RF asked me yesterday why I don’t plan to donate to Barack Obama’s campaign this year. One of these days I am going to write a fuller explanation of why Obama is not “change I can believe in,” but today Chris Bowers has an outstanding piece at Open Left that articulates some of my concerns.

Bowers prefers Obama to Hillary Clinton, but he hits the nail on the head here:

Rather, what does bother me is the notion is that someone who regularly reinforces conservative stereotypes about liberals when talking to the media is somehow the great champion, defender, and savior of liberalism. Don’t tell me that someone who thinks the DLC’s champion is too partisan is the next Russ Feingold or Paul Wellstone. Obama’s failure to challenge conservative falsehoods, like the notion that Hillary Clinton is some sort of ultra-partisan whose boots are stained with the intestines of her Republican enemies, is a clear indication that he will not fundamentally challenge prevailing conventional, ideological wisdom in other areas. Will he be a hundred times better than Bush? Absolutely. Will be ninety times better than McCain? Oh yeah. Is better than Hillary Clinton? I don’t know, but I’m willing to take that chance at this point. What I just can’t swallow is hearing, on a reasonably frequent basis, Obama reinforce conservative talking points, falsehoods and stereotypes in one ear, and that Obama is a progressive savior in the other ear. The fact is that he is willing to pander to some conservative media if it will win their endorsements, and to reinforce some conservative stereotypes if it will win him independent voters. While that may be playing to win, it is not playing to transform the discursive and ideological landscape of American politics. In my experience, it is actually pretty much the same old politics.  

Click the link and read his whole piece, really.

Big Tent Democrat, another reluctant Obama supporter who blogs at Talk Left, read Bowers’ piece and was struck by this Obama quote:

“I’m not a person who believes any one party has a monopoly on wisdom,” Obama said.

Big Tent Democrat added, “Indeed. Who needs a Democratic Congress? Not Obama apparently.”

A friend forwarded to me an action alert from the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women about House File 2292, which

would require employers to make reasonable efforts to provide a private place, other than a toilet stall, for nursing mothers to express breast milk or to breastfeed a child on their regular breaks.

Employers benefit when their employees are able to continue breastfeeding, as this website makes clear:

Benefits to the Employer

   * Reduced staff turnover and loss of skilled workers after the birth of a child

   * Reduced sick time/personal leave for breastfeeding women because their infants are more resistant to illness

   * Lower health care costs associated with healthier, breastfed infants

   * Higher job productivity, employee satisfaction and morale

   * Added recruitment incentive for women

   * Enhanced reputation as a company concerned for the welfare of its employees and their families

An absence of just one day costs the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power average $360 (for a $15 per hour employee). And it takes one and one-half days to have someone else do that employee’s work.

“It works to everyone’s advantage to show people that we really care about them and their babies,” says Tory Arriaga, a nurse at PanEnergy Corp, Houston. “The Company wins because we’ve got an employee who is very happy and who is probably gong to have less sick time and a healthier baby at home.”

“This newfound corporate interest arises from studies showing breast-fed babies have fewer minor illnesses. Sick babies pile up medical bills and frequently keep their mothers and fathers out of work. Providing new mothers with a private room, breast pumps, refrigerators and an extra break or two a day becomes a money-saving proposition.”

Benefits to the Employee

   * Facilitates the mother’s postpartum recovery

   * Reduces the incidence and severity of allergies and of ear and respiratory infections in infants, which translates into less time off and sick leave taken

   * Provides the most complete, easily digested, convenient and economical source of nourishment for infants

   * Creates a special closeness between mother and infant

   * Enhances the mother’s self-esteem and confidence

   * May lessen the risk of breast cancer

   * See Benefits of Breastfeeding article for an inclusive list

“Providing the opportunity and the resources for new mothers to be able to continue breastfeeding after they return to work enhances employee morale and productivity”.

The state has a clear interest in promoting breastfeeding even after women return to the workplace.

Breastfeeding has many health benefits for babies and mothers. (Click that link for a huge list of articles and resources on this subject.)

Continuing the breastfeeding relationship promotes a strong and healthy attachment between mothers and babies.

There are even environmental benefits of breastfeeding longer.

The Iowa Commission on the Status of Women notes:

There are two ways you can help. But don’t delay! HF2292 must be voted out of Committee by March 6th in order to remain viable!

Come to a “Nurse In” at 4:00 pm on Monday, March 3 at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines! Bring nursing infants and toddlers to the 2nd floor Capitol Rotunda. Older children are also welcome! (Be prepared to sit on the floor.) Please let your legislator know you are coming and would like to visit with her/him about HF2292.

Email or call your legislators and ask them to support HF2292. This is a cost-free measure to protect the health and well-being of our youngest Iowans. With Iowa’s mothers working at such a high rate, the least we can do for them is to guarantee their right to a reasonable accommodation to express breastmilk at work.

Look up your legislators’ email address at www.legis.state.ia.us or call them at 515-281-3221. You can look up the names of your legislators and the text of HF2292 at the same address.

The full text of the release from the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women is after the jump.

Take a minute and a half out of your life to watch this video:

The Obama supporters on the blogs are way too complacent about how tough it will be to beat McCain, by the way. This is one of the lines we will need to push to get the job done.

Believe it or not, the Iowa House of Representatives is in the process of passing a bill to
“…allow the state's Office of Energy Independence to add nuclear energy to the mix of alternative and renewable energy sources that could apply for millions of dollars in state grant money.” (Todays DM Register – http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS10/802280389/1001/NEWS ).

A crazy plan by a few crackpot tools of the utilities, you say? No – in fact House File 2305  is co-sponsored by 57 representatives, including a bunch of democrats (who should be ashamed of themselves!).  Sponsors include:
 
PAULSEN, STRUYK, KAUFMANN, BAUDLER,DEYOE, RAYHONS, SODERBERG, UPMEYER,HEATON, TJEPKES, TYMESON, FORRISTALL, L. MILLER, GREINER, HOFFMAN, CHAMBERS, ALONS, WORTHAN, MAY, DE BOEF, SANDS, WATTS, LUKAN, DOLECHECK, RANTS, ROBERTS, D. TAYLOR, JACOBS, VAN FOSSEN, BOAL, VAN ENGELENHOVEN, PETTENGILL, TOMENGA, QUIRK, T. TAYLOR, DANDEKAR, KELLEY, SHOMSHOR, BUKTA, BAILEY, ZIRKELBACH, JACOBY, GIPP, RAECKER, DRAKE, FOEGE, HUSEMAN, R. OLSON, CLUTE, ANDERSON, WISE, GRASSLEY, RASMUSSEN, HUSER, SCHICKEL, WINDSCHITL, and BERRY.

If these folks are your reps, please call them up and ask them what the hell they are thinking…. I think we can all agree that Uranium is not a renewable resource, and as far as alternative – after 50 years and 60-80 billion dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies, I don't think it really qualifies as alternative, either.  In fact, it is the most expensive segment of the power industry, and has been from the start.

Please go to http://www.legis.state.ia.us and find the contact info for these people, and ask them to please extract their heads from their hindquarters before they embarrass our entire state.

Rich Dana
rich@gotoplanb.net

UPDATE: For more details, go to the Natural Living Expo site.

One thing I’ve been working on in my non-blog life is helping to plan the third annual Natural Living Expo, which will be held this Saturday, March 1, at the State Fairgrounds in the new Animal Learning Center building.  

If you’re in central Iowa this Saturday, please consider dropping in between 10 am and 3 pm. The event is free to the public, and there is plenty of free parking.  

Ed Fallon will be stopping by the Expo (you can find details in his public schedule, a couple of posts down this page).  

A bunch of environmental groups will have tables there as well, including the Iowa Environmental Council, Local Foods Connection, 1000 Friends of Iowa, Whiterock Conservancy, and I-Renew.

I’ve put a press release about the expo after the jump, and you can find more information about the vendors and speakers at:  www.naturallivingexpo.org  

Steve Gilliard passed away last June (decades too soon), but those of us who were addicted to his blog had been missing his writing for months already. One day in February 2007, Steve went to the doctor to get a prescription for a cold he couldn’t shake. He was admitted to the hospital right away for treatment of an infection of unknown origin, and he never was able to get back on his computer.

I’d already been planning to write this diary before I had my own run-in with a scary infection last week. I don’t write many personal reflections, but I feel compelled to share how much I still miss Steve’s blogging.

Ed Fallon turns 50 this Saturday, and his campaign has set an ambitious goal of collecting $50 from at least 1,000 donors to mark the occasion.

Everyone who gives $50 to the campaign will receive Fallon’s mother’s recipe for “killer apple pie.” You can contribute here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/50…

The campaign also has a number of public events scheduled for Saturday to mark Fallon’s birthday. I’m putting the details after the jump.  

A group funded by RJ Reynolds, Mid American Energy, and other corporations is running TV and radio ads that attack a handful of incumbent House Democrats that includes Elesha Gayman, Eric Palmer, McKinley Bailey, Bob Kressig, and Art Staed.

The ads have run on cable TV and are paid for by the Iowa Leadership Council, a group organized under the Internal Revenue Code that allows it to raise unlimited contributions.

The council raised $214,550 in the last six months of 2007, according to IRS records, with the largest donors the Reynolds American tobacco company, which gave $40,000, and MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which donated $25,000.

These ads are applauded by Cyclone Conservative who goes searching for a slogan Republicans can spin in the election. He says that Republicans need to start the attacks now and repeat a slogan over and over again.

The slogan that he comes up with is that Democrats are against property tax relief and against keeping jobs in the state. This is absolutely ridiculous. He makes it sound like Democrats want all Iowans to be unemployed and want to force them to hand over all of their money in property taxes.

After running on slogans like “God, Gays, and Guns” for years now, Republicans should realize by now that they no longer are working. Republicans need to forget the slogans and focus on ideas. All of their ideas have run there course and now what is left, is an empty party that is only able to push wedge issues, while they attempt to come up with more meaningless slogans.

Thanks to Betsy for the roundup, which came while I was in the hospital. -desmoinesdem

Rick Renzi’s under indictment, Sue Myrick gets caught with her fingers in the cookie jar – possibly legally, Patrick McHenry has questions surrounding just about everything he does, John Shadegg can’t make up his mind. How many more Republicans will get caught up in legal or ethical controversies prior to November?

One way to stay on top of this is to follow along with the state blogs. We’re discussing our congress critters and their shenanigans long before it hits the national scene. Stop by. Check us out. You too can be the first to know.

The roundup for last week is after the jump.

I received an e-mail alert from The Interfaith Alliance Iowa Action Fund today.

Apparently the House Labor Committee is considering a very bad bill in an effort to look “tough” on immigration.

The full text of the action alert is after the jump. It summarizes the main features of the bill and provides talking points you can use with legislators, along with the relevant contact e-mails and phone numbers.

My opinion is that a phone call from a constituent is harder to ignore than an e-mail message.

UPDATE: This article about the bill ran on the front page of the Des Moines Register on Tuesday:

http://www.desmoinesregister.c…

I saw on the I-Renew e-mail list that the Iowa Environmental Council has put out an action alert urging citizens to contact senators in support of SF 2083. It’s an important bill that would improve energy efficiency in this state.

The full text of the action alert, along with suggested wording for your communication with legislators, is after the jump. Of course it’s better to put things in your own words if you can.

cross-posted at Daily Kos and MyDD

I am a healthy woman in my late 30s who rarely sees a doctor outside of regularly scheduled checkups. I have had two uncomplicated pregnancies followed by easy, midwife-assisted births.

Most years we pay far more in premiums for our family’s health insurance than our medical care would cost if we paid for everything out of pocket.

Not this year. Yesterday I returned home after spending seven days and six nights in the hospital. It might have been a lot worse if I were uninsured.

Apologies for the sudden break from blogging. On February 15 I came down with an ear infection that got out of control and put me in the hospital with cellulitis in my leg from last Tuesday until this afternoon. I have about 50 diaries in my head and will start writing them again tomorrow.

Meetings with previous candidates, with long-time, active Democrats and with Democratic county chairs are great listening and learning opportunities.  

The Des Moines Register released results from a poll that shows Barack Obama would win Iowa in the general election against John McCain. However, the poll shows McCain would win in a matchup against Hillary Clinton.

Obama 53%
McCain 36%

Clinton 40%
McCain 49%

 
These results are similar to Survey USA's poll released earlier in the week.

The most interesting thing from the Des Moines Register poll was Obama's strength throughout the entire state of Iowa and among woman voters.

Other good news in the poll for Obama includes a decided advantage among female voters, who preferred him over McCain by a margin of more than 20 percentage points.

Obama also beats McCain in each of Iowa's five congressional districts, including the GOP-heavy 5th District in western Iowa. Obama also pulls more support from the opposing party than either of the other two candidates, with 14 percent of Republicans saying they would vote for him.

These numbers show that Obama would help Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. Having Obama on the ballot would be a boost to Congressional candidates in Iowa's 4th and 5th Districts and help Democrats get a larger majority in the Iowa House.

A popular topic of discussion in my town seems to be how crappy the roads have been all winter. The discussion has moved into the local newspaper and into the city council chambers.

I have to agree with a lot of the criticism because many of the roads that I drive on everyday are pretty bad. However, I do not blame the city council or the city workers for the ice covered and snow packed roads. I put the blame on the anti-tax crowd that gets all worked up about any discussion of property taxes. Every time a new budget is discussed the anti-tax gets all riled up about property taxes without stopping and thinking about what we actually spend our money on. This lack of rational debate has caused us to become a low-tax minimal-services society.

If you think it is a wise investment to pay overtime for city workers to hop into their snow plows in the middle of the night to clear the roads, then you might just have to pay a couple more dollars on your property taxes.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of all taxes. I understand that our tax money is wasted over and over again by the federal, state, and local governments. I don't like the fact that $9 billion of tax payer money is missing in Iraq. I don't like the fact that the state promotes corporate welfare if the company promises to locate jobs in the state. I don't like if cities abuse TIF districts that divert tax payer money away from schools and other services. It is too bad the anti-tax aren't as vocal on these issues.

The question isn't how much we pay in taxes, the question is about the the quality of services we receive from those taxes. Unfortunately, we have become a low-tax minimal-service society. So if you complain then you need to understand that you get what you pay for.

A new poll by Survey USA shows Barack Obama winning Iowa over John McCain by 10%. The poll shows Hillary Clinton losing to McCain by 11%.

Iowa:
Obama 51%
McCain 41%

Clinton 41%
McCain 52%

I am not surprised that Obama would win Iowa. However, I am surprised about how far behind Clinton is. McCain barely even campaigned in the Iowa. I thought some Iowans might hold that against McCain and some might not know him well enough to decide to support him over Clinton. It looks like I was wrong.

Thanks again to Betsy of BlueNC for this week’s roundup. -desmoinesdem

Texas
   Phillip Martin of Burnt Orange Report lays out the strategy of how Barack Obama can win Texas.  

Oregon
   First recorded version of Ginsberg’s HOWL was in Berkley, right? Nope–a new discovery puts it at Portland’s Reed College, 52 years ago this Valentine’s Day.  

Michigan
   Clinton, Obama campaigning for – but not IN – Michigan

Iowa
   desmoinesdem discusses the preferences of Iowa’s superdelegates and notes that Democracy for America has endorsed Ed Fallon, who is challenging incumbent Leonard Boswell in the primary to represent Iowa’s third Congressional district.

New York
   The Daily Gotham diagnoses a rebellion among national Democrats and wonders what that means for the State of New York.

Texas
   As the focus on the Democratic Presidential Primary shifts to Texas, Fort Worth Is Fired Up and Ready to Go!

Arizona
   Incumbent Republican John Shadegg is out of the picture in AZ CD3 and Bob Lord has received increased support from local and national Democrats.  

California
   Arnold Schwarzenegger talks a big game about putting all options on the table, but won’t be forthright about the need to raise revenue.

New Mexico
   New Mexico’s filing deadline came and went this week, and now we know who is running for the three open House and one open Senate seats.  Fun times.

Delaware
   Republican State Rep. Nancy Wagner uses earmarks to give her husband a job.  Rev. Chris Bullock announces his candidacy for Delaware’s sole congressional seat.  State Sen. Harris McDowell delays Delaware’s move to wind power with meaningless hearings.  

Virginia
    RK Conference Call with Gov. Kaine.  

South Dakota
    What Was That You Were Saying, Gov. Rounds?

Utah
   Is Utah the worlds nuclear landfill?

West Virginia
   W.Va. state Sen. Hunter says “I introduced Senate Bill 588 because I fervently believe that God did not intend for us to destroy the mountains, the streams, the forests and His people in order to mine coal.”  Jay the Telcom Operator: Sen Rockefeller’s unwavering support of telco immunity earns him a new nickname “One Ringy-Dingy Rocky” (with a must-see photoplay by OneCitizen).

Minnesota
   SurveyUSA indicates a dead heat between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken.

Alabama
   Mooncat brings us a heartbreaker on Valentines Day.  Read about payday lenders preying on the elderly and disabled.

Colorado
   At Squarestate, David Sirota is reporting a Colorado Superdelegate plans to ignore the will of Colorado voters.

North Carolina
   At BlueNC, Jerimee reports that Congressman Brad Miller has taken a leadership role in passing the contempt resolution.

Connecticut
   Shays embarrasses Connecticut…..again.

Wisconsin
   At Uppity Wisconsin, xoff says Wisconsin doesn’t need another presidential debate.

Georgia
   At Tondee’s Tavern we find tha Rep. David Scott flipped to Obama and Rep. John Lewis is looking that way.

Idaho
   At 43rd State Blues Idahogie takes on the Super Delegate petitions floating around with a convincing argument.

Illinois
   At Prairie State Blue, Michael in Chicago writes about raising Democratic visibility.

Indiana
   Must see video at Blue Indiana.  An Indiana State Rep., John Elrod (R) is caught on tape doing campaign work during a legislative session.  

Maryland
   Donna Edwards wins! And Eric looks at the implications of that victory.

Senator Tom Harkin wants the Democratic Party to scrap the idea of superdelegates in the future, the Des Moines Register reported on Friday:

“I am convinced this idea of superdelegates has to be done away with,” he said Thursday. “It gives these superdelegates too much power to decide things at the end and it should not be that way.”[…]

Harkin said Obama and Clinton already have approached him and asked for his support. He said that for now he is remaining neutral.

But he said he is concerned that the superdelegate party rules instituted in the 1980s are not helpful for Democrats. Some pressure is being exerted on superdelegates.

Harkin went on to say that Michigan and Florida should hold new elections this spring if they want their delegates to be seated at the Democratic National Convention. I share Harkin’s sentiments on the superdelegates, but scheduling new elections in these states is not practical. There’s no money to hold new primaries, and caucuses in such large states would not be feasible. Too many voters would be unable to participate.

I favor some kind of compromise that would allow Michigan and Florida’s delegates to be seated, such as cutting the number of delegates from those states in half (like the GOP did) and giving Obama the uncommitted delegates from Michigan.

Big Tent Democrat had a different idea for a Michigan/Florida compromise which, in his view, “enfranchises those voters who voted previously AND ensures that Obama gets a fair shot at winning those two states.”

Getting back to the issue of superdelegates, Todd Beeton put up a good post yesterday on the campaigns MoveOn.org and Democracy for America have launched against the idea of superdelegates. He points out that none of the Obama supporters who are now outraged about the superdelegates are arguing, for instance, that Ted Kennedy should switch his vote to Hillary Clinton just because she won the Massachusetts primary.

Beeton also linked to this video of an Obama supporter from Ohio, David Wilhelm. He argues that superdelegates should not back Clinton if Obama leads in pledged delegates, but he won’t promise to switch to Clinton if she ends up winning Ohio and the overall pledged delegate battle.

I got an e-mail today from Democracy for America, confirming that they are backing Ed Fallon in the primary to represent Iowa’s third Congressional district. Excerpt:

Last Tuesday, our Primaries Matter campaign delivered results and helped lead Donna Edwards to a resounding 24-point victory over Bush-Democrat Al Wynn in MD-04.

Ed Fallon is the next DFA-List endorsement and he’s taking on Bush-Democrat, Rep. Leonard Boswell in IA-03.

Contribute $20.08 right now and support a Democrat with the backbone to stand up for progressive values.

http://www.actblue.com/page/su…

Ed Fallon is a true progressive and he has a record of beating out-of-touch Democrats in Iowa. In 1992, he beat 10-year incumbent Gary Sherzan with 63% of the vote and became a State Representative. When the conservative party establishment tried to primary Ed out of the state legislature, Ed won again with 68% of the vote.

Now, with your help, Ed will beat Bush-Democrat Leonard Boswell. Here’s a breakdown of some of the important differences between them.

The chart didn’t come through well when I copied and pasted. Here’s what it showed in Fallon’s column:

The War in Iraq: opposed Bush’s war from the start and believes we need a more diplomatic approach to foreign policy, not just in Iraq but throughout the Middle East

Campaign Funding: has never accepted money from lobbyists

Spying on Americans: opposes Bush’s warrantless wiretapping of innocent Americans

The Climate Crisis: supports a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and has lead the fight against government handouts to big business in Iowa

No Child Left Behind: is against this unfunded, ineffective Bush-mandate, and will work to get it repealed

On those same issues, here’s what Democracy for America listed in the Boswell column:

-voted for the Iraq War and has continued to support additional funding with no timetable to bring the troops home

-accepts donations from lobbyists

-voted for increased warrantless surveillance on the American people

-voted to provide $14 billion in tax breaks and incentives for oil and gas companies and supports greater use of coal

-voted for [No Child Left Behind] and did not fund it or attempt to repeal it

I don’t know how many members Democracy for America has, but it will be interesting to see how much money this appeal raises for Fallon’s campaign. Donna Edwards’ convincing victory may make people more willing to invest in another primary challenger.

By the way, John Deeth has a piece up at Iowa Independent about the role Boswell and 20 other “Blue dog” Democrats played in yesterday’s House debate on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Deeth’s piece linked to a post by Matt Browner Hamlin, who confirmed that all 21 House Democrats who cooperated with the Republicans on FISA have received contributions from the telecom industry. Boswell has received $5,000 in campaign contributions from AT&T.

UPDATE: I checked the page at ActBlue that Democracy for America set up for donations to Fallon. As of 2:25 pm, this appeal has raised $10,417 for Fallon from 305 donors. That’s impressive. I’m sure the total will increase substantially this evening, which is when many people have their internet time.

SECOND UPDATE: As of 10:30 pm, this appeal has raised $20,024 for Fallon from 582 donors. That’s an average of just under $35 per donor. Looks like a lot of those people will be willing and able to donate again before this race is over.