iowa

The Iowa Independent reports that Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) today echoed Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s comments that yesterday’s election results should not be viewed as a referendum on the Obama presidency. From The Iowa Independent:
“I don’t think it’s a referendum on Obama,” the Republican lawmaker said in a conference call with reporters. “I [...]

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation designed to overhaul the nation’s criminal justice system by creating a commission to examine that system and make reform recommendations to Congress. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), is designed to confront the problem of the nation’s incarceration rates, which [...]

The Iowa Independent caught this quote from Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), talking about Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (I-Conn.) recent threat to join a GOP filibuster of a health care bill that includes a public health insurance plan.
“[Lieberman] still wants to be a part of the Democratic Party although he is a registered independent. He wants to [...]

Here’s an interesting confrontation from a hearing on the Hill today between Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. King said he’d “scoured” Rush Limbaugh’s infamous comment that the media was giving Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb too much credit because he was black and found no racism in it whatsoever — Limbaugh, [...]

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) doubled down on his anti-ACORN activism at today’s Big Government press conference. Video below the jump.

Nice catch by The Minnesota Independent’s Andy Birkey. During an interview with the Sioux City [Iowa] Journal published Tuesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she was not weighing a run for president — despite recent suggestions that she may hold ambitions for higher office — but she did offer an endorsement of her own: Rep. [...]

The Iowa Independent has the story.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), head of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told reporters on Friday that a public option will be included in the health reform bill ultimately signed by President Obama.
Harkin said that a “vast majority” — as many as 55 of the Senate’s 60 Democrats — support a robust public [...]

From The Iowa Independent:
A Clinton County District Court judge gave final approval Tuesday for a deal that resolves a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and ends with the retail giant paying up to $11 million.
The suit, which was started in 2001 by workers Sally Mussman and Ronda Harmon, included nearly 100,000 current and former [...]

The Senate finance panel just shot down an amendment to the committee’s health reform bill that would have required beneficiaries of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to show a photo ID in order to enroll. Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the senior Republican on the Finance Committee and sponsor of the proposal, said the [...]