Candidates love to empathize with struggling middle-class Americans, but middle-income government employees are an easy target for politicians trying to earn their deficit warrior stripes. Today more than a third of U.S. House Democrats voted with nearly all the House Republicans to keep most civilian federal employees’ salaries frozen through 2013. All five Iowans voted for the legislation, even though Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) have repeatedly said they oppose balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class.

Last week, the U.S. House passed a resolution to disapprove President Barack Obama’s latest request to raise the debt limit. The mostly party-line vote was also mostly symbolic and consequently received little media attention. However, Republican challengers in Iowa’s first and second Congressional districts are likely to highlight this vote in their campaigns against Representatives Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack.

Wikipedia, Reddit and many other websites are dark today to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), now pending in the U.S. House and Senate. Momentum appears to have shifted against this legislation in its current form, but a modified bill might still pose a threat to freedom of information. I sought comment on this legislation from all members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation.

UPDATE: Added Representative Bruce Braley’s statement opposing SOPA below, along with a comment from Representative Steve King’s office.

LATER UPDATE: A statement from Representative Leonard Boswell is now below as well.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Added a YouTube video about SOPA, released by Braley’s re-election campaign.

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.

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.

Hope dies last for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller when it comes to reaching a settlement with major lenders accused of foreclosure fraud. He predicted that a deal would be finalized by Christmas, but so far, no deal has materialized. Attorneys general for several major states remain unlikely to abide by any agreement Miller’s working group negotiates.

It’s the season of giving, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just delivered an outstanding present to Americans who breathe air.  

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner agreed today to support a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut while House and Senate members negotiate legislation to keep the tax cut throughout 2012. Follow me after the jump for details on Boehner’s deal and early reaction from Iowans in Congress.  

Catching up on news from the weekend, the U.S. House and Senate averted a federal government shutdown by passing an omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2012, which runs through September 30 of next year. The government had been operating on a continuing spending resolution, which was due to expire on December 17. Details on the last-minute appropriations deal and how the Iowans voted are after the jump, along with comments from some members of the Congressional delegation.

Some members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation welcomed today’s announcement by the U.S. Postal Service delaying “the closing or consolidation of any Post Office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012.” Early reaction is after the jump, along with background on the story.

Christie Vilsack plans to make Representative Steve King defend his record on disaster relief funding during next year’s campaign in Iowa’s fourth Congressional district, she indicated during a recent interview with the Omaha World-Herald.

U.S. Senate Republicans successfully filibustered President Barack Obama’s appointee to run the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today. It was the second time this week that Senator Chuck Grassley and his GOP colleagues blocked a presidential nominee.

The U.S. House passed yet another bill designed to prevent new federal government rules yesterday. This legislation one was so extreme that only four Democrats voted with Republicans to support it.

Without Congressional action, a temporary payroll tax cut intended to stimulate the economy will expire on December 31 of this year. Last week the Senate defeated two proposals to extend the tax cut; Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin were on opposite sides of both votes.

The U.S. House passed another bill on December 2 seeking to complicate rule-making by federal agencies. Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) voted for H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act, as did every Republican present. Nineteen House Democrats (the usual Blue Dog suspects) voted with the majority for this bill. Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) opposed the legislation, despite having crossed the aisle the previous day to support a different GOP effort to limit business regulations.

Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Bruce Braley introduced legislation today that would levy a small tax on “most non-consumer financial trading including stocks, bonds and other debts,” as well as “all derivative contracts, options, puts, forward contracts, swaps and other complex instruments.”  

Three-term Representative Bruce Braley has three potential Republican challengers for 2012, but a different adversary has been the Democrat’s prime target in public statements and many appearances around Iowa’s new first Congressional district.

Braley’s top punching bag of late has been the proposed restructuring of the U.S. Postal Service. The plan could close 178 mostly rural post offices in Iowa, many of them in the new IA-01. Braley has warned that shuttering post offices would hurt local economies. As a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he has also highlighted the impact of post office closures on veterans and deployed military personnel.

This Halloween weekend seemed like a good time to highlight some tricks and treats from the news headlines.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the Clinton administration’s “roadless rule” affecting more than 50 million acres of National Forest lands. The decision overturned a 2008 ruling by a federal court in Wyoming, which had blocked enforcement of the rule.  

A full year has passed since Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller became leader of a 50-state working group to investigate mortgage fraud. In recent months, seven Democratic attorneys general have broken away from efforts to reach a broad settlement with major lenders, as the flaws in Miller’s approach to negotiations have become more clear. This week news broke that the AG working group are offering new concessions in order to reach a deal with financial institutions.

Miller should give up this charade.  

Catching up on news from last week, the U.S. House approved a bill seeking to limit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate how coal ash is used. Iowa Democrat Leonard Boswell (IA-03) joined Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) in voting for the bill, although his votes on some key amendments suggested that he was not fully behind the legislation’s goals.

The U.S. House and Senate approved trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea yesterday. All Iowa Republicans supported each of the three deals, while Iowa Democrats voted against them. Links to roll calls and statements from most of the lawmakers are after the jump.

The U.S. House has again approved legislation to restrict Environmental Protection Agency pollution controls. H.R. 2681, also known as the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011, would delay some new air pollution regulations for cement plants. The 237 Republicans and 25 Democrats supporting final passage of the on October 6 included Iowa Representatives Tom Latham (IA-04), Steve King (IA-05) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03). Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) stood with the majority of House Democrats against the bill.

Boswell has not commented publicly on his latest vote against EPA rules. Roll calls from the House floor debate on H.R. 2681 suggest that in contrast to Latham and King, Boswell was less than fully supportive of the measure. More details are after the jump, along with a nice spin attempt by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Nearly a year after a nationwide working group of state attorneys general began investigating foreclosure fraud, settlement talks between Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s team and major lenders appear to be virtually irrelevant. California Attorney General Kamala Harris is the latest and most important state official to abandon the working group.

A bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate today appears to have prevented a federal government shutdown after the current fiscal year ends on September 30. Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin both supported the deal.  

The U.S. just voted 59 to 36 to table the House version of a continuing resolution funding the federal government through November 18. Senator Tom Harkin voted with all but one Democrat to table the House legislation; Senator Chuck Grassley voted with most of his fellow Republicans against tabling the resolution. Details are below.

All five Iowans in the U.S. House are co-sponsoring a bill that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “to revise the Missouri River Master Manual to increase the total amount of storage space within the Missouri River Reservoir System that is allocated for flood control.” After the jump I’ve posted more details on that bill and other news about the Iowans in Congress.

Iowa Department of Transportation officials have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to separate the $230 million federal grant intended to support passenger rail service from Chicago to Iowa City. Separating the funds would allow the Illinois Department of Transportation to move ahead with the Chicago to Moline (Quad Cities) portion of the rail line. Meanwhile, the Iowa DOT will study a potential passenger rail link all the way to Omaha, Nebraska.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is demanding that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources take steps to reduce fine particulate matter statewide and especially in the Muscatine area, which has long had some of Iowa’s worst air quality.

Particulates contribute to premature deaths and serious heart and lung diseases, not to mention acid rain and other environmental problems. So it’s disappointing to see state officials react to the EPA message with more concern about the polluters than the public’s health.  

Not long ago, Yves Smith predicted that the proposed settlement between large mortgage lenders and state attorneys general was “likely to fall apart.” This week’s developments may prove her right.  

Iowa Farm Bureau delegates defied the organization’s leadership yesterday, passing a resolution without language requiring compliance with conservation standards as a condition for receiving federal crop insurance.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller kicked his New York counterpart Eric Schneiderman off the executive committee for the 50-state working group on foreclosure fraud yesterday. As leader of the working group created last October, Miller has drawn criticism for negotiating lenient terms for major lenders and not investigating some shady foreclosure practices. His latest move is another sign that Miller leans toward terms favored by banks and their Obama administration allies.  

Senator Chuck Grassley made news last week by publicizing a whistleblower’s claims about widespread file destruction at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thousands of preliminary investigation files no longer exist, which hampers the SEC’s ability to identify and prosecute financial crimes. The alleged practice goes back nearly two decades, despite a federal law that grants the National Archives and Records Administration authority over preserving government files.

President Barack Obama didn’t create this problem, but his cozy relationship with Wall Street helped keep law-breaking alive at the SEC.

Three non-profit organizations may sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for “unreasonable delay” in responding to a 2007 petition seeking to revoke the state of Iowa’s authority to regulate pollution from CAFOs.  

The Iowa Environmental Council charged yesterday that Iowa Farm Bureau is misusing the court system to “intimidate us and keep us from our work.” The allegation relates to a lawsuit Farm Bureau filed last year to block new water quality rules.

The volatile stock market, Wisconsin recall elections and run-up to the Ames straw poll have dominated political news coverage this week, overshadowing a story that may have more far-reaching implications. Starting in 2014, fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions standards will apply to medium and heavy-duty trucks for the first time in U.S. history.

Last week’s deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling in exchange for long-term deficit reduction wasn’t what the doctor ordered to reassure investors. Stock markets around the world dropped sharply today, reflecting fears about lousy economic prospects in the U.S. and abroad.  

Although Republicans and some Democrats portray the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an over-zealous pollution controller, the agency has repeatedly delayed or declined to issue pollution regulations opposed by major industries. News of the latest example broke late last week, when clean water advocates announced that the EPA will not develop and enforce a plan to clean up the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

The big story of the weekend is Standard & Poor’s downgrading U.S. sovereign debt. Political reaction to that news and other headlines that caught my eye are after the jump.

While in pro-forma session for 59 seconds today, Senate Democrats passed a six-week extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s authorization. Since the bill had already passed the U.S. House, it went straight to President Barack Obama. He signed it right away, ending the partial shutdown of the FAA that began on July 22. Furloughed FAA employees can go back to work, and airport construction projects put on hold can resume.

The short-term extension contains some cuts to the Essential Air Service program subsidizing service to small airports (including three in Iowa). House Republicans want to phase out that program, while most Democrats want to preserve it. The bill passed today does not include Republican-backed language that would make it more difficult for airline workers to join a union.

LATE UPDATE: The FAA shutdown delayed planned upgrades at the Southeast Iowa Regional Airport in Burlington, possibly until after the winter.