I’m going to try to flag political events for the week ahead every weekend. Please send me tips or put up a diary if you know of something interesting about to happen soon.
This Thursday is the “funnel” day, the date that will determine which bills have a chance of advancing this year and which are dead for the session. As a result, a bunch of groups are holding lobby days at the capitol this week.
On Monday, please consider helping the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women build support for a bill that would make it easier for working women to keep breastfeeding. Click the link for details about the “nurse in” at the capitol or how to contact your legislators.
On Tuesday, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement are holding their rally and lobby day. Details can be found in this diary that was posted a few days ago.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa is holding its lobby day on Wednesday to push for its “Prevention First” agenda. Click the link to read a post at Blog for Iowa with more details about this event.
On Friday, Windsor Heights Mayor Jerry Sullivan, Democratic candidate for Iowa House district 59, is having a campaign kick-off event at the Ankeny Regional Airport from 5 pm to 8 pm. Weather permitting, short rides on helicopters and small planes will be available at that event. For more information, check out the Sullivan for State Representative website.
I am proud to say that I wrote a check for Sullivan’s campaign a couple of weeks ago.
I encourage everyone to support our candidates for state and local office this year. Your donations go further in those races than they do in a multi-zillion-dollar presidential campaign.
Speaking of which, I recently learned that James Van Bruggen is running against Dwayne Alons in House District 4. Van Bruggen’s campaign website is here.
You may remember Alons for his idiotic comment that global warming is not a problem in light of modern refrigeration and air conditioning, or his baffling observation that global warming may help us by making us stronger and taller, like the ancient Mayans. House District 4 leans strongly Republican, but I am very glad someone has stepped up to challenge Alons.
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A Free Congress: Taking Money Out of Politics and Putting People Back In
Common Cause is sponsoring an event Wednesday night at Drake…
On Wednesday, March 5th, at 8 PM, Democracy Matters will be hosting a panel discussion at Pomerantz Stage, in Olmsted, about money in politics, and clean elections.
Featuring:
-Ed Fallon, Iowa Representative and candidate for Congress in the 3rd District
-Representative Pam Jochum, from the 27th District
-Sherrie Taha, from the Iowa League of Women Voters
-Adam Mason, from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
-Arthur Sanders, Drake Politics Professor
and moderated by Kyle Lobner of Iowa Common Cause. Panelist will share their viewpoints on money in politics and what we can do as ordinary citizens to push for reform in local and national politics.
In a time where running for public office can cost milllions of dollars, it seems almost impossible to take the corrupting influence of money in politics. But clean elections work. Seven states have full public funding systems for at least some of their elected offices: Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Vermont. In addition, studies show that areas that used Clean Elections increased the number of women and minorities who ran for office.
Find out more at http://www.democracymatters.or…
noneed4thneed Sun 2 Mar 10:34 AM
It's probably a lot of work
to gather all this information. But I think it’s a great idea. Thanks!
american007 Sun 2 Mar 6:53 PM