‘Blog’

Democrats and Republicans in the state capitol have drawn a line in the sand this summer over whether Gov. Chet Culver should call a special session of the legislature to balance Iowa’s budget, and the debate shows no signs of quieting down.

Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford should resign, not only for the sake of his state but for his family, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats said in an interview with the Carroll Daily Times Herald. Sanford confessed last week to secretly traveling to Argentina to carry on an extramarital affair.
“I think what it is [...]

In announcing his candidacy for governor, 32-year-old Christian Fong has managed to shake up an already contentious Republican battle to unseat Gov. Chet Culver.
With no formal political experience, Fong’s positions on the issues are still a mystery to most voters. Unlike his GOP competition, who have endured numerous campaigns and been thoroughly vetted, Fong is [...]

Gannett Co. Inc., parent company of The Des Moines Register, will eliminate between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs in the coming weeks, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Christian Fong, a 32-year-old Cedar Rapids resident, announced Tuesday via Twitter that he will be a candidate for governor in 2010.

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry has released its 2009 legislative scorecard, with 27 Republicans in the House and three in the Senate receiving perfect scores.
The grades were based on legislator’s votes on nine bills in each chamber. In the Senate, they ranged from a bill that “streamlines the Iowa Values Fund” to bills [...]

Corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped significantly this morning after a report (pdf) from USDA predicted that this year’s crop will be much larger than investors and analysts expected:

The Green Party of the United States filed a lawsuit against the City of Davenport and the local chamber of commerce alleging its members were prevented from collecting petitions for a presidential candidate at a street festival last year, the Quad-City Times reports.

An expansion of the state’s children health insurance program, changes to sex offender registry and tougher restrictions on pseudoephedrine sales are just a few of the new laws set to go into effect on Wednesday.
Most legislation that was passed during the 2009 General Assembly takes effect July 1, at the start of the 2010 fiscal [...]

The Sac County Republican Party hosted what was probably the first cattle-call of 2010 Republican candidates for governor over the weekend, and four men delivered stump speeches as candidates (or potential candidates).
To hear what State Rep. Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City), State Rep. Rod Roberts (R-Carroll), State Sen. Jerry Behn (R-Boone), and Bob Vander Plaats [...]