‘Blog’

U.S. Rep. Steve King is hoping to derail health care reform legislation scheduled to be debated in the U.S. House by trying to harness the Tea Party protests that took place throughout the summer and once again bringing them to the nation’s capital on Saturday.
King announced Friday that “will join his Republican colleagues and Americans [...]

Senate Majority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, followed through on his promise Friday and dropped out of the 2010 campaign for governor.
McKinley said last month that when former Gov. Terry Branstad made his candidacy official, he would withdraw. While Branstad has yet to formally enter the race, he’s hired staff and begun holding campaign events, making [...]

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a congressional leader known for his watchdog approach to federal agencies, believes that an online initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services amounts to state-sponsored propaganda.
“The campaign now on hhs.gov is not purely informational because it expressly has visitors ‘affirm’ their commitment to work with congressional leaders [...]

The Associated Press broke the news Friday morning that an aide close to Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin confirms she will formally announce she will seek the Democratic nomination for Senate next week.
The aide also confirms she will file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission next week.

Four additional Iowa influenza-related H1N1 deaths are being reported today by the Iowa Department of Public Health, and one of the new fatalities is not attributable to risk factors associated with an additional medical condition.
The latest victims are identified as adults in Dubuque, Polk, Mills and Monona counties. To date, there have been 11 confirmed [...]

Christopher Reed formally announced his candidacy to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack of the 2nd Congressional District on Thursday, and in doing so vowed to run a less contentious campaign than he did in 2008 against Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.
In that campaign, which Reed lost by more than 20 percentage points, the Marion [...]

The website designed to allow citizens to track how and where funds are being allocated as part of the $830 million I-JOBS infrastructure plan now includes an interactive tool to improve transparency, Gov. Chet Culver announced Thursday.
In June, Culver’s deputy chief of staff, Phil Roeder, told The Iowa Independent that 100 percent transparency was one [...]

The 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary is shaping up to be a spirited affair, with candidates already actively campaigning and taking shots at their fellow Republicans more than seven months before Election Day.
But Civic Skinny, the anonymous gossip columnist for Des Moines’ Cityview, says the contest is as much about revenge and staking a claim on [...]

A 54-year-old physician from Belle Plain, who allegedly engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct, has entered into a formal agreement with the Iowa Board of Medicine not to treat patients.
Robert A. Bischoff, was charged in September with sexual misconduct, unprofessional conduct and disruptive behavior in the practice of medicine by the state board. The [...]

Two Iowa U.S. attorney’s offices are one step closer to being under new leadership.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley is a member with seniority, agreed today by unanimous consent to pass the nominations of Stephanie Rose and Nick Klinefeldt on to the full Senate.
“These individuals are enthusiastic, intelligent attorneys, and [...]