President Barack Obama visits Newton today to talk about clean energy initiatives. Later, he is headlining a large campaign rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. News clips and comments from members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation are after the jump. I’ll update later with news from the rally.

Any comments about energy policy or the presidential race are welcome in this thread. Obama’s campaign rolled out two more television commercials in Iowa this week, which Bleeding Heartland will discuss tomorrow.

Catching up on news from last week, the U.S. House approved the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013. Details on how Iowa’s five representatives vote on that bill and on important amendments are after the jump.

I also enclose the statements released by members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation. Not surprisingly, several self-styled deficit hawks bragged about supporting a bill that prohibits various cost-saving measures and mandates spending on some items the military doesn’t even want.

Some bad public policy ideas take hold because decision-makers become convinced they will work. Other times, bad ideas gain momentum because politicians who should know better are too scared or lazy to make the case against them.

In what looks like a textbook example of the second scenario, all three Democrats representing Iowa in the U.S. House are now on record supporting some form of constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget.

Not put off by picking the wrong candidates in two Iowa Republican primaries in 2010, the National Republican Congressional Committee has elevated Ben Lange to “contender” status in Iowa’s first district, while taking a neutral posture in the second district primary.

The U.S. House approved the Republican version of a bill reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act yesterday. Iowa’s representatives split along party lines, as did most of the House members.

The U.S. Postal Service announced yesterday that it will save money by reducing hours of operation at thousands of small post offices, rather than shuttering them. The changes will affect 178 Iowa post offices, listed on pages 35 through 46 of this pdf document. After the jump I’ve posted reaction from several representatives in Congress: Republican Steve King (IA-05) and Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), and Leonard Boswell (IA-03).

The Postal Service will proceed with plans to close more than 200 mail sorting facilities nationwide. Those cutbacks affected facilities in Sioux City, Carroll, and Creston, but the Postal Service decided to keep sorting operations running in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids.

Republican Congressional candidate Dan Dolan launched his first television commercial yesterday, a little more than a week after his primary rival John Archer went up on the air. The video and transcript are after the jump. Up to now, Dolan has spread his message primarily through personal appearances around the district and direct mail.

A more extensive news roundup on the Iowa second Congressional district campaign is in progress. Any comments about that race are welcome in this thread. William Smith reported for The Hawk Eye that delegates to the second district Democratic convention on April 28 were solidly behind three-term incumbent Dave Loebsack. I have not been able to confirm whether his primary challenger, State Senator Joe Seng, attended the convention as well.

President Barack Obama outlined plans to “complete our mission and end the war in Afghanistan” in a televised speech last night from Kabul. After signing an agreement with President Hamid Karzai, Obama said 23,000 U.S. troops will come home from the war zone by the end of this summer, and withdrawal will be complete by the end of 2014. Beyond that date, he promised, U.S. troops will have only “narrow security missions” in Afghanistan, “But we will not build permanent bases in this country, nor will we be patrolling its cities and mountains.”  

For obvious security reasons, Obama hadn’t announced ahead of time his plans to visit Afghanistan on the first anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

I’ve posted the full text of Obama’s remarks after the jump, along with reaction from Representative Dave Loebsack (D, IA-02). I will update this post later as other members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation respond to the president’s speech. Last year Democratic Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Bruce Braley (D, IA-01) advocated bringing U.S. troops home from Afghanistan more quickly than currently scheduled.

UPDATE: Added comments below from Braley and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. Both are concerned about our Afghanistan policy, but from very different perspectives.

Late last week, the U.S. House approved four bills related to cybersecurity. Only one was controversial: the Cyber Intelligence and Sharing Protection Act (CISPA), which the House passed on April 26. Depending on your point of view, CISPA is either a useful tool for cracking down on cyber threats or a huge threat to the civil liberties of internet users.

The 206 Republicans and 42 Democrats who voted for this bill included Iowans Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Tom Latham (IA-04), and Steve King (IA-05). Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) were among the 140 Democrats who voted no, joined by 28 House Republicans (roll call). More details on this bill and on the House debate are after the jump.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced yesterday that it will not seek to regulate agricultural work done by children under age 16. Several members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation welcomed the news. Their statements are after the jump, along with background on the proposed rules and the full statement from the Labor Department.

UPDATE: I’ve added Senator Tom Harkin’s comments below. He was the only Iowan in Congress to express concern about the government walking away from “regulations that were, at their core, about protecting children.”

The U.S. House voted yesterday to exempt small lenders from regulations adopted in the 2010 financial reform bill commonly known as Dodd-Frank. All Republicans present and 73 Democrats supported the Small Business Credit Availability Act. The roll call shows that Democrat Leonard Boswell (IA-03) was one of the yes votes, along with Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05). Democrat Bruce Braley (IA-01) voted against the bill, while Dave Loebsack (IA-02) was absent, attending President Barack Obama’s event in Iowa City.

Proponents assert that this bill would help farmers, manufacturers, and small and rural businesses secure loans. I’ve posted the official bill summary after the jump. It sounds like a leap of faith to assume that loosening regulations on small banks, savings associations, and credit unions will free up credit for small businesses.

Republican candidate John Archer has launched his second television commercial across Iowa’s new Congressional district. Follow me after the jump for the video and transcript.

Archer’s first television commercial ran for one night only on January 3. Last month his campaign ran a radio ad district-wide with a focus on gasoline prices and energy policy. Dan Dolan, the other Republican candidate in IA-02, has not placed any radio or television commercials but has spent a considerable amount on direct mail.

The U.S. House approved a bill yesterday to cut taxes by 20 percent for one year for companies with fewer than 500 employees. All the Iowans present voted for the legislation: Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) and Democrats Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03). Bruce Braley (IA-01) was absent. His staff have not responded to my request for comment on how he would have voted.

The roll call shows that only 18 House Democrats supported this bill. Once again, Progressive Caucus member Loebsack joined Republicans and a small group of primarily Blue Dog Democrats. Bleeding Heartland has discussed this pattern in the context of Loebsack’s votes for a balanced budget constitutional amendment, to block non-existent EPA regulations on farm dust, to make it more difficult for the federal government to regulate small business, and to extend a pay freeze for mostly middle-class federal workers.

After the jump I enclose a statement from King and more details on the Congressional debate over small business tax cuts.

Yesterday all five Iowans in the U.S. House helped pass a bill that extends funding for federal transportation programs through September and requires approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project. The vote will lead to conference committee negotiations over a long-term authorization of the Highway Trust Fund and other programs.

Follow me after the jump for more on yesterday’s House vote and other transportation policy news. Younger Americans are increasingly choosing to get around without a car where alternatives to driving are available.

Federal income taxes are due today for most Americans, unless you’ve filed for an extension like Mitt Romney. (What was he thinking?)

This thread is for any comments related to tax policy at any level of government. Follow me after the jump for links to news, facts and figures about taxes.

UPDATE: Added statements from Representatives Steve King, Dave Loebsack, and Leonard Boswell below. Loebsack and Boswell reference “equal pay day” rather than “tax day.”

While many Americans dread tax day, April 15 holds a silver lining for political junkies: the chance to read the latest federal campaign finance reports. Follow me after the jump for details on the money raised and spent by Iowa’s five U.S. House incumbents and five challengers between January 1 and March 31. Note: at this writing, Dave Loebsack’s primary challenger Joe Seng had not filed a quarterly report with the Federal Election Commission. I will update this post if one appears. He may not have raised enough money yet to trigger reporting requirements.

Click here for the latest voter registration numbers in Iowa’s four new Congressional districts.

Three-term Representative Dave Loebsack’s campaign moved quickly to define primary challenger Joe Seng after a panel confirmed that the state senator had qualified for the ballot in the Democratic primary to represent Iowa’s second Congressional district. A fundraising e-mail from Loebsack’s campaign manager Brian Fritsch on March 29 described Seng as the “Koch Brothers funded Democrat.” I enclose the full text of that e-mail after the jump. Fritsch declared in an e-mail blast last week, “Our primary opponent accepted sizable contributions from Koch Industries in the past, the corporation owed and operated by the Koch brothers. This makes my stomach turn.”

I didn’t find any Koch contributions listed on Seng’s two latest fundraising reports. During the 2010 campaign, he received two checks for $500 each from the Koch Industries PAC. That’s not a lot of money, but Seng doesn’t have many donors aside from political action committees that give to most Iowa legislators. Overall, he raises surprisingly little for an entrenched incumbent. I didn’t see any Koch contributions in Seng’s campaign finance reports from 2004 through 2009.

Any comments about the IA-02 race are welcome in this thread.

With two days to spare before authorization for federal transportation programs and the gasoline tax expires, the U.S. House approved a 90-day extension bill Thursday instead of taking up the long-term transportation bill approved with bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate. All five House members from Iowa were among the 229 Republicans and 37 Democrats who voted for the short-term bill. Ten Republicans and 148 Democrats voted no. After the jump I’ve posted comments about today’s vote from Representatives Dave Loebsack (D, IA-02) and Steve King (R, IA-05), along with statements Leonard Boswell (D, IA-03) and Bruce Braley (D, IA-01) released last week. I’ll update the post if Tom Latham (R, IA-04) comments on the transportation policy impasse.

The Senate approved the bill by voice vote Thursday to send it to the president’s desk before March 31. Several Democrats criticized House Republicans for not passing the Senate bill or a House version of long-term legislation, which would prompt conference committee negotiations. Both Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin voted for the Senate version of the highway bill two weeks ago.

State Senator Joe Seng caught a lucky break yesterday when a three-member panel agreed that he qualified for the ballot in the Democratic primary to represent Iowa’s second Congressional district.

Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) joined Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) in voting yesterday for the Senate version of a bill designed to help small business start-ups. The five representatives all supported the original version of the bill earlier this month. Republican Chuck Grassley also voted for the bill when it came before the Senate last week, but Democrat Tom Harkin opposed it over concerns it would further deregulate Wall Street and undermine investor protections. After yesterday’s vote, Braley hailed the bipartisan action to “reduce small business restrictions,” while Loebsack highlighted provisions he advocated to promote small businesses owned by womens, veterans, and minorities. I enclose those statements at the end of this post.

Also on March 27, the U.S. House approved a bill designed to weaken the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to regulate. Iowans split on party lines. Follow me after the jump for details on that bill and various amendments debated on the House floor yesterday.

Most bills that lack bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate die by filibuster, but senators voted overwhelmingly yesterday to move forward with debate on a bill that would end tax breaks for oil companies.  

Friday marked the second anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as health care reform or “Obamacare.” After the jump I enclose lots of news related to the milestone, including comments from Iowa elected officials and statistics on how certain provisions affect Iowans.

This morning the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to start hearing oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of the health care reform law. Governor Terry Branstad signed Iowa on to one of the lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act last year. Near the end of this post I’ve included some speculation about how the justices may rule (or punt).

Someone has challenged the nominating petitions filed by State Senator Joe Seng, who is running against Representative Dave Loebsack in the second Congressional district primary.

Details are after the jump, along with the first e-mail blast from Loebsack’s campaign that discussed the primary challenge.

I’m posting the weekend thread early, because the filing period for primary election candidates in Iowa closed this afternoon. The Secretary of State’s Office posted the full list of candidates here (pdf). John Deeth has been covering the filing on a daily basis all month at his blog. Some highlights from races I’m watching are after the jump.

This is an open thread; all topics welcome.

UPDATE: Gotta agree with Senator Chuck Grassley: the History Channel is useless.

All the expected Congressional candidates in Iowa have filed nominating papers with the Secretary of State’s Office: Bruce Braley, Ben Lange, and Rod Blum in the first district; Dave Loebsack, Dan Dolan, and John Archer in the second district; Leonard Boswell and Tom Latham in the third district; and Steve King and Christie Vilsack in the fourth district.

No one I talked to last weekend saw petitions for State Senator Joe Seng at various county conventions in IA-02. Therefore, I assume Seng will not file to challenge Loebsack in the primary. Either Iowa’s worst Democratic lawmaker was just looking for a little free publicity earlier this month, or he didn’t realize how many signatures he would need to qualify for the ballot as a Congressional candidate. FRIDAY UPDATE: I was dead wrong–don’t know how Seng got the signatures, but he’s on the candidate list from the Secretary of State’s Office.

To mark the field being set in all four districts, I’m posting updated active voter registration numbers for Democrats, Republicans, and no-party voters in all 99 Iowa counties, grouped by Congressional district. The numbers in the tables after the jump come from this page at the Iowa Secretary of State’s website (pdf).

Any comments about the Congressional races are welcome in this thread. I love this story about Dolan accidentally addressing the wrong convention in Monroe County last Saturday. The Democratic delegates politely listened to his stump speech, after which someone raised his hand to suggest Dolan might want the Republican convention instead. Now that’s what I call Iowa nice!

UPDATE: Here’s a change of pace: King has never debated a Congressional challenger before, but he is proposing to debate Vilsack six times. No word yet on the details of the offer.

The Iowa Democratic Party and Republican Party of Iowa held county conventions today. After the jump I’ve posted some notes on where Iowa politicians and candidates spent the day, and which Democrats addressed the Polk County Democratic convention. I left the convention during the lunch break, because delegates had finished most of the day’s business, including all work on the platform. However, the Polk County Republican convention was still going strong at this writing (around 5 pm).

This is an open thread; all topics welcome, especially county convention stories from today or years past.

Rick Santorum destroyed the competition in today’s Kansas caucuses, winning 52 percent of the vote to 21 percent for Mitt Romney, 14 percent for Newt Gingrich and 13 percent for Ron Paul. Romney swept the delegates at stake yesterday and today in the Guam and Northern Marianas Islands caucuses. Romney also won the Wyoming caucuses and most of the delegates from the Virgin Islands.

BONUS POTENTIAL FLAMEWAR TOPIC: Kevin Drum makes a counter-intuitive case: Return of the Jedi is the best Star Wars movie, especially if you take out the 10 minutes of horrific Ewok sequences. Thoughts?

High gasoline prices are the focus of the first radio ad for John Archer, one of the Republicans running against Representative Dave Loebsack in Iowa’s second Congressional district. Follow me after the jump for the ad script and some fact-checking.

The U.S. House approved the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act today by an overwhelming majority. All five Iowans were among the 390 votes for passage (roll call). Details on the legislation are below.

UPDATE: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is hammering House Republicans for keeping certain amendments out of the otherwise bipartisan JOBS Act. I’ve enclosed DCCC press releases naming Tom Latham and Steve King below.

The Air Force confirmed yesterday that its proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 would eliminate 459 positions from the 132nd Fighter Wing based in Des Moines as 21 F-16s are retired. The total number of Air Force jobs in Des Moines would drop by 39 percent to 758 positions, KCCI-TV reported.

Governor Terry Branstad and most all members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation promised to keep fighting the uphill battle to overturn that decision. I’ve posted all of their statements after the jump.  

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee officials have not commented publicly on State Senator Joe Seng’s possible challenge to Representative Dave Loebsack in Iowa’s second district. However, the DCCC has commissioned a robo-poll on the potential IA-02 primary.

Competitive primaries can be healthy. I believe Democratic Party leaders made a mistake in discouraging Christie Vilsack from running for Congress in Iowa’s new second district. I don’t have any grudge against Representative Dave Loebsack–I just felt Vilsack could be a good fit for the district and had every right to run where she had the best chance of winning.

The idiocy of the incumbency protection racket doesn’t make every primary challenge logical. Ed Tibbetts reported yesterday on one of the most ludicrous ideas I’ve heard lately: a Congressional bid by Democratic State Senator Joe Seng of Davenport.

One of Representative Dave Loebsack’s three Republican challengers just announced that starting today, he will be campaigning full-time in Iowa’s new second Congressional district.

The Iowa delegation split on party lines yesterday over a bill designed to give California farms more access to water in the San Joaquin Valley. The bill would overturn Obama administration regulations designed to protect endangered fish populations.

The U.S. House voted yesterday to repeal two regulations enacted by the Obama administration’s Department of Education. Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) were among 69 House Democrats who joined a united House GOP caucus in supporting this bill.  

Both houses of Congress approved a deal today to extend a payroll tax cut through the end of this year. It was only the second time I can remember that Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Steve King (IA-05) voted against a bill that the rest of Iowa’s Congressional delegation supported.

The U.S. House approved a bill last night that would encourage more offshore oil drilling and force the Obama administration to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Although Leonard Boswell (IA-03) has talked about getting tough on oil companies for the past year, he was one of 21 House Democrats who joined most Republicans in supporting the “drill here, drill now” crowd’s wish list.  

President Barack Obama released his draft budget for the 2013 fiscal year yesterday. Details on the president’s proposed spending and tax rates are after the jump, along with reaction from the Iowans in Congress and some of their challengers.  

The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act today, but House leaders amended the bill U.S. senators passed last week. An amendment offered by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa will be at the center of negotiations on the House-Senate conference committee charged with reconciling the two versions of the STOCK Act.

Most governors have the power to veto specific line items in appropriations bills, and many deficit hawks believe bills passed by Congress should be subject to the same kind of scrutiny. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that it is unconstitutional to give the president line-item veto power over appropriations bills. Seeking a way around that problem, the House approved a bill yesterday that would allow the president to recommend budget rescissions for Congress to consider. The legislation attracted an unusually bipartisan group of supporters and opponents.

The League of Conservation Voters released its National Environmental Scorecard yesterday, based on 11 U.S. Senate votes and 35 U.S. House votes during 2011.