U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (Creative Commons photo by turtlemoon via Flickr)

Harkin said he spoke Tuesday with former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has publicly advocated for the Senate bill to be scrapped and for Democrats to begin a reconciliation process to pass a new bill that includes either an expansion of Medicare or, preferably, a public option. Without the public option, Dean has said the bill is not worth Democrats’ support.

“I think [Dean] is speaking to the frustration of many of the progressives in this country who recognize what I think is sort of the common sense approach of having at least one public option out there,” Harkin said.

“I think there is a lot of frustration out there — I have it myself. But you can’t let frustration turn into defeat.”

One of key reasons Harkin, who has pushed repeatedly for a robust public option, continues to support the bill is for the prevention and wellness provisions it contains.

“The medical community, the public health community and others interested in wellness realize that it is a big deal to get this in the bill. We lose all of that if we go to reconciliation — all of the insurance reforms on pre-existing conditions, and no lifetime caps, and no gender discrimination — we lose all of that,” Harkin said.

Although Dean believes that such provisions can be recaptured later, through subsequent amendments and modifications of a final health reform bill with a public option, Harkin is adamant that the changes must be made now.

“I told [Dean] that we have trouble passing a resolution saying there are seven days in the week,” he said, labeling the current Republican policy of using as much floor time as possible on every bill as “scorched earth.”

“What are we up to, 90 filibusters now? It means it has gotten to the point where everything has to be filibustered — everything. We have a defense appropriations bill on the floor right now that would probably get 90-plus votes … yet it is being filibustered,” he said. “In September we had the extension of unemployment insurance. It took us three weeks to get it to the floor, and then it passed 100 to nothing. Why would that take three weeks? It wasn’t amended. It wasn’t changed. It just took three weeks. That is what is happening.”

Yet if the “starter home” version of health care reform can be approved, Harkin remains confident that it will ultimately be the demands of the people that result in changes, additions and enhancements.

“Once you break the [special interest] stranglehold and you get the architecture in place, then it is not a massive reform to change this or add this or modify that,” he said. “My hope is that we move ahead on this and as reforms are in place, people will begin to say, ‘Gee, I didn’t realize that was what they were talking about.’ As more and more of these reforms take place, people will say that this is good, but we need something else, to change this or do that.

“In the future, amending it and changing it isn’t going to be as tough as passing it in the first place. We amend Medicare and Social Security all the time. We are changing rates, fixing this, doing this to make sure that they are viable. That’s what we will do in health care. I’m absolutely convinced of it.”

And there is one other thing Harkin is convinced will eventually come to pass: A public option.

“At some point in the near future, and I don’t know exactly how long it is going to be, we are going to have some sort of a public option out there,” he said. “We might not get it in this bill, but it will come in as the years go by and as people begin to look at insurance companies and how much they are charging. I have no doubt in my mind that we are going to have to go to some kind of a public option, some type of a single-payer type system to bring the costs down. When the administrative costs of Medicare is somewhere around the 3 percent range, but the administrative costs of the private insurance companies are in the 15 percent range, there is a lot of money that can be saved by going to a better system such as a single-payer or a public option-type system.”

Although Harkin expressed his disappointment with U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman’s hard-line stance against the public option and a Medicare expansion, he was not ready to speculate if the move would ultimately cost the Connecticut Independent his Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee chairmanship .

“I only have one interest right now, and that is getting this bill done. Getting it over the hurdle,” Harkin said. “We are all miffed a little bit because we had made those compromises. We got rid of the public option and we put in the Medicare buy-in at 55, which [Lieberman] had supported as recently as two months ago. We thought we had a deal. And then, last Sunday, he came out and said he was opposed to that also. It’s no secret that we were upset about that, but you move on in life. … I’m not mad, I just want to get this thing done.”

The Senate version of reform, according to Harkin, would provide Americans immediate provisions to ease the current health care burden. For instance, tax credits — up to 35 percent — will go into effect next year, as well improved access to insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. Children will be able to remain on their parents’ insurance policy until age 26, and insurance companies will be prohibited from rescinding the policies of people who become ill.

Regardless of all the jockeying within the Senate, Congress is still several weeks away from placing a final health care bill on the president’s desk. Even if the Senate was able to mesh out a compromise this week, the bill would need to be merged with the U.S. House version by a conference committee. Most interested parties anticipate that the merger will bring significant changes to both bills, and then the members of Congress will need to re-approve the merged bill.

“[Conference is] another hurdle we have to get over,” Harkin admitted. “But I always say ‘Cross one bridge at a time.’”

Culver’s job approval rating, at 40 percent, has hit the lowest point since taking office and has dropped 20-percentage-points since January. In a head-to-head matchup with several potential GOP challengers, Culver loses to Branstad 57 percent to 33 percent. An October poll conducted by Research 2000 had Branstad beating Culver 48 percent to 43 percent.

In the October poll, Culver bested other Republicans by at least 20 points. But in the latest Register poll, Vander Plaats beats him 45 percent to 37 percent.

The governor doesn’t reach 50 percent against any Republican opponent, but does defeat state Rep. Chris Rants and Cedar Rapids businessman Christian Fong.

Steve King

The Kiron Republican told Des Moines NBC affiliate WHO-TV that he wants to be a part of the national debate over how to “refurbish the pillars of American exceptionalism.”

Whether he decides to join the GOP primary to take on President Obama in 2012, the party needs numerous candidates offering distinct visions on how to improve the country, with the winning candidate being able to “sort those visions and bring the best one forward.”

“We’re going to need a lot of help in 2012, and being in Iowa and from Iowa, representing Iowa in a strong district in Iowa gives me a platform to be able to articulate those arguments, and I tend to do that,” King said.” And we’ll see what happens.”

King’s presidential aspirations were first brought up by Minnesota’s controversial U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who told the Sioux City Journal’s Bret Hayworth that King “has been mentioned” as a potential candidate for president in 2012.

Bachman’s endorsement of a King candidacy came as no surprise to those familiar with the congresswoman’s political career, as she has repeatedly described as “stunning.”

Below is the video of WHO-TV’s interview with King. He discusses his presidential aspirations at 3:25.

Conlin told Des Moines Register reporter Tom Beaumont that it was Grassley’s inflammatory rhetoric this summer during the debate over health care reform that first pushed her towards running.

Conlin accused Grassley of being disingenuous, noting that he circulated a fundraising brochure stating he was working to defeat “Obama-care,” while continuing to participate in bipartisan negotiations.

“That’s not the Chuck Grassley I thought this state elected, and it really was a watershed moment for me,” Conlin said.

Although she has not run for elected office since her unsuccessful 1982 gubernatorial campaign, Conlin has long been active in Democratic politics, both as a staffer and a donor. Most recently, she was co-chair of John Edwards’ Iowa Caucus campaign in 2008.

She has promised to raise $10 million for the campaign without taking contributions from lobbyists or political action committees. That might be a difficult task for most, but Conlin’s personal wealth and her time served as president of the nation’s trial lawyers association give her a huge leg up in regards to building a campaign war chest.

If she does indeed enter the race, she will join Bob Krause of Fairfield, Tom Fiegen of Clarence and Sal Mohamed of Sioux City. Both Krause and Fiegen told the Cedar Rapids Gazette they will remain in the race, saying Conlin’s entrance will do nothing to excite grassroots activists.

“People look at her and say, ‘been there, done that,’” [Fiegen] said. “One analogy I heard is that she’s our party’s Doug Gross — rich, intelligent, well-connected, but can’t talk to rural Iowans. People say she’s already proved that.”

Doug Gross is a Des Moines attorney and adviser to Branstad during his tenure as governor as well as other Republicans and was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 2002.

A poll conducted by Research 2000 and commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos found that Grassley beats all potential competitors in 2010. However, while he beats Fiegen and Krause by around 20 points, he only defeats Conlin by 12 points.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad announces his retirement from Des Moines University and answers questions about a potential gubernatorial bid.

Stepping down allows the Republican to “fully explore” the possibility of entering Iowa’s gubernatorial race, he said. It also gave him space to deflect questions from his conservative critics.

“I’m not going to get into ‘tit for tat’ with anyone else of either party,” he said, declining to answer a question about same-sex marriage.

But despite his pledge to remain above the fray, Branstad had sharp words for Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, the incumbent.

“I am sick about what’s going on today,” Branstad said, noting that his interest in running is “strictly in response to the current situation.”

He called the state budget a “fiscal debacle.”

He said Democratic criticism that he raised Iowa’s sales tax as governor was taken out of context, because it did not account for other taxes that were cut during his 14 years at the state’s helm.

Culver made a veiled reference to that criticism in a television ad released the morning of Branstad’s announcement, after a Research 2000/Daily Kos poll showed him trailing the former governor by five percentage points.

In response to the ad, Branstad scolded Culver for not focusing on his job. “I think he ought to be focused on policy and not politics,” he said.

Asked if he has a timeline for making the ultimate decision to run for governor, Brasntad deflected, implying that he would begin campaigning across the state before actually declaring his candidacy.

“I have always been a grassroots person,” he said, committing to visit all of Iowa’s 99 counties. It wasn’t clear whether he would try to make all of those campaign stops before officially entering the race.

When asked whether he will begin attending forums and debates alongside others who have already declared themselves candidates for governor, he demurred. He seemed intent on lingering in the “exploratory” phase of his candidacy for as long as he can, signaling that it could be a while.

That is sure to draw the ire of other Republican candidates for governor, who have been sparring for months over policy questions that Branstad continues to deflect. Whether it also frustrates GOP activists and primary voters enough that they begin to demand more clarity from their party’s frontrunner remains to be seen.

A state task force is preparing to tour the facilities and meet with local residents in an attempt to evaluate levels of care and cost effectiveness. Specifically, the task force will need to consider if the state would benefit from closing one of the facilities, a duty steeped as deeply in history as it is in state economics.

Kirkbride, a founding member of the organization that would later become the American Psychiatric Association, promoted standardizing not only care for those with mental health issues, but for the architectural design of the facilities in which such persons would be housed. Kirkbride believed that surroundings played a large role in the treatment of those described at the time to be “insane” or “feeble-minded.”

Kirkbride buildings were often sprawling structures that would allow patients to be segregated first by gender and then by degree and intensity of illness. In particular, the philosophy related to the architecture believed that nature — fresh air, sunlight — was an important element to treating mental illness, and many of the asylums based on his philosophy were constructed well outside of urban areas and on large lots where residents would be required to help not only with facility maintenance, but with ground-keeping, farming and other tasks.

The end result was state purchases of large tracts of rural land and construction of hulking brick and mortar facilities. Some of the structures closely resemble castles of Old Europe.

Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute

The facility in Mount Pleasant was the first built by the state. (Photo courtesy of the IAGenWeb Project)

The Mount Pleasant facility is the oldest of the four state-run facilities that serve individuals affected by mental illness. The state made its first appropriation for the location and erection of the facility in 1855. Kirkbride himself recommended Boston architect Jonathan Preston to design the structure. The 50,000-square foot building formally opened as “The Iowa Lunatic Asylum, Mount Pleasant” on March 6, 1861.

“This is first permanent building erected in the state,” a reporter for the Burlington Hawkeye wrote at the time. “It is of large size. We have not the exact dimensions before us, but it is sufficient to say that when fully completed it will accommodate between 300 and 400 patients and will compare creditably with similar structures in other states…

“Before diminishing the subject, we think simple justice to the Directors and builder, and to all parties concerned, under the circumstances, renders it proper for us to say something further in regard to this building and the manner in which the public have been expended upon it. When we look at its extent, at its massive walls and firm foundations that nothing short of an earthquake could move, at its innumerable rooms and dormitories, all the partition walls being of brick — at its miles of iron pipe for heating purposes, hot and cold water and gas — at is pipes and flues in every part of the building for purposes of ventilation — at its engine and boilers, kitchen and laundry, et cetera, et cetera, our wonder was that so much had been done for the sums appropriated by the State. … We hope, now that it is open and receiving patients, that all citizens of the State who can make it convenient to do so, will visit the Asylum. They will find it a very pleasant place to spend an hour or two, and, notwithstanding its grated windows, and unfortunate inmates, having a cheerful, orderly and happy look.”

Within a year, however, The Hawkeye, began to publish articles on the overcrowded conditions within the asylum, violence and skyrocketing expenses. (According to the American Medical Association, the facility had 11 miles of iron pipes, 425 rooms above the basement, 900 doors, 1,100 windows, a 2,100-foot Artesian well and cost the state $600,000 to construct.) The facility had treated nearly 1,100 people, many of them from other states, during its first 21 months of operation.

In those early years, all of Iowa’s facilities were used for long-term care. Many patients who entered the wards likely never again lived outside an asylum.

According to the Department of Human Services, peak capacity was reached in 1946 at more than 1,500 patients. Since that time, however, and with the invention of better medications and different therapies, most patients’ stays are between 30 and 120 days.

For some time the grounds have been shared by the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison designed to provide treatment to male offenders with character disorders and substance abuse issues. In 1999, a separate facility opened for women offenders who also had such specialized needs.

The Mount Pleasant facility currently provides inpatient treatment to adults, and it is the only dual-diagnosis program — psychiatric and substance abuse — run by the state. Although substance abuse patients throughout the state come to Mount Pleasant for treatment, it’s primary service area is limited to 15 counties in southeast Iowa.

Independence Mental Health Institute

The facility in Independence was Iowa's second asylum, and the structure continues to be used for the same purpose today. (Photo courtesy of KirkbrideBuildings.com)

The second of Iowa’s facilities began in 1868 with a state allocation for land and structure in Independence. The state hired S. Shipman of Madison, Wis., to serve as the architect and the building was given an Italian flair, complete with a mansard roof. It was built from limestone quarries in Epworth, Farley and Anamosa, which was considered to be quite an extravagance despite its local availability, and contained several fire-prevention amenities.

Construction began in 1869, and a portion of the building was opened in 1873, although the entire structure was not opened until 1884. Full cost for the structure, which contained 24 wards and could hold 600 patients, neared $1 million — nearly twice the cost of the Mount Pleasant facility.

Originally known as the “Iowa Hospital for the Insane, Independence,” it is now called the Independence Mental Health Institute, and, according to the Department of Human Services, it provides inpatient psychiatric treatment for adults, adolescents and children. The facility’s specialty, however, is its work with children and adolescents.

This facility currently serves 28 counties in eastern and northeastern Iowa, and children and adolescents from 43 counties primarily to the east of I-35.

Clarinda Mental Health Institute

The Clarinda facility was built by the state in the late 1800s to help alleviate crowded conditions in the other two state hospitals. (Photo courtesy of KirkbrideBuildings.com)

The facility in Clarinda, originally named the “Clarinda Asylum for the Insane,” was began with state appropriations (of $50,000, although many more appropriations followed) in 1884 primarily to relieve over-crowding at the other two facilities. Construction began in July 1885 with plans from Des Moines architects William Foster and Henry F. Liebbe, and patients were accepted beginning in 1888. In the beginning, Clarinda was a male-only facility that sat on 513 acres. By 1933, according to the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce, the complex occupied 1.055 acres.

Clarinda, just like all four of Iowa’s facilities, has also been mentioned in conjunction with American eugenics, which was comprised primarily of compulsory sterilization laws for those deemed “mentally deficient” or criminal. Roughly 1,900 people were sterilized in Iowa, and, although the law allowing the procedure was passed in 1911, most of those occurred between 1941 and 1953, after the 1929 creation of a State Eugenics Board. The 1929 legislation called on the superintendents of state institutions to submit quarterly reports to the eugenics board that listed viable candidates for sterilization, which included members of the general public who were provided free legal counsel, according to author Nancy Ordover.

In 1980 the Clarinda Correctional Facility, a medium-security, all-male prison serving primarily chemically dependent, mentally retarded and socially inadequate offenders, was established on the grounds.

Today, the facility at Clarinda offers a wide range of diagnostic and treatment services through is Acute Psychiatric Program. It is also well-known for its geropsychiatric work, providing nursing home beds for individuals with mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s. The acute program serves 15 counties in southwestern Iowa. The geriatric program serves the entire state and is the only one of its kind at the state-run facilities.

Cherokee Mental Health Institute

During the mid-1940s the Cherokee facility housed about 1,700 patients. (Photo courtesy KirkbrideBuildings.com)

Just six years after Clarinda opened, the state asked architect Liebbe to plan another hospital in western Iowa. The “Cherokee State Hospital for the Insane” opened in 1902 and was the last of Iowa’s large state-run mental hospitals. Similar to the Mount Pleasant facility, the hospital in Cherokee had a peak population of roughly 1,700 patients in the mid-1940s.

The Cherokee facility, like nearly all state hospitals at that time, was host mid-century to infamous lobotomist Walter Freeman. The man had perfected the technique of completing a lobotomy with a device similar to an ice pick that could be pushed through the thin bone in an individual’s eye sockets and into the brain. Freeman felt that this type of procedure could be especially helpful in the state-run asylums because it did not require drilling holes into the skull or a surgeon.

Freeman, who enjoyed the attention of the media and often invited reporters to watch his surgeries, was performing one such lobotomy at the Cherokee facility when he stepped back to have his photo taken. As a result of Freeman’s camera mugging the patient died, the instrument plunging too far into the brain.

Today, the facility provides both inpatient and outpatient care to adults, adolescents and children. It serves adults in 41 northwestern Iowa counties, as well as children and teens in 55 counties primarily west of I-35. The vast majority of the patients admitted to Cherokee are there by order of the court. A correctional facility is also on the site.

“We were too busy” to be scared, Haynes told Dominic Gates of The Seattle Times. “You must maintain your composure in the airplane or you will die. You learn that from your first day flying.”

…by varying the power to the engines on either wing of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, Haynes and his crew managed to roughly guide this almost-unflyable airplane to a crash landing 44 minutes later at the nearest airport, in Sioux City, Iowa.

United pilots trying to do the same thing later on flight simulators could never manage to repeat the remarkable feat of guiding the plane down with all its flight controls shot.

Haynes’ heroic efforts prevented his airplane from plummeting to the ground out of control and saved the lives of 185 of the people aboard. But when United flight 232 slammed onto the Sioux City runway, the jet cartwheeled, broke up, and exploded in flames, killing 111 of those aboard…

Individuals in Sioux City remembered the crash Sunday on the 20th anniversary by holding a short ceremony in Chris Larsen Park.

“Humans are historical beings. When we suffer a loss, the date of the loss becomes so significant. Although it may not be objectively important to others, taking note of that date may be beneficial for those who suffered the loss,” said Dr. Gregory Clapper, former chaplain with the 185th Air National Guard and a doctor who counseled victims of and responders to the crash.

Despite a poor economy, groups spent nearly $41,000 more in 2009 than they did in 2008. In fact, this year has seen the most  spending on legislative receptions since 2005, according the the IECDB.

“These reports show that the political economy in Iowa remains robust,” said Charlie Smithson, the IECDB’s executive director.

Reports were filed for 90 receptions held during the session. Reports disclose the amount spent on food, beverage and entertainment regardless of the number of people who attend. Because every legislator is invited to attend, the parties are not subject to the state’s gift law, which prohibits gifts to government officials of more than $3.

Below are the top 10 parties by amount spent during the 2009 legislative session.

1. Iowa Association of Realtors — $16,813 (held March 24)
2. Iowa Farm Bureau Federation — $15,807 (held Feb. 24)
3. Greater Des Moines Partnership — $10,405 (held Jan. 12)
4. Iowa Wholesale Beer Distributors Association — $9,913 (held Jan. 20)
5. Iowa Credit Union League — $9,105 (held Feb. 17)
6. Des Moines University — $8,629 (held Feb. 4)
7. Iowa Bankers Association — $8,449 (held Feb. 11)
8. Iowa Health Care Association — $7,958 (held March 31)
9. Central Iowa Power Cooperative — $7,949 (held March 26)
10. Iowa Business Council — $7,453 (held Jan. 26)

“While I was in Postville, I saw the impact on the community of an irresponsible employer who apparently ignored worker safety and worker rights laws,” Braley wrote in a letter today to Matt Dummermuth, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, and John Torres, acting assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“The community of Postville is struggling to stay afloat. Church groups have provided food, shelter and clothing to hundreds of people since the May 12 raid. They have been caring for the families of detainees because they are in limbo, but they don’t have the resources to care for these people forever.”

Braley encouraged the officials to expedite the hearings of employees and employers who have been charged with crimes.

In another letter written today, Braley praised newly confirmed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for providing over $2 million in outstanding payments to previously unpaid livestock auctions and sellers who sold to Agriprocessors in Postville. He also requested that the USDA reassess Postville’s loan payment schedule on a sewage treatment facility that primarily benefited the meatpacking plant. Although Agriprocessors signed a payment agreement with the city in July 2004, the company, languishing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, has defaulted.

“I encourage the USDA to give fair and prompt consideration to the city’s request to reassess their loan payment schedule and coordinate with elected officials to find a solution that works for Postville and the USDA,” Braley wrote. “I hope that USDA can be a partner to the Postville community during these challenging times.”

Braley, a Democrat representing Iowa’s 1st District, visited the community on Jan. 29. While there he met with church leaders, school officials, business people and elected officials. The letters written today were in response to the information he gathered during his time in the community.

Only 17 counties saw an overall increase in public school certified enrollment during the past year. The vast majority of growth was in central Iowa. (Iowa Independent Graphic)

It’s an alarming but consistent trend. Nearly 70 percent of Iowa school districts have seen another year of enrollment decreases.

Of the state’s 362 districts, 249 reported a decrease in certified enrollment last fall, according to a report released Monday by the Iowa Department of Education. Since the 2003-04 school year, over three-quarters of all Iowa school districts have reported a decrease.

Certified enrollment, used in the formula that determines state funding for public school districts, has declined significantly over the past five years in Iowa’s rural school districts.

Districts showing the highest percentage of decreasing enrollment are Seymour (32.7 percent), Riceville (30.9 percent), Olin Consolidated (30.1 percent), Orient-Macksburg (29.7 percent) and South Page (28.8 percent).

Districts the with the largest decrease in number of students are, of course, districts with larger student populations. Leading the list for the largest decrease of number of students during the past five yeas is Des Moines with a loss of 1,356 students. Davenport is a distant second with 768 lost. Sioux City (670 students), Council Bluffs (608 students) and Mason City (349 students) round out the top five.

Of the 31 percent of Iowa districts with an overall increase in certified enrollment during the past five years, the largest percentage was seen by Waukee, which had an amazing 67.5 percent increase. Johnston, Bondurant-Farrar, North Polk and Ankeny rounded out this set of five, each having between 23 and 26 percent increases.

Waukee also led the list for the district with highest increase in students. It was followed by Ankeny, Johnston, Southeast Polk and Linn-Mar.

The strides made by the 112 districts that saw enrollment increases, however, wasn’t enough to offset a statewide decline. The total certified enrollment count for Iowa’s public school districts this year is 477,019 — a decline of 3,590 students, or about 0.75 percent when compared to last year. Because of changes made in enrollment reporting by the 2008 Legislature, this figure is slightly inflated. Without the reporting changes, however, the state still marked a 0.4 percent decline in overall certified enrollment. This marks the 11th consecutive year that there has been a statewide decrease in certified enrollment.

Certified enrollment counts are taken on the first day of October each year. Official numbers, once reported, are confirmed by the Iowa Department of Education. Historic certified enrollment reports can be found on the Iowa Department of Education Web site.