Tag: Iowa

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Iowa: Ben Carson Ties Donald Trump in New Monmouth University Poll

Guess who’s going to be the next target for Mr. Trump?

Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson has surged in Iowa to pull into a dead heat with Donald Trump among likely Iowa Republican caucus goers.

Both Carson and Trump received 23 percent of likely caucusgoers’ support, according to the latest Monmouth University poll.

However, Carson leads Trump on favorability – Carson notches an 81% favorable rating while The Donald is down at 52%.

Coming in behind the two front runners, 10% of likely caucusgoers threw their support to Carly Fiorina, 9% to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and just 7% for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R).

At the end of the day (or this day at least) what does this all mean? That the top 3 GOP hopefuls are all non-politicians. That Republicans, at least in Iowa, are tired of career pols and want to maybe try something new?

According to a recent Gallup poll, a dismal 14% of Americans approve of the job the GOP-led Congress is doing.

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Sen. Ted Cruz Defends LGBT Discrimination Via “Religious Liberty” To Actress Ellen Page

Sen. Ted Cruz got catch in a heated exchange with out actress Ellen Page at the Iowa State Fair over “religious liberty” laws which become a license to discriminate against LGBTs.

Page began by asking the senator, who was wearing an apron and grilling pork chops, his opinion on Americans losing their jobs for “just strictly being gay or trans.”

“What we’re seeing right now, we’re seeing Bible-believing Christians being persecuted for living according to their faith,” Cruz said.

“For discriminating against LGBT people,” Page responded.

“Now I’m happy to answer your question, but not to have a back-and-forth debate,” said Cruz.

Cruz brought up Dick and Betty Odgaard, an Iowa couple who stopped renting their art gallery for weddings after a long legal battle for refusing to host a same-sex wedding. “No one has the right to force someone else to abandon their faith and their conscience,” Cruz said.

The presidential hopeful also pivoted to bring up the serious anti-gay oppression is occurring in Islamic states. “ISIS is executing gay people, Iran is executing homosexuals, and on the left you hear complete silence about Iran hanging homosexuals,” he said.

I would disagree that there has been silence on the issue of LGBTs being killed by ISIS.

In the end, this stands as what may be the most substantive discussion on LGBT rights in the presidential campaign thus far.

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Conservative Radio Host Suggests Slavery As An Answer To Illegal Immigration

This week, Iowa-based conservative radio host Jan Mickelson took to the airwaves to share HIS solution to illegal immigration in the United States – “compelled labor,” or, something commonly known as slavery.

Mickelson is an extreme right-wing WHO Radio host and a close ally of Rep. Steve King of Iowa.

On his Monday morning radio show, Mickelson broke down his approach – instead of rounding up every undocumented worker in Iowa, he’d simply put up signs warning undocumented workers to get out or become indentured slaves.

Via Mediaite (emphasis added):

I would put them on the end of the highway, on western part of the interstate system, and I’d put them on the eastern side of the state, right there on the interstate system, and in the north on the Minnesota border, and on the south Kansas and Missouri border and I would just say this: “As of this date… 30 to 60 days from now anyone who is in the state of Iowa that who is not here legally and who cannot demonstrate their legal status to the satisfaction of the local and state authorities here in the State of Iowa, become property of the State of Iowa.” So if you are here without our permission, and we have given you two months to leave, and you’re still here, and we find that you’re still here after we we’ve given you the deadline to leave, then you become property of the State of Iowa. And we have a job for you. And we start using compelled labor, the people who are here illegally would therefore be owned by the state and become an asset of the state rather than a liability and we start inventing jobs for them to do.

[…] We’re going to invite the illegal Mexicans and illegal aliens to build [a border wall]. If you have come across the border illegally, again give them another 60-day guideline: “You need to go home and leave this jurisdiction, and if you don’t you become property of the United States, and guess what? You will be building a wall. We will compel your labor. You would belong to these United States. You show up without an invitation, you get to be an asset. You get to be a construction worker. Cool!”

Later in the radio show, a caller asked if this sounded a lot like slavery. Mickelson’s completely sober answer?

“Well, what’s wrong with slavery?”

Head over to Mediaite to hear Mickelson calmly explain his plan.

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Rick Santorum Finds One Lone Attendee At Iowa Campaign Event

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum arrived at an Iowa campaign event where he was greeted by just one lone face.

Via Raw Story:

The Des Moines Register reported that Santorum decided to order lunch when he saw that Audubon County Republican Party Chair Peggy Toft was his entire audience at a restaurant in Hamlin.

“I haven’t eaten, actually, all day,” the candidate told Toft.

By the time his meal of tenderloin and onion rings showed up, so had three other voters, according to the Register.

At a small table in the restaurant, Santorum explained to Pastor Glen Meyers and the other listeners that same-sex marriage was threat to the family and religious liberty.

“This is where the left is saying, ‘Here is what your belief system should be, and anyone who does not toe the line, you’re a hater, you’re a bigot, you’re intolerant and you will not be tolerated,’” he insisted.

Santorum said that low turnout was all part of his plan.

“People don’t understand. One guy in there said, ‘I’ll speak for you at the caucus,’” he remarked. “That’s maybe eight votes that you wouldn’t otherwise get. Eight votes can make a big difference, as I know.”

#Bless #RoughToBeRick

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Poll: Majority Of Iowans Now Support Same-Sex Marriage

A new PPP poll shows for the first time a majority of Iowa voters (50%) support marriage equality versus 41% who are opposed.

Every age group except seniors supports it and even with them favor for gay marriage has hit the 40% mark.

80% of voters in the state say that gay marriage being legal has either had a positive impact on their lives or none at all, with only 20% claiming it’s had a negative impact.

Even among the minority of voters who remain opposed to gay marriage, 55% admit it hasn’t actually had any dire effect on their lives.

Bolding is mine 🙂

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Iowa: Gay Man Thanks Hillary Clinton For Her Support On Marriage Equality

Hillary Clinton’s campaign shares this clip of Mike Yowell having coffee this week with Hillary in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

“I was thrilled when you recently urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of marriage equality. I was like ‘That’s our gal.'”

Hillary was my girl in 2008. And she’s my girl this election cycle.

Oral arguments on the issue of same-sex marriage at SCOTUS are scheduled for April 28th.

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Iowa state court overturns conviction of HIV criminalization case

Good news for HIV+ folks in Iowa.

In 2009, Nick Rhoades was sentenced to 25 years in prison and was to be required to register as a sex offender for life,  after having a one-time sexual encounter using a condom at a time when his viral load was undetectable,

The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed that ruling.

Via press release from Lambda Legal:

In reversing the conviction, the Court recognized that HIV-positive individuals who have a reduced viral load as a result of effective treatment pose little risk of transmitting HIV.

“We applaud the Court for applying the law in light of current medical understanding of how HIV is and is not transmitted,” said Christopher Clark, Counsel for Lambda Legal. “An individual who takes precautions to prevent transmission should not be considered a criminal for choosing to be sexually active, and we are very pleased that the Court agrees.”

Justice Wiggins wrote for the majority opinion: “Based on the state of medicine both now and at the time of the plea in 2009, we are unable to take judicial notice that an infected individual can transmit HIV, regardless of an infected individual’s viral load, when that individual engages in protected anal or unprotected oral sex with an uninfected person.”

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Five years of marriage equallity in Iowa

Today is the five year anniversary of marriage equality in Iowa.

Five fantastic years! And for the naysayers – I checked and, nope, the sky has not fallen yet.

Freedom To Marry shares this beautiful first-person essay by David Twombley, who along with with his longtime partner Larry Hoch, five other same-sex couples, and Lambda Legal succeeded with their lawsuit in Iowa back in 2008 seeking the freedom to marry.

It seems impossible that nearly five years have gone by since our historic win for marriage equality in the Iowa Supreme Court. It’s wonderful to know that Larry and I have been married for five years this coming September.

What an incredible journey this has been. We both are often asked if we would do it again – the fight for equality, as well as getting married at all – and our response is always the same: “In a heart beat.” I know, personally, I would never have missed any of the years of planning and hoping.

Two of the strongest memories for me were the day of the hearing before the Supreme Court and the feeling following that we were going to win our lawsuit. Call it intuition or a hunch, but I think it was the tenor of the questions asked each side by the Justices and the answers that they received.

I know I was very optimistic, and I never lost that feeling.

The second memory, and the strongest: We had been sequestered from the press the morning the decision was to be announced – April 3, 2009 – we did not know the outcome as we came into the room to hear the official announcement. As we came in, I saw our good friends, Betty & Bruce Hunter, and Betty was crying when she looked at me.

My initial reaction was that we had lost the case! Of course, I found out soon that it was tears of happiness. My heart was beating so hard before Camilla Taylor made that wonderful announcement that we had been successful. I was squeezing Larry’s hand so hard – I’m glad I didn’t break any bones! The phone calls, e-mails and all other support we received were incredible.

It is a humble feeling to know that Larry and I are part of civil rights history in Iowa – and it is exciting to see the nation continue to move closer and closer to a future where same-sex couples across the country, in every state, can share in the happiness that Larry and I have shared for five years.

More Iowa marriage equality happiness below!

(via TRR reader Paul)

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NOM’s Brian Brown is mad about Iowa campaign finance investigation

“The National Organization for Marriage has violated no campaign finance rules in Iowa, and we decry the decision by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board to open an investigation.

“This inquiry is a witch hunt spawned by a delusional homosexual activist who fancies himself becoming the president of the United States and who is a serial filer of frivolous allegations against us whenever we stand up for traditional marriage. The complaint is another attempt to shut down criticism of activist judges and politicians who wish to redefine marriage.

“We are concerned about the continual use of the legal system by Karger and other homosexual marriage advocates who are intent on denying us and the people of Iowa their civil rights to defend marriage as God created it.” – Hate group leader Brian Brown

I posted yesterday that NOM is now under investigation for possible campaign finance improprieties. Again.