Essential Estrogen

I was so excited to hear Gov. Chet Culver's budget proposal before the joint meeting of the legislature today. It came just off the heels of the minimum wage hike (which was a good and needed thing, even if I think the increases should have been spaced out a bit more) and I was ready for more good news. With such important causes in the budget such as healthcare for Iowa's most vulnerable, increases in teacher pay and lifting the ban on some stem cell research, I should have been delighted. Right?

I alternated between watching the address on television and listening to it on the radio. There were a few places, as I walked between the two, I missed words and sentences. When the speech ended, I went back over what I'd heard. Stem cell research? Check. Cigarette tax for healthcare? Check. Continuance of semi-vague campaign rhetoric? Check. Funding increases for education? Check. Women's issues? Che... wait a minute.

Unsure if I'd actually missed something within the speech, I trotted over to the Des Moines Register site to double-check the written version of the speech. I skimmed it and saw no mention of women/woman/gals/etc. Hmmm. I then did a word search on the page and found only one instance of the word 'women' in his speech:

Finally, there are some additional important priorities in this budget. They are: ... protecting and expanding access to shelter services for at-risk women, mothers and children. I can tell you the First Lady will continue to be a real advocate on behalf of shelter service care providers and the vulnerable individuals who desperately need them. Thank you dear for your efforts, and we will direct these important resources into shelter care.

The logical side of me keeps up the steady "be happy" drumbeat. It's a blessing to hear anything positive about women in the speech. (Seriously, whenever you hear the word 'woman' or 'women' come out of GW's mouth, you just have to cringe at what might follow.) The emotional side of me, however, is still feeling a bit pandered to by the Culver campaign.

You see, a year ago Chet Culver was in a heated contest for the Gubernatorial primary against Mike Blouin (former Director of Economic Development who has recently been relieved of his duties in that state agency -- I can't imagine why Chet would do that, Mike! -- and has taken a post at the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation). Both Culver and Judge stirred the women's rights activists throughout the state by pointing out Blouin's issues with choice. It was arguably that one issue which brought Culver and Judge through the primary and into the general contest.

Further, when I attended the inauguration ceremonies in Des Moines earlier this month, I was asked by a priest during his invocation to "pray for those unborn, wishing to be citizens." WHAT?!? We have all these walking-around-outside-the-womb children dying overseas, but this man wants me to focus my attention on another woman's uterus?

In the budget speech, it is good to note that Culver honored the first woman Command Sergeant Major in the Iowa National Guard. Unfortunately, the honoring came too late for her to enjoy it. Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn Gabbard died following a helicopter crash in Iraq. Deepest condolences to her family.

While I don't expect every good thing coming out of Des Moines to be linked specifically to women, I would remind both Culver and our state legislators of Abigail Adams' words to her husband John:

"...in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors."

I can already tell there will be quite a few posts about Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby. It's not that I think she is such a bad person or even that she's a bad legislator, it's just that - in her new leadership position - she's going to be asked about everything and quoted all over the state.

This thought-provoking quote after yesterday's budget address by Gov. Chet Culver was reported by the Sioux City Journal:

"These are the things he talked about in the campaign and it's nice to see a governor that has some promises he's following through on," said Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby, R-Marion.

Was that an off-hand jab at our former governor and current 2008 presidential hopeful, Mary? Perhaps it was intended instead for Branstad?

This nugget of knowledge comes to us from Iowa Sen. Mary Lundby, courtesy of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. You see, it seems Iowa Sen. Dick Dearden still feels a bit testy about the 2001 smack-down former Gov. Tom Vilsack gave his bill which proposed a dove hunting season in Iowa. He plans -- in a year where majorities in both houses and the governor's office could lead to real progress in Iowa -- to re-introduce the bill with hopes new Gov. Culver will place pen to paper.

"My constituents overwhelmingly do not want to blow little mourning doves out of the air with a gun," [Lundby] said. "Hunters in Iowa are about six percent or less of the population, the rest of us spend millions of dollars a year buying bird seed." Of Dearden's plan, she added, "I think the Sen. Dearden has promised his gun friends and his dove-killing friends that he'd try again and he's trying again. I think he'll get shot down."

Here's hoping the pun was intended.

As much as I'd like to give cheers to Lundby for her stance, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole "dove-killing friends" line. Since I can't give cheers to either Lundby or Dearden on this one, I'm glad there was one more person quoted in the article:

"I hope not. We don't have to do that," [Senate Pres. Jack] Kibbie said when asked about the legislation's prospects. "I think we've got a lot more important things to do than the dove season."

Preach it, brother, preach it!

While this isn't necessarily political, it's important! While reading through today's Des Moines Register I came across this article on Project AWARE. Contained within was the following information:

On the Turkey and Wapsipinicon, the Raccoon and South Skunk, on the Iowa and Boone and Missouri rivers, Iowans took their nearby streams into their own hands, putting on gloves and leaping into the muck. "It's hard to describe the magic that goes on. There is a special breed of person that really cares about the environment," said KJ Rebarcak of rural Long Grove, who participated in last year's AWARE. Rebarcak was so inspired that along with friend Melisa Petersen she organized their own cleanup on the Wapsipinicon in Clinton County. She floated the same stretch of the river on her first paddling trip with Petersen five years ago and found it offered her peace, something you can't measure with hard figures. She could measure this: Last summer, 25 volunteers pulled an astounding 11,592 pounds of trash out of 22 Wapsi river miles.

We applaud Rebarcak, Petersen and all the wonderful volunteers who are caring for Iowa's environment!

During a recent survey hired out by the Legislature's Sustainable Natural Resource Funding Advisory Committee, 800 Iowans ranked pollution of rivers, lakes and streams as their number two priority. (The top slot went to lack of affordable healthcare.) While some are just beginning to understand the importance of Iowa's lands and rivers being clean, other Iowan's began doing something about it more than five years ago. That's when Project AWARE began with 35 hearty volunteers. This incentive will continue this year on the Raccoon River. More information is available by clicking the logo to the right or the link above.

Iowa is one of several states currently considering expanding health care coverage. The groundwork is currently being done by an Iowa legislative panel which is looking seriously at a formula of universal health care, similar to what Massachusetts now has in place.

Rep. Linda Miller (R-Bettendorf) is not only a legislator on the panel, but a nurse. She told Sioux City Journal today that "Iowans expect an effort to improve the health system:

"I've seen how the actual system currently works for people, and it's not very good," Miller said.

She said she doesn't believe the idea of universal health care coverage comes down to being a Republican or Democratic idea.

Miller emphasizes that universal health care and government control of health care sometimes are confused but are two separate issues.

"Having the government tell us how to practice medicine is not anybody's idea of universal health care," Miller said.

Kudos to Miller for seeing a problem and looking outside of her party's box for ways to fix it!

The vast majority of Iowans without health care coverage are young and employed (wages too low to buy into employee run health care services or work for employers who do not offer such a plan). While Iowa's rate of uninsured is smaller than than the national one, it remains a growing problem.

In today's Fort Dodge Messenger Iowa Rep. Helen Miler (D-Fort Dodge) provided some details about a bill she's working on which should benefit Iowa's working families.

One of the growing problems for working families is that the school day ends at roughly 3 p.m., but the work day doesn't. Almost one in three Iowa children of working families are unsupervised in the afternoons, according to the Afterschool Alliance. The data gathered by that group in 2005 showed just 11 percent of the children in working families are in afterschool programs, while 32 percent of them are "latchkey kids" with no adult supervision in the afternoon.

‘‘I do support (additional state funding) because I believe we have got to do something with these children,’’ said Rep. Miller.

She pointed out that Iowa leads the nation in the percentage of families in which both parents work — or, in single-parent households, in which the only parent works. Miller termed the hours after school a ‘‘huge chunk of time that children can get into trouble.’’

Miller went on to add a few details about a bill she plans to introduce. The bill would fund after-school art activities that tapped the skills students were learning in other classes. The thinking is that the legislature might be more prone to fund programs associated with school.

Although conventional wisdom has dictated that middle school children are involved in activities following the school day and, therefore, do not have the same needs of younger children, crime statistics have shown this not to be the case. Juvenile crime rates, according to Iowa Afterschool Alliance coordinator Rachel Scott, triple between 3 and 6 p.m.

On a national level

• Two in five middle school children (grades six to eight) in working families (40%) are unsupervised in the afternoons.
• 9.7 million children in working families who do not participate in afterschool programs would be likely to participate if a program were available.
• 14% of children, kindergarten through 12th grade, in working families attend afterschool programs, compared to 11% of all K-12 children. 19% of the children of single working mothers participate in afterschool programs.
• Just 7% of children in rural working families attend afterschool programs.
• 31% of Caucasian, 25% of African American and Hispanic, and 21% of Asian Pacific Islander children in working families are in self-care in the afternoons.

During the past year, the Iowa legislature has alloted $150,000 for afterschool programs. Advocates argue $4 million is needed.

Iowa State Rep. Sandy Greiner (R-Keota) told the Washington County Pork Producers that she will not seek re-election when her term expires in 2008. Why? According to Greiner, "the chips are down" and "our voices are not going to be heard."

In other words, Greiner only likes to play when she can be the leader. Sorry, hun, life doesn't always work that way and, if that's the only way you can do business, we're glad to see you take your toys and leave the sandbox.

Rep. Carmine Boal (R-Ankeny) recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Des Moines Register in which she attempted to spank the Iowa Democratic majority over HF 149, the antiharrassment and antibullying legislation. She fell quite short of her mark, however, when statements made in her piece are placed against the documents to which she refers.

Boal writes:

Upon researching the question, I found that in order to be accredited by the state of Iowa all public and non-public schools must have a student discipline policy addressing harassment per Iowa Administrative Code 281-12.

The truth is that Code 281-12 reads differently than what HF 149 proposed. Here is a section 12.5(8) -- which must be what Boal refers to since it appears to be the only language within the document which discusses harassment:

12.5(8) Multicultural and gender fair approaches to the educational program. The board shall establish a policy to ensure that students are free from discriminatory practices in the educational program as required by Iowa Code section 256.11. In developing or revising the policy, parents, students, instructional and noninstructional staff, and community members shall be involved. Each school or school district shall incorporate multicultural and gender fair goals for the educational program into its comprehensive school improvement plan. Incorporation shall include the following:

a. Multicultural approaches to the educational program. These shall be defined as approaches which foster knowledge of, and respect and appreciation for, the historical and contemporary contributions of diverse cultural groups, including race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, and socioeconomic background. The contributions and perspectives of Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, European Americans, and persons with disabilities shall be included in the program.

b. Gender fair approaches to the educational program. These shall be defined as approaches which foster knowledge of, and respect and appreciation for, the historical and contemporary contributions of women and men to society. The program shall reflect the wide variety of roles open to both women and men and shall provide equal opportunity to both sexes.

The overall thrust of Boal's argument against this piece of legislation isn't made evident in her writing until eight paragraphs into her piece. At that point, she encourages the reader to question why "the majority party" would want to list the "traits or characteristics upon which harassment or bullying can be based." Even here, however, Boal leads her readers to believe that the legislation has limited the traits and characteristics to only those listed. In truth, HF 149 reads:

b. "Trait or characteristic of the student" includes but is not limited to age, color, creed, national origin, race, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or disability, ancestry, political party preference, political belief, socioeconomic status, or familial status.

True to her GOP talking points, Boal seems poised to strike fear into the hearts of all Iowans based on a few key words within the legislation: "sex," "sexual orientation," "gender identity," and, perhaps, "political party preference" as well. I'm not sure why the GOP feels only certain Iowa students need protection from bullying. Shouldn't we be the state which paints with a broad brush when it comes to student safety? Obviously, for some in the Iowa legislature, student safety isn't a primary concern when it clashes with party ideology. Shame on them!

Finally, the one part of the bill which seemed to give Boal -- and we imagine most of her GOP counterparts pleasure -- was an amendment which allowed non-public to be immune to the new legislation.

Despite Boal's misgivings, the bill passed the House and has been sent to the Senate where it is now SF 61. Gov. Chet Culver has stated he will sign this legislation if it is passed by both houses.

Here's our shout out to the Iowa Senate: Iowa Administrative Code 281-12 already includes an exemption request process. Let all the non-public schools who wish to be accredited by the state explain in detail why they find some Iowa students not worth protecting.

Love her or hate her, few will argue with Lt. Gov. Patty Judge's tenacity. Someone, however, should have warned Iowa's new Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey that Judge doesn't limit herself by title.

On Saturday, Iowa was hit by a major winter event which caused widespread power outages throughout many counties. Governor Chet Culver, on the Hill at the time, contacted state officials immediately and began lobbying for states of emergency in various counties to protect the people of Iowa. It seems Patty, knowing Iowans themselves were in good hands, reached back to her own agricultural roots to contact livestock groups including the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

According to officials at the IPPA, Judge contacted their offices early Sunday and offered the state's help to their livestock producers and wanted their help in identifying losses and damage. At that point, the group estimated nearly 110,000 rural electric cooperative customers remained without power and anticipated the agricultural losses to be high.

Such 'taking the bull by the horns' initiative appears to have rubbed Northey the wrong way. Upon learning of Judge's early contacts to the livestock producers, a person in the freshman official's office said Northey contacted key reporters to ensure he would be associated with the assistance coming to the rural families and farmers.

Northey spent most of Monday at the state's emergency operations center, where he could keep a close eye on the power outages and be available to reporters. As a side note, producers in need of generators can call (515) 281-5798; those who are suffering massive livestock casualties should phone their local Emergency Management Agency, county sheriff's department or the ag desk at the State Emergency Operations Center, (515) 323-4267.

As of this morning, Iowa's Rural Electric Co-ops estimated 40,000 customers remain without power. In total the storm left more than 4,000 electrical poles and unknown numbers of power lines in its wake. While the group is working to restore power as quickly as possible, some rural customers will not see relief for 10-12 days. Unfortunately for everyone another winter storm is expected to sweep through the state on Wednesday evening.

Three high school girls from a New York City suburb were suspended for saying the word "vagina" during a reading of The Vagina Monologues. According to the school's principal Richard Leprine, the word was not appropriate at a community event open to children. (I know there's a pun in there somewhere...)

Eve Ensler, author of the play, has surfaced to defend the girls and use of the word for female genitalia.

According to reports in the Des Moines Register last weekend Iowa Rep. Janet Petersen took a few moments -- during labor -- to speak on the phone with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Two hours following the phone call, the legislator gave birth to a healthy son, Buck Henry (7 lbs, 3 oz.).

Not only do we send kudos to the entire Petersen family, but we're very impressed with Janet's ability to multitask!

Newspapers in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Michigan have pulled conservative commentator Ann Coulter's syndicated column following her comments at the CPAC, according to an article at Fox News. In addition, it was reported that three companies - Verizon, Sallie Mae and NetBank - have dropped their advertising from Coulter's site.

You'd think Ann would have learned a few things following the "spawn of satan" comment. which got her dropped from USA Today.

Prominent feminist and long time abortion activist Kate Michelman has not only endorsed former Sen. John Edwards, she took to the stage at a California rally to assert "as a lawyer, as a husband, as a father of two daughters, he understand the reality of women's lives. He understands the centrality of women's lives and experience to the health and well-being of society as a whole... He understands that on an extremely personal level."

Needless to say, the comments weren't met with only cheers. Some have commented that just as Toni Morrison christened Bill Clinton the first black president, Michelman is attempting to dub Edwards our first woman president. It is obvious to most, however, that Michelman still has a difficult time swallowing Clinton's 2005 speech.

Despite what you might have read in email this week, staring at a woman's breasts is not a form of exercise which will add years to your life.

I was just over at the DMR looking at the total list of bills which survived funnel week when I spotted this:

"Banning hunting of live animals with an Internet hookup"

Wow. Granted I'm not the most savvy person when it comes to the latest advances in hunting, but this one had me Googling. Nope. I didn't find one survival tip on how to use your net connection to bag a buck.

Re-Reading... banning hunting of live animals with an Internet hookup... Hmmm

I realize Iowa has an alarming deer population. Most any given morning, you can see a family or two while running along the Des Moines river trail. So, yes, we and the deer are kinda co-habitating the same spaces. I had no idea, however, that the deer (or any other animals) had net access. If they do, I think someone should look into it. No doubt those furry critters are snagging someone's wifi.

Anyone want to enlighten me as the to the true nature of this, no doubt, highly important piece of legislation?

A group of 20 women from the University of Iowa are spending spring break in Louisiana, but it's not what you think.

The group is working through Volunteers of America of North Louisiana to spend their vacation helping Hurricane Katrina evacuees living in Shreveport. They have recently been working on a Habitat for Humanity home in Bossier City and have also spent time in local food banks.

The Shreveport Times has a brief article about the Iowa students along with a photo of them working in the food bank.

There's a quick and interesting read in the Quad City paper today about one of Iowa's newest Democratic Congressmen, Bruce Braley. It seems that Braley, a freshman from Iowa's first district, chaired a House meeting. While this may not seem like a big deal, the article states that historians at the paper "could not find any Iowa freshman to chair a subcommittee back to at least 1959."

EE is also happy to note that the 'initial chairing' was done in order to take testimony from female business owners in reference to the difficulties they've faced in winning federal contracts. The hearing coincided with the Women's Chamber of Commerce conference. Braley has stated that he plans to push government agencies to lower barriers and reach out to female-owned companies, especially those in the midwest.

We'll be holding you to that promise, Bruce!

While everyone knows we Iowans are all about the warm fuzzies, yesterday's Vilsack endorsement of the Clinton Campaign may have been less about the fuzz and more about the dough.

According to a post at the NY Times, the Clinton Campaign has agreed to help 'erase' at least a portion of the $430,000 debt Tom Vilsack accumulated in his own Presidential bid. The politicians are pointing to past personal connections (Christie Vilsack's brother, Tom Bell, served with Clinton on the Watergate Committee), but the public doesn't seem to be convinced.

A random poll of four people on the streets of downtown Cedar Rapids this morning showed that while all believed the endorsement was done for monetary gain, none found it shocking. "It's politics," said one woman while she laughed and walked away. "What do you expect?"

Another gentleman lamented the irony of Vilsack's recent calls for clean elections and grassroots politics while planning to back "one of the largest political machines in the world."

Iowans still remember when Vilsack took employment opportunities with MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. as a consultant on renewable energy and Drake University Law School as a visiting professor. In short, Iowans know their former Governor was not left penniless when he walked out of Terrace Hill two months ago.

While it will still be interesting to view the financial papers filed by the Vilsack and Clinton campaigns at the end of the month (made available April 15), don't expect any big revelations as to where the money came from and where it went. Chances are, the strategists have already decided not to let loose any funds until after the March 31st deadline, ensuring nothing will be reported until the next cycle. Even then, it will probably be buried under salaries, with Vilsack then paying his vendors from his private pockets. (Wonder how much a national chairman and Iowa Co-Chairwoman make?) The campaigns are no doubt hoping that most will forget by mid-summer and no one will take the time to dig deep enough to make the connections.

Those interested may also wish to view the two letters Tom Vilsack signed recently. The first requests money for his own campaign and the second requests the same for the Clinton campaign. The first letter went into the mail late last week and the second was an email blast by the Clinton Campaign just moments after the endorsement was official.

Be sure to read the second and let us know your thoughts on this statement:

Today, Christie and I made a contribution to Hillary's campaign, and we did it for two reasons.

Does that say/read what I think it says/reads?

Not much time today, but we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the great work which has been accomplished.

As you may have read in today's Register, the Iowa Pharmacy Examiners Board has dropped a proposed conscientious objection clause which would have allowed a pharmacist to refuse to fill any prescription on moral or ethical grounds.

The board voted unanimously to withdraw the section after hundreds of Iowans wrote letters against it. While we at EE would love to take credit for the surge of interest, the applause belongs primarily to Planned Parenthood. If you are inclined to offer more than your thanks, please consider stopping by the PP Spring Book Sale in the 4-H Building on the State Fairgrounds sometime between now and 6 p.m. on Monday. Proceeds will be used to support the education and community outreach programs.

While the section has been set aside for now, don't count it on it staying that way forever.

State regulators said they plan to revisit the issue. They also said the matter could wind up in the Legislature.

I thought only non-traditional media (you know, us evil bloggers) would be capable of doing something so entirely unethical. I was, obviously, mistaken.

Greg Sargent reported late Wednesday morning he had found some differences between an Associated Press article written by David Espo as it appeared in many print publications as compared to how it appeared in the New York Post.

The Post rendition was apparently altered so the conservative-leaning and Rupert Murdoch-funded paper could carry an article "more appropriate" for their target audience. The edits, however, were discovered and AP journalist Espo is denying he wrote anything closely related to the Post's version.

A few hours later, there was a post at Brad Blog about a headline and content switch on the UPI and Washington Times.

Not too long ago I sent an email to Lyn which read:

Lyn, Carter's making waves. You should blog about it.

To which I received the following reply:

Still busy with Scouts. You do it. :-)

So... you get the non-hard-news-writer today. My apologies up front.

There's an article on Yahoo! News from Reuters which discusses former Pres. Jimmy Carter "blasting" George W. Bush's presidency as "the worst in history" in international relations.. AND denouncing British Prime Minister Tony Blair as little more than a Bush lap dog.

You know, outside of the fact that it's former Pres. Jimmy Carter saying it, I'm not really sure what's so news-worthy here. Carter says nothing I haven't overheard in the check-out line at the Hy-Vee for well over a year. (And I can tell you that you DO NOT want to know what the fellows at the corner donut shop are saying if this little piece of Carter news upsets you.)

The funniest part? The White House has nothing to say. Instead, they let the RNC take pokes at Carter. Once again I'm reminded of that Steve Martin movie, "Leap of Faith." It's obvious the White House doesn't wish to provoke a man of real faith and prefers to allow the 'underlings' do the job.

...

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a telephone interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from the Carter Center in Atlanta.

"The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including (those of) George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me," Carter told the newspaper.

...

"Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient," Carter said when asked how he would characterize Blair's relationship with Bush.

And that's only a taste.

The Bill Richardson campaign, which is working to strengthen its ground game here in Iowa with additional field staff, has endured a bittersweet weekend.

On Saturday, a New Mexico Gold Star Mom, De'on Miller of Lovington, NM, accused Richardson of misrepresenting interaction between them at her son's memorial service in May 2004. Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin served in the U.S. Marines and lost his life in Anbar province, Iraq.

On Sunday, a Des Moines Register poll showed the Governor at 10 percent when likely Democratic caucus goers were asked to identify their first choice for president.

On Monday, using both English and Spanish, Richardson officially entered the presidential race at a press conference held in Los Angeles. In Spanish he told supporters, "With pride, I hope to be the first Latino president of the United States." The declaration prompted cheers from the Spanish-speaking attendees.

Later that same day, however, the Republican Party of New Mexico issued a press release in reference to the mother's statements.

"Gov. Richardson's lack of respect for Aaron's sacrifice is absurd, and I emphatically join Aaron's mother in demanding an apology from him for the way he has treated this family and this fallen marine," Chairman Allen Weh said in the release.

Richardson's Iowa Communications Director Tom Reynolds, who had not read the GOP release, responded to a paraphrase of the above quote that he was "disgusted" the Republican Party would use another person's grief for political gain.

"It is horrible what was happening to our National Guard members," he said. "The Governor - and most Americans - thought it was horrible when National Guard members gave their lives for our country the families they left behind were receiving $11,000. Gov. Richardson was the first governor to act to change that - first boosting the death benefit to $250,000. It now sits at $400,000. That's nearly a 40-fold increase.

"I believe the Republican Party is missing the forest for the trees."

While no one contradicts the fact that Richardson attended the service, the mom does disagree with Richardson's account of their private meeting on that day. The mom contends that she only spoke a few words to Richardson during the service when the Governor presented her with the flag and never mentioned money.

Richardson, who has often provided accounts of the meeting during campaign speeches, contends she thanked him for the initial death benefits she had received. While campaign staff and the Governor have publicly acknowledged sometimes confusing details of the story -- for instance, mis-stating the soldier's name -- they stand by the overall statement of events. Those events, according to Richardson, inspired him to push for legislation that made New Mexico the first state to underwrite $250,000 in life insurance for National Guard members.

"That's really the big picture," Reynolds said. "The governor has never had anything but praise and admiration for Lance Cpl. Austin's family. He doesn't want to take anything away from the sacrifice Austin and his family have made on behalf of this country."

Miller, despite subsequent reports of her showing Richardson an envelope during their conversation at the memorial service, has issued a forceful request that the Governor refrain from using her or her son's name in future speeches.

"The increased death benefit is one of the Governor's key accomplishments," Reynolds said. "He is very proud of his work on that and we're not going to shy away from his record of accomplishments."

His accomplishments, Reynolds said, are just one of the reasons the Governor's campaign is beginning to resonate with Iowans.

"We were extremely pleased with the poll results," Reynolds said. "We expected a push following his visits to the state and we expect him to continue to increase as more people get to know him and his record. We firmly believe he is best suited to lead our country.

"The ads have also been important because they have reflected the Governor's personality and have themes to which most people can relate. I mean, we've all been in those types of situations.

"Finally, we are gaining more traction as we are placing more staff in the field across the state."

Richardson, 59, has been New Mexico's governor since 2003. He also represented the state in Congress (eight times), was U.N. ambassador and served as President Bill Clinton's energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations. Richardson was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times. His next trip into Iowa is scheduled for the weekend of June 2 when Richardson is scheduled to speak at the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame dinner.

There's a great piece in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier today about Iowa's four youngest state lawmakers.

It's the ideas of and the work among these under-30 Democratic legislators - Reps. McKinley Bailey of Webster City; Elesha Gayman of Davenport; Tyler Olson of Cedar Rapids; and Andrew Wenthe of Hawkeye - that will allow Iowa to turn the corner in defeating our brain-drain issue.

From 1995 to 2000, nearly 30,000 people between the ages of 25 and 34 left Iowa, according to the US Census. Nebraska, North Dakota, and other nearby states have faced similar losses, but none to the extent of Iowa. In fact, Iowa leads the nation in number of 20-somethings crossing the border in search of greener pastures.

M.E. Spregelmeyer from Rocky Mountain News has put together a group of bloggers for tonight's Democratic presidential debate on PBS. I'll be joining John Deeth, Jason Bane, Mike Hlas and, of course, Sprengelmeyer and will attempt provide intelligent representation for politically-minded women out there. (HA!)

Those who want to follow-along or type-along -- and goodness knows what might actually happen once this group is assembled -- should click over to the debate post. Watch the comment section and reload the page for all the latest.

Is it actually live blogging if your only watching through the television? I mean, I am alive and blogging. If I search hard enough I'm sure there's some cute catch-phrase for blogging an event on television. (boob tube blogging?)

Today, Stand Up For Steel, a coalition of the United Steelworkers Union and America's major integrated steel companies, launched a print ad campaign in Iowa in an attempt to bring attention to our nation's lagging manufacturing base.

"On July 4, as America is celebrating its independence, we're becoming less independent," Terrence Straub, senior vice president of public policy and government affairs for U.S. Steel Corporation, said in a prepared release. "Our manufacturing jobs continue to disappear while this country increasingly relies on countries like China to provide products previously made in the United States.

"As we lose our independence, our national security is at stake. Specialized products such as titanium, nickel-based alloys and specialty steels are vitally important to the U.S. military platform, but our unwillingness to hold countries that cheat accountable on their unfair trading practices is eroding our ability to produce these products here at home."

The U.S. trade deficit with China was $84 billion in 2000. It currently stands at over $225 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Such increases in the deficit are having devastating impacts on trade laws through illegal subsidies, currency manipulation and dumping, says Straub. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports American manufacturing loses 49,000 jobs each month; more than 3 million since 2000.

China issued a new steel policy in 2005 and indicated it would continue to own and subsidize steel industry production and control fundamental aspects of the industry. The United States is China's number one target for their steel exports, according to their National Development and Reform Commission, a subject of the Committee on Ways and Means in February.

"In this campaign, we're urging voters to talk with the candidates about the national security implications of losing our manufacturing base," Thomas Conway, international vice president for United Steelworkers, said. "Our next President must commit to strong enforcement of our trade laws to ensure a level playing field for American workers. When America loses jobs due to unfair trade practices, America loses its ability to produce the materials that it needs to defend itself.

"This country has preserved freedom around the world on the backs of the men and women who work in our factories -- the same factories that are being closed because no one is forcing China to play by the rules."

Recent poll results show the issue of trade, manufacturing and the national security implications of our eroding industrial base are important to Iowa voters. Both Republicans and Democrats in Iowa rate manufacturing job loss, the trade deficit, and the China threat as serious concerns for this election.

The ads feature the above graphic and read as follows:

Today, we need to celebrate our independence, not lose it.

(Tell the Presidential candidates America deserves a real Independence Day.)

We hear a lot about national security from our Presidential candidates -- but none of them will tell you that one day we may depend on foreign manufacturers for our national security.

That's right -- as America increasingly depends on foreign-built products, our manufacturing base continues to erode. The same manufacturing base that supplies the equipment our troops need to keep America safe.

This Independence Day, Americans need to ask our Presidential candidates to do more than just talk a good game and sit on their hands while China and other countries cheat on our trade laws with illegal subsidies, currency manipulation and dumping.

They're taking America's jobs -- 49,000 a month in manufacturing alone.

Today is the day we're supposed to celebrate our independence. But every year, we're becoming less independent.

Tell our Presidential candidates that America needs to start enforcing the trade laws and safeguarding our national security.

After all, what better day than today to start standing up for America's independence?