another action alert urging me to beg Congressman Leonard Boswell to stand with most House Democrats, instead of with the Bush administration:

Dear MoveOn member,

Tomorrow could be Congress’ last chance to exercise real oversight on the war. The media is paying less attention to Iraq, but we need to remind Rep. Boswell that voters aren’t-Americans are more frustrated with the war than ever before.

Can you call Rep. Boswell right now and tell him that voters are tired of dumping billions into the unwinnable war in Iraq? Tell Rep. Boswell that voters are looking for accountability from President Bush on the war and we want our troops home quickly. (We’ve included more details below.)

Here’s where to call:

Representative Leonard Boswell

Phone: 202-225-3806

Then, please report your call by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=…

According to news reports, Congress will have a series of separate votes. There’ll be one vote on whether to give the president $162 billion to fund the war through next year-with no strings attached. That’s a huge amount to spend on keeping troops in Iraq, especially at a time when peoples’ houses are being foreclosed and unemployment is going up at home.

Then, there will be separate votes on measures to redeploy our troops and hold the Bush administration accountable for their actions during the war-measures that could ban torture, hold contractors accountable, and prevent President Bush from committing our troops to a permanent presence in Iraq.1

It’s important that all members of Congress hear that voters do not want the president to get another $162 billion blank check for the war. Can you call Rep. Boswell and ask him to reject a blank check for the president and to support proposals to bring our troops home and hold Bush accountable instead?

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Michael, Daniel, Joan, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team

 Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

P.S. Here’s an excerpt from a Washington Post article explaining Thursday’s votes:

“Setting up their last major battle over war policy with President Bush, House Democrats yesterday unveiled a plan to link their favored domestic spending projects and a troop-withdrawal timeline to additional funds for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan requested by the White House.

The $195 billion spending measure would pay for the wars well into next year while tacking on $11 billion to extend unemployment benefits and nearly $1 billion to offer expanded higher education benefits for war veterans. Democrats said they hope that the spending provisions, particularly the education measure, will prove politically difficult for Bush to veto in an election year.

“If he wants to make a federal case out of the fact that we feel the need to do something major to reward the troops, that’s his prerogative. But I don’t think the country will agree with him. And I certainly don’t think the country would agree with any effort to deny the extension of unemployment benefits,” said House Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.).

The White House remained opposed to the additional spending, demanding a “clean” bill to fund the wars by the symbolically important date of Memorial Day.

“We feel strongly that the Iraq war supplemental should remain for national security needs. We understand that there could be debates on other issues, such as unemployment benefits and food stamps, other issues that are important to a lot of people. But those issues can be taken up separate from our national security needs,” said Dana Perino, White House press secretary.

House Republicans also denounced the Democrats’ plan.

“It is unacceptable and, indeed, unimaginable for Congress to continue to hold our troops hostage for political leverage. If House Democrats want to ramp up spending on other government programs, those items should be considered separately,” said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

The House’s emergency supplemental funding measure is broken into three pieces, including $162.6 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, of which $66 billion is designed to cover war costs for several months after the next administration takes over. The second portion includes language mandating immediate troop withdrawals with a goal of having most all troops out by the end of 2009. The third part includes the domestic spending.”

Click here to read the whole thing:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3633…

Source:

1. “Leader Reid gets pushback on Iraq war bill,” The Hill, May 6, 2008

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3634…

Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.2 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you’d like to support our work, you can give now at:

http://political.moveon.org/do…

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

Right now, I think Barack Obama can make a stronger case with the superdelegates for why they should hand him the nomination instead of giving it to Hillary Clinton. (As is clear, neither candidate can get a majority of delegates without the superdelegates.)

However, every time I inch toward hoping that Obama will win the nomination, he says or does something that alienates me. As I’ve written, Hillary’s advocacy of a gas tax holiday this summer is a major red flag for me. But I learned today that Obama has sent out a direct-mail piece in Kentucky that proclaims, “Barack Obama believes in clean Kentucky coal.” (click the link to see the design)

People, there is no such thing as clean coal. Even if they develop carbon-capture technology in the next decade, there will still be environmental problems related to coal mining and other pollution caused by burning coal. The carbon-capture itself could be problematic, if the carbon is sequestered by turning large quantities of underground water into carbonic acid.

I also have to wonder if Obama really does believe in Kentucky coal. His own energy policy calls for not expanding coal-generated power until sequestration technology is available. For a guy who usually campaigns on being able to tell Americans the truth, even if it isn’t what they want to hear, Obama sure seems to be pandering to Kentucky Democrats. One recent poll in the state shows him more than 30 points behind Clinton. He’s not going to win the May 20 primary in any case, but I’m sure he would prefer not to lose by a 2-1 margin.

If Obama is just pretending to be for “clean Kentucky coal,” that undercuts his claim to be a different kind of politician. And if he really does believe in “clean Kentucky coal,” that’s worse from my perspective.

I didn’t watch Obama’s victory speech in North Carolina tonight, but Populista put up the transcript in this diary.

Populista particularly liked this passage:

So don’t ever forget that this election is not about me, or any candidate. Don’t ever forget that this campaign is about you– about your hopes, about your dreams, about your struggles, about securing your portion of the American Dream.

But I have to say that what is wonderful to many Obama supporters couldn’t be more of a turnoff to me.

That excerpt takes me back to one of the things I disliked about Ronald Reagan in the 80s–the way he used this self-actualizing, empowering rhetoric to get people to project their hopes and dreams onto his candidacy.

I want my candidate to be standing up for the core values of the Democratic Party, which can be defined–not for every American’s hopes and dreams, which could mean anything.

What politician can really claim to stand for everyone’s hopes and dreams? Anyway, some Americans are hoping for policies that are abhorrent to me.

Sometimes Obama seems to be telling me to just believe in myself, but if I need to hear that message I can buy a self-help book or go see a psychotherapist. We need concrete actions from the president, and not just a belief that we can do anything we put our minds to.

I should add that other parts of Obama’s speech tonight, where he got specific about the policies he favors, are much more to my liking.

And this was pure John Edwards:

This is the country that allowed my father-in-law– a city worker at a South Side water filtration plant– to provide for his wife and two children on a single salary. This is a man who was diagnosed at age thirty with multiple sclerosis– who relied on a walker to get himself to work. And yet, every day he went, and he labored, and he sent my wife and her brother to one of the best colleges in the nation.  It was a job that didn’t just give him a paycheck, but a sense of dignity and self-worth. It was an America that didn’t just reward wealth, but the work and the workers who created it.

The idea of treating work and wealth fairly, and rewarding both, is exactly the frame we need to use when we talk about changing the tax code.

I also liked the way Obama said, “we can’t afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush’s third term.”

More like that, please.

I'm seeing more and more yard signs for Leonard Boswell and Ed Fallon as I drive around the western part of Des Moines and the suburbs. The Boswell signs are the same style he's been using for years, with a blue background and "Boswell for Congress" written in cursive white lettering. The Fallon signs are white with "Fallon for Congress" in green, and the tag line "New energy for Iowa" below in red letters.

Most of the time, these signs are the only ones in the yards. However, I've noticed quite a few homes with signs for both Hillary and Boswell. Similarly, I've noticed a lot of yards with Fallon signs and either the Obama "HOPE" sign or an anti-war sign such as "Support our Troops–End the War."

I'm on the lookout for yards with signs for Hillary and Fallon, or for Obama and Boswell, but I haven't seen any of those yet. Please put up a comment if you've seen either of those combinations anywhere in the district.

It has to be good for the challenger that so many people driving around are getting the impression that Obama supporters also lean toward Fallon. That's certainly true for many people I know who caucused for Obama.

Obama wins by double digits in North Carolina (56-42 with 95 percent reporting).

Clinton is ahead narrowly in Indiana (52-48 with 87 percent reporting). However, heavily African-American Lake County, where Gary is located, has not reported yet, and even the Obama supporter Markos finds that suspicious.

UPDATE: Clinton held on to win Indiana narrowly, 51-49, but Obama’s blowout in NC was by a bigger popular vote margin than Clinton’s in Pennsylvania. She needed to do better. I am glad that demagoguing on the gas tax didn’t pay off for her.

For Obama to keep it that close in Indiana bodes well for him, because he’s had a rough few weeks. However, I still disagree with those who say Hillary should pack it in. [UPDATE: Given that Obama’s popular vote lead now seems insurmountable, she may well want to quit, although I don’t think it would be terrible to wait until after the rest of the primaries.] Let all the states and territories vote, and then let the superdelegates settle this in mid-June. Voters are energized all over the country, and they should all have a chance to express their will. If Obama is ahead in the popular vote as well as the pledged delegate count, I think he should be the nominee.

On a related note, I thought Clinton supporter Todd Beeton made an excellent point today:

I was asked the other night: “Why is Hillary still in this thing?” I responded, “Has Barack won the nomination? Because if he has, why is he still campaigning?” Seriously, if the nomination is so settled as many Obama supporters like to claim, he’s free to just go home to Chicago. No one’s stopping him. Yet it’s Hillary Clinton who is the object of the ire of Obama supporters who seem to honestly believe that Hillary Clinton’s winning the nomination would be tantamount to her robbing him of something he hasn’t won yet. What a joke.

UPDATE: Wow, Donna Brazile, a self-described “undeclared” superdelegate who talks like an Obama supporter, made some worrisome comments tonight on CNN. Talk Left has the whole transcript here:

http://www.talkleft.com/story/…

Key excerpt:

BRAZILE: Well, Lou, I have worked on a lot of Democratic campaigns, and I respect Paul. But, Paul, you’re looking at the old coalition. A new Democratic coalition is younger. It is more urban, as well as suburban, and we don’t have to just rely on white blue-collar voters and Hispanics. We need to look at the Democratic Party, expand the party, expand the base and not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

She and Clinton supporter Paul Begala had quite the exchange after that.

It concerns me that some Obama supporters seem so unfazed by his failure to connect with certain key Democratic constituencies.

I got an e-mail from Congressman Leonard Boswell’s campaign today touting another union endorsement:

                                                                                                              CONTACT: Betsy Shelton  

May 6, 2008                                                                                                                                                                                                                               515-238-3356

Iowa Steelworkers Endorse Congressman Boswell

Des Moines, IA – The United Steelworkers (USW) Iowa District 11 announced their endorsement of Congressman Leonard Boswell today.  “I am honored to receive the support of the United Steelworkers in Iowa,” said Congressman Boswell.  “I will continue my fight to improve the lives of working families across the state of Iowa.”

“Congressman Boswell has long been a friend of the United Steelworkers in Iowa.  With his seniority, it is important to have continuity and leadership representing Iowans,” said Randy Boulton, sub-director of USW District 11.  “The working families of USW wholeheartedly endorse Congressman Boswell.”

The United Steelworkers Iowa District 11 represents 8,000 members across the state of Iowa.

It’s not clear how many steelworkers in Iowa live in the third district.

I have to laugh every time the Boswell campaign brags about his seniority. As I wrote earlier this year,

Several campaign communications from Boswell have touted his ranking by Knowlegis as the 135th most powerful member of the U.S. House. They point out that this makes Boswell “more powerful than nearly 70 percent” of the members of Congress.

To put this in perspective, I looked up the whole class of 1996 as ranked by Knowlegis. Of the 47 House representatives first elected in that year who still serve, 31 were Democrats. Boswell ranks exactly in the middle of that group; 15 House Democrats first elected in 1996 are more powerful than he is, according to Knowlegis, and 15 are less powerful.

Digging further into the Knowlegis rankings, I found that 15 House Democrats first elected in 1998 are more powerful than Boswell, seven House Democrats first elected in 2000 are more powerful than Boswell, eight House Democrats first elected in 2002 are more powerful than Boswell (including Rahm Emanuel and Chris Van Hollen), eight House Democrats first elected in 2004 are more powerful than Boswell, and three House Democrats first elected in 2006 are more powerful than Boswell.

I don’t mean to discount Boswell’s efforts on behalf of his constituents. But let’s not kid ourselves–it’s not as if Fallon is challenging the Ways and Means Committee chairman, whose level of influence in Congress could not be matched for many years.

Moreover, continuity in terms of Boswell’s voting habits is exactly what I don’t want from my representative. His “progressive score,” as calculated by Progressive Punch, leaves a lot to be desired.

Asthma has been on my mind lately, because a child in my extended family was recently diagnosed with it after going to the hospital for respiratory problems. The chronic disease is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in children.

In addition, at least 20 million American adults are estimated to have asthma.

Today is World Asthma Day, in connection with Asthma Awareness Month.

Join me after the jump to read about five policies our society should implement, as well as five steps individuals can take, to reduce the incidence and severity of asthma in our households and across the country.

cross-posted to Daily Kos

When Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman was running for president in 2003, I started getting e-mails from his campaign regularly. I had never donated to him, but I figured that he must have bought the Iowa Democratic Party’s e-mail list before he decided to bypass the Iowa caucuses.

At some point during Lieberman’s campaign against Ned Lamont in 2006, I unsubscribed from the list.

So I was surprised to find the following message from “Joe Lieberman” (sending address “info@joe2006.com”) in my in-box this morning, with a subject line of “Opting back in to the Joe Lieberman mailing list”:

You have requested to be opted back into the Joe Lieberman email list.

To confirm your subscription, please click this link or paste it into your browser:

(https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:OptIn/state:Confirm/signupId:6421/mid:4121.85946391)

If you do not wish to be added to our list, no further action is required.

What a lie. I never requested to be added back on his e-mail list, and I never would do so now that he is actively campaigning for John McCain.

He is probably just trying to build a bigger list so that he can make the case against our eventual nominee.

Talk about a guy who learned all the wrong lessons in life.

Anyone else out there get the same e-mail?

UPDATE: To clarify, this e-mail came to my other account (the one that uses my real name), not to the address that is published in my profile here and at various other blogs (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com).

At Daily Kos, commenter josephk says

the email, as has been described and the process through which it found its way into the diarists inbox … looks more like a ‘live email address confirmation’ for a specific demographic

Live confirmed email addresses that have a certain demographic profile (in this case a Liebermann supporter) are of much more value than just a random list that is 2 years out of date

there is nothing ‘dark and nefarious’ as the diarist suggests, nor is it as innocuous as You suggest

it is just simple email marketing

Well, yes, I get e-mail marketing messages all the time, but they don’t (and shouldn’t) start with the deceptive claim that I asked to be opted into their list.

Elected officials and policy advocates are getting increasingly annoyed by Hillary Clinton’s decision to make this nominating contest about her really bad proposal to suspend the gas tax this summer and pay for it with a windfall tax on oil companies.

Today Tom Harkin weighed in on the issue, telling reporters that Congress will not take up this proposal. Even if the gas tax holiday were enacted, Harkin suggested, consumers would not benefit much, and the Iowa Department of Transportation would lose about $75 million in revenues to rebuild infrastructure.

Friends of the Earth Action, which supported John Edwards for president and had been sitting out the campaign since he left the race, today endorsed Barack Obama, largely because of the gas tax issue:

“We endorse Senator Obama because we believe he is the best candidate for the environment,” said Friends of the Earth Action President Brent Blackwelder.  “The ‘gas tax holiday’ debate is a defining moment in the presidential race.  The two other candidates responded with sham solutions that won’t ease pain at the pump, but Senator Obama refused to play that typical Washington game.  Instead, Obama called for real solutions that would make transportation more affordable and curb global warming.  He showed the courage and candor we expect from a president.”

Friends of the Earth Action ran radio and television ads on behalf of Edwards in the early-voting states, and the group is now running this ad supporting Obama:

As I’ve said many times, I would vote for either Obama or Clinton in the general and have no strong preference between the two. I would hate to see Hillary gain the inside track for the nomination through this kind of political posturing, though. It’s such a bad idea on so many levels.

Obama appears to be feeling the heat on this issue. A few days ago his campaign put out a television ad calling the gas tax holiday a “bogus” idea that would just help big oil companies (click the link to view that ad). However, his closing ad in Indiana and North Carolina moves away from that issue to a more general message:

Meanwhile, Clinton seems to think she has hit pay dirt, and has made the gas tax the focus of her closing ad in the states that will vote tomorrow:

For a laugh, I highly recommend this diary by Matt Stoller, CONFIDENTIAL/URGENT POLITICAL PROPOSAL, which skewers Hillary’s proposal on the gas tax by presenting it in the format of those scam e-mails promising to make you rich.

Please put up your predictions for the Indiana and North Carolina primaries in the comments. I say these results will be mirror images of each other: Obama will win NC 55-45, and Hillary will win Indiana by the same margin.

At one point in my career of working with nonprofit organizations, I estimated having assembled and submitted close to 2,000 grant applications.  Through this process, I learned some important lessons that have helped prepare me for service in Congress.