Archive for December 2006
Sunlight Seeker Added to BFIA
Sunlight Seeker Added to BFIA
By Sam Garchik
Once again, the folks at the Sunlight Foundation have made politics more accountable. Check out the new “Sunlight Seeker,” in the lower left hand side of the blog page. Type in the name of any state or local politician, or donor, for that matter, and the seeker searches Open Secrets (for national donors) and Follow the Money (for state money), as well as the Congresspedia and GovTrack.us. This combines several searches into one easy window, and I encourage you all to use this tool. That being the case, this blog will be taking a week or so off for winter break, but stay tuned come January 2 for more of the same on Blog For Iowa.
Send Your Rep a Holiday Card
Send Your Rep a Holiday Card
By Nathaniel Baer, Environment Iowa Advocate
This New Year, our representatives in Congress have a choice: they can invest in clean, renewable energy sources and give the American people the gift of a new energy future or they can continue to give the oil companies billions in taxpayer handouts.
Send your representative a personalized holiday card wishing them a happy new year and asking for a new energy future! The card already has your representative's name and address included — all you have to do is print it and send it off!
To create your personalized New Energy Future holiday card, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser. Then, ask your friends and family to get involved by forwarding this message to them.
http://static.environmentiowa.org/eia.asp?id=2070&id4=ES
Background
Oil Company Profits Continue to Skyrocket
Big oil companies are swimming in a sea of record-breaking profits while American consumers and taxpayers pay the price. In 2005, the world's biggest oil companies reported a combined $111 billion in profits. In the first three quarters of 2006 they reported more than $94 billion.
Some of the biggest oil company profits in 2005 were:
* ExxonMobil: $36.1 billion
* Royal Dutch Shell: $25.3 billion
* BP: $22.3 billion
* ConocoPhillips: $13.5 billion
* Chevron Texaco $14.1 billion
Federal Handouts Lavish Billions on Oil and Gas Companies
Despite earning record profits, oil and gas companies continue to benefit from billions in handouts courtesy of American taxpayers. Between tax incentives, below-market fees for drilling on public lands, research and development subsidies and accounting gimmicks, these companies will receive more than $31.6 billion from the federal government over the next five years.
Specifically, these handouts break down as follows:
* Tax breaks: $16 billion
* Research and development subsidies: $1.8 billion
* Below-market fees for drilling on public lands: $9.5 billion
* Accounting gimmicks: $4.3 billion
* Total: $31.6 billion
Some of most outrageous handouts to Big Oil include a deduction allowing oil and gas companies to write off taxes and fees paid to foreign governments. This giveaway is not only a boon for Big Oil, but also for the governments of the world's major oil-producing nations, many of which are openly hostile to American interests. According to estimates from the Joint Committee on Taxation, modifying the deduction would save taxpayers $325 million over the next five years.
Another costly and unfair handout allows companies drilling for oil and natural gas in publicly-owned waters and on publicly-owned lands to pay below-market fees, or royalties, for the resources they extract. These royalty payments provide needed resources to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Historic Preservation Trust Fund, the oil-producing states and the federal treasury. Schemes that let oil companies off the hook for their royalty obligations will cost taxpayers at least $9.5 billion over the next five years.
Congress is pumping more than $1.8 billion into federal research and development, including one provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to give $1.5 billion to an oil consortium in Representative Tom DeLay's home district of Sugarland, TX.
Representative Nancy Pelosi has stated that one of her top priorities when Congress convenes in January will be to repeal the most outrageous handouts to Big Oil and invest that money in clean, renewable energy.
Send your representative a personalized holiday card wishing them a happy new year and asking for a new energy future! To create your New Energy Future holiday card, click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser. Then, ask your friends and family to get involved by forwarding this message to them.
http://static.environmentiowa.org/eia.asp?id=2070&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Nathaniel Baer
Environment Iowa Advocate
NathanielB@environmentiowa.org
http://www.environmentiowa.org
IFU Looks to Hire Farm-to-Institution Project Coordinator
IFU Looks to Hire Farm-to-Institution Project Coordinator
by IFU
Location: Ames, IA
Status: Half-time salaried position with health insurance.
Reports to: Education Director.
The Iowa Farmers Union Education Foundation seeks a half-time project
coordinator for a two-year grant-funded Farm-to-Institution project
(2007 – 2008)
The Iowa Farmers Union Education Foundation (IFUEF) was formed in 1999
with a 501(c)3 status to help meet increased needs for education among
farmers, rural residents, and consumers. Its mission statement is: “To
promote a viable system of sustainable agriculture and high quality of
life in rural communities through education of farmers, rural
residents, and urban consumers; cooperation among farmers; and
community activism.”
Position Summary:
Half-time (20 hrs./wk.) position to develop and administer two-year
IFUEF Farm-to-Institution project; provide budget monitoring, data
management, event coordination, inter-agency and public outreach and
communications for the project.
This project is intended to increase sales of locally grown foods such
as fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, dairy, wine, nuts, etc., to Iowa
institutions such as universities and colleges, schools, hospitals,
care facilities and other commercial and institutional food buyers. The
coordinator will serve as a facilitator for farmers and institutional
buyers to create business relationships and expand the sales of local
foods into these markets, for the economic benefit of farmers and their
communities, and the health benefit of institutional clients.
Required qualifications:
* Bachelor's degree in agriculture, business, marketing and public
relations, food science or related field pertaining to sustainable
agriculture.
* Experience in budget and data management.
Preferred qualifications
* Familiarity with food systems and project management, public speaking
experience, familiarity with the Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe
InDesign or Microsoft Publisher software.
* Self motivation, the ability to organize workload and work
independently in a multi-project environment, and conduct oneself in a
professional manner.
* Experience with or passion about working with farmers to increase their sales of locally raised foods to Iowa institutions.
Salary
$22,000 first year, $23,100 second year, plus major medical.
Please submit resume and cover letter by January 15, 2007, to: Leigh
Adcock, IFUEF, PO Box 8988, Ames, IA 50014, email
iafu@isunet.net. For more information, call 800-775-5227.
Iowa Farmers Union
PO Box 8988
528 Billy Sunday Rd
Ames, IA 50014
800-775-5227
iafu@isunet.net
www.iafu.org
Educational Excellence and Picking a New President
Educational Excellence and Picking a New President
By Art Small, Originally Printed in the CR Gazette
Since the departure in June of David Skorton, who left the UI for the presidency at Cornell University, much attention has been focused on the matter of the search for a new president. Across the state, and certainly within the University community, it has been a major subject for discussion. Certainly having a quality president of the university is extremely important and almost every public figure of any note in Iowa has expressed an opinion on the subject. Less attention has been devoted to what is a more serious and less correctable problem: the serious under-funding of Iowa's three Universities.
A new president will ultimately be found, even though the process by which that individual is selected probably will not meet with universal approval. That new president will be gratified to find Iowa's politicians quite willing to articulate strong support for higher education in the state. During the most recent campaign the state Democratic Chair said Iowa Democrats would “secure educational excellence” while “making college more affordable” and the Republican Chair said his party had “a positive vision to achieve world-class education” and would “strive to provide our children a world-class education.” Further, both candidates for Governor promised to address the problem of ever higher tuition increases.
Great sentiments. But when that newly selected president looks closer he or she will find a different and more difficult reality. The total sum appropriated for Iowa's Regents Universities in Governor Branstad's last year of office was $628,572,092. But for the past 5 years the amounts appropriated have been $16.5, $40, $54, $39 and $55 million below that amount. In addition, and making matters worse, during the eight years of Governor Vilsack's term the Consumer Price Index has risen over 18 percent and the Higher Education Price Index has jumped 27.8 percent. Also, during the same period, at the University of Iowa alone the number of undergraduates has increased 11 percent and the number of tenured and tenure track faculty has decreased 3.4 percent. To help make up for the shortfall, tuition and fees have been more than doubled. This certainly has not been a recipe for “world-class education.”
The new president will soon find the reality behind the political rhetoric is not pretty. Will the new Governor and new Legislature address this funding problem? Who knows? That issue has not been much discussed. It will take money, serious money. To find a new president the Regents simply have to get their act together and pick one. That shouldn't be all that difficult and there does appear to be an adequate supply of qualified candidates. But it will take a lot more effort to get the needed funding. Will the new Governor, the new Legislature and the new Regents have the desire or the will to be up to this more difficult challenge? In short, will they find a new recipe for the promised “world-class education”?
Arthur A. Small
Instant Runoff Voting Is Catching On
Instant Runoff Voting Is Catching On
By Steven Hill
This was originally posted at Truthout.Org
Political
reforms such as redistricting reform, fusion, and campaign finance
reform have been floundering at the ballot box in recent years,
rejected by voters in several states. But another political reform,
instant runoff voting, has been quietly racking up impressive victories.
Instant
runoff voting (IRV), which allows voters to rank their candidates 1, 2,
3, made great strides forward during the November 7 elections. Voters
in four different jurisdictions overwhelmingly approved ballot measures
for IRV. In California, voters in Oakland approved the idea with a
landslide 69 percent of the vote, as did 56 percent of voters in Davis.
In Minneapolis, a landslide 65 percent of voters passed an IRV ballot
measure, as did 53 percent of voters in Pierce County, Washington.
What is
interesting about the victories is that they happened in four very
different locations. Oakland is a very diverse, working-class city;
Minneapolis is a Midwestern-values city; Pierce County is a mix of
rural/suburban/urban areas with many independent-minded voters; and
Davis is a small university town. Yet in each place, IRV provided a
unique solution to problems with representative government.
Instant
runoff voting ensures that officeholders are elected with a majority of
the vote in a single November election. No separate runoffs or
primaries are necessary. Voters rank their candidates, and if their
first choice can't win, their vote goes to their second-ranked
candidate as their runoff choice. Voters are liberated to vote for the
candidates they really like without worrying about “spoilers.” You can
rank your favorite candidate first, knowing if she or he can't win, you
haven't wasted your vote because it will go to your second choice.
IRV is
catching on, whether on the liberal coasts or in heartland America.
North Carolina recently passed groundbreaking legislation to use IRV to
fill vacancies for statewide judicial offices and for local elections,
and there's talk of using it for all statewide offices. Driving the
interest in North Carolina are elections like the runoff in 2004 for
the Democratic nominee for superintendent of public instruction, which
cost $3.5 million and produced a 3 percent voter turnout.
Recently
Louisiana, Arkansas and South Carolina, which already use two-round
runoff elections for various races, began using IRV for their
military/overseas voters because there is not enough time to mail a
second ballot to them when a runoff election is required.
Colorado
recently became the first state to use IRV to fill a vacancy in the
state legislature. Takoma Park, Maryland, will use IRV for the first
time in 2007 to elect the mayor and city council. Burlington, Vermont,
used IRV to elect its mayor last spring, spurring the introduction of
bills in the state legislature for its use in statewide elections.
Following the Minneapolis and Pierce County victories, the largest
newspapers in Minnesota and Washington have called for IRV to be used
to elect state offices.
San
Francisco voters launched the IRV movement in 2002 when they passed it
for local elections, and San Francisco has used it now for three
elections. Several exit polls have demonstrated that San Francisco
voters across all racial, age and economic lines like ranking their
ballots and understand IRV. Since San Francisco's trailblazing voyage,
nine ballot measures for IRV have been passed by voters, often with
landslide margins.
The
movement toward use of IRV is gaining momentum because it answers a
real need. It's one of the best solutions to public frustration with
unresponsive and unaccountable government. IRV makes voters feel like
their votes count, because they are not stuck always choosing the
lesser of two evils; they can cast their vote for their favorite
candidate, knowing if she or he can't win, they haven't thrown their
vote away on a spoiler. IRV opens politics to new candidates and their
ideas, increases political debate, and even discourages negative
campaigning as candidates try to win rankings from the supporters of
their opponents.
For all
these reasons, instant runoff voting is now the hot reform to watch as
Americans grapple with how to improve our democracy and make elected
officials more accountable to We the Voters.
Steven Hill is director of the political reform program of the New America Foundation and author of 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
Initiative 300 Suffers Defeat in Circuit Court
Initiative 300 Suffers Defeat in Circuit Court
Center for Rural Affairs
The
Center for Rural Affairs is urging Nebraska Attorney General Jon
Bruning to continue the battle to protect Initiative 300, and what the
law has meant to family farmers, ranchers, rural communities and the
economic and social well-being throughout Nebraska for 24 years.
Last
Wednesday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion
affirming U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith-Camp’s December 2005
decision that declared Initiative 300 in violation of the U.S.
Constitution.
Judge
Smith-Camp never held a trial to discern the evidence in the
case. She ruled that Initiative 300 is unconstitutional on its
face, essentially because it is inconvenient for out-of-state interests
to comply with the provision in Initiative 300 that requires that a
family member live on or operate the farm or ranch to qualify as an
allowed family farm or ranch corporation. The three judge panel
of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals concurred.
“This is
a flawed ruling. This is what happens when the courts make
crucial decisions without holding a trial and hearing the facts of a
case,” said Chuck Hassebrook, Executive Director of the Center for
Rural Affairs. “We believe that Initiative 300 should have its
day in court,” argued Hassebrook.
The
Circuit Court’s decision compounded another problem with the District
Court’s ruling: it’s wrong on the facts. Initiative 300 does not
distinguish between in-state and out-of-state corporations. For
example, a Montana rancher that works everyday on his Montana ranch
could qualify his operation as a family ranch corporation just as
easily as a Sandhills rancher, and having done so could place cattle in
Nebraska custom feedlots just like Nebraska ranchers.
Moreover,
the legal precedent established by this ruling is broad and dangerously
expansive. It could undermine a wide range of state laws and
dramatically diminish the power of states to control corporate power
and excess.
In his
appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nebraska Attorney
General Jon Bruning argued, “Initiative 300, Nebraska’s ban on
corporate farming, does not violate the commerce clause, nor does it
discriminate against out-of-state individuals or corporations.”
Bayh out, Edwards In
Bayh out, Edwards In
By Sam Garchik
Iowa Blogs have some commentary up already on Bayh's decision. Check out Iowa Progress and Century of the Common Iowan for info. This leaves some very capable staffers in Iowa looking for possible work in presidential campaigns.
Also, the AP has it that Edwards is in, officially.
Vigil for Families of Deportees
Vigil for Families of Deportees
By PCCI
Make Room At the Inn Vigil to Support Deportees & Families
Sunday, Dec. 17 5:00 pm
Grace United Methodist Church
3700 Cottage Grove Ave, Des Moines, IA
Please bring a candle with you if you can.
Please join in a community candlelight prayer vigil to support those among us
who were detained this week during the raids at the Swift & Co. plant.
There is room at the inn. Let our neighbors stay among us.
In the vastness of God’s timeless creation there is room for all and so we gather
as one on Sunday at 5:00 pm at Grace UMC to pray that it will be so. We gather
in prayer to support the detainees and their families in prayer. We gather as
God’s people to raise our voices as one to pray for peace and justice for all in this
sacred season of hope.
Make Room At the Inn
Vigil to Support Deportees & Families
Sunday, Dec. 17 5:00 pm
Grace United Methodist Church
3700 Cottage Grove Ave, Des Moines, IA
Please bring a candle with you if you can.
Please join in a community candlelight prayer vigil to support those among us
who were detained this week during the raids at the Swift & Co. plant.
There is room at the inn. Let our neighbors stay among us.
In the vastness of God’s timeless creation there is room for all and so we gather
as one on Sunday at 5:00 pm at Grace UMC to pray that it will be so. We gather
in prayer to support the detainees and their families in prayer. We gather as
God’s people to raise our voices as one to pray for peace and justice for all in this
sacred season of hope.
Haga Lugar en la Posada
Vigilia para Apoyar los Deportados y las Familias
Domingo, Dic. 17 5:00 pm
Grace United Methodist Church
3700 Cottage Grove Ave, Des Moines, IA
Favor de llevar velas consigo si se puede.
Por favor, participe en una vigilia de oración con la comunidad, a la luz de velas,
para apoyar a los que fueron detenidos este semana en el incursión en la planta
Swift & Co.
Hay lugar en la posada. Deja que nuestros vecinos se quedan entre nosotros.
En la inmensidad de la creación eterna de Dios hay lugar para todos y así nos
reunimos como uno en Domingo a las 5:00 pm en el Grace UMC para rezar que
así sea. Nos reunimos en oración para apoyar los detenidos y sus familias en
oración. Nos reunimos como gente de Dios para levantar nuestras voces para
rezar para la paz y justicia para todos en esta temporada sagrada de la esperanza.
Haga Lugar en la Posada
Vigilia para Apoyar los Deportados y las Familias
Domingo, Dic. 17 5:00 pm
Grace United Methodist Church
3700 Cottage Grove Ave, Des Moines, IA
Favor de llevar velas consigo si se puede.
Por favor, participe en una vigilia de oración con la comunidad, a la luz de velas,
para apoyar a los que fueron detenidos este semana en el incursión en la planta
Swift & Co.
Hay lugar en la posada. Deja que nuestros vecinos se quedan entre nosotros.
En la inmensidad de la creación eterna de Dios hay lugar para todos y así nos
reunimos como uno en Domingo a las 5:00 pm en el Grace UMC para rezar que
así sea. Nos reunimos en oración para apoyar los detenidos y sus familias en
oración. Nos reunimos como gente de Dios para levantar nuestras voces para
rezar para la paz y justicia para todos en esta temporada sagrada de la esperanza.
Announcement of Candidacy for President of the United States
Announcement of Candidacy for President of the United States
By Dennis Kucinich
Dear Friend,
We are living in a time of great tests of our humanity, which also present great opportunities for transformation. The war in Iraq is a veil that shrouds our creativity and our potential for prosperity. It cuts us off from the world at a time when it is imperative that we acknowledge our interdependence and interconnectedness.
This is a moment with a profound feeling of destiny. America has been an extraordinary international power to manifest that which we focus our energies upon. This power is true of individuals as well as nations.
In a way, when we focus on terror, we bring to ourselves that which we fear. We focused on terror in Iraq and paradoxically helped to create the circumstances, which have propelled Iraq into civil war and chaos.
The prestigious Lancet report on excess casualties in Iraq estimates that the war in Iraq has caused 655,000 Iraqi deaths, and that 20% of those deaths are a direct result of the actions of coalition forces.
This war sacrifices the lives of innocent Iraqis, the lives of our troops, and the physical resources and good will of our nation. We are sacrificing our financial future, borrowing money from Beijing to occupy Baghdad in a war that military generals and the Iraqi Study Group have concluded is impossible to win militarily.
We are focusing our resources on the power of destruction rather than the vision of a world in which we want to live: A world of prosperity and peace, equity, beauty and justice. It is time for us to stand together to bring the troops home and stand by the people of Iraq through implementing a real policy for the security, recovery, reconciliation and restoration of their nation.
We as a nation have the opportunity to embrace the challenges of our time and take a new direction, starting with ending the war in Iraq. The leaders of my party have said that they will not stop funding the war, and are openly supporting a supplementary appropriations bill for an additional one hundred and sixty billion dollars ($160,000,000,000), on top of the $70,000,000,000 that was appropriated to Iraq for financial year 2007, back in October of this year. This would bring war expenditure for 2007 to $230 billion, double the expenditure of 2006, and by far the largest appropriation of the war so far.
Today, I announced my candidacy for President of the United States in a quest to call my party to courage and integrity on this issue. This is a journey upon which I hope you will join together with me to ensure that our country calls forth our great potential with the same courage of our forefathers and mothers who birthed the vision for our great nation.
You can see a video of my Announcement speech on www.kucinich.us (Our site has undergone its own transformation!)
Our campaign will change the direction of the Democratic Party, the war in Iraq and our nation.
Please join me to help make this great turning possible.
Thank you
Dennis J Kucinich
Countdown to Destiny: Nick Johnson on the Regents and John Deeth's Greatest Hits
Countdown to Destiny: Nick Johnson on the Regents, John Deeth's Greatest Hits and More From the Iowa Blogosophere
By Sam Garchik
Johnson County's John Deeth just prioritized 13 presidential caucuses, ranking the 1976 Democratic and 1980 Republican selections as the top of all time.
This
year could be like 92, or another year if the gov does not do well. it
will be interesting to see who actually shows up in Iowa over the next
13 months.
Nick Johnson is on UI President Search post #14.
The sad thing is that this doesn't look like they will ever find
another president. Perhaps now is the time for a little
anarcho-syndicalism, which would put the faculty senate in charge of
the U.
Speaking of rudderless ships, those of you missing the people formerly known as “the staff of former Congressman Jim Nussle's PAC,” we bring you this, from the cactus cooler. Romney is paying one Brooklyn, Iowa native 250k to remind us that Romney wants to defend marriage, whatever that means.
One ship
that has a new officer on deck is the House Transportation Committee,
which will welcome Bruce Braley when it rejoins. Braley will have the
opportunity there to help us gain Independence from foreign energy
sources.
Speaking
of foreign energy, Dennis Kucinich is running for President again. We
now have a real progressive candidate. You go, Dennis.
- Schultz Vindicated: Voter Fraud Proven!
- Schultz Raises Dead Voter Scare Again
- Repubs Stage Crime at NH Polls
- Wondering About GOP Caucus Count
- Judge Fires Voting Machine Investigators
- Globe-Gazette Decries “Cheap Shot” from SoS Schultz
- Voting By Email Is Foolish
- Congratulations, Iowa
- Auditors Study Photo ID
- Iowa’s Best Criminals
