Welcoming Sky Sprawl to Johnson County, IA

Years ago I spoke to a friend of mine who was concerned about urban growth and outward sprawl. He said, "I'd much rather watch building get taller than for them to continue to spread out further and further into the county." And that made sense to me--the more you can build upward, the less you'd have to spread outwardly. However, as I fast-forward to today, I failed to see a fatal flaw in our agreement. What if we ended building both up and out? When you use that context, you now see every city and suburb that was ever built.

   Currently in Johnson County, Iowa, we are in the midst of a housing/building boom. Places that used to be farm fields are now new large single-family housing subdivisions. In the urban core, buildings that used to be two or three stories tall are now at least 4 stories and most new developments in the 10+ story category. We are beginning to see sky sprawl near the campus where I work as smaller buildings are beginning to look out of place in the shadows of the behemoths that stand above them. Naturally some of the growth is welcome, but as other amenities are being built simultaneously, the "charm" of the city is taking a hit as barricades and orange cones are cutting off streets and sidewalks.
 
   Progress, as it were, is impeding traffic. But, the visionaries tell us, a small price for a future of gleaming cities and high-rise dwellings for the well-heeled urbanites who will assuredly move in and make our city more prosperous and increase the tax base so the city government can make ends meet (and the rest of us can enjoy the new amenities, even if the ones we are near fall into decay). But we are also building canyons which will make it windier and hotter and potentially dangerous to traverse. I experienced a version of this first-hand while walking by a construction site on a particularly blustery day and watching parts of the construction blow off the building.

   Our brains years ago forgot that builders build any way that they are allowed to build. Up, down, or out, it really doesn't matter that much. As we imagine our city growing, we have a hard time imagining it morphing into something we hardly recognize because each of us comes to it at a different point in time. This means that what I see as my "ideal" town is different from what a person seeing it for the first time today may experience it. Hence we keep growing until we have reached capacity and that may be aesthetic capacity, or real estate capacity--which are generally not the same measure.

   So, we will continually welcome sky sprawl, as we did urban sprawl. We see it as part of democracy. As human beings, we like to believe that we watch out for nature and give it its due. As it turns out, nature has no friends and must fend for itself. As I watched the piece of the building sail off into the middle of the street, I wondered if it was a warning shot or just poor construction.

(photo credit: Alan Light)

The Army Turns 243 and It Shows

As of June 14th, the US Army celebrated its 243rd birthday which predates the US as a country. Approximately 1,016,000 men and women serve in the US Army, Reserves and National Guard. 24 of our Presidents served in the US Army and for many soldiers it is a noble calling. As less than 1% of American households have a family member in active service, and only 22% of US senators and congressional representatives have served in the military, all members of the US military and their families deserve our respect. 

However, there are facts about the Army that may surprise you.

According to AL.com:

• During World War II, supporting one soldier on the battlefield took one gallon of fuel per day. Today, the Army uses more than 22 gallons per day, per soldier.
• The Army has 158 installations worldwide; more than 132,000 miles of infrastructure for electric, gas, sewer and water; and over one billion square feet of office space.
• The Army owns more than 15 million acres of land across the United States, or about 24,000 square miles which, if the Army was a state, it would be the 42nd largest.
• The U.S Army is the second largest employer in the U.S.

Business Insider and other sources also have these interesting facts: 

• If the US Army were a city, it would be the 10th largest in the United States.
• The Army owns so much land that if it were a state, it would be larger than Hawaii and Massachusetts combined.
• The US Army Special Forces has 450,000 soldiers deployed to 135 of the 195 recognized countries of the world. 
• President Trump has asked for a budget of $186,403,156,000 for the US Army for FY 2019 which is a 16% increase from the year before.

Food Insecure About to Become More Insecure

Summertime and the living is not so easy for the 12% to Iowans who are experiencing food insecurity. Summer months mean that many children who are fed breakfast at schools are sometimes going without. I worked on a mobile food pantry and saw about a dozen people gathering up groceries for their families. One was a parent of a family of eight whose daughter was a student in the classroom of one of the other volunteers who is a teacher.

     I helped an person with disabilities to gather up food for a the week who relies on the food pantry to fill the gap that her disability check does not cover. There are many stories of people who hold jobs, who make do with what they have got and still can't make ends meet. At this time, Congress is looking at making qualifying and maintaining services through the SNAP program based on meeting minimum work thresholds. While the intention may be to keep people from defrauding "the system"--the truth is, it is likely to make it so more people are food insecure, also known as hungry.

    Thankfully, because of food banks and other programs, people are are able to get by. But, because of hardline governmental policies, more and more pressure is being placed on these agencies to handle the overflow when programs like SNAP are adding restrictive rules designed to "save the taxpayers money" at the expense of those truly in need such as the 14 million children who  live in food insecure households.The current Farm Bill expires Oct. 1, and a number programs will lose funding if a bill is not passed before then. Let your Representatives know that this not something you support. 

Open To All

Let Them Eat Cake

Earlier this week the Supreme Court of the United States made a decision that favored the cake baker in Colorado who chose not to bake a cake for a same-sex couple. Unfortunately, some people did not get the memo about what they decided and why. For instance, a hardware store owner, Jeff Amyx, in Tennessee who took down a sign in 2015 that said "No Gays Allowed" has rehung it stating "Christianity is under attack. This is a great win, don't get me wrong, but this is not the end, this is just the beginning," Amyx said. "Right now we're seeing a ray of sunshine. This is 'happy days' for Christians all over America, but dark days will come."

The question of what is under attack is equal rights under the law. The case that SCOTUS decided was that the baker from Colorado's rights were not treated equally under the law by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. One commissioner on the panel during a public hearing disparaged the baker’s faith as “despicable” and another member compared his sincerely held religious beliefs to defenses of slavery and the Holocaust. “This sentiment is inappropriate for a commission charged with the solemn responsibility of fair and neutral enforcement of Colorado’s anti-discrimination law — a law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation,” Justice Kennedy wrote.

The court said Colorado law can protect gay people from being discriminated against by businesses that are open to the public, but the law must be applied in a manner neutral toward religion.So, in essence, the Court found for the baker because of the treatment he received by the Commission, which has a degree of irony in that the gay couple seeking to buy a cake from him had a similar experience, thought to his credit, without the degree of contempt.

Back to the hardware store owner, though. If he makes duplicate keys and a gay person wishes him to make keys for his home, Mr. Amyx will be hard pressed to defend 1) limiting access to his store to that person 2) refusing to make a key because of his religious beliefs. Mr. Amyx owns a hardware store and sells hardware. Keys are hardware. If Mr. Amyx makes keys for anyone, he must make them for everyone. Mr. Amyx must allow people to buy his hardware regardless of his beliefs because he cannot refuse service based on race, creed, color, gender, or sexuality under federal law.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Sadly, Mr. Amyx and others will be looking for opportunities to test the degree to which they can discriminate owing to religious beliefs.  For instance if the customer who is gay wanted a house key for his spouse to be made, Mr. Amyx might argue that for religious reasons he won't do it because his faith does not support gay marriage. The Supreme Court and/or lower courts would have to decide if their is precedent to support that viewpoint. More to the point, the courts will be constantly barraged with how free freedom actually is within the walls of a nation that seem to be closing in and minds with them.

Iowa Women Do Well

After taking a break to visit Des Moines, I caught up with the results of Iowa state contests which were very good for the women candidates of Iowa. With the exception of the Governor's race and the 4th Congressional district, Democratic women candidates were the choice in the Iowa 1st and 3rd Congressional district, the Secretary of States's race, and also many House and Senate seats.

In the Senate 16 women from Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian parties out of 18 who ran were victorious in their primaries and in the House races, 58 out of 62. The positive is that the Iowa House and Senate may be more equally represented by gender in November than ever in the history of the state. If women won all the races that they are in, they would have 12 of 25 senate seats and 59 out of 100 House seats. However, though gender equality may be achieved, the politics would still be shaped down party lines as in the Senate 6 Republicans and 10 Democrats who are women are in contention for the seats and in the House, 16 and 46 respectively and also 2 Libertarians.

While top of the ticket women remain the domain for Republicans, the Democrats have fielded quite a few future party leaders. Anyway you look at the outcome of the primaries, change will come to the Iowa Legislature, the question is will that change be decidedly more progressive or conservative?

Do Puerto Rican Lives Matter?

In the last few days, stories about the death toll from hurricane Maria which leveled much of Puerto Rico reveal that the count was highly under-reported according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The death toll that was originally listed at 64 deaths is estimated to be 70 times higher or 5,740 casualties. Why this discrepancy? Part of it is due to the lack of essential resources like electricity and accurate mortality counts due to the widespread nature of the disaster.

What is less clear is what was the impact of the US government's response to the hurricane when it hit Puerto Rico. How was that response so different from the response in Houston where the response was much more in the public eye? Is it possible that the lives of Puerto Ricans were lost due to a feeble response or indifference to a protectorate that is "out of sight, out of mind"?

In December, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló asked for a review and recount of the death toll, when a New York Times analysis concluded that more than 1,000 people had died as a result of Hurricane Maria. At the time he said, “Every life is more than a number, and every death must have a name and vital information attached to it, as well as an accurate accounting of the facts related to their passing.”

This week, one Democratic legislator, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), in an article from the Hill, is suggesting that President Trump should be held accountable for inaction which may have contributed to the higher death toll. Gallego said, "The Trump administration's failure to deliver timely and sufficient aid to United States citizens in Puerto Rico was an utterly careless decision with deadly consequences," Gallego said. "The Trump administration must be held accountable for their abject failure to protect and assist our fellow Americans."   

Gunning for Change

It is fair to say that for 2nd Amendment Conservatives, gun control is the "third rail" that must not be broached by anyone seeking their support. However, it may be surprising to learn that gun owners and non-gun owners do support several things in common. According to Reuters, researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, Maryland. have surveyed over 2100 people representing both groups and found they both supported  "universal background checks, greater accountability for licensed gun dealers, higher safety training standards for concealed-carry permit holders, improved reporting of records related to mental illness for background checks, gun prohibitions for those with temporary domestic violence restraining orders, and gun violence restraining orders."

According to HUB, the study showed: The policies with the highest overall public support and minimal support gaps by gun ownership status included:

• Universal background checks (supported by 85.3 percent of gun owners and 88.7 percent of non-gun owners)
• License suspension for gun dealers who cannot account for 20 or more guns in their inventory (supported by 82.1 percent of gun owners and 85.7 percent of non-gun owners)
• Higher safety training standards for concealed-carry permit holders (supported by 83 percent of gun owners and 85.3 percent of non-gun owners)
• Improved reporting of records related to mental illness for background checks (supported by 83.9 percent of gun owners and 83.5 percent of non-gun owners)
• Gun prohibitions for people subject to temporary domestic violence restraining orders (supported by 76.9 percent of gun owners and 82.3 percent of non-gun owners)
• Gun violence restraining orders, which are commonly referred to as extreme risk protection orders or Red Flag laws (supported by 74.6 percent of gun owners and 80.3 percent of non-gun owners)

Additionally: More than half of gun owners, however, still favor several of these policies to restrict or regulate guns. These policies include:

• Requiring that a person lock up guns in the home when not in use to prevent access by youth (supported by 58 percent of gun owners and 78.9 percent of non-gun owners)
• Allowing information about which particular gun dealers sell the most guns that are then used in crimes to be available to the police and public (supported by 62.9 percent of gun owners and 73.4 percent of non-gun owners)
• Requiring a person to obtain a license from local law enforcement before buying a gun (supported by 63.1 percent of gun owners and 81.3 percent of non-gun owners)
• Allowing cities to sue gun dealers when there is evidence that the dealer's practices allow criminals to obtain guns (supported by 66.7 percent of gun owners and 77.9 percent of non-gun owners)

In what should be seen as a good common-ground for legislation to be formulated, there is nary a peep on the national level though at the state level some states have made progress on these points of consensus. Iowa is not one of the states where this data has been considered and continues to move to lessen controls on gun ownership. The question of whether a tragedy will strike in a nation where over 39,000 people die of firearm injury each year, but when. Legislators should be put on notice that inaction, where there is a consensus, is negligence on their part.

Significant Bombshell Dropped in Iowa Governor's Primary Race

The Des Moines Register reported three women's accounts of inappropriate sexual conduct by State Senator Nate Boulton who was within striking distance of the poll leader, Fred Hubbell for governor. According to the account, between 2001-2002 while at Drake Law School and again in 2015, Boulton made unwanted contact with the three women at bars in Des Moines during that timeframe. Boulton took the step to address the questions posed by the Register and said, "I don’t have the same recollection, but I am not going to offer any additional context to this, other than to say if someone’s perspective is that it was inappropriate and I crossed a line and I misread a situation in a social setting, I do apologize.”

With the election just over two weeks away, this bombshell could do any of the following things:
1) Realistically, it could scuttle the Boulton campaign. 
2) Act to push front-runner Fred Hubbell over the needed 35% threshold and thereby avoid a convention fight.
3) Light a fire under another candidate's campaign with votes coming from Boulton-leaning Iowa Democrats.
4) Less realistically, have the opposite effect and push Boulton forward by voters siding with him as these are allegations that he is apologizing for, albeit without acknowledging or denying that he did as he is accused.

One thing of larger concern, the Iowa Democratic Party can no longer claim a high ground where inappropriate behavior is concerned. This albatross will hang above the heads of any man left in the Governor's race. Of course, the Democrats do have two well-qualified women in the race...

KYN: White House Residents May Be Evicted By Mother Nature

I kid you not: The Hill is reporting that a small, but growing, sinkhole has opened up on the north lawn of the White House by the office of White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley. While there is no immediate danger of the White House collapsing, coincidentally, a similar sinkhole opened up in front of Mar-a-Lago last year. It can neither be confirmed or denied if recent moves by the Interior Department or EPA have anything to do with the earth opening experiences. Though I speculate that Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be holding a Press conference on the north lawn to update reporters on the sinkhole's status.

Update: The Hill reports that the National Park Service staff filled the sinkhole with gravel. Maybe less a sinkhole than a molehill?

New Ethics 101: Disgraced Republican Leader's Cash Goes to Shore Up Iowa GOP

Let's say you wanted to buy a used car and you put a down payment on it. Now let's say, the money wasn't yours to give, you bilked people out of it. Would it then be okay for the car dealer, who knew you  acted unethically, to accept that money? If you live in Iowa, the answer is yes. According to KWWL TV and the AP, former Republican Senate majority leader Bill Dix gave upwards of $522,000 to the state GOP on March 26. This was within two weeks of resigning his office when being videoed smooching a lobbyist in a Des Moines tavern while presumably, Mrs. Dix was tucking the kids in.

Under Iowa law, he could have given the money to political and charitable groups, returned it to donors or sent it to the state general fund. A fair question to ask is: did anyone bother to ask the donors if they authorized the transfer of funds to the state party? Did they ask the state if they could contribute it to the state coffers to help offset the 1.75 million settlement the state paid out for a former state employee who had been sexually harassed? Surely a home for unwanted kittens could have used the infusion?

No, but here's what the Republican party spokesperson Jesse Dougherty said "the money was raised to help elect and defend a Republican majority this fall." Good luck with that. With those type of ethics, how could things possibly go sideways. Oh, by the way, Dix's contribution amounted to nearly half the $1.2 million that the Republican Party of Iowa reported raising since Jan. 1.

Rent's Too Damn High for US Families!

According to a report on the CNN website, 43% of American Families are living over their heads. "Nearly 51 million households don't earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone, according to a study released Thursday by the United Way ALICE Project." The  Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE)  Project is a joint effort from a number of 18 state United Way agencies including Iowa.

Despite the fact that the US's unemployment rate stands at 3.9%, 66% of American workers are paid below $20 per hour including 16.1 million who live below the national poverty level. While our national minimum wage is sitting at below $8.00 per hour, is now the time to seriously discuss a national living wage? When hard-working families are unable to afford the cost of basic necessities, we are failing to make America by anybody's estimation great now or again.

Key Findings from the United Way ALICE Report for Iowa:

•  381,266 Iowa households - 31% - struggle to afford basic household expenses
• Federal Poverty Level indicates only 12% of Iowa households faced financial hardship - an ADDITIONAL 19% of households fall below the ALICE Threshold (meeting a household survival budget)
• ALICE households comprise between 21% and 41% of the population in every Iowa county
• More than one quarter - 28% - of senior households fall below the ALICE Threshold
• Over 92,000 households with children fall below the ALICE Threshold
• The average annual household Survival Budget for a four-person family in Iowa is $46,680, while the Federal Poverty Level for the same family is $23,850
• Childcare represents a family's greatest expense - $928/month for one infant and one preschooler in licensed and accredited childcare; $745 for the same children in registered in-home care
• 68% of Iowa jobs pay less than $20/hour; 48% of those pay between $10 - $15 per hour
• In 2011, 22% of Iowa's households had less than $4,632 in savings or other assets
• Total public and private spending on Iowa households below the ALICE Threshold is $7.2 billion
• 44% of renters spend more than 30% of their household income on rent. 

Iowa Progressives: Go Impactful or Go Home When It Comes to Governors

I have been a follower of Iowa politics since I moved to the state in 1999 and cut my teeth at the Cedar County Democrats caucus in 2000. No doubt about it, I understand why some folks have a love/hate relationship with politics. It is messy business when it should be about choosing leaders that exemplify our better natures. But here is the thing, we could end up with a known quantity who is objectively horrible in acting Governor Kim Reynolds, we could put up a slightly left-centrist to run against her, or we could stand up for what we believe Iowa needs in a leader. As is the nature of politics, the best-organized campaigns have a substantial leg up and, as it shapes up, there are four choices among the Democrats in that department.

• Nate Boulton: A state senator and labor attorney who is backed by labor, and a rising star among young Iowa Democrats, currently, he is trailing in the polls within his party and among all Iowans. He has said reversing the collective bargaining agreement is a key part of his run for Governor. Living in Des Moines, but raised in Columbus Junction, Boulton has the story that many Iowans are familiar with and comfortable.

• Fred Hubbell: Political newbie with deep pockets and the lead in public polls for the governor's office among Democrats, Hubbell has a unique story and brings the business acumen that Iowans are comfortable. He is Pro-Choice, Pro-Business, Pro-Iowa and another Native Son. He is for sensible gun laws given he was once held hostage overseas.

• Andy McGuire: Former head of the Iowa Democratic Party, medical doctor turned healthcare executive with Wellmark and American Enterprise, McGuire is for bringing healthcare back under state government and assisted by private insurers, is pro-choice, and feels that listening to the needs of rural Iowa is the way to go in addressing water and air quality issues. Another native of Iowa from Waterloo who has lived in other states.

• Cathy Glasson: Another labor candidate who is also a labor leader, but with a larger agenda that Boulton, McGuire, or Hubbell. She wants to make $15 the state minimum wage, she wants a single-payer public healthcare system, she wants polluters to pay for cleaning up the air and water quality mess. She wants to restore union bargaining rights, she wants to raise the legal age to own a gun in Iowa to 21 and wants to improve public education in Iowa. None of these are small things. 

The two other candidates, Ross Wilburn and John Norris both seasoned in the political arenas and more left-centrist (Wilburn) or rural-rooted progressive (Norris) than the above but trailing badly in the money game with no time to change the game. Their hopes lie in none of the top four candidates garnering the magical 35% they need to win the primary outright and force the choice to a state convention where compromise could work to at least one of their favors as either queen/kingmaker or possible Lt. Governor prospect. 

While any of the six candidates would be head and shoulders above Reynolds, there is always the chance that they will turn out to be the next Chet Culver, hurting the very people that got them there and being blander than margarine so as not to offend. My hope is that the Democrats choose to think impact over the lackluster "aw shucks, I'm just plain folks" approach that has failed them election after election.

I think that it is actually time that Iowans elect a leader who has impact in mind and is willing to work hard and connect with people to make that happen. For me, Cathy Glasson is that type of candidate. She swings for the fences in her goals and in a place where we like our field of dreams, she might be the right person, in the right place, at the right time to get it done. Of course, she'll need help down the line in the House and Senate, but that will come from the one trait that any of these folks will need to win, the ability to organize and turn out the vote. 

Things You Need to Know: Early/Absentee Voting in Iowa

Thanks to the Republican-controlled state government in Iowa, a couple important things have changed if you choose to vote early. :

• While you do not have to show an ID to vote, you do need to include your driver's license or other approved ID on your absentee/early voting request to receive an absentee ballot or to register to vote.

• According to the Johnson County Auditor's Office: "Under the new Voter ID law, early voters do not have to show their ID, but are required to write their Iowa driver’s license or non-driver ID number on their request form. Voters who do not have an Iowa license or non-driver ID will need to write down the PIN number from their voter card instead. Contact our office with any questions."

• According to the Iowa Secretary of State office: "The request form must be received in the county auditor's office by 5 p.m. on the Friday, eleven days before the election. If the request is for the general election, the deadline to request a ballot by mail is the Saturday, ten days before the election." In this case, it is by this Friday, 5/25/18.

Also, if you do not have a party affiliation, you will need to declare one to vote in the primary. This can be done on-site or made by completing an absentee ballot request which must be mailed to your county auditor's office.

If all else fails, you can vote in person on June 5th. If you are not registered to vote, go here. If you are, but don't know where to vote, go here to find your precinct/polling place.

The important thing: inform yourself about the issues you care about, think about who is likely to do the things you believe are right and, please, Go Vote!

Iowa the Clock Is Ticking: More School Shootings

This morning a 17-year-old, male student in Santa Fe, Texas armed with pipe bombs was armed with his father’s Remington 870 short-barreled shotgun and a .38-caliber Rossi revolver, a law enforcement official told NBC. shot and killed 8 students and 2 teachers at his high school. Earlier this week, a 19-year-old male former student opened fire at a public high school in Dixon, Illinois which fortunately no one was injured by, but was shot by a School Resource Officer. Last Friday, a 14-year-old boy in Palmdale, California with  an SKS-style carbine fired about 10 shots and injured another student who was later operated on and is recovering.

   In two of the cases, the suspects surrendered themselves to police and were taken into custody. The third was treated and remanded into police custody. With these incidents, 22 school shootings have taken place in 2018, so far or 1 per week. President Trump issued the following statement: "My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others. Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe. May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded, and may God be with the victims and with the victims’ families. A very sad day, very, very sad." VP Mike Pence said, "We're with you. You are in our prayers and I know you are in the prayers of the American people."  Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas released this statement, "Once again, our Nation grieves another mass murder. Heidi and I are keeping the students and faculty of Santa Fe High School in our fervent prayers."

   So far, the President, Vice-President and Senator's words and actions have been in direct opposition of what they have said. So far, Trump's administration has paid lip service to the lives lost. In fact, the President has walked back most every hopeful word he has offered to students and families of students, teachers, and staff who have sought action resulting in sensible gun laws being taken up by Congress.

But how about a proactive approach in Iowa? Will our acting Governor and future leaders have to offer up such statements to the parents of students, teachers, and staff? Or will we bide our time until such event happens here and then offer "thoughts and prayers" when better laws would have been more effective?

   It won't likely happen with acting Governor Kim Reynolds at the helm. Radio Iowa reported that she has said "the Republican-led legislature has already passed a bill that requires all Iowa school districts to have a safety plan and conduct yearly active shooter drills. As for new gun regulations, Reynolds is opposed. She said the priority should be enforcing the laws already on the books and updating the existing federal background check system."

   Senate President Charles Schneider, again according to Radio Iowa "said the Iowa legislature is setting aside $35 million in grant money to help schools pay for safety upgrades to buildings, like lock down systems or stronger classroom doors. But Schneider, like the governor, suggested new gun regulations are not on this year’s agenda. “We always have to take into consideration the balance of school safety and the balance of constitutional rights as well,”"

Climate-Controlled Congress

To say that Congress is confused about climate change is laughable. As The Week reports, the House team of Mo Brooks and chair Lamar Smith is so lacking in basic scientific knowledge, that they used the lion share of a committee meeting to discuss global climate change to have Dr. Philip Duffy, the President (and applied physicist from Stanford with 20+ years of climate change research under his belt) of the Woods Hole Research Center explain to them why they were misinformed (video) about the results of climate change.

Some of the nuggets that The Week reported:

"1. NASA says that melting ice is a main cause of sea level rise. But Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said Wednesday that the real culprit is erosion, namely from the White Cliffs of Dover as they collapse into the ocean.

2. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the committee chairman, shared slides showing that increased fossil fuel consumption doesn't correlate to rising sea levels — a view that Science noted "rejects thousands of scientific studies." Smith's data came from a single measurement station in San Francisco.

3. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said that the committee should "be open to different points of view" — including whether humans are actually the main cause of global warming, as the committee has accused federal scientists of manipulating climate data before."

Climatewire has more on the Congressional open mouth/insert foot fest.

Sadly, Duffy had a lot of good ideas that he summarized in writing, though they likely fell on deaf ears::

• "Accelerated deployment of carbon-free energy production technologies we have now, especially wind and solar;
• Development of new such technologies, as well as technologies for energy storage and transmission;
• Development of technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere;
• Research into geoengineering;
• Adoption of land-management practices that remove CO2 from the atmosphere;
• Development of improved technologies for measuring GHG emissions and global carbon stocks
• Accelerated research into understanding climate thresholds and tipping points, in order to inform top-line climate police goals (e.g. 2º vs 1.5º)"

Air and Water Quality...You're Fired

Pew Research has just released the results of a poll that shows that the majority of Americans believe the government is failing to protect the environment and specifically is not doing enough for protecting air and water quality, protecting animal habitats, protecting open lands, or addressing the effects of global climate change.

According to Pew, "Americans are closely divided (52% to 48%) over whether or not it is possible to cut back on regulations while still effectively protecting air and water quality. There are wide political divides on this issue, with roughly three-quarters of Republicans (74%, including independents who lean Republican) convinced this is possible but 64% of Democrats (including Democratic-leaning independents) convinced it is not possible." This divide may not be mended with reasoning, but restoring regulations and funding their enforcement may be a good way to ensure that things can get better.

In the meanwhile, there is some good news according to Pew. Republicans and Democrats do agree that more renewable energy including solar and wind power are part of the solution making things better. Sadly, there continues to be a vast divide around fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, in addition to nuclear power.

Trump a Lying Liar According to Tracking Poll

According to The Hill, thirteen percent of Americans said they would consider President Donald Trump to be honest and trustworthy and this is a decline of 3% from when the tracking polls by Survey Monkey had begun in February of 2017.

As the charts show below:

• Nineteen percent reported that Trump cares about people like them, a two percent drop.

• Twenty-two percent reported that Trump keeps his promises which is a 7% slide from the original poll.

• Thirty-five percent of Americans polled said they believed Trump has the ability to get things done. 

• 33 percent of those polled said he was tough enough for the job. 

• Forty-one percent of those surveyed said Trump stands up for what he believes in. 

Not surprisingly, the President tended to fare best with members of the Republican Party and fared worst with Democrats:

The Survey Monkey tracking polls were conducted between Feb. 1, 2017, and May 9, 2018, among 929,225 adults. 

Potential Iowa Governors on Parade

The six Democrat gubernatorial candidates debated last evening on IPT for 90 minutes. It was at times lively and informative. Themes that stood out, candidates were running against Kim Reynolds and running against Fred Hubbell, the current front-runner in the polls. Other themes were connecting with voters who feel disconnected from Iowa politics, the problems of health care particularly mental health care and health care for women, water quality, and wages and workers rights.

On the face:
 Former Chief of Staff  John Norris: Portrayed himself as the most experienced Democrat in terms of his political bona fides with experiences that span national and state politics.
Former businessman Fred Hubbell: Presented his family history, business, and philanthropy and volunteer experiences. State Sen. Nate Boulton: set his frame around the workers of Iowa both as a lawyer and State Senator.
Former state Democratic Party chair Dr. Andy McGuire: Made the case for her service in caring for others as a doctor and health care executive leader.
Former mayor Ross Wilburn: Brought out his 12 years in elected politics and his experiences in the Army, in economic development, and his diverse family and issues around LGBTQ.
ICU Nurse Cathy Glasson: Made the case for her working-class roots, a labor leader and being the alternative progressive candidate to the other five with the fight for $15 minimum wage and single-payer health care.

Priorities for each;
Norris: Fund Education/Reverse privatization, reverse tax cuts
Boulton: Repeal Collective Bargaining bill, reverse privatized Medicaid
Glasson: Raise minimum wage to $15 per hour, reverse tax cuts, "Iowans need a raise" to bring in tax revenue, "Unemployment low, but the Misery Index is high"
Wilburn: Mental Health and Education K-12, higher education, anti-trafficking, reverse Medicaid privatization
McGuire: Healthcare around Medicaid mess and mental health care
Hubbell: Reverse privatization of Medicaid on day one; fully fund pre-k and public education, reverse wasteful tax giveaways, unfunded priorities, mismanagement of the budget

All but Glasson for 3/8 tax for water quality funding; Glasson wants taxes on Big Ag for nitrogen, CAFOS, etc. Other echoed Hubbell in essentially saying "Water Quality is an Iowan problem" and tax addresses it for all.

Electability X-Factors:
Hubbell: (Hit  - Never elected, rich/out of touch):  Been all  over the state, better education, better healthcare, incomes go up; getting results in public/private life
Boulton: (Hit - too young): New generation of leadership, labor support, vision for the state
Glasson: (Hit - too liberal): highlighted bold, progressive women candidates winning, proud of attacks against her because of support of single payer, raising the minimum wage, and vision moving us ahead
McGuire: (Hit - Head of the party that lost under leadership): Upset over Republican agenda, worked hard to win as state Democratic Party leader but could not overcome the national tide
Norris: (Hit: Lack of fundraising ability): Running the gauntlet of other candidates for funding, if he wins the primary, it would be from fundraisers who support Hubbell, Boulton, Glasson
Wilburn: (Hit: Elected in most liberal town/county in Iowa): Wasn't progressive enough/was too liberal; Been in many parts of the state, rural Iowans concerned about water and making a living

More on the debate summary can also be found on The Iowa Starting Line website.

Pennsylvania's Democratic Socialists Have a Good Night

According to The Hill and the Huffington Post, four Democratic candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won their primary elections for legislative seats in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. In Pittsburgh, DSA members Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato, won primaries for state House Districts 34 and 21. Lee's opponent, Paul Costa, said  “Their campaign did a lot better job of getting people out to vote. They energized a lot of people, and they showed up at the polls.” 

Meanwhile, in the Philadelphia area, Elizabeth Fiedler and Kristin Seale won legislative primaries for House Districts 184 and 168. Fielder does not have a GOP opponent in the general election, while Seale will take on Rep. Christopher Quinn. 

Arielle Cohen, co-chair of the Pittsburgh DSA chapter, said "We won on popular demands that were deemed impossible. We won on health care for all, we won on free education.” She further said, “We’re turning the state the right shade of red tonight,”