Free Republic

You’ve seen this movie before, Iowa. Stoking another round of what-if and what-could-be, Sarah Palin is planning a return to the state where presidential dreams are fevered even this far out from the next contest. The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, a conservative and evangelical group, announced that the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee will speak at its 13thannual banquet on Nov. 9. The announcement of the planned Des Moines speech comes at a time Palin has again raised her political profile. Over the weekend, she campaigned in New Jersey for long-shot Republican Senate candidate Steve Lonegan,...

Republican Congressman Steve King is striking back at Democratic Senator Tom Harkin for suggesting King is wrong to suggest the October 17 “debt limit” date is a fiction. “I hope Tom Harkin understands when we reach the debt limit that doesn’t mean default,” King says. “Default on our debt would be if we failed to service our debt which requires that we pay the interest and then, at a minimum, roll over the principle of our debt which means we could borrow money from the Saudis to pay off Chinese bonds or vice versa or we could borrow money from...

Former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin returns to Iowa in November, TheIowaRepublican.com has learned. She will seek t the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s 13th Annual Friends of the Family Banquet on November 9. Utah Senator Mike Lee is also speaking at the fundraiser.Sarah Palin has a new book in the works that she is promoting, and will incorporate that into her Iowa visit. IFFC has not officially announced Palin’s appearance yet, but that announcement is expected later today.The event will be held at the Paul Knapp Learning Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines....

Iowa officials have implemented an emergency plan of issuing vouchers to low-income residents after computer problems caused electronic payments for food stamps to fail across the country. The Iowa Department of Human Services says it already had a contingency plan in place for such emergencies. Iowans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and find that their electronic benefit card isn't working can fill out a voucher and receive $50 daily in food assistance. DHS says the contingency plan has no financial impact to grocers. Wendy Rickman, who administers DHS' food stamp program, says the plan makes certain that people...

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission asking for an investigation of anticompetitive practices by oil companies that limit consumer access to renewable fuels, specifically higher ethanol blends.

U.S. Congressman Bruce Braley's complaint about having no towel service at the Congressional Gym was the subject of a joke on Jimmy Kimmel. Braley told a reporter recently “"there's no towel service, so we're doing our own laundry down there." Braley is seeking the seat of Sen. Tom Harkin, who plans to retire at the end of his term.

With all eyes on how many people have actually signed up for ObamaCare, it will be interesting to see how honest the media will be concerning this matter if the numbers are disappointing. For example, it was reported by Cedar Rapids, Iowa's ABC affiliate KCRG Wednesday that only five Iowans have actually been successful.

A local Iowa affiliate reports that it could confirm only 5 people in that state have signed up for Obamacare: The "system doesn't seem to be working for most who log-on," says the local reporter. "We tried multiple times on Wednesday to see how long it would take to set up an account to try to shop the rates from the plans. Each time we logged in, within 5 minutes, the system was down." "Also today, the insurance division office in Des Moines told us, 'We cannot say for sure if anyone has successfully signed up through the healthcare.gov website,"...

A Mennonite couple that owns an art gallery in Iowa has filed suit against the state's Civil Rights Commission over being threatened with punitive action for refusing to host a same-sex wedding on their property. Görtz Haus Gallery, a former church turned art gallery facility, filed a lawsuit Monday against the commission in Polk County District Court. "The Odgaards welcome all customers into the Gallery, regardless of their race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, or disability," reads the suit in part. "The Odgaards may be exposed to financial punishment and other forms of official coercion...

How out of touch is Bruce Braley? As workers, families and veterans feel the effects of the government shutdown, Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley is demanding that he receive the special perk of using the House of Representatives gym. The reason for his argument? The House gym doesn’t even have towel service! Poor Bruce Braley. It’s tough to be him.

Unbelievable! Barack Obama brought out the German Sheperds today to threaten US veterans at the Vietnam Memorial. He’s using attack dogs against our veterans! Vietnam Wall entrance is open to all. Guard dog and guards are solely for intimidation. Go in. God Bless 'em pic.twitter.com/O7XSjOzbtj — Steve King (@SteveKingIA) October 5, 2013

7:52 p.m. A second tornado may be forming southwest Cherokee, according to the National Weather Service. Residents are urged to take cover. 7:49 p.m. A funnel cloud has been spotted near Essex in southwest Iowa. Red Oak, Elliott, Grant and Coburg could be effected. A tornado warning is in effect for parts of Mills, Page, Montgomery and Pottawattamie counties. 7:39 p.m. A severe storm that caused major damage in Quimby is headed toward Cherokee, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was spotted at about 7:30 near Quimby. It’s expected to reach Cherokee at about 7:45 p.m. This storm...

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Workers clad in red shirts wielded colorful signs marched on the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall, as the group of 80 chanted over and over, "Can't survive on $7. 25." Local workers and supporters demanded stronger enforcement of wage payment laws and increasing the minimum wage at a rally on Thursday. They insisted the current rate of $7.25 an hour is not enough to support their families. “Everything keeps going up,” said Valentine Ruiz, a local worker from Lone Tree. “Why doesn’t the minimum wage increase?” The last minimum wage increase was in 2009 as part of...

An Iowa state senator resigned Wednesday after a special investigator found it likely he violated ethics rules by taking money from political entities connected to former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and then denying he’d done so. Sen. Kent Sorenson told The Associated Press that he had already decided he would not run for re-election, and that his resignation was best for his family. He said his decision was “absolutely not” an admission of wrongdoing. … His resignation came after attorney Mark Weinhardt said in a report released earlier in the day that it was “manifestly clear” Sorenson negotiated payments in...

There's no telling when an immigration bill will come to the House floor, what it will say, or who will support it. Only one thing's for sure: Steve King will vote no. And he's not alone. The Iowa Republican has organized a small but growing number of conservatives who are committed to voting against any House immigration bill – no matter what it says – because they fear that the Senate will inevitably find a way to add "amnesty" to the equation. King won't say how many members he's got on board, except that it reached "fairly deeply" into the...

If you mention the state of Iowa to the average American, a Midwestern agricultural state covered by acres of corn and soybeans immediately comes to mind. College football fans might know that the Hawkeyes rank as a Big Ten Conference Legend. Folks of the political bent would respond that the Republican Presidential straw poll is conducted from the campus of Iowa State University in Ames every four years. From this small college town, thirty seven miles north of Des Moines, a straw poll victory can thrust a candidate into the national spotlight. Conversely, a loss can dampen the aspirations...

In a move that makes a government shutdown very likely, House Republicans approved a spending plan early Sunday morning that would delay Obamacare for a year and repeal its tax on medical devices. The temporary budget resolution now goes back to the Senate, where Democrats have consistently said any changes to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law is a deal-killer. ... The decision to vote on the House amendments overnight emerged from a rare weekend GOP caucus meeting called by House Speaker John Boehner. The votes, taken after midnight, were 231-192 for the Obamacare delay, and 248-174 for the medical...

President Barack Obama famously promised, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” He later got even more specific.“If you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,” Obama said.But as Obamacare’s rollout approaches, we have learned this is not true. Here are the ten states where consumers may like their health care plans, but they won’t be able to...

Though there is still a long way to go for the Delta Queen to return to the rivers as a cruise ship, passing of bill H.R. 1961 in the House of Representatives is a major step in this direction. On Wednesday, September 25th 2013, the House has approved the bill that would grant the historic Delta Queen a 15 years exemption from a fire-retardant materials construction requirement. The House voted 280 to 89 in favor of the Delta Queen with almost all Republicans voting with “yea”, while Democrats voted 82 to 84 against the bill. The bill still has to...

With most Democrats keeping an eye on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for hints about her 2016 plans, Vice President Joe Biden's appearance at Iowa's 36th annual "Tom Harkin Steak Fry," may one day be viewed as a telling sign of his presidential intentions. "It's amazing when you come to speak at the Steak Fry a whole bunch of people seem to take notice. I don't know why the hell that is," Biden said.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Vice President Joe Biden is heading into the belly of Democrats' anti-war opposition, venturing into a politically influential heartland state for the first time since President Barack Obama publicly endorsed a possible military strike on Syria. Biden is scheduled to headline a fundraiser in Iowa Sunday for Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, an annual steak picnic for the senator who is popular with anti-war Democrats. Even if Biden sidesteps talk of Syria, the issue will be as much a part of the backdrop as the bales of hay and smoke from the grilling steaks, and in a...

...Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota joined fellow tea partying Reps. Louie Gohmert, sadly of Texas, and Steve King of Iowa on a trip to Egypt, where they praised the restoration of military dictatorship and the overthrow of a democratically elected government... Bachmann didn’t just stop with that misportrayal of American values. She somehow managed to confuse Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood with the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks (Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda for those who don’t remember), and congratulated Egypt’s military leader for holding them at bay. “We have seen the threat that the Muslim Brotherhood has posed around the world. We stand against...

A Senate Republican requested an ethics investigation of Democrats who hinted they may use his personal scandal to fight his effort to defund part of Obamacare. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has been demanding a Senate vote on a proposal to repeal federal contributions to help pay for healthcare coverage for members of Congress under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The provision was included in the 2010 legislation by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Iowa law enforcement officials are debating the wisdom of granting gun permits to blind people. The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa law doesn't allow sheriffs to deny a permit to carry a gun in public based on physical ability. Some sheriffs have been granting gun permits to people with visual impairments while others have been denying them. Blind people and other Iowans can obtain the permits for carrying a weapon in public because of changes to state law that took effect in 2011. Jane Hudson with Disability Rights Iowa said keeping legally blind people from obtaining weapon permits would...

Republican representatives Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), and Steve King (R-Iowa) held a press conference last week in Egypt, praising and thanking the Egyptian military for a July 3 ouster of what Bachmann called the "common enemy" Muslim Brotherhood. Via the Washington Post's Max Fisher comes video of the press conference, which is bizarre, to say the least. Bachmann thanked the Egyptian military for the coup and the military-led government's crackdowns on protests, implying that the Muslim Brotherhood — of which former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was a member — was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks....

Two Texans that police say were caught trying to free mink from a Sioux City mink farm will faces multiple charges at a court hearing this week, but attempted burglary is not currently one of them. Authorities say Kellie Rose Marshall, 21, and Victor Vanorden, 24, were arrested early Monday morning while trying to free mink from a mink ranch near Stone State Park. Marshall and Vanorden, both of Austin, were arrested on charges that included a felony count of attempted second-degree burglary. However, court documents state those charges were not approved "at this time" at an initial appearance on...

HAWARDEN, Iowa | Police said a Hawarden, Iowa, man shot at three vacuum cleaner salesmen on Saturday. No one was hurt. Samuel Harrison, 50, was charged with felony going armed with intent and intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and misdemeanor assault and operating while intoxicated - second offense. Harrison shot at the Omaha-area sales crew in the 4800 block of Buchanan Avenue about 3:15 p.m. Saturday, police said. No one on the crew was hit. "For whatever reason, Mr. Harrison became upset about them in the area and he fired off several rounds out of his shotgun," said Sioux County...

No one could see this coming. Iowa is giving people who are blind permits that will allow them to purchase guns or to carry firearms in public, the Des Moines Register reports. The permits are legal, as Iowa law does not deny anyone the right to carry a weapon based on physical disability. But, the paper reports, the dilemma comes for law enforcement officials who are trying to ensure public safety. Advocates for the disabled are split over the decision. ...

Des Moines police arrested two people Friday. 18-year-olds James Shorter and Nathaniel Russell. They're looking for a third, 18-year-old Kent Tyler. They've been charged with murdering 40-year-old Richard Daughenbaugh. The victim was brutally beat by multiple people in this parking lot. "Almost a mob mentality took over the crowd," Sgt. Jason Halifax said. He later died in the hospital Sunday night. During the fight, a couple tried to break it up, but instead two girls stole the woman's cell phone and a man beat up the good Samaritan. Leprese Derrian Williams was charged in connection with assaulting him. Friday was...

Police are still trying to figure out why a black mob beat Richard Daughenbaugh to death at a popular downtown Des Moines fishing spot one week ago. Daughenbaugh, a father of six who worked as a construction laborer, did not know his killers, say police. But at 1 a.m., he found himself exchanging words with members of a mob that numbered in the dozens. The Des Moines Register picks up the narrative with a sterile account that understates the violence and ignores the race of the attackers: The suspects allegedly beat Daughenbaugh using no weapons other than their own bodies...

Police say they’ve made several arrests in connection with a brutal beating that killed a Des Moines man. 18-year-olds Yarvon Russell and James Shorter are in the Polk County jail charged with first degree murder. Police believe they are two of the men that beat 40-year-old Richard Daughenbaugh to death near 2nd and Center early Sunday morning. An arrest warrant has been issued for a third suspect, Kent Anthony III. Once caught, he too will be charged with murder. A warrant is also out for 21-year old Des Moines man Leprese Williams whom allegedly assaulted a bystander trying to break...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack held a forum in Des Moines this morning to discuss immigration reform. “Agriculture depends to a great extent on immigrant labor,” Vilsack said. “…The sad reality in America today is that there are farmers throughout the United States who are now making decisions not to harvest what they planted because they simply do not have enough hands to conduct the harvest.” Under the immigration reform bill that cleared the Senate, Vilsack’s agency has the authority to help manage the labor supply for U.S. farms by approving more “guest worker” applications. The USDA today projected both...

DES MOINES – A state panel that oversees and regulates physicians and medical practices in Iowa voted Friday to adopt rules curtailing doctors’ ability to dispense abortion-inducing pills via a video-conferencing system, citing concerns over the medical care being provided to rural women. The Iowa Board of Medicine voted 8-2 to approve proposed administrative rule that would establish standards of practice for physicians who prescribe and administer abortion-inducing drugs. The revised rules – which could take effect in November – would require in-person meetings between doctors and patients along with direct after-care services. “How can any of us possibly find...

'We give thanks, oh Lord, for the doctors, both current and future, who provide quality abortion care' If your political goal is to murder as many of the unborn as is humanly possible, no one should be surprised that you're constantly taking the rhetoric to new depths. Today's sick twisting of religion comes to us from a pro-abortion rally in Iowa. There, Des Moines activist Midge Slater delivered one of the creepiest prayers you're ever going to hear. In attendance were Iowa Democrat gubernatorial candidates Jack Hatch and Tyler Olson. We can only presume that their grasp on religion is...

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August 29, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Newly released video footage shows Democrat gubernatorial candidates Tyler Olson and Jack Hatch joining abortion activists in an extended prayer in thanksgiving for abortionists, asking for increased abortion access, and decrying the fact that women have been "made afraid of their own power by their paternalistic religion." The five-minute prayer begins, "We give thanks, O Lord, for the doctors, both current and future, who provide quality abortion care, and pray that they may be kept safe." "We pray for the 45 million American women who have had safe, legal abortions. May they stand tall...

The political partnership between Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and his father, Rafael, is a rising force in conservative politics. To most observers, it seems like part of a familial game plan that has been in the works for years. But according to Senator Cruz, it actually began quite recently with a phone call. “My dad poured himself into my Senate race last year,” he recalls. “In the early months, we didn’t have much of a campaign. One day, I couldn’t make an event, so he drove out to West Texas alone — no staffers, nothing — and he spoke...

.... Establishment Republicans fear that conservatives have become such a dominant force in the nominating process here that they may drive mainstream presidential candidates away. ... “You’re going to see conservatives probably not play as much in New Hampshire, and you’re going to see moderates not play here,” Mr. Santorum said in an interview this month before he addressed the gathering of Christian conservatives here. That is exactly what senior Iowa Republicans fear. And it is why some in the party are already taking steps to curb one of the more controversial elements of the caucus process: the Ames Straw...

Think it’s odd that a 30-year-old male Hong Kong national punched a 78-year-old female abortion protestor in the back, then calmly walked down the street without uttering a word? Just wait until you watch the video of what happened after the assault in Iowa City. But first, let’s review what we know so far. Man Chun John Ma stands 6-feet 1-inches and weighs 200 pounds, hails from Hong Kong, and is a graduate student in the genetics program at the University of Iowa. According to Donna Holman, she was holding an anti-abortion sign near a Planned Parenthood office on Wednesday...

They say history has a way of repeating itself. That certainly came true in June when the U.S. Senate approved a sweeping reform bill to revamp the nation’s immigration laws. Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate failed to learn from the mistakes created by the 1986 overhaul.Consider the 1986 bill that President Reagan signed into law.At that time, about three million people who were living in the country illegally were granted citizenship.Today, 27 years later, the U.S. estimates 11 million undocumented immigrants are living here.What should that tell us? It says that the 1986 law failed to stem the flow of illegal...

"...His birth certificate, which means so much to them, is nothing to Liam but a piece of paper to try to snatch from their hands and stick in his mouth. Teething, after all, makes a baby single-minded. And that's fine with the Buntemeyers. The way they see it, their battle ended Tuesday when Liam's birth certificate, bearing both of their names, finally showed up in the mailbox of their Davenport home. "Now we're like any other family..."

An escaped inmate was shot and killed Monday by an elderly couple he had been holding at gunpoint for around four hours. Rodney Eugene Long, a dangerous prison escapee suspected of shooting and injuring a Taylor County deputy, broke into a couple’s home in Bedford, Iowa, at around 10:15 p.m. Monday night and held them for four hours, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Mitch Mortvedt said during a news conference. Jerome and Carolyn Mauderly said Long was armed with a semi-automatic handgun. Long, 38, also disabled the phones in the Maulderlys’ home as he apparently gathered supplies to...

BEDFORD, Iowa – Authorities say an escaped inmate suspected of shooting a southwest Iowa sheriff's deputy has been killed by a homeowner who said the armed man broke into his house. Rodney Long was shot to death after he broke into a retired farm couple's home in Bedford about 10:15 p.m. Monday, awakening them. Long, who was armed with a handgun, cut their telephone lines and used their cell phone, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Mitch Mortvedt said. After about four hours, Jerome Mauderly, 71, shot Long with a shotgun in the kitchen of the home he shares...

Authorities say an escaped inmate suspected of shooting a southwest Iowa sheriff's deputy has been killed by a homeowner who said the armed man broke into his house. Rodney Long was shot to death after he broke into a retired farm couple's home in Bedford about 10:15 p.m. Monday, awakening them. Long, who was armed with a handgun, cut their telephone lines and used their cell phone, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Mitch Mortvedt said. After about four hours, Jerome Mauderly, 71, shot Long with a shotgun in the kitchen of the home he shares with his wife,...

BEDFORD, Iowa —Law enforcement authorities said Tuesday that an Iowa couple shot and killed an escaped inmate after being held in their home for four hours. Other Stories View Large Authorities said Rodney Long forced his way into the couple's home at 2609 Highland Avenue about 10:15 p.m. and held them for the next four hours. The couple said Long was armed by a semi automatic handgun. He had also taken their phones. The couple, ages 71 and 66, decided to defend themselves, authorities said. A short time later the couple called authorities. An Iowa State Trooper was on the...

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told the Herald he is exploring a possible 2016 presidential bid today as he hit a well-worn stomping ground for Oval Office hopefuls – the Iowa State Fair. “I want to get an indication of whether there’s even an interest, in Massachusetts and throughout the country, if there’s room for a bi-partisan problem solver,” said Brown, who has been meeting with top republicans nationally and last week hosted a Fenway event for Republican National Committee members. Brown indicated he isn't close to deciding whether he will run. “It’s 2013 I think it’s premature, but I...

The senator steals a march on potential 2016 rivals. By Robert Costa The early dynamics of the 2016 Republican presidential-primary contest were jolted on the morning of Friday, July 19, in a ballroom on the third floor of the Marriott hotel in downtown Des Moines. It was there, in front of coffee-sipping pastors, that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wowed the kingmakers of the Iowa caucuses for the first time. Without notes and ignoring the podium, he roamed the carpeted dais for nearly an hour, quoting Scripture and musing about the Democrats and their occasional affinity for Satan. The reception...

The senator steals a march on potential 2016 rivals. The early dynamics of the 2016 Republican presidential-primary contest were jolted on the morning of Friday, July 19, in a ballroom on the third floor of the Marriott hotel in downtown Des Moines. It was there, in front of coffee-sipping pastors, that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wowed the kingmakers of the Iowa caucuses for the first time. Without notes and ignoring the podium, he roamed the carpeted dais for nearly an hour, quoting Scripture and musing about the Democrats and their occasional affinity for Satan. The reception was rapturous. Many...

Is there such thing as “class” in America? Not if you ask Rick Santorum. The once and possibly future GOP presidential candidate spoke to a Republican gathering in Lyon County, Iowa late last week and shared this piece of advice with his party: “Don’t use the term the other side uses.” That includes the “middle class.” Santorum proceeded to tear into President Obama for constantly invoking the term “middle class” in his speeches about the economy. “Since when in America do we have classes?” Santorum asked. “Since when in America are people stuck in areas or defined places called a...

Johnston Police say that an Imam with the Des Moines Islamic Cultural Center has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse. Nermin Spahic, 40, is facing charges of third degree sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by a therapist or counselor. Johnston Police were called to a home Monday evening after a report came from a person that their friend and her mother were being sexually assaulted at their home. Officers says that they found two females, an 18 year old and a 42 year old, along with Spahic in the residence. The females say that Spahic was in the home...