Disqus - Latest Comments for desmoinesdem

Re: Iowa GOP Blocked Statewide Absentee Voting, Stepped On Own Dicks

Laura Belin — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 15:09:58 -0000

It certainly was a bizarre turn of events.

Latest news on this front: the auditors in Linn County (second-largest in Iowa, Cedar Rapids area) and Johnson County (fourth-largest, Iowa City area) are planning to send out absentee ballot request forms with the voter's PIN already filled in. The Secretary of State's office has warned them not to.

Re: Iowa Mail-In Voting Worked So Well, Republicans Promise #NEVERAGAIN

Laura Belin — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:37:53 -0000

Also this is Laura Belin of Bleeding Heartland. I created my Disqus account many years ago when I was still using the handle "desmoinesdem." And I can't take credit for the blog name--the guys who founded it a few months before I got involved were just looking for something more interesting than "Blue Iowa" or "Iowa Liberal."

Re: Iowa Mail-In Voting Worked So Well, Republicans Promise #NEVERAGAIN

Laura Belin — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:36:44 -0000

Thanks for this detailed post! A couple of small typos: the Iowa House vote was 95 to 2 (not 96). And while it was Hunter who read out the letter from county auditors, it was Kaufmann who said what the secretary of state did was legal but not responsible & it sets a precedent for someone in the future to shorten the early voting period.

Re: News Release: Nunn to Deploy on Active Duty

Laura Belin — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 23:47:02 -0000

Can you please add me to your press list? desmoinesdem AT bleedingheartland.com

And is there a reason you did not post the press release about the House district 88 nominating convention?

Re: After Sanders' Big Win in New Hampshire, Establishment Figures Want to Scare You with Superdelegates. Here's Why It's Bullshit

Laura Belin — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 21:50:42 -0000

Thank you for linking to my post at Bleeding Heartland, but I think you missed the point: those 2008 Iowa caucus numbers ARE NOT RAW VOTE TOTALS. They are "state delegate equivalents" times 100.

The Iowa Democratic Party released "state delegate equivalents" for Obama, Edwards, Clinton, and the others, and some media organizations confusingly multiplied those numbers by 100. It looks like raw vote totals but the numbers do not represent how many Iowans caucused for each candidate.

Re: How Iowa media covers the Iowa caucuses

Laura Belin — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 15:12:25 -0000

Thanks for the mention, but I want to clarify that Bleeding Heartland has been around since 2007. (Iowa Starting Line just turned a year old last week.)

Also, Bleeding Heartland co-founders Drew Miller and Chris Woods have not been involved with the website or its content since 2008. I write everything that appears under desmoinesdem's byline, and others contribute guest posts on a wide range of political topics. All posts related to the Iowa caucuses are so tagged:

http://www.bleedingheartlan...

Laura Belin/desmoinesdem

Re: A Thank-You Note to Hillary Clinton

Laura Belin — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:10:31 -0000

Nice post. An Iowan who was invited to have coffee with Hillary Clinton in LeClaire wrote up her experiences at Bleeding Heartland:

http://www.bleedingheartlan...

Re: National Adoption Month: Meet Our Son Luke | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 00:01:48 -0000

Congratulations on your beautiful son. Many of my friends have adopted but I don't know anyone who got through the process so quickly! Must have been meant to be.

Re: National Adoption Month: Meet Our Son Luke | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 00:00:30 -0000

You can't "spoil" a baby.

Re: National Adoption Month: Meet Our Son Luke | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 23:57:24 -0000

There are also many children in foster care wanting parents.

Re: Democrats and Republicans Behaving Badly – The Weekly Roundup | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 22:27:02 -0000

" How selfish. How can you work on a campaign and get so drunk that you pass out behind the wheel at 10:30 p.m.?"

Having two drunk driving incidents within three weeks and being passed out drunk that early is a sign of a severe drinking problem. It's not "selfish." She needs treatment for her addiction.

Re: Democrats and Republicans Behaving Badly – The Weekly Roundup | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 22:25:31 -0000

Channel 13 also called Iowa Senate district 15 for Crystal Bruntz before all the Jasper County precincts were in. Oops.

Re: Kevin’s Korner: Striking Spiker pt. 2, No Narcisse and Ballot Blunders | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 12:59:29 -0000

I was shocked that no Republican filed to run against Forbes in the Urbandale district. A few of the other uncontested seats surprised me too. Candidates may emerge later this year in some of them.

http://www.bleedingheartlan...

Re: Internal Poll Shows Jacobs Leading U.S. Senate Race by Double Digits | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 11:56:56 -0000

Exactly. He's been on radio and/or tv for two months while the others have been dark. He should have a bigger lead.

Re: Ernst Raines over $200,000 in 4th Quarter | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:41:20 -0000

The problem for Whitaker and Clovis is that two of them are competing for the same "principled conservative" niche. And neither of the has the money to run a statewide campaign.

Re: The Real Reagan Dinner | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 09:51:54 -0000

The real Ronald Reagan would be considered a RINO today because of all the tax increases he signed into law as governor and president. http://capitalgainsandgames...

Re: Money Talks: Dandekar Blows Away Her Competition in Democrat 1st District Primary | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 16:59:12 -0000

Unlike most of the House Democrats, Braley voted for every Republican "mini" spending bill put up for a vote between October 1 and October 14. http://www.bleedingheartlan...

Re: Money Talks: Dandekar Blows Away Her Competition in Democrat 1st District Primary | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 16:56:56 -0000

Regarding VGM, manufacturers of medical devices will get a huge windfall from the Affordable Care Act, far exceeding any adverse impact of the 2.3 percent medical device excise tax. http://www.bleedingheartlan...

Re: Winners and Losers: Sorenson Ordeal | The Iowa Republican

Laura Belin — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 14:53:35 -0000

I largely agree with this list, except that Bill Dix is definitely a loser for staying silent so long, and Whitver is a loser for trying to bury this investigation in the first place.

Speaking of ethics, Craig, it is common protocol to include a link when you mention a blog post. Here's the link to that Bleeding Heartland post mentioning Ted Sporer's own legal problems.

http://www.bleedingheartlan...

Re: Twitter’s Archives: From Tiny Startup To Full-Fledged Corporation

Laura Belin — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:20:52 -0000

I thought Twitter only saved 3,200 tweets from each user. Can users download archives of all tweets even if the total number exceeds 3,200?

Re: Goofy Anti-Gun Story on WHO-Radio After Family of Congressman Saved by Shotgun

Laura Belin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:18:02 -0000

Reasonable minds will differ about the best way to handle this situation. The Des Moines police officer may have been speaking from experience, having seen the aftermath of things going very wrong when a crime victim pulled out a gun. No point in pretending it's always safer to confront an armed robber with your own weapon.

Re: Tim Pawlenty, The Tax-Wrecker

Laura Belin — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:48:14 -0000

Where do you get that Pawlenty lowered property taxes? He pushed more costs onto local governments, leading to large property tax increases.

And commenter hgancho must not be aware that Pawlenty signed off on far more state borrowing to pay for infrastructure projects than Chet Culver ever did, despite the fact that Minnesota's debt load was already larger than Iowa's.

Re: Scott Raecker Throws School Choice Under the Bus, Will Iowa House Republicans Allow It?

Laura Belin — Fri, 13 May 2011 12:19:03 -0000

Amazing that House Republicans continue to insist on no allowable growth for school budgets--that hasn't been done in 40 years, no matter which party controlled the legislature. House Speaker Chris Rants didn't try to do that during the 2001/2002 budget crunch. State revenues are improving, but Republicans still won't budge on this.

Re: Missing from “Ask the Gov”: Education Funding, Voters’ Remorse, and the Tax Cut Veto

Laura Belin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:56:50 -0000

I have a question: Why do you act like you have a popular mandate for your stands on the budget and taxes when your approval rating is in the low 40s?

Re: Sarah Palin Hires Michael Glassner as Chief of Staff for SarahPAC

Laura Belin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 07:05:55 -0000

Rogue!