Popular Progressive

• Krause, Fiegan, and Conlin: Grassley Challengers

  To the point that Roxanne Conlin entered the race to be the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, scarcely a peep had been made by the state's newspapers about the two other candidates running for the Democratic nomination. Bob Krause and Tom Fiegan have been pounding the pavement furiously [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:56am EST
  

• Honoring All Our Troops

  CNN reports that soldiers who die by suicide will not receive a letter of condolence from the President Obama. The reason for not honoring military personnel? It is an inherited policy. The unwritten policy has been in place "at least since Bill Clinton was president," according to a [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 5:47am EST
  

• Thanksgiving Reform

  The day after tomorrow my wife and I will likely sit down to negotiate Thanksgiving reform with my Chicago-based father and his wife. On the table will be the required watching of a football game. In past years the football game has been widely popular with the Chicago group, but [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:05pm EST
  

• Senate Candidate Krause Calls for Drawdown in Afghanistan

  From Bob Krause's campaign:
  Speaking to an audience of Democrats at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson Day dinner on Saturday night, Bob Krause of Fairfield became the first candidate in the Iowa U.S. Senate race to call for a drawdown of troops in Afghanistan.
  
  "It is my" [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 3:50am EST
  

• Marriage Equality

  A meeting at Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist on Saturday brought social justice activists from liberal faith communities in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City together to discuss what can be done to support continued Marriage Equality in Iowa. State Senator Bob Dvorsky assured the group that the Iowa Senate would [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 2:45am EST
  

• What The Corridor Can Learn From New Orleans

  When Hurricane Katrina unleashed its fury, it was largely blamed for the monumental damage that followed in New Orleans and its neighbors. Further evidence showed that the failure of the levees were to blame and that the Army [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 2:34am EST
  

• We Represent the Lollipop Kids?

  I appreciate the efforts that were made to create the environment for a special Johnson County board of supervisors election, as I support transparency and openness where government is concerned. However, I have to admit when I learned from the Daily Iowan that proponents for the special election were giving [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:43am EST
  

• Special County Election Will Happen

  Advocates for a special election to occur to replace the late Larry Meyers and to challenge the seating of appointed County Supervisor Janelle Rettig by special committee have apparently gathered over 8000 signatures which were presented to the Johnson County Clerk's office this afternoon. After the abysmal turnouts for' [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 4:17pm EST
  

• Stimulus Monies Shore Up Safety Net on Iowa's Medicaid Recipients

  
  
  The Iowa Policy Project reports that the stimulus monies used for Medicaid in Iowa have been paying dividends. For every $1 that the state puts in, $1.70 is matched by the Federal government. The ARRA legislation includes certain “triggers” built in for the extra [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 12:07pm EST
  

• Too Big to Fail: Sanders Says "Break These Babies Up"

  Sen. Bernie Sanders makes some very good points. Whether you agree with his assessment that the "to big to fail" companies need to be broken up, the point that these companies are costing us all is irrefutable.
  
  
  
  More than a year has gone by since Congress passed [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 5:40am EST
  

• Rental Help Available for Iowans

  I received this from State Representative Vicki Lensing:
  
  As part of the federal economic recovery program, Iowa has received $11 million to help qualified Iowa renters pay their rental and utility bills. To qualify, you must be at risk of homelessness and your income must be at or below [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 4:49am EST
  

• City Council Election: A Sleeper and A Squeaker

  Today's Iowa City election netted the lowest turnout since 1985. The Iowa City precincts during September's school board election reported 4,394 voters at the polls, while the City Council election today saw 4,682 voters turn out. As expected Susan Mims and Terry Dickens won the at-large race with 75% and [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:41pm EST
  

• Gitmo Detainees: Where Are They Now?

  One of the earliest Obama pledges was to close the detention camp at Guantanamo. After Congress moved to block any Guantanamo detainee from entering the United States, the courts appear to be relocating the detainees to exotic places like Herzagovinia, Palau, and Chad.
  
  Chisun Lee wrote this [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 12:48pm EST
  

• It's a Beautiful Day to Exercise Your Vote For Nobody

  Some and John Deeth are predicting a miserable voter turnout for the elections in Johnson County. I don't much care what people plan to do, the right to vote or not vote is "democratic" in the literal sense. My hope is that after the dust clears, folks will figure' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:53am EST