They said it couldn’t be done, but this Heartland progressive has pushed Senator Chuck Grassley down to 49 percent, just 9 points ahead of me in a head-to-head matchup.
They said it couldn’t be done, but this Heartland progressive has pushed Senator Chuck Grassley down to 49 percent, just 9 points ahead of me in a head-to-head matchup.
Read more here.
We moved this race 12 points in three months and I haven’t even launched any paid media yet.
We can win. Last quarter we stunned the political world when we out-raised Senator Grassley and our campaign has not accepted one penny from a PAC or a Washington lobbyist.
We need progressives across the country to jump onboard. Tell your friends and family. Blog about us. Make a contribution or encourage others to make a contribution.
Our momentum is being felt across Iowa. I have held town-hall meetings in all 99 counties and volunteers are calling voters day and night.
I have included my orange-to-blue survey responses in this diary and will stick around for a little while this morning to talk with you.
----------- Orange to Blue Survey -------------------
1. Do you support:
a) A public health insurance option, offered by the federal government and tied to Medicare reimbursement rates plus 5% (H.R. 3200 § 223, as introduced in the House)?
b) The Public Option Act (H.R. 4789), which would allow all citizens to buy into Medicare?
I support a public option and agree that citizens should be able to buy into Medicare. I believe competition can be a means for regulating the market.
Currently, the insurance industry is exempt from anti-trust laws. Just two industries have this exemption, insurance and baseball. I’m really not that concerned with baseball but giving this exemption to insurance is insane. That’s why I support repealing the McCarran-Ferguson law.
2. Do you support the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409/S. 560), including the provision known as "card check"?
Yes. How many times do workers need to say they want to join a union before an employer believes it? The status quo is unacceptable and unfairly favors the interests of corporate CEOs and management. Employees should have the right to form a union if they want one. Once a worker signs a card indicating that he or she wants to join a union, that is equivalent to voting. Forcing an election gives unscrupulous employers the opportunity to intimidate workers against voting for the union by direct and indirect threats of retaliation.
3. Do you support a repeal of the policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (10 U.S.C. § 654)?
Yes. I support full-equality for every American and was proud to sign a brief in support of same-sex marriage in Iowa’s landmark Varnum Case, which made marriage legal for all couples.
4. Do you agree that any immigration reform bill should:
a) Contain a meaningful path to citizenship - one that does not include overly-punitive fines or a touchback requirement - for law-abiding undocumented immigrants currently in the United States;
b) Ensure that expanded legal permanent immigration, rather than expansion of temporary worker programs, serves as the United States' primary external answer to workforce shortages; and
c) Ensure that any non-agricultural temporary worker programs maintain current caps on the total number of non-agricultural temporary worker visas issued, and also include a meaningful prevailing wage requirement keyed to the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act?
We need a comprehensive immigration reform that brings people out of the shadows and makes all of our communities safer. Those living here illegally should be encouraged to pay a fine, have a criminal background check and earn legal status. Our immigration policies should be based on our population and economic indicators. I don’t favor expanding legal permanent immigration that gives preference to immigrants who are closer to the border. We must ensure the non-agricultural temporary workers are treated fairly under the same laws as citizens.
5. Do you think Congress should act to suspend regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency?
No, the court has ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate these emissions under the Clean Air Act.
6. If elected to the House, do you pledge not to join the Blue Dog Coalition?
I am not a Blue Dog.
7. If elected to the Senate, do you pledge to restore majority rule to the Senate and work/vote to end the filibuster?
I would work toward reforming the filibuster rules to ensure fairness. I would co-sponsor Senator Harkin’s bill to scale down the number of votes it takes to end a filibuster. And I would certainly work to end holds like the one Sen. Shelby placed on appointments and Sen. Bunning placed on the extension of unemployment benefits.
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Twitter: @RoxanneConlin