Archive for November 2010
Iowa Marks World Aids Day 2010
Iowa Marks World Aids Day 2010
Although HIV infection is preventable, every 9½ minutes, someone in the United States is infected with the virus. It is important for everyone to get the facts, talk about HIV/AIDS with partners and loved ones, reduce risk behaviors, and get tested to learn their HIV status.
Please join concerned citizens around the country as we face AIDS, take action, and slow the epidemic.
There are many ways to get involved with the fight to prevent HIV and slow the epidemic: become a volunteer, know your own HIV status by getting tested, practice safer sex, chose not to engage in high-risk behaviors, provide support to people living with HIV/AIDS or get involved with an event in your community. This day is a reminder for all of us – individuals, communities and political leaders – to take action and ensure that human rights are protected and global targets for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care are met.
Is The Lorax An Allegory For America Today?
Is The Lorax An Allegory For America Today?
by Dave Bradley
I asked my daughter what we could get the grandson for Christmas this year since he will be but six months old at the time. Her response kind of surprised me. She said she wanted books to read to him, especially the Dr. Seuss book “The Lorax.” She thought it very important that he hear “The Lorax.” It was her favorite book as a child.
Most of you know “The Lorax.” The story of a creature that tries to stand up for the Truffula trees as the Once-ler mows them down with precision and without a care. The profits that the Once-ler is making from the product he makes out of Truffula trees – the thneed – blinds him to any problems or concerns. And so the Once-ler chops and chops and chops the trees in the relentless pursuit of money. And of course in the end the trees are all gone as are the profits.
“The Lorax” is an obvious allegory about the environment. But recently I have been pondering how “The Lorax” could easily be looked at today as an allegory of how the conservative (geez, I hate that word to describe them) movement seems to have its eyes fixed on goals and will stop at nothing to achieve them.
Much like the Once-ler, the conservatives have assembled a machine-like precision in chopping, chopping, chopping away at what they perceive to cause all the ills in society. Things that smack in any way of a socialist state, such as the poor having access to decent medical care. Or things which stand in the way of private enterprise in its pursuit of ever larger profits such as regulations in the ways business can be conducted or rules on how much they must pay their employees.
I sit here and read the daily news and commentary and it is like there is this giant machine chopping a broad swath in the forest that makes up the environment of American life. Chopping here at wages, at availability of health care, at equality of races or of sexual preference. Chopping over there at social security and Medicare and Medicaid. Chopping around the corner at education and teacher’s pay and early education for preschoolers. And always chopping hard at business regulations that give snooks like you and me at least a chance of not getting fleeced when we make a financial transaction.
Out in front of all this chopping machinery is the oiling machine that lubes up the trees in the forest so they will fall easily when chopped. That is the job of Fox News and the current group of corporate info-tainment departments that make liberal ideas seem so distasteful that people cheer as the only laws protecting them are done away with. Just to see how well it works one only need look at the healthcare situation. Two years ago, people were screaming for a fix to a totally corrupt system. Now enough have been “oiled” that they are crying for a return to a corrupt system.
And those of us who choose to be the Loraxes in today’s America are overwhelmed trying to slow the machine’s relentless progress. As we face the machine at one turn, the speed is upped in another section.
This machine is fueled by bumper sticker slogans that a populace of non-critical thinkers are eating up like candies. And much like the end of the Lorax, one day Americans will wake up in small hovels where three generations of a family reside together and they will look at each other wondering what happened. And with any luck, maybe one of the elders can relate what happened, because the answers will no longer be available in books.
Dave Bradley is a self-described
retired observer of American politics “trying to figure out how we got
so screwed up.” An
Iowa City native currently living in West Liberty, Dave and his wife
Carol have two grown children who “sadly had to leave the state to find
decent paying jobs.“
E-mail Dave here
Iowa Progressive Radio: This Week On The Fallon Forum
Iowa Progressive Radio: This Week On The Fallon Forum
Monday -Thursday from 7:00-800 pm, join us for the fusion of politics
and civility at 98.3 WOW-FM and
on-line at 983wowfm.com.
Call (515) 312-0983 or (866) 908-TALK to participate in the
conversation. If you miss the show, you can hear it as a podcast and please
help support local progressive talk radio with a donation through Pay
Pal or by check to PO Box 13421, Des Moines, IA 50310.
Dear Friends,
Monday: Paul Harrison with Re-entry After Care discusses why the Iowa Department of Corrections has plenty of money for bricks and mortar even as programs that reduce the likelihood of people re-offending are slashed to the bone. A sign in front of one of Iowa's prisons speaks volumes: “I-JOBS: Building Iowa's Future.” If Iowa's future lies in building bigger and “better” prisons, we're in really rough shape.
Tuesday: Despite losing 16 seats in the Iowa House, Kevin McCarthy retains his position as the House Democrats' leader. Despite losing six seats in the Iowa Senate, Mike Gronstal remains the Senate Majority Leader. And even though Jerry Crawford – the Party's frequent spokesperson and biggest fundraiser – endorsed a Republican for Secretary of Ag over Democrat Francis Thicke, Party leadership has looked the other way. This will be our topic on Tuesday's Fallon Forum. Agree or disagree, I hope you'll join the conversation.
Wednesday: Carl Olsen talks about medicinal marijuana. With a unanimous ruling last week by the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, momentum is building to allow patients suffering from debilitating diseases to use the drug. We'll talk about the ruling and about prospects for progress on the issue in the 2011 legislative session.
Thursday: I'm still hammering out the details of our program, so stay tuned for more information.
Ed Fallon
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility Wants To Transfer Wealth to the Wealthy
Labor Update: Commission Co-Chairs Want To Transfer Wealth to the Wealthy
Contact your representatives and your local paper to let them know that you oppose reducing Social Security.
On December 1, 2010, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is scheduled to issue its report on how to reduce the national debt. When President Obama established this Commission by Executive Order, its goal was to figure out ways to balance the budget by 2015.
We’ve already seen a sneak preview of the Commission’s Co-Chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson’s ideas regarding Social Security cuts, including these gems:
- Raise the retirement age to 69
- Reduce cost of living adjustments
- Gut benefits to the disabled and survivors
- Cut Medicare, increase co-pays and reduce provider reimbursements
The proposals targeting Social Security, a program we workers fund to pay for our retirements not to subsidize other government programs, is at best insulting and at worst a crack at the single greatest program to keep seniors out of poverty. According to the US census, in its current form, Social Security kept 14 million seniors above the poverty level.
Keeping in mind, too, that Social Security has not added a dime to our national debt or yearly deficits, the Erskine Bowles suggestions to cut this program instead of taxing Wall Street excesses place a greater burden on workers over wealth at a time when poverty rates have soared for middle and lower income Americans.
Before the Bush era (back when President Clinton left the White House with a budget surplus) the poverty rate was at 11.3%. 31.1 million people were poor in the U.S. Black poverty, at 22.1 percent, was at its lowest in decades as well as poverty of households headed by single women at 24.7 percent. Poverty for people age 65 and older was 10 percent. Poverty for children under 18 was at 16.2 percent
Compare then to now when the 2009 poverty rate was at 14.3 percent. 13 million more Americans are now living in poverty, totaling 44 million men, women and children who are forced by the twisted economy to survive on less than $22,000 a year for a family of four ($10,800 for a single).
Black poverty has grown to 25.8 percent, and a record number of people are now dependent on federal poverty programs like Medicaid and food stamps (1 in 7 adults receive food stamps though more are eligible).
In order for the Commission’s plan to be recommended to Congress, 14 of the 18 commissioners must agree to it, and two of them, Representative Jan Schakowsky (D) Illinois; and Senator Dick Durbin (D) Illinois, have already stated that they will not support the Erskine Bowles plan.
TAKE ACTION: Contact your representatives and your local paper to let them know that you oppose reducing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits as a means to balance the federal budget. Let them know that you fiercely object to this attack on working families and our nations’ retirees.
~Tracy Kurowski has been active in
the labor movement for ten years, first as a member of AFSCME 3506, when
she taught adult education classes at the City Colleges of Chicago. She
moved to the Quad Cities in 2007 where she worked as political
coordinator with the Quad City Federation of Labor, and as a caseworker
for Congressman Bruce Braley from 2007 – 2009.
Civil Disobedience and Iowans
Civil Disobedience and Iowans
Some Iowans wear civil disobedience like a badge of honor that says I took a stand against injustice and militarization. At the recent vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, 26 people were arrested and jailed in conjunction with the 20th Annual Vigil to Close the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (aka School of the Americas or SOA) located on the base. While no Iowans are known to be among those incarcerated, Iowans participated, there was a Des Moines Solidarity Vigil on November 21st at 42nd and Ingersoll, and scattered across the state are people who have participated in previous SOA vigils in Georgia. Click here to view a video about this annual event.
When the issue of civil disobedience is raised among Iowans we know, there is almost universal respect for people taking a stand against injustice and militarism. At the same time, one questions the value of a nonagenarian peace activist like Bill Brennan becoming a “prisoner of conscious” thus removing him from the ever shrinking pool of peace activists doing this work while he serves his sentence. While taking a stand against injustice and militarism is important, the SOA vigil seems to be engaged in a conflict of diminishing returns.
The 800 pound gorilla in the room, that most everyone involved in these vigils seems to be avoiding, is that militarism is endemic to almost every aspect of American society and U.S. Citizens are generally disengaged from our foreign policy. Even if Fort Benning's “School of the Americas” were closed, the cross training of military and police officers from Central and South America and from around the world would continue in some other format. There is a demand from other countries and a desire by the administration to use training of locals to enhance regional stability. This was the approach in Vietnam and it is our approach in Afghanistan and Iraq. Central and South America is just one more instance. In addition, in a post 911 world, the school has taken on new missions, including support of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption.
A better question than “should the SOA be closed” is “what should United States foreign policy be and what is the role of the CIA and our military in foreign policy?” During the midterm elections there was almost no discussion of US foreign policy in Iowa or elsewhere. Our foreign policy is a much bigger question than is closing the School of the Americas. The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation is but a small cog in the machine and if we seek to wage peace, our target must be much bigger than a small place in Georgia.
We admire the small bands of Iowa activists who use civil disobedience to demonstrate resistance to U.S. militarism. The problem is that people may feel that they are contributing to the resistance, but the military-industrial complex has pervaded our society and gained an acceptance that makes it hard to stop.
We agree with what Mario Savio said in Berkeley, California in 1964, “There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!” Most Americans have not begun to smell the “odious” machine and the people who run it have not been listening for a while.
If you can contribute to the Legal Defense Fund for those arrested at Fort Benning, click here.
If you want to learn more about U.S. Foreign Policy, a good place to start is by reading the State Department website here.
~Paul Deaton is a
native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend editor of
Blog for Iowa. E-mail
Paul Deaton
Who Will Appoint Iowa’s Next Supreme Court Justices?
Who Will Appoint Iowa’s Next Supreme Court Justices?
by David VanThournoutOne of the questions facing members of the GLBT community and supporters of civil rights in Iowa is; Who will appoint three judges to the now vacant seats on the Iowa Supreme Court Bench? Governor Chet Culver? Or Governor Elect Terry Branstad?
I spoke with David Boyd, Board Administrator for the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission about the likelihood of Governor Culver being able to appoint judges to the Iowa Supreme Court before he leaves office. He admits that it is conceivable but probably not likely.
Mr. Boyd was kind enough to fill in some of the details regarding the process going forward;
One hurdle that must be passed prior to the commission sending nominations to the Governor is the election certification. The Judicial Nominating Commission can’t move forward without that. Once the commission’s work has begun, applications will be collected for a period of approximately one month. Followed by a period of about two weeks to allow public comment. Nominees can then be sent to the Governors office for appointment.
To recap:
Approximately one month to collect applications
Two week public vetting period (public is encouraged to comment)
Will Governor Culver have the month that is typical to mull over these nominees? No. He will need to make his decision within a matter of days. Not that this should matter at all since that is the whole purpose of sending nominees, each and every one of them is vetted and would not be a nominee if they weren’t fully qualified for the job.
One interesting side-show is the currently circulating conspiracy theory that Governor Culver will simply re-appoint the ousted judges. Mr Boyd suggests that while this is legally remotely possible, and the commission is in fact free to solicit anyone they feel is qualified for the position, the three un-retained judges themselves would not be applying and therefore could not be on the list for consideration.
While many members of the GLBT community are concerned that this will mean three new conservative appointments to the Iowa Supreme Court bench by incoming republican Governor Terry Branstad, Mr. Boyd pointed out that the Judicial Nominating Commission will be submitting the exact same list of nominees to the Governor of Iowa whether he happens to be Chet Culver or Terry Branstad.
It is not clear how this electoral climate in which we find ourselves is going to effect the nominating process itself. The pool of likely applicants is already very small and any appointments that are made will be up for a vote in two years.
In the end, the real question isn’t whether Chet Culver or Terry Branstad ultimately makes these judicial appointments, they are going to be submitted by the overwhelmingly democratic Iowa State Judicial Nominating Commission who I have no doubt will recommend the best possible nominees to the Governors office based upon the rule of law rather than political ideology. Who will appoint them is still just about anybody’s guess. The question remains; How much hate money from the right will invade and confuse Iowa’s electorate in 2012 when one more judge comes up for retention?
According to Todd Pettys, a law professor at the University of Iowa, regarding whether or not the other justices careers were also in jeopardy in 2012.
“Well, another one comes up for retention election in 2012, and the other three come up in 2016. They could face some resistance, though I think it’s doubtful that the justices’ opponents will be able to mobilize a successful opposition campaign the next time around.”
Conservative strategists would like to push the narrative that these “activist” judges are not bending to the will of the people. The truth is that the Iowa Supreme Court really made a constitutionally sound decision to rule in favor of allowing what should have been a given; A persons sexual orientation is a protected “behavior” no less than that of speech or religious preference or of race and so it logically follows that gays and lesbians are entitled to marry as much as heterosexual couples. It seems that while conservatives have vociferously suggested that they are not racists it is only because they’ve traded overt racism for bigotry. Not allowing members of the GLBT community the god given right to marry via a supreme court stacked with conservative judges does not make marriage righteous at all, it merely entrenches institutionalized hetero-sexist bigotry.
Professor Pettys points out that the Varnum ruling still stands and that based upon the doctrine of standing, the only path to contest the ruling through the Iowa Supreme Court would be for someone to claim that by allowing gays to marry, injury to their heterosexual marriage occurred. Professor Pettys believes, as do most civil rights advocates, that this argument is a non-starter and could never lead to a legitimate challenge of the Varnum ruling.
The only other way for this to happen is via constitutional amendment. Which, according to Current Governor Chet Culver he would be “reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution to add a provision that our Supreme Court has said is unlawful and discriminatory.” It is unclear how this will play out under Governor Terry Branstad over the next few years. An amendment preventing gays from marrying would only re-open the possibility of bringing a suit similar to the one that recently prevailed and again, the state would be in a position of liability which was already proven once to be indefensible. Not a strong conservative position if you ask me.
The sense of this I believe is that the tendency of Iowa to support civil rights is stronger than the inclination of conservatives to repeal the twentieth century. Iowa has a long and illustrious history of going against the national grain in favor of strong civil rights.
Seventeen years before Dred Scott was deemed merely property of his owner, the Iowa Supreme Court “refused to treat a human being as property to enforce a contract for slavery and held our laws must extend equal protection to persons of all races and conditions.”
Eighty-six years before “separate but equal” was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled such practices unconstitutional in Iowa.
In 1869, Iowa was also the first state in the union to admit women to the bar and allow them to practice law. Three years later the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the State of Illinois' decision to deny women admission to the bar.
Taken partially from Wikipedia;
On the Varnum ruling the court reached this conclusion;
“We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective. The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification. There is no material fact, genuinely in dispute, that can affect this determination.”
My personal belief is that this (nearly) million dollars the American Family Association spent on punishing a supreme court which unanimously agreed that gays should have the right to marry and should not exist as second class citizens, at least in Iowa, was mostly about sowing a climate of fear and hate. The radical right sees Iowa as a major battleground that they must win in their greater war to institutionalize bigotry. One problem with all that is of course the long history that Iowa has protecting the rights of all citizens. Something we can all ultimately be proud of. The other problem they may have is that the Varnum ruling is widely regarded as being unusually sound and likely to influence other courts in the future. Not surprising as Iowa has for many years led the nation in protection of civil rights.
In the Varnum case the State of Iowa’s long standing dedication to the civil rights of its citizens has been upheld and it will take more than slinging a million dollars worth of mud on the Iowa Supreme courts recent ruling regarding the rights of GLBT citizens to change that.
~David
VanThournout lives on the Mississippi river in Rock Island. He plays
guitar, writes poetry and music, designs websites, and organizes for a
more just and peaceful world. More than a decade ago David began
demanding meaningful employment rather than mindless work making
widgets. David now requires that he loves what he does and that it
actually makes the world a better place in a way that is sustainable. Follow David on twitter at twitter.com/badweatherrr
Iowa and the Grand Bargain over New START
Iowa and the Grand Bargain over New START
“What
we do know is that we dislike the quid pro quo haggling between Senator
Kyl and the administration over national security, especially when it
appears that Senator Kyl is not negotiating in good faith.“
Iowans who listen to the corporate media might believe that the New START Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States is stalled is a limbo of Republican obstructionism. What is closer to the truth is that delays in the treaty's ratification by the United States Senate are related to a grand bargain among Senate Republicans that has little to do with the treaty itself. In a November 24 memo to his Republican Senate colleagues, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), framed the grand bargain:
“We appreciate your willingness to consider New START in the context of modernization of our nuclear complex and the weapons it supports.”
While “earmarks” do not apply to a treaty, the Republican caucus has decided to go along with Senator Kyl in seeking funding for modernization of the nuclear complex as a quid pro quo for ratification of New START. In response, the administration has pledged $85 billion over ten years. Linton Brooks, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration in the Bush administration, said in April, “I’d have killed for that budget and that much high-level attention in the administration.” Like it or not, the deal could be done. So what's the problem? It boils down to Senator Kyl and the interests he represents.
According to Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association, “Senator Kyl's November 24 letter…makes it clear he can’t take “yes” for an answer and that he’s trying to move the goalposts.”
In order to assert power, the Republican caucus has done well to maintain discipline and vote as a block on most of the important issues. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has been an active participant in maintaining this discipline. However, because the New START Treaty, more than the grand bargain of the Republicans, is directly related to our national security, the Republican shield is liable to crack, especially if a vote is forced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). A picture Blog for Iowa would like to see is Senate Republicans filibustering against the best advice of our military and diplomatic leaders regarding United States national security over minutiae related to their grand bargain. Iowans and Americans will see through that.
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has publicly supported ratification of New START. He is the only Republican Senator to do so and he recently rebuked his colleagues for seeking to delay consideration of the treaty by the full Senate. Their silence continues, waiting for Senator Kyl to be satisfied.
Most Iowans, including the author, don't have the patience to get down into the weeds of the Republican approach to the New START Treaty and the nuclear complex very often. What we do know is that we dislike the quid pro quo haggling between Senator Kyl and the administration over national security, especially when it appears that Senator Kyl is not negotiating in good faith.
So what we can do, and what Blog for Iowa asks you to do, is to call our United States Senators, Senator Grassley in particular, and ask them to help reset our relationship with Russia by voting to ratify the New START Treaty when it is considered by the Senate. The whole world is watching, and waiting for the United States to lead.
~Paul Deaton is a
native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend editor of
Blog for Iowa. E-mail
Paul Deaton
Give Thanks To Iowa's Justices
Give Thanks To Iowa's Justices
“We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective.” ~ Varnum vs. Brien
OneIowa.org
This Thanksgiving, please join us in thanking Iowa Supreme Court Justices Ternus, Baker, and Streit for their service.
The nearly $1 million dollars spent on the effort by out-of-state extremists to oust them from the bench does little to tarnish Iowa's longstanding legacy of equal rights that these justices worked so hard to uphold.
While their talent will be sorely missed, the freedom to marry still stands and their names will go down in history as champions of justice for all.
Please take a moment to send your personal note of thanks today.
We plan to deliver your messages to the three justices over the holiday season, along with the photos of couples who have married across the state as a result of their courageous ruling.
Public service is never easy. We recognize the sacrifices the judges and their families have been forced to make over the last few months as they became the targets of a well-funded political campaign. We're grateful to the justices for thier public service and wish their families a peaceful holiday season.
Please join me in sending thanks and reminding the justices of the impact they've made on the lives of Iowans!
Sincerely,
Carolyn Jenison
Executive Director
Iowans: Don't Be Hornswoggled
Iowans: Don't Be Hornswoggled
The following is an excerpt from an article by Gene Lyons on Salon.com. Below, please see our local Iowa action alert.
Salon.com
Over the past few decades, America's “mainstream media” has been hornswoggled by one big falsehood after another
Sometimes, when two sources tell very different stories, the truth doesn't lie somewhere between them. Often, somebody's lying. [Italics BFIA's]
Historian Rick Perlstein (“Nixonland”) applied himself to one recent example: polls showing that most voters in the last congressional election believed President Obama had raised their taxes, although he'd cut them.
Led by Rush Limbaugh, “conservative commentators told them Barack Obama was a tax-mad lunatic. They lied. The mainstream media did not do their job and correct them. The White House was too polite — 'civil,' just like Obama promised — to say much. So people believed the lie. From this all else follows.”
…Confronting a faker like Limbaugh, people pretend, only empowers him. Perlstein argues that the failure also belongs to “mainstream media that acts as if anything [Limbaugh's] millions of followers believe is a priori deserving of respect as heartland folk wisdom.”
“When one side breaks the social contract, and the other side makes a virtue of never calling them out on it,” he observes, “the liar always wins. When it becomes 'uncivil' to call out liars, lying becomes free.” [Italics BFIA's]
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Gene Lyons is a National Magazine Award winner and co-author of “The Hunting of the President” (St. Martin's Press, 2000).
(click here to read the entire article)
Speaking of Limbaugh, let's smack down the lies locally. Below is a list of Limbaugh-carrying stations in Iowa. If you live in the broadcast area of any of these stations, call them and ask them to give some balance-time to progressive talk. Suggest the Stephanie Miller Show, Thom Hartmann, Jim Hightower, Ed Schultz. Remind the station that Iowa is evenly divided as far as Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. Not everyone wants to listen to all conservative talk radio all the time. Good luck!
Burlington Talk Radio KCPS
KCPS 1150
205 S. Gear Avenue
W. Burlington, Iowa 52655
Phone (319) 754-6698
E-mail kcps@aol.com
Glenn Beck, 9-11a; Limbaugh 11a-2p;Dennis Miller 2-5p; O'reilly 5-6p; Michael Savage 7-9p;
Cedar Rapids WMT 600
600 Old Marion Road
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
Phone: 319-365-0600
Toll free: 800-332-5401
*600 on your US Cellular Phone
johnlaton@clearchannel.com
Limbaugh 1p-4p; Jim Bohannon 9p-12a
WOC Quad Cities
1420 AM
563-344-7025
news@woc1420.com
Limbaugh 11a-2p; Hannity 6-9p;Dennis Miller 9-12a;
Des Moines WHO Radio
1040 AM
2141 Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50312
Phone: 515-245-8900
vanharden@clearchannel.com, Program Director
joelmccrea@clearchannel.com, General Manager
Jan Mickelson,9a-11:30;Limbaugh 1-4p;Steve Deace 4-7p;Michael Medved 9-10p;Michael Reagan 10p-1a; Jim Bohannon 4-5a.
Dubuque WDBQ(no website)
1490 AM
5490 Saratoga Road Dubuque
Phone: (563) 557-1040
Limbaugh 11a-2p
Estherville KILR
1070 AM (no website)
Phone: 712-362-2644
Limbaugh 11a-2p
Mason City KGLO
AM 1300
341 S Yorktown Pike
Mason City, IA 50401
(641) 423-1300
Tim Fleming, tfleming@kglo.threeeagles.com
Brian Fancher, bfancher@kglo.threeeagles.com
Limbaugh 1p-4p M-F
Sheldon KIWA (has advertiser list on website!)
1550 AM
411 9th Street
Sheldon, IA 51201
Phone: 712-324-5377
E-mail: Walt Pruiksma, Station Mgr., at walt@kiwaradio.com (good luck…there is a picture on the website of Walt with Bush)
E-mail: Wayne Barahona, Program Director, at wayne@kiwaradio.com
Limbaugh 11a-2p; Hannity 2-5p; L & H Saturdays also
Sioux City KSCJ
1360
2000 Indian Hills Dr
Sioux City, IA 51104
(712) 239-2100
sarthur@powelliowa.com
Limbaugh, 11a-2p; Hannity, O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Dennis Miller, Bohannon
Waterloo KXEL
AM 1540
514 Jefferson Street
Waterloo, IA 50701
General Manager: Tim Mathews tim@radiogroup.net
Phone: 319-234-2200 or 800-584-7024
Coverage Area: Waterloo-Cedar Falls-Cedar Rapids-Iowa City
5-6a Jim Bohannon; 8-11a Glenn Beck; 11a-2p Limbaugh; 2-5p Hannity
Help Unmask the Mystery Senators Blocking Community Radio!
Help Unmask the Mystery Senators Blocking Community Radio!
Prometheusradio.orgRead the latest news on our Congressional campaign here
How to be a senatorial sleuth:
First, look up your senators' phone numbers here, then use the scripts below for your calls! Since the holds are coming from Republican offices, we have different requests for Republican and Democratic Senators.
Be sure to have a pen ready so you can write down exactly what the staff person tells you about your senator's position on the bill. Then, email us and tell us how it went!
Sample message for Republican Senators:
“Hi, my name is ___ and I am a constituent calling about the Local Community Radio Act, S592, which will expand community radio nationwide. I support the bill, as does the Christian Coalition and the Catholic Radio Association, and I hope the Senator does too. I'm calling because I've heard there are anonymous holds on the bill and I'd like to ask if the Senator has any concerns. Is the Senator holding the bill, or might s/he in the future?
(Feel free to explain more about why community radio is needed in your state, for emergency response, church groups, support for local businesses, etc.)”
If the staffer can't answer, ask to leave a message. Share the message above, then ask: “Could someone please call me back with the Senator's position on the bill?” and leave your name and number.
Once you've got an answer, contact us and let us know what you learned! Thanks for being a senatorial sleuth! Even if your senator isn't holding the bill, your call will help show support for community radio.
Sample message for Democratic Senators:
“Hi, my name is __ and I am a constituent calling about the Local Community Radio Act, S592, which will expand community radio nationwide. I am calling to ask the Senator to lead the way in passing this legislation this year. (Feel free to explain more about why community radio is needed in your state, for emergency response, church groups, support for local businesses, etc.)”
That's it! Thanks for sharing your support of the Local Community Radio Act! Together, we can bring real local media to communities nationwide.
- Cheating Determines Iowa’s Elections, Schultz Implies
- Cownie Unconvincing
- Too Many Little Elections?
- Like Iowa, Like Armenia
- Who Can Vote?
- 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
