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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 those sections in our sidebar. They are:
As we receive updates in these [...]
by Art Smith
I attended the event this evening and while George did not make any comments that sounded like “Hey, I want to be your next Presidentâ€, this was definitely seemed like a pre-exploratory event. He had some great comments about the current state of affairs, and took questions which I also think he answered well. Some in New York (see comments on this post) have speculated about him running for other posts in that state, others have suggested he could be a possible contender for President in 2012. Even if he does not run for anything, he certainly provides a strong sense of some of the things the GOP needs to do to take back the People’s Government.
There were about 90 people at the event tonight, including a number of Republican/Conservative activists that I've gotten to know, former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, Joseph Heuertz (and other leaders) of the Drake College Republicans, John Bloom, Polk County Republican Chair (along with probably a dozen members of the Polk County Republican Central Committee, one of the sponsors of the event), Steve Rathje, David Van Ahn, Kim Schmett, Ed Failor Jr. (Iowans for Tax Relief), Craig Robinson (The Iowa Republican) and [...]
by Art Smith
You have never seen a majority party more desperate to take advantage of its position of power, knowing that their days are probably numbered. Democrats in your state have probably already tried:
- Giving in to Unions with Prevailing Wage and Fair Share
- Giving in to Populist attempts to circumvent the Constitution
- Giving in to attempts to minimize the value of the family by elevating gay unions as marriage
- Giving in to solutions lacking real problems, such as Worker's Compensation Physician's Choice
- Giving in to their lust for spending, a long-term need for greed that feeds a push to raise taxes... yes, your state government is probably trying right now to raise your taxes!
If you don't believe all this, just look to Iowa. Smack dab in the middle of the country, normally expected to be a follower, Iowa politicians (that is, the Democratic majority party in the Iowa General Assembly) have been trying their darnedest to do all of these things.
Iowans are watching this year. Very closely. Republicans are taking a strong stand on these and other issues, and some of the more conservative Democrats are also helping stem the tide despite the strong-arming of party leaders. Keeping these [...]
by Art Smith
We've finally given birth to our first regional site "The Conservative Reader: Iowa". Henceforth, the site you are currently reading will be focused on international and national topics, and stories that are specifically tied to regional topics will appear in an appropriate regional site.
We expect that there may be times when a regional story will warrant national focus, and as such we may promote the story either by reference or by elevating it to the national site. For instance, if a story related to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojavich's improprieties in selecting a Senator to replace Obama were to appear in an Illinois TCR site (we don't have one yet), it would likely get placement on the national site, or at least promotion on the national site if the story were on a strongly localized angle.
TCR's Iowa site will be covering the same types of Iowa focused issues that have appeared on this page in the past. We plan to provide Iowa-based news feeds in the near future, as well as opinion feeds from other Iowa sources. We will [...]
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[...]
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