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.
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Sunday, December 24
Sunlight Seeker Added to BFIA
by
Sam Garchik
on Sun 24 Dec 2006 06:57 AM CST
Saturday, December 23
Send Your Rep a Holiday Card
by
Sam Garchik
on Sat 23 Dec 2006 06:26 AM CST
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 Friday, December 22
IFU Looks to Hire Farm-to-Institution Project Coordinator
by
Sam Garchik
on Fri 22 Dec 2006 02:32 PM CST
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 Wednesday, December 20
Educational Excellence and Picking a New President
by
Sam Garchik
on Wed 20 Dec 2006 09:05 AM CST
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 Tuesday, December 19
Instant Runoff Voting Is Catching On
by
Sam Garchik
on Tue 19 Dec 2006 09:22 AM CST
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. Sunday, December 17
Initiative 300 Suffers Defeat in Circuit Court
by
Sam Garchik
on Sun 17 Dec 2006 09:29 AM CST
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.†Saturday, December 16
Bayh out, Edwards In
by
Sam Garchik
on Sat 16 Dec 2006 06:29 PM CST
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. Friday, December 15
Vigil for Families of Deportees
by
Sam Garchik
on Fri 15 Dec 2006 06:17 PM CST
Vigil for Families of Deportees
By PCCI Make Room At the Inn Vigil to Support Deportees & Families
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