Mr. Smith is a Systems Architect for Wells Fargo, and a political blogger at the Des Moines Register, and is the Publisher of The Conservative Reader.
Art's views are purely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Wells Fargo.
That title is not out of a fiction novel. It could happen right here in our time.
A few weeks ago, both the Obama Administration and the US House made major moves to begin limiting the outlandish awards being handed out by some juries in medical malpractice cases. This area has long been a trial lawyers’ playground and each of us is paying the price.
We may be making the right kind of progress now. The President included $250 million in his budget so that the Department of Justice could work with states to rewrite their medical malpractice laws and see real, effective change on this issue. The proposal provides some specific areas of relief by using judges with expertise in this area to decide …
I would have liked to have gotten this posted Friday, but family issues interjected themselves.
As you know, both Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds were sworn in to their respective offices Friday. The Inauguration ceremony, which is conducted as a joint session of the Iowa House and Iowa Senate, was held at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. There was appropriate pomp and respect in the procession and swearing in of both Reynolds and Branstad, and about 2,000 people were present to witness the event.
The music at the event was awesome, and the selection of songs by the Heartland Youth Choir was wonderful. I deeply appreciate the pride and respect given to our flags and the servicemen and women conducting during the …
If you’ve followed The Conservative Reader at all over the past few years, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that 2009 and 2010 were a bit light in content. Although we had started ramping up in 2009, we also got engaged in work with the Polk County Republican Party in Iowa. That work, along with other priorities, made it very difficult to provide timely commentary and updates on key topics. Since my term of office has concluded with the party, there is time to provide more frequent updates.
2011 will likely include a number of changes, all for the better I hope. The first change you should notice right away, especially if you are interested in Iowa politics. We’ve added a few new sections, and have links to …
The shooting in at a Tucson political meeting Saturday was abhorrent. We are praying for the injured and the families of those who died.
And for the young man who thought this was somehow an answer to our nation’s problems.
Gabrielle Giffords did nothing to deserve this or any violent attack. I don’t know a lot about the Arizona congresswoman, but in briefly reviewing her web site, I’m struck by the fact that she has been driving a campaign for fiscal restraint, including reducing Congressional pay. At the moment, I see her as one of the good guys. But even people like Barney Frank and Charlie Rangel do not deserve to be attacked violently.
It seems that the shooter is possibly a deranged conspiracy theorist. Unfortunately, there are …
Steve Scheffler is Iowa’s National Committeeman to the Republican National Committee and serves along with Kim Lehman, Iowa’s National Committeewoman, in representing Iowa Republicans on the National Committee.
Steve provided the following update regarding his thoughts about the upcoming RNC Chair election about a week and a half ago. I had hoped to get it posted earlier, but the holidays have been too enjoyable to focus on other things.
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As your Republican National Committeeman for Iowa, I wanted to give you an update on the race for Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The election will be held on January 14, 2011 and we will be electing a chairman for a 2-year term.
Several weeks ago, President Obama made one of the best decisions of his Presidency.
He decided to support South Korea by after North Korea attacked the island of YeonPyeong. And he did it with the strength of our military by moving them into the area and engaging in military exercises with our friends in the South.
I was afraid at the time that he would turn his back on Seoul, but instead he did the right thing for the region and for the United States. Well done, Mister President.
The voters in the state of Oklahoma earlier this month approved a measure that prevents state courts from considering international law or Sharia (Islamic) law. The measure was mostly in reaction to the New Jersey case of a women that sought a restraining order against her abusive husband and lost (but later won on appeal) because her husband’s beliefs (supported by Sharia law) gave him the right to force himself on his wife.
The Oklahoma measure (State Question 755) was put on hold yesterday by a Federal judge who thinks the ballot issue may be unconstitutional. It seems to core question to the judge is whether the specific reference to Sharia (and defining it within the question as being tied to the Quran and the …
County politics are playing out in little Runnells Iowa today.
The parking lot at the Polk County Senior Citizens Center has been in serious disrepair for several years now. The folks are most likely to get hurt, senior citizens, have had to walk through this dangerous environment for a long time.
Thank goodness the county supervisor that represents Runnells is facing stiff competition this year. Dave Funk has put up such a competitive campaign that incumbent Tom Hockensmith has been scrambling to keep his job. So guess what?
The parking lot is getting repaired. Today.
Adjacent is a photo taken this morning of a county truck blocking part of the parking lot to provide the needed (though apparently temporary) repairs.
Matt Strawn, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, will be out door-knocking and encouraging folks to get out and vote in Altoona along with Kim Pearson who is running for the Iowa House in District 42.
“Every local race matters in this election,” Strawn said. “Changing Chet Culver isn’t enough. We need to change leadership in the Iowa legislature and return principled, conservative government to the people of Iowa. We need to elect people like Kim Pearson.”
It’s awesome that Matt is getting out and helping candidates like Kim. Kim is a great example of a new group of candidates that have just had enough with “business as usual” politics and want to get state government back to doing the work it is intended …
The Dave Funk Campaign announced that Former Governor Terry Branstad is working to help the candidate for Polk County Supervisor in District 3. At Funk’s website:
The race for supervisor in Polk County’s third district is described as one of the most important races in Iowa. Former Gov. Terry Branstad (and current candidate) works to raise support for Republican supervisor candidate Dave Funk.
Funk, Branstad and event organizer Jeff Lamberti speak to constituents.
It should say a lot that as a Gubernatorial Candidate, Branstad took the time to attend the Lamberti event and speak on Funk’s behalf. There’s no question that this campaign, to end over 60 years of Democrat control in Polk County, will have a significant impact on Iowa’s capitol city. Since any …
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That title is not out of a fiction novel. It could happen right here in our time.
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