By GottaLaff
For your viewing pleasure:
The President visits a Siemens wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Fort Madison, IA on his White House to Main Street tour and speaks about how his Administrations investments in clean energy are creating jobs and new industries
Something has gone very wrong in this country. Human = Dog.
Speaking at a Tama County Republican forum Monday, six candidates for the GOP nomination to face seven –term Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell opposed amnesty for illegal aliens and called for tougher enforcement of border security.h/t Wonkette & Iowa Independent. Here is Pat Bertroche's website and Facebook page.
“I think we should catch ’em, we should document ’em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going,” said Pat Bertroche, an Urbandale physician. “I actually support micro-chipping them. I can micro-chip my dog so I can find it. Why can’t I micro-chip an illegal?
“That’s not a popular thing to say, but it’s a lot cheaper than building a fence they can tunnel under,” Bertroche said.
By GottaLaff
One of our favorite readers, Joeyess, stumbled on to something that he sent my way. Allow me to share some information on what the Tea Baggers are up to:
The Tea party Express is rolling through Topeka, Kansas tomorrow, and they are assembling at the state house.
If you click on the link at the RSVP button in the bottom right hand corner of this page (that's a screenshot, click to enlarge)...
...it leads you here:
Then, if you Google "
They're a PAC.
While we're on this topic, let's take a quick look at safety issues.I just talked to Doris at Bettendorf, Iowa parks and recreation. She said that they were charging them a $125 fee for port-o-potties and they expected to have police on site.
I told her that I write a bit about the Tea Party Express, and in my research I found that they are involved with a PAC. She seemed really surprised. She also said that only a permit was required [Laffy Note: This is what I was told in my call to Topeka], and they had applied and received one for the event.
It seems that this Tea Party/PAC is taking advantage of municipalities and their resources, across the midwest at least, without revealing that a PAC is involved. [Laffy Note: The woman I spoke to seemed a little surprised when I told her that, too]
This particular event is taking place at Leach Park. I think they are fleecing municipalities in the name of free speech. $125??? That's chicken feed to FreedomWorks and their ilk.
I think this is endemic to this "movement". They're taking advantage of what are already financially stressed city governments and depleted resources for political purposes. This is not free speech. This is free fundraising.
This begs the question: Does this fall under Citizens United? If so, thank you very much, SCOTUS.
The Minnesota Capitol could be considered on of the most easily accessible public buildings in the state.
If you've visited a county office recently, or a courthouse, you've probably had to go through security, even a metal detector. But that kind of security is non-existent at the Minnesota State Capitol and some lawmakers believe the state's most visible landmark is a target.
Lawmakers sit just a few feet below unrestricted galleries and the doors to the House, Senate and governor's office are wide open.
"I think sooner or later something is going to happen here," said Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul.
"Whether we have a tough budget or not, we should prepare to provide basic safety for the people of Minnesota when they are engaging with their government," Hansen said.
Outside the Capitol building, the antiquated air exchange system makes it vulnerable to outside sabotage. [...] And unlike other public buildings, visitors don't get checked at the Capitol door.
By GottaLaff
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
"Really, really odd". Yep, she is.
A conservative Iowa group’s effort to lure Sarah Palin to its banquet next month has had an unintended effect: Rather than exciting conservatives about the prospect of a visit from the former Alaska governor, the group’s plan to raise a six-figure sum to bring her to the state has GOP activists recoiling at the thought of paying to land a politician's speaking appearance.
(snip)
But representatives from other Iowa-based political advocacy groups said they would never consider shelling out money for what many politicians see as a privilege: the opportunity to speak to a room full of sure-fire caucus-goers who often serve as precinct captains and can be instrumental to a presidential candidate’s success.
“If somebody tells me they want me to pay an appearance fee, it tells me they’re not very serious about running for president,” said Ed Failor, Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief and an influential GOP insider.
“I found it really, really odd,” Failor said.
By GottaLaff
In the first Des Moines Register poll since the Iowa Supreme Court overturned a statutory ban on gay marriage in April, Iowans are evenly divided on the issue with 41% saying they would vote for a constitutional ban and 40% opposed to a ban.
However, the overwhelming majority of Iowans -- 92% -- say gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives.
Very, very good idea. Now they just need to make the window for them longer, so more people can participate. Maybe a late Saturday, early Sunday window to accommodate different shifts and different religions?
Sources from both the Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party tell the Des Moines Register "they are getting ready to jointly announce a date for the 2010 Iowa caucuses. For the first time, they'll be held on a Saturday afternoon in January. Look for the announcement in the next week or so."
"One of the often-aired criticisms of the caucuses is that many people can't attend. Some miss out because they're working at night. Many others are elderly and don't like to go out after dark in the middle of winter. A Saturday daylight event is likely to help on both counts, although one Democrat just pointed out it will sideline Jews and others who worship on Saturday. And there will be more football games on TV."
By GottaLaff
In a way, life looked unexpectedly ordinary here on Monday as Iowa began allowing same-sex couples to marry.The large, angry protests some had imagined never materialized in this city, the state’s most populous. Neither did the crowds of couples from all over the nation that some feared might create a carnival-like atmosphere captured in earlier images from other places.
Wait, so... my marriage isn't affected? I can still be all hetero and married and stuff? Even though ::dun dun dun-n-n:: Teh Gay are becoming legally betrothed and spousy and coupled up in wedded bliss all over Iowa?
And we all, both gay and straight, lived happily ever after, in spite of all that crazy talk to the contrary.By noon, no protesters could be found outside the marriage license office. Extra sheriff’s deputies assigned to keep order milled around the Polk County recorder’s office, looking bored. And an early-morning line of dozens of same-sex couples waiting to apply for licenses had dwindled into a few people discussing recent rainfall patterns. [...]
By the end of Monday, more than 200 couples had applied and paid $35 for marriage licenses in Iowa. (No statewide count was available.)
Somehow I doubt Earth Day is going to be the topic du jour.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is going on the road to pitch his energy plan — as well as environmentally friendly jobs production — in a hard-hit Iowa town, while administration officials make a similar push back in Washington.
The White House's Earth Day message comes as Obama has watched his energy legislation stall in Congress. Obama's Environmental Protection Agency chief and energy and transportation secretaries all were scheduled to testify before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Wednesday with themes similar to Obama, who planned a swift visit to economically struggling Newton, Iowa.
White House aides said the president would highlight his plans to create jobs and protect the environment. He planned to tour — then tout — Newton's Trinity Structural Towers wind energy plant as a model for job creation and energy production in a town whose biggest employer was sold and then stopped operations.
Iowa’s state senate majority leader blocks the introduction of an amendment banning gay marriage in the state.
How long before the wingers start stuffing the state full of hate money?
(AP) Gay marriage advocates began celebrating early Friday after the Iowa Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling finding that the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples.
In its decision, the court upholds a 2007 Polk County District Court judge's ruling that the law violates the Iowa Constitution. It strikes the language from Iowa code limiting marriage to between a man a woman.
"The court reaffirmed that a statute inconsistent with the Iowa constitution must be declared void even though it may be supported by strong and deep-seated traditional beliefs and popular opinion," said a summary of the ruling issued by the court.
Yep, the Iowa that was 99.99% behind Obama from the beginning. Good luck with that. Plus,he's batch*t crazy, as the above video shows.
Republican Rep. Steve King, an outspoken conservative who represents Iowa's sprawling 5th District, said Monday that he's pondering a run for governor next year.
At a taping of Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press" program, King said he will spend the next few months deciding whether to seek the party's nomination to oppose Democratic Gov. Chet Culver in next year's election.
"There's a duty for me, I think; I've made no decisions," King said, adding later that "it would be constructive for me at this point to say that the most important job right now is to bring together and reunify the Republican Party in this state."
By GottaLaff
Troopergate II:
An Iowa state trooper from Fort Dodge is being punished for forwarding an e-mail that included jail mug shots of people wearing Barack Obama T-shirts.He forwarded the e-mail from a state-issued laptop. He did it while off duty, and the recipients were both inside and outside of the agency.
Sgt. Rodney Hicok received a 30-day suspension on his record, although he won't actually have to leave his job. Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Courtney Greene says labor law means suspending Hicok without pay would jeopardize overtime rules for salaried employees like Hicok.
Hicok also must attend training on department policies.
I think it's a brilliant idea.
Ed Fallon submitted his letter of application Thursday to President-elect Barack Obama to become the "White House farmer."
Such a position currently does not exist.
"I'm dead serious," said Fallon, a former state representative from Des Moines. "I hope he does something along these lines. Maybe I'm not the person he would like to lead that effort, but I think somebody should."
Fallon got the idea from New York Times writer Michael Pollan, who wrote that the job could be used to "tear out five prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn and plant in their place an organic fruit and vegetable garden."
Pollan noted that Eleanor Roosevelt planted a garden on the White House lawn in 1943, helping to ignite the Victory Garden movement.
May I just say that I'd like to thank whoever told McCain to use that stupid Drudge pushed comment of Obama's from 2001 as an attack. The angry old man can't even read the script properly and sounds awful.
A new SurveyUSA poll in Virginia shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 52% to 43%.There are two new Marist Polls out today from two battleground states:
Key finding: "Those who tell SurveyUSA they have already voted disproportionately vote for Obama."
By GottaLaff
Why-o-a go to Iowa if you're Gramm-pa McCain or IWRC* Palin?
Beats me. But they are leading in Kentucky, 55% to Obama's 39%.Lee Enterprises Poll: Obama Way Ahead in Iowa
Sen. Barack Obama has extended his lead slightly to 15 points over Sen. John McCain in Iowa, 54% to 39%, according to a new Courier-Lee Enterprises poll.
Key finding: "Obama continued to lead among independent voters 57 to 36 percent, as well as with both men and women and every age group."
Key questions: Why is McCain campaigning in Iowa tomorrow? And why was Gov. Sarah Palin there today?
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