IowaPolitics.com BlogWatch

"Because we've been pushing hard in on the public option, we're
beginning to see some movement in the Senate," Congressman Dave
Loebsack told the 150 or so Democrats gathered in Hills Saturday for
the Johnson County Democrats fall barbecue. "We in the House helped
move the Senate and, yes, the President." Responding to critics of
health care reform he noted, "Not only have I read the bill, I've
amended it" to provide better federal funding for direct care workers.
Loebsack also took credit for improving reimbursement rates. "Finally,
Iowa can be treated fairly." The second term congressman, who casually
acknowledged ("not an announcement") that he's seeking a third term,
shared the stage with the two announced US Senate candidates, Brb
Krause and Tom Fiegen. But some of the buzz in the room was about the
likely entry of former gubernatorial nominee Roxanne Conlin into the
Senate race.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

Nick Johnson gave me a hard time for using a pen and paper to take
notes at the Iowa City Federation of Labor picnic, but after trying to
liveblog from the Blackberry at Dave Loebsack's health care forum my
thumbs were typed out. Loebsack was the big speaker at this
afternoon's picnic and while he pledged to fight hard for the public
option, he said Medicare reimbursement reform was a critical part of
health care reform for Iowa. "Right now the public option
reimbursement rate is based on Medicare," said Loebsack, "and those
rates need to get fixed so that Iowa does not get hurt in the
process." Iowa is among the states with the lowest reimbursement
rates.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, health_care

EARMARKS: funds provided by Congress for projects, programs, or grants
where the spending purpose is to circumvent the normal merit-based or
competitive allocation processes, or otherwise curtails the ability of
the executive branch to manage its statutory and constitutional
responsibilities pertaining to the funds allocation process. a.k.a.,
pork-barrel spending. The Gravina Island Bridge in Alaska, popularly
known as the "Bridge to Nowhere," is perhaps the most famous of all
earmarks. So who is the biggest 'earmarker' in the U.S. House? Our
own Dave 'Empty Your Pockets' Loebsack. Dave has sponsored or
co-sponsored 29 earmarks totaling more than $217 MILLION in fiscal
year 2009 ranking 1st out of 435 representatives.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

9:10 and after 45 mins of the UI wifi staring at me like a giant
middle finger, I gave up so I'm on the phone. (The site was moved from
the library to the UIowa campus because a bigger crowd was expected,
but the UI campus is wifi-unfriendly to the general public, you need a
university ID. A long time pet peeve.) The crowd is split but
intermixed. The Dems have preprinted Obama font signs; some say THANK
YOU. The Rs are more handmade a big banner from the gallery says "it's
not about health care, it's about govt control of your life." I count
maybe 300 people so far. Ed Flaherty has a GRASSLEY RETIRE sign. One
woman with a "Obama is not my doctor" shirt.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, health_care

Is Christopher "Not Tom Harkin" Reed looking for a new nickname: Not
Dave Loebsack? Reed, the Republican's 2008 Senate nominee, is telling
his Facebook friends that he's running for Loebsack's 2nd District
seat. Reed sparked a fair amount of controversy late in the campaign
in the Iowa rightosphere, charging that the Iowa Republican Party was
undercutting his campaign. The most attention he got in the
traditional media was after his one debate with Harkin, when he called
the senator "the Tokyo Rose of Al-Qaida." It turned out to be Harkin's
easiest re-elect by far. Reed did manage to carry five western Iowa
counties. But none of that turf is in the 2nd District, where Loebsack
beat Mariannette Miller-Meeks (who the rightosphere really, really
REALLY thought would pull an upset despite any objective evidence) by
nearly 20 points.

Labels: Christopher_Reed, Dave Loebsack

In today's world we sorely need leadership. Unfortunately, Iowa's
Second Congressional District is being left with very little, if any.
A real leader is not afraid to take a stand on the issues whether said
stand is popular with the public or not. A real leader will not sit on
the fence, or stick a toe in to test the waters, before making a
decision. A real leader makes decisions based on convictions,
principles and confidence, rather than looking to others before making
a decision. With the current state of world politics, we cannot afford leaders
without conviction and without direction. Recent events in Iran and
North Korea have shown that ours is a President without conviction and
lacking the fortitude to be a world leader.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

The news releases which went out earlier his week indicated there were
21 members in the new "Populist Caucus" Congressman Bruce Braley
(D-Waterloo) has formed. Today, Braley's two Iowa colleagues --
Congressmen Leonard Boswell & Dave Loebsack, both Democrats -- joined
the "Populist" group, too. ... "The middle class is the economic engine
of America, but too often in Washington, the needs of the middle class
are ignored." Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Chair of the Populist
Caucus, said. "During these tough times, we need a renewed focus on
strengthening the middle class and improving the lives of working
families."

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard_Boswell

Great news, everyone! Today the House of Representatives approved an
expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In
Iowa, this program is known as HAWK-I, and it provides coverage for
thousands of children whose families are not poor enough to qualify
for Medicaid, but not wealthy enough to purchase health insurance:
"The child health bill would provide $32.3 billion over four and a
half years to continue coverage for seven million children who now
rely on the program and to extend coverage to more than four million
who are uninsured." ... Representatives Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell
joined Loebsack in voting for the bill, which passed by a comfortable
margin of 289-139. But as you can see from the roll call,
Representatives Steve King and Tom Latham voted no.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, health_care, Steve_King

Iowa Republicans are going through some soul-searching the the wake of last month's defeats, and the in-fight action is playing itself out in the Iowa rightosphere. Republican National Committee member Kim Lehman, who also heads Iowa Right To Life (sic), is under attack from 2nd District GOP leaders for an IRTL newsletter that called congressional candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks a "great pretender" on the issue and said, "Miller-Meeks is pro-abortion." ... True, MMM has a good backstory, and she did well in the district's southwest tier. But Miller-Meeks kept pointing out how often Loebsack voted with Democratic leadership as if that were a bad thing. I think that just reinforced Loebsack's bona fides in a Democratic district. ... The GOP can't retroactively change the national climate or MMM's campaign tactics. But they can punish those in their own midst. Lehman says she was not reponsible for the newsletter, but a group of county chairs is calling for Lehman's removal from the RNC.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, RPI

... Dear Senators Grassley, Harkin and Congressman Loebsack: Thank you
for your willingness to address one of the toughest sets of economic
challenges any Congress has ever confronted, and to search for
governmental responses that will produce more good than harm. I do not
believe the proposed auto bailout is such a response. Press reports
indicate you intend to support it anyway. ... So I have some questions
for you that I hope you will be good enough to answer -- as well as
providing me with sources on the Internet where I can find the reports
and data you have relied on in coming to your position. 1. Overview.
All data I know of suggests that major indicators -- manufacturing
output, consumer confidence and purchasing, unemployment, mortgage
foreclosures -- are all going to continue to get worse, and probably
at an accelerating rate, for the foreseeable future.

Labels: Charles_Grassley, Dave Loebsack, Tom_Harkin

Norman Hsu that is. I guess one might be able to say that Dr.
Miller-Meeks is giving Congressman Loebsack a bi-annual check-up and
the doctor has some more troubling news. Congressman Dave Loebsack's
campaign has accepted $2,000 from alleged con man Norman Hsu, who was
indicted in late 2007 for alleged bilking investors out of at least
$20 million. Hsu also bundled more than $100,000 in contributions for
Clinton's campaign and co-hosted a $1 million Beverly Hills fundraiser
for the New York senator before a 1992 fraud conviction, his flight to
Hong Kong to avoid prosecution and a second round of questionable
financial dealings were revealed.

Labels: 2nd CD, Dave Loebsack

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack said his vote for the financial bailout bill
was "a lot reluctant," and that the people responsible for the
financial crashed should by identified and punished, perhaps even with
prison, at a stop at the Hamburg Inn #2 in Iowa City Tuesday. "I
couldn't agree more and we have to find out how we got into this mess
and then we need to resolve the problem," Loebsack said, when asked by
Maria Conzemius of Iowa City if there was bipartisan blame for the
financial crisis. "We need to hold folks accountable who made these
mistakes, and if we find malfeasance we ought to punish them with
prison terms," he added. But Loebsack said the bill was, ultimately,
necessary. "When it didn't pass, you saw what happened in the stock
market," he said of the Dow Jones drop of more than 700 points the day
the first version of the bill failed in the House.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

Dave Loebsack is spending a little time on political tasks, attending
Labor Day picnics Monday and the Democratic convention last week. But
Loebsack said the flood in eastern Iowa made his convention trip a
short one. "I didn't get out to Denver until Tuesday afternoon"
because of flood work in the district, Loebsack told Iowa Independent,
"and even when I was out there I was mostly talking about the flood."
He said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer met with
Iowans in Denver and are now fully supportive of the relief package.
Dave Loebsack is spending a little time on political tasks, attending
Labor Day picnics Monday and the Democratic convention last week. But
Loebsack said the flood in eastern Iowa made his convention trip a
short one.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

Iowa Congressmen Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack, both Democrats
representing flood-ravaged eastern Iowa, are requesting federal
support for state railroad bridges that were destroyed by flood
waters. The Cedar River Bridge that serves Penford in Cedar Rapids was
destroyed when the Cedar River flooded this month. Flooding in eastern
Iowa destroyed three railroad bridges: the Iowa Northern Bridge in
Waterloo, the Cedar River Bridge in Cedar Rapids and the Iowa, Chicago
& Eastern Bridge near Columbus Junction. Loebsack, who represents the
2nd Congressional District that includes Cedar Rapids and Columbus
Junction, and Braley, who represents the 1st Congressional District
that includes Waterloo, have penned a joint letter to U.S. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi to request that the bridges be quickly repaired
and destroyed.

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack

The only contested Republican U.S. House primary in Iowa will take
center stage Saturday at the 2nd Congressional District convention in
Iowa City. Lee Harder, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Peter Teahen will
face off in the June 3 primary for the right to face first term
Democrat Dave Loebsack in November. Miller-Meeks, an Ottumwa
ophthalmologist, is emphasizing health care in her bid. Teahen, owner
of a Cedar Rapids funeral home, has made a name as a Red Cross
spokesperson in disaster areas. Miller-Meeks and Teahen are portraying
relatively moderate profiles, in the image of the district's 30-year
representative, Jim Leach, who lost to Loebsack in one of 2006's
biggest surprises. Still, both have their conservative backers.
Teahen's campaign manager is Wes Enos, who managed Mike Huckabee's
winning Iowa caucus effort.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, Iowa GOP

Republican candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks called on Rep. David
Loebsack to serve his constituents and reform the congressional
practice of behind-closed-doors budget earmarks that continue to drive
the cost of government higher. On Thursday, the nonprofit, nonpartisan
Citizens Against Government Waste reported that Congress approved more
than 11,000 earmarks that added $17.2 billion to this year's federal
budget. Those projects were deemed "pork barrel projects" by the group
if they met one of seven criteria: a request by just one member of
Congress; no specific authorization; no competitive award; no
presidential request; a greatly increased budget amount compared with
the previous year; serving only a local or special interest; or no
congressional hearing.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

Not quite seeing eye-to-eye with Dave Loebsack, Dr. Mariannette
Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist from Ottumwa, Iowa, today announced
her bid for the Republican nomination for Iowa's 2nd Congressional
District. Dr. Miller-Meeks is a long time resident of Ottumwa, a
retired Lt. Colonel in the US Army Reserve, and is the past President
of the Iowa Medical Society. Apparently distancing herself from both
Congressman Loebsack and former Republican Congressman, Jim Leach,
Miller-Meeks said, "It is with great humility and honor that today, I
announce my bid to represent the great people of the 2nd District of
Iowa."

Labels: Dave Loebsack

Funding for many domestic programs is on the chopping block as
President George W. Bush's 2009 federal budget proposes increased
military spending and permanent status for earlier tax cuts. The
budgetary cuts take aim at Child Care and Development Block Grants,
Community Development Block Grants, Improving Teacher Quality State
Grants, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance, Section 8 Housing Choice
Vouchers and the Social Services Block Grants. Congressman Dave
Loebsack, a Democrat representing Iowa's 2nd District, announced his
disapproval this morning at Bush's attempt to slash funding for Iowa's
law enforcement and drug prevention efforts in the recently released
fiscal year 2009 budget.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

The Des Moines Register had a lovely little chart in their Saturday
newspaper today that showed the cash on hand and 4th quarter numbers
from the five districts in Iowa but I cannot seem to find it on the
web version of the website at all. What I can tell you is that Steve
King and Tom Latham BOTH topped Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack and
Leonard Boswell in fundraising in the 4th quarter which ran from
October 1 through December 31. For being in the minority party in
Washington D.C., I think that is an interesting development. Normally
it is easier to raise money when you are in the majority because, lets
be honest, you have a bit more access to the legislative calendar and
agenda.

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard_Boswell, Steve_King, Tom Latham

The Republican race to challenge ultra liberal Congressman Dave
"PACman" Loebsack appears to be taking shape nicely with our GOP
friends in the 2nd District having, so far, three nice candidates to
pick from. I've written a couple of posts about Ottumwa physician Dr.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks and have taken a look at what Lee Harder has
to offer and after I learned that Peter Teahen might be running as
well, I thought it would be wise to take a closer gander at what his
potential candidacy would do to the political world in Southeast Iowa.
So far, I'm finding a mixed bag on Teahen.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

Congressman Dave Loebsack kicked off his second round of meetings with residents in Iowa's 2nd District by shunning what he termed the "hyper partisanship" of Washington, D.C. "I might just say, generally, [my first year in Congress] was even more than I expected it would be in many ways," Loebsack, a first-year Democrat, told the 40-some citizens gathered at Kirkwood Community College for the Monday morning meeting. "I knew it wouldn't be easy and there have been times when it hasn't been easy." Frustration, he said, in trying pass legislation at the federal level is something he and local residents both feel.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

... "I invited all the presidential candidates to come to this," said Dave Loebsack, but he was happy enough to get two contenders for his "birthday" fundraiser Saturday in Cedar Rapids. Joe Biden and John Edwards addressed an ebbing and flowing crowd that averaged 200 to 250. "I haven't decided whether I'm going to endorse anyone or not," Loebsack told Iowa Independent. "I don't know if I'm going to or not, but if I do I'll certainly think about it long and hard. I've been getting a lot of calls from a lot of people, as I'm sure you might imagine." Loebsack, long active in caucus politics before his 2006 election to Congress, supported Bill Bradley in 2000 and Howard Dean in 2004.

Labels: Dave Loebsack, Joe_Biden, John_Edwards

While speaking to Cedar County Democrats Saturday night, Congressman Dave Loebsack said that he's made progress on campaign promises and that he's proud of the accomplishments made by Congress thus far in Washington. "I personally ran on one theme," he said. "That was restoring hope and opportunity that George Bush and the Congress of the United States had taken away from millions of Americans and tens of thousands of people in the 2nd District. We haven't gotten as far as we want to yet, but we've done a heck of a lot of good things." Increasing the minimum wage, making education more affordable, restricting lobbying, creating additional ethics reform and implementing the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission are successes Loebsack highlighted during his speech in front of an audience of roughly 100 people in Tipton.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

As the one-year anniversary of the 2006 general election – in which
the U.S. House and Senate moved from Republican Party to Democratic
hands — approaches, the National Republican Congressional Committee is
asking just what the Dems in power have accomplished. The NRCC is
targeting congresspersons perceived at risk for re-election, and that
includes South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and the
three Iowa Democrats who hail from central and eastern Iowa.
Basically, all the House members from the tri-state area who aren't
Republicans (all three Nebraska congressmen are R's) are being taken
to task for inaction since Congress convened in January. Herseth
Sandlin and Bruce Braley, Sioux City native Dave Loebsack and Leonard
Boswell are being criticized by the NRCC for a host of things.

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard_Boswell

Somehow I missed Jane Norman's story in the Des Moines Register last
week about Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Ottumwa physician, who is
considering challenging Iowa's ultra liberal congressman, Dave
Loebsack. Iowa is one of two states (I think, if I'm not mistaken,
Mississippi is the other) that has never elected a female Governor or
a female member of Congress. Democrats and media types have tried to
use this as a reason to vote for female candidates in Iowa in the past
as they've thrown such unelectable candidates like Joyce Schulte at us
in the past. I know the Des Moines Register likes to cite this often.
So, Miller-Meeks is certainly not a household name - yet.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

It's hard to forget the popular PAC-MAN arcade game that became
popular in the 1980's and 1990's as players moved a little yellow
creature around that gobbled up as much other moving critters as it
could. Well, if you thought the PAC-MAN game was going out of style,
Dave Loebsack is bringing it back... big time. After winning his seat
last November only because he was in the right place at the right
time, Loebsack is trying to position himself to be in the right place
at the right time when all the major liberal organizations start
shelling out their cash to their Democratic friends. Loebsack appears
to be good at being at the right place at the right time.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the political and
fundraising arm of the Republican House of Representatives Caucus, has
been ambitiously sending out regular press releases to media outlets
in the districts of Democrats that they view as fertile for Republican
pick-ups. In the latest round of press releases, both of Iowa's
freshmen Democrats made their way into the sights of the NRCC. In a
recent press release that notes many Democratic members of Congress
have voted to give housing assistance to illegal aliens, Dave Loebsack
and Bruce Braley are listed as culprits. At this point in time, no big
name Republican has stepped forward to challenge either man from what
I can tell. Both districts, at this point in time, are uphill battles
but cannot be viewed as complete write-offs.

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack

Buzz on the Eastern Iowa peace left that Dave Loebsack is miffed with
them is getting a firm dismissal from the congressman's office, and
from some peace activists. "The Congressman is not in any way upset
with people opposed to the war," Loebsack spokeswoman Gabby Adler told
Iowa Independent Tuesday night. "He's repeatedly encouraged
constituents to stand strong in their efforts to hold the Bush
Administration's feet to the fire." The dustup that's been circulating
on email lists since the weekend came as Loebsack joined 78 other
House members in signing the House Progressive Caucus pledge not to
support any more Iraq War funding except for troop withdrawal. The
effort started in mid-July with three California Democrats - Lynn
Woolsey, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters. "Just this week eight more
signed on," said Adler.

Labels: Dave Loebsack

By a vote of 218 to 208, Rep. Dave Loebsack, his fellow Democrats, and two Republicans passed the supplemental bill which returns to the senate for a vote before going to the White House where it is expected that President Bush will veto it. From AP: The House last night brushed aside weeks of angry White House rhetoric and veto threats to narrowly approve a $124 billion war spending bill that requires troop withdrawal from Iraq to begin by Oct. 1, with a goal of ending U.S. combat operations there by next March. "How many more suicide bombs must kill American soldiers before this president offers a timeline for our troops to come home?" asked Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D-Pa.), a freshman Iraq war veteran who lost nine fellow paratroopers this week in one of the deadliest attacks of the war. "How many more military leaders must declare the war will not be won militarily before this president demands that the Iraqis stand up and fight f or their country? How many more terrorists will President Bush's foreign policy breed before he focuses a new strategy, a real strategy? This bill says enough is enough."

Labels: Dave Loebsack, Iraq

Congressman Loebsack's got a lot of attention since he came to DC not only on the issues and his leadership, but also on the amount of contributions he received. Jane Norman wrote in the Register last week that Loebsack was coming under fire for the large PAC contributions to his campaign -- which would likely go to re-election efforts. To me, and I'm sure there is a large amount of cynicism in my thoughts, it seems that Congress and its members are forced into a continual re-election effort.

Labels: Dave Loebsack