by Art Smith
District 60 is currently represented in the Iowa House by Libby Jacobs (R). She decided retire from the house this year and so we have a fresh set of candidates.
Dr. Alan Koslow (D) is a vascular surgeon who has been involved in health related volunteer activities for over 30 years. Without being a legislator, he has authored bills passed by the Iowa General Assembly, focused in the health and child services area. He has worked in missions to El Salvador after an earthquake. He considers himself a Smaller Government-Private Business-Progressive Realist. Koslow's main focus is Health Care. His positions appear somewhat moderate, although he advocates leveraging our "balanced budget" to stimulate the economy by spending it on teacher pay, improving infrastrucutre, early child development programs.
Russ Gibson (L) is a customer service representative for FBL Financial Group. He states on his web site that he is not[...]
by Art Smith
Yes, I am specifically attached to this race since I live in the district currently served by Leonard Boswell (D).
Leonard came into office in 1997. When he first entered Congress, he promised that he would serve no more than 4 terms. He has served 6 already. He votes along party lines over 95% of the time. Although he has supported President Bush on some key bills that served a more conservative agenda, he also voted with Bush on the $700 Billion Bailout. Reviewing his record, he appears to be both socially and fiscally moderate to slightly liberal.
Kim Schmett (R) has served as the chief administrative law judge with the Iowa Department of Inspections and[...]
by Art Smith
Less than 72 hours remain until the polls will close across the country, and we're already getting plenty of messages intended to demoralize McCain supporters. DON'T LISTEN TO A WORD OF IT!
The model for this was set during the primaries... a great analysis and prediction of repeat offenses are described at the HillBuzz Blog. It's a great read if you have time, but the point of it that they will do anything to convince you to skip voting if you're planning to vote for McCain. Three core efforts (and tell me you haven't seen this already) are:
- Calls for McCain to just give up and quit, because the race is over
- Wild claims of Obama winning states that shock and surprise you
- Repeated insistance that blacks and young people will decide this election, and they are all going to vote in record numbers for Obama
The worst part of this is[...]
by Art Smith
Just $2,800 left to meet the critical donation level required by the BFS Board of Directors! What's amazing is that the original deadline was October 31 (they plan to close the operation if the $70,000 is not reached), and you'd have never thought they could get this close by that date!
Fortunately, as we mentioned two weeks ago, the Board extended the deadline to November 30. Can you give $50? $100? Okay, yeah, if you have $2,800 to spare, go for it! This is a vital service to our men and women on active duty overseas, and I know[...]
by Art Smith
Passed on by a friend of mine today (click image to open video)...
I can't add a thing to that.
