By Bob Eschliman Editor The Iowa Senate Republican Caucus – all 24 members – have offered two amendments to the Iowa Constitution this week. The first, Senate Joint Resolution 10, proposes an amendment within a new Article XIII to the Constitution of the State of Iowa that relates to […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A bill offered this week by state Rep. John Forbes (D-Urbandale), a member of the Cannabidiol Implementation Interim Study Committee, would allow the production of industrial hemp with less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive element of marijuana. House File 470 requires the Iowa Department […]
By The Iowa Statesman In an exclusive report in The Washington Free Beacon, Lachlan Markay reports corporate donors to a green energy nonprofit operated by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D., Nev.) former staffers and a current campaign operative have received billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees and […]
From Press Release Gov. Terry Branstad today signed the following six bills into law: House File 123: an Act making a statutory correction to remove an inconsistency regarding the employment of the executive director of the Board of Educational Examiners. House File 159: an Act relating to the administration […]
By The Iowa Statesman Iran has no intention of building a nuclear weapon, and the sooner the world recognizes that, the sooner there will be a deal aimed at curbing its nuclear capabilities in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told NBC […]
By The Iowa Statesman The Elwell Family Food Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines will become the center of the political universe this weekend when the 2015 Iowa Ag Summit takes the stage, highlighting and promoting agriculture while providing a huge stage for likely presidential candidates. […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor Despite a declaration by one Iowa Senate Republican earlier this session that a personhood bill would be brought to a vote this session, no such bill has materialized with less than 48 hours to go before the first funnel dead. The first funnel is the […]
By The Iowa Statesman Chief Justice John Roberts remained nearly silent. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy did not. And, at the end of the day, those hoping for a clue as to how the U.S. Supreme Court may rule on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s subsidies in King […]
By The Iowa Statesman The Senate failed on Wednesday to override President Obama’s veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL oil sands pipe, falling five votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in a 62-37 vote. According to The Hill, it’s the first time Congress has voted on whether […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A group of Iowa House Democrats has offered a bill this week to increase the earned income credit applied to Iowa individual income taxes. House File 465, authored by state Rep. Charlie McConkey (D-Council Bluffs) and co-sponsored by 16 of his colleagues, increases the amount […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor State Rep. Chris Hall (D-Sioux City) has sponsored a bill this week that would provide benefits to business owners who are service-disabled veterans. House File 463, if approved, would establish state procurement goals and preferences in government contracting for those businesses. It also would expand […]
By The Iowa Statesman Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been the political world’s version of Lazarus Long for decades, but time may have finally caught up with her aspirations for the presidency. The controversy surrounding her use of a private e server to circumvent the use […]
By The Iowa Statesman The koala is one of the national symbols of Australia, and an endangered species, so it should come as little surprise to anyone that what Australian officials did with nearly 700 of them last year was kept hush-hush. The shocking part of the story is […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A bill offered this week by state Sen. Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale) would reduce the tax rates applied to corporations under the state corporate income tax. According to the Tax Foundation, Iowa ranks 40th overall in taxes, but ranks 49th in terms of corporate income tax […]
By The Iowa Statesman Just days after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ruled in favor of “Net Neutrality,” signalling the end to a two-speed Internet in the United States, Europe has a different thought on the issue. According to The Financial Times, European internet providers would be allowed to […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A group of Iowa House Democrats has sponsored a bill that would direct the Iowa Department of Education to develop an “attendance center performance scoring system.” The system proposed under House File 428, authored by state Rep. Cindy Winckler (D-Davenport) and co-sponsored by six of […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor If you’re a homeschool family in Iowa, you understand the costs involved in educating children quite well. Not only do you pay to educate your own children, but through your property and income taxes, you pay to educate others’ children, as well. But this legislative […]
By The Iowa Statesman U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus (ret.) has reached a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department and admitted providing his highly classified journals to a mistress when he was the director of the CIA. According to The New York Times, Petraeus has agreed to plead […]
By The Iowa Statesman Target Corporation, which operates 22 stores in Iowa, as well as a distribution center in Cedar Falls, has announced it will layoff thousands of its employees over the next few years as part of a multi-billion-dollar restructuring plan meant to address the company’s recent lagging […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor Covenant marriages are those in which marrying couples agree to obtain pre-marital counseling and accept far limited grounds for which they may later seek a divorce. So far, only three states – Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana – recognize covenant marriages. But, if one east-central […]
By The Iowa Statesman Tuesday, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a writ of mandamus, ordering a halt to gay “marriages” in the state. The order, request by Liberty Counsel on behalf of the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Citizens Action Program, comes a few weeks after a U.S. […]
By The Iowa Statesman Remember that election a few months ago, where Americans resoundingly rejected the policies of an out-of-control presidency and demanded Republicans in Congress change course? Yeah, we do, too. Apparently Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) didn’t get […]
By The Iowa Statesman The latest development in the Ferguson, MO, officer-involved shooting of Michael Brown probably is the least surprising in quite some time. The Eric Holder-led U.S. Justice Department has concluded the Ferguson Police Department is racist. According to Reuters, the report stated FPD routinely engages in […]
By The Iowa Statesman U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was injured Thursday in an attack by a razor-wielding assailant who said he was against the ongoing military drills between the two countries. According to reports from South Korea, Lippert, 42, is in stable condition with non-life threatening […]
Bob Eschliman Editor With the first funnel dead – the dead for bills from individual legislators to come out of committee – less than 48 hours away, there has been a flurry of bills submitted in both chambers of the Iowa Statehouse. In all, 1,359 bills and resolutions have […]
By The Iowa Statesman Apparently, the Congressional Black Caucus wasn’t the only arm of the Democratic Party that wanted to exhibit its flaky side. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her “leadership” team exhibited true courage [sarcasm] with their demonstration following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech today. We’re […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states Americans’ “right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” But, in Iowa, you still have to obtain a permit before you can do so, in most cases, which has been a sticking point for […]
By The Iowa Statesman Some members of Iowa’s congressional egation offered their thoughts on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session today. Some did not, however. The senior member of Iowa’s egation, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, made the following comment on the speech: “The speech was […]
By The Iowa Statesman Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, is about to speak to a joint session of Congress to lay out the case against a deal with Iran over its nuclear program. The speech is being broadcast by C-SPAN. You can watch it on your computer, tablet, […]
By The Iowa Statesman Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumptive frontrunner for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2016, very likely bre the law, according to several legal experts. It was recently disclosed that she exclusively used a personal e account to conduct government business as Secretary […]
By The Iowa Statesman Mark Dice was recently at it again, exposing how the intersection of ignorance and the cult of personality bred by our current media environment has impacted America in a new YouTube video. Scroll down to check it out.
By The Iowa Statesman Not all eyes, but a lot of them, will be on the the Speaker’s Rostrum in the U.S. House of Representatives this morning as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak before a joint session of Congress. The speech will begin at 9:45 a.m. Iowa […]
From Press Release Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad yesterday announced appointments to fill Iowa’s boards and commissions, and executive branch department directors. The following appointees’ terms begin on May 1, 2015, unless otherwise noted, and are subject to Senate confirmation. Director of Department on Aging Ms. Donna Harvey […]
By The Iowa Statesman The U.S. Constitution clearly lays the power to tax in the hands of Congress. President Obama, however, may lo for another “end around” Congress through an executive action involving the IRS, according to his press secretary. In response to a question regarding U.S. Sen. Bernie […]
By The Iowa Statesman Callie Chatman says she is a licensed, ordained minister in Montgomery, AL, working as a youth minister and Adult Sunday School teacher at her husband’s church, New Elam Baptist Church. Sadly, she also works at Reproductive Health, an abortion clinic, as an exit counselor. Pro-life […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A bill offered last week, if adopted, would effectively mute a federal government agency that has been a thorn in the side of Iowa farmers for years. Senate File 343, offered Thursday by state Sen. Dennis Guth (R-), would nullify the regulations of the U.S. […]
From Press Release The Republican Parties of O’Brien, Osceola, Sioux, Lyon, Plymouth, and Cheree Counties today jointly announced that Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) will head a multi county Northwest Iowa Republican fundraising event on Friday, April 24 at 7:30pm at the Lifelong Learning & Recreation Center on the Campus […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor State Sen. Dennis Guth (R-Klemme) – as Bob Barker used to say – is doing his part to control the pet population. Last week, he offered four bills that address the breeding, sale, adoption, and transfer of cats and dogs in Iowa. The bills appear […]
By The Iowa Statesman A group of Texans with a lengthy list of qualms with the federal government, mostly with the behavior of the American legislative and executive branches, got quite a surprise during a meeting last month. According to The San Antonio Express-News, at least 20 officers corralled, […]
By The Iowa Statesman If President Obama was trying to quietly dispel the notion that he sympathetic to the cause of Muslim extremists in the Middle East, the big-news item over the weekend definitely torpedoed those plans. According to a Jewish news organization, quoting a Kuwaiti newspaper — sound […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A bill recently offered in the General Assembly is already proposing to carve out an exemption for the new school start date law. Senate File 311, offered Wednesday by state Sen. Julian Garrett (R-Indianola), would exempt a school district or school district attendance center from […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A bill offered in the Iowa House last week would establish “one or ” facilities that may cause concern for residents of any community in which such a facility is operated. House File 399 was offered Wednesday by state Rep. Helen Miller (D-Fort Dodge) and […]
By The Iowa Statesman According to an investigative report by KBET-TV of Sacramento, CA, foreign workers using H-1B visas are replacing American workers for high-paying jobs, including those working on a $200 million project for the state’s Employment Development Department. According to the report, U.S. Department of Labor data […]
By The Iowa Statesman The Jackson, Miss. Police Department is now requiring its officers to take a Spanish language course four times a year as a condition of employment. “The purpose of this program is for our officers to learn basic commands,” police Chief Lee Vance told FOX News […]
By The Iowa Statesman The IRS’s inspector general confirmed Thursday it is conducting a criminal investigation into how Lois Lerner’s es disappeared, saying it to only two weeks for investigators to find hundreds of tapes the agency’s chief had told Congress were irretrievably destroyed. According to The Washington Times, […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor This week, a bipartisan group of legislators from both chambers of the Iowa General Assembly offered resolutions seeking an amendment to the Iowa Constitution. House Joint Resolution 9 is authored by state Rep. Greg Heartsill (R-Melcher-Dallas). Its cosponsors are state Reps. Steven Holt (R-Denison), John […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A Senate committee bill will allow the state to establish, assess, and collect fees associated with the federal Clean Air Act. The proposed legislation would grant new and wide-ranging powers to the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, which may use the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ […]
By The Iowa Statesman The U.S. Treasury Department has rebuffed a request by House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R- Wis., to explain $3 billion in payments that were made to health insurers even though Congress never authorized the spending through annual appropriations. According to The Washington […]
By Bob Eschliman Editor A bill offered this week in the Iowa Senate would make the sale price of metered water ivered to residential customers exempt from state sales tax, but would instead create new “water tax” provisions for both the state and local governments. Senate Study Bill 1220, […]
By The Iowa Statesman According to a report from a mainstream media source, Attorney General nominee U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch’s office in the Eastern District of New York pursued 58 cases against “John Doe” defendants since her appointment. Only two of those were terror suspects, the NBC News investigation […]
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