I am a Socialist Democrat from NW Iowa,  Rep. Steve King is my Congressman.  I am glad to have found these blogs.  I hope nobody minds if I post and pester everyone here.  I am out in Der Hinterland of the Dutch Reformed Churches and the ultra Conservatives that love Steve King and Michelle Bachmann.  What am I doing here?  I have grandchildren living in the area, and moved here from Colorado.  Why stay in Colorado when I have grandchildren growing up, seeing me twice a year?  so now I live 4 blocks away and I see them quite often.  Although now they are almost grown and busy with their social life (and talking to Army and Navy Recruiters.) .

I am a nurse in long term care.  I believe we should have health care for everyone.  I have good insurance.  Its not as if I want it for me.  I want and hope for health care for everyone and I am willing to pay more in taxes to get it.  If we all paid a little bit,  everyone would be covered.  We live in one of the best countries in the world,  yet 45,000 people die every year, because they don't have and cannnot afford insurance. 

 We need to regulate the insurance companies,  Wall Street,  big banks should be made small enough to fail.  Remember when Commercial Banks were different than Savings and Loans?  We need to regulate them again, making our retirements and our IRAs safe again. 

People talk about raising taxes.  Are they not aware that the rich are paying far less in taxes now than they were under r. Reagan?  And he decreased taxes! 

We need to draw back from this International Trade crap and begin to “Buy American” again.  We need to legalize hemp, so we can make our own ropes, our own cloth, (its just ditchweed, its not good marijuana, just the crap nobody will smoke).  Make our own clothing here,  our own shoes, our own cars, car parts, furniture, large machines, computers, everything.  We can't compete in the international market if we can't keep our own people busy.

Everyone talks about how Obama is leading us to Socialism.  I wish!  If we could get our political parties to lean far left,  the utilities, transportation and banks bought by the government,  and use more of a Socialist agenda,  we would have health care for all, tort reform, no student loans for doctors, decrease in health care costs.

My medical conglomerate I work for probably pays over 800 dollars a month for their share of my insurance costs.  I pay about 120 dollars.  If we had health care for all (or at least a good solid public option),  they could give me that 920 dollars.  And I would be more than willing to pay 1000 a month for health care for everyone.  I live in O'brien county and our town has voted in a tax paying for every fee for every school child in the school system.  If A child cannnot afford book fees, they are paid for everyone.  If a child cannot afford to play a sport,  sports, books, locker fees, etc. are paid for all.  I would be more than willing to do that for the least of our people in this country. 

Written by Amie Newman for RHRealityCheck.org – News, commentary and community for reproductive health and justice.

When anti-choice advocates dream up and manage to pass bills in the name of being “pro-life,” make no mistake – there is no question they know that these laws have the potential to ruin lives.

In the case of Christine Taylor, an Iowa mother of two girls and pregnant with her third child, a feticide law enacted in that state because of anti-choice efforts has wreaked havoc on her life.

It all started last month, according to Change.org:

Last month, after an upsetting phone conversation with her estranged husband, Ms. Taylor became light-headed and fell down a flight of stairs in her home. Paramedics rushed to the scene and ultimately declared her healthy. However, since she was pregnant with her third child at the time, Taylor thought it would be best to be seen at the local ER to make sure her fetus was unharmed.

I was at Representative Dave Loebsack's Cedar Rapids town hall meeting yesterday, so here are some of my observations and thoughts about it.  

I recently spoke with a former client colleague who I assisted in a hospital expansion project.  Although it’s been several years since I worked with this organization, the project stands out in my mind as a very gratifying professional experience.

The challenge for this hospital was to generate the philanthropic funding required to build a new and expanded Emergency Room.  They needed $3 million to make this happen.  As I recall, their capital campaign generated $3.3 million and a terrific new ER opened 18 months ago.  It’s a handsome facility… but more important, it brings a much higher level of emergency care to an entire community.

One reality of healthcare today is a significant number of people coming to an Emergency Room do so without insurance and without ability to pay, knowing (hoping?) they won’t be turned away.  To address this situation, hospitals expand their emergency facilities.  Often, additional space is NOT driven by an increase in medical emergencies but rather the need for a universal healthcare plan, one that covers every man, woman, and child in the United States. 

I’m proud of this hospital… for the care they provide, for their commitment to the community, and for their many dedicated employees.  It was a pleasure to work with them and a good example of the positive results that can be brought about through a community-wide collaboration. 

But expanded facilities won’t solve our nation’s healthcare dilemma.  This will require positive results coming out of Washington, which in turn is likely to require a Democratic President and increased Democratic margins in the House and the Senate. 

Like many 4^th district Iowans, I am committed to meaningful healthcare reform.  I anticipate working hard to generate the desired results when a new congress convenes next January.  Of course, other changes must take place in the next 9 months for me to have this opportunity, including a change in our congressional representation.  I’m committed to helping make this change too!

Until next time, 

Kurt Meyer         

Congressional Candidate for Iowa's 4th District

Yesterday, the Des Moines Register published a review of the movie Sicko.  It was written by the business editor, David Elbert, and just for good measure he brought along Cliff Gold, a vice president of Wellmark Iowa, to provide running commentary.  You can probably already guess the general tenor of their remarks.