Tag: Iowa

Iowa governor who declared victory over coronavirus now quarantining after White House visit

AlterNet logoThe day before Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds took a big coronavirus victory lap at the White House last week, she collaborated with four other Republican governors on writing a Washington Post op-ed in which they effectively declared “mission accomplished.”

Now Reynolds is undergoing a modified quarantine plan after being exposed to a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence who tested positive for COVID-19 last week. It’s quite a turn for Reynolds, whose White House visit was intended to reassure Americans that the spike in outbreaks at meatpacking plants wouldn’t disrupt the nation’s food supply chain.

Of course, part of ensuring those meatpacking plants continue to be operational is a tag-team effort by Trump and Reynolds to make sure certain employees at those plants don’t have the same option to stay home if they don’t feel it’s safe to go to work. Trump finally pulled the trigger on the Defense Production Act at the end of April to force meatpacking plants to remain open no matter how dangerous the working conditions were. Around the same time, Reynolds announced she would strip unemployment benefits from workers in the state who declined to return to work. In other words, “endanger your life or starve,” as one employment attorney put it. Continue reading.

Trump has no China trade pact, but he does have a signing location in mind

2020 battleground state of Iowa is president’s preferred spot

President Donald Trump gave no indication Friday he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are closer to signing a “Phase One” trade pact, but he does have a place in mind where a signing event for it could happen — a battleground state that has borne the brunt of the U.S.-China trade war.

“It could even be in Iowa,” he told reporters on the White House South Lawn as he departed for a campaign rally in Mississippi. “I would do it in the U.S. He would too,” he added, speaking for Xi.

Trump contended that Iowa is a “possibility” because the deal would be a windfall for farmers. As the president has escalated the trade conflict with China, Iowa has seen a drop-off in exports there of two of its biggest sources of income: pork and soybeans.

View the complete November 1 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

Iowa went big for Trump, but there are signs its voters are souring on the president

The following article by David Weigel was posted on the Washington Post website January 1, 2018:

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio gives the keynote speech at Progress Iowa’s holiday party last month in Des Moines. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

DES MOINES — As Republicans celebrated their tax bill passing Congress late last month, Iowa Democrats raised a toast of their own. Candidates for Congress and governor, gathered at the annual Progress Iowa holiday party, took turns recapping a year of sinking GOP poll numbers and Democratic ­special-election wins — the “waking of a sleeping bear,” they said.

“If Trump were to run again, he’d be in deep trouble,” said Janet Petersen, the leader of Iowa’s Senate Democrats. “A dog bites you the first time, it’s not your fault. The second time it bites you, it’s your own damn fault.” Continue reading “Iowa went big for Trump, but there are signs its voters are souring on the president”