Chuck Schumer has failed us.

Still upset about no power of the purse language. You truly do hate to see it. The Trump admin undertook the most expansive set of illegal budgetary actions of any president in history, and broadcast as loudly as possible they’d keep doing it, and nothing. Budgetary lawlessness.

🫡 Big fan of the BBC's coverage of autocracies abroad and I'm glad the director has values even if the upper leadership doesn't

Is hell freezing over? For context: Keosauqua is in one of the reddest counties in #IA01. It's a pretty long drive from any large city and not part of any major Iowa media market (it's in the Ottumwa/Kirksville MO market). I'm not able to attend. Hope someone records this.

I was worried, but: "When I became a senior judge in 2013, my successor was appointed, so my resignation will not create a vacancy to be filled by the president."

Obviously, a great album for every generation. I do think it helped that "The Chain" (their best song IMO) was featured in Guardians of the Galaxy.

How did a pro-labor Democratic woman defeat a long-serving Republican incumbent in a city that's trended red? I spoke to Council Bluffs Mayor-elect Jill Shudak this week. Other candidates could learn a lot from her approach and focus on local concerns. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/08/h...

This is pure 100% Protocols-style antisemitism and she is the most popular and most powerful antisemite in America. And the ADL has unilaterally disarmed against the most virulent threat to Jewish well-being.

News: Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen appointed Gregg Rosenbladt chief judge of Iowa's 2nd judicial district today. www.iowacourts.gov/collections/... Former Chief Judge Adria Kester resigned yesterday; earlier this week she was charged with OWI: apnews.com/article/iowa...

New post by Douglas Burns @douglaswburns.bsky.social: Through an intimate and intuitive sense of his fellow rural Iowans, Art Cullen comes to understand what other journalists miss. He describes where Iowa is now with breathtaking clarity. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/07/a...

NEW: Republicans went all in on anti-trans messaging for the 2025 election, inspired by Trump’s “Kamala is for they/them” ad It didn’t work — and now Republicans are trying to figure out why Democrats, meanwhile, learned how to respond to this messaging www.notus.org/2025-electio...

This is a great deal for Republicans, since it would push the ACA cost hikes until after the midterms. On a purely political calculus, would be malpractice not to take this.

On Tuesday Jill Shudak became the first woman elected mayor of Council Bluffs, Iowa, a city of about 63,000 people across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska. She thinks homelessness was one of the biggest campaign issues and outlined her vision here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3hW...

I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved. www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...

New post: Herb Strentz compares Donald Trump's governing style to Nero, the emperor who supposedly fiddled while Rome burned. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/06/s...

Jeanine Pirro bragging in August that she just arrested Sandwich Guy and was going to teach him a lesson in court.

Wow, huge credit to Katie and the rest of the nutrition team at @centeronbudget.bsky.social. USDA has now issued revised numbers because CBPP caught them either accidentally or intentionally making huge errors that would severely underfund SNAP, in direct violation of court orders.

New post by Randy Evans: Iowa's publicly elected school boards erode the trust and confidence of their constituents each time they choose to shroud controversies with secrecy. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/06/w...

Happy Iowa wildflower Wednesday! This week Katie Byerly features Smooth blue aster, a native plant that provides a late summer treat for the pollinators. She also explains one easy trick for identifying these asters. #Iowa #wildflowers #nativeplants www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/05/i...

New post by Johnson County Supervisor Mandi Remington: This administration is using hunger as a weapon, denying food to our most vulnerable to get its way. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/05/w...

One interesting element that came up a couple of times in the tariffs oral argument today is conservative fear that a Dem president could use Trump's tariffs powers to tackle climate change

Julie Gammack, Lyle Muller, and I talked Iowa election takeaways this morning. Although city and school board elections don't always foreshadow the next midterm, I'd be feeling nervous today if I were Zach Nunn #IA03. Dems had good results in DSM suburbs. laurabelin.substack.com/p/iowa-elect...

"... the best explanation for 2025 is that voters didn’t know what they were getting with Trump 2.0 last November, but now they do — and they don’t like it." @gelliottmorris.com

Congratulations to Jill Shudak, who defeated an incumbent to become the next mayor of Council Bluffs, Iowa. (City elections are nonpartisan in Iowa, but local Democrats and labor activists were supporting Shudak) www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/09/23/j...

Before today's results were in, Dan Guild pointed to recent polling, which suggests "that to an unusual extent, the midterms will be a referendum on Donald Trump." Looks even more so now. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/04/w...

Rob Barron (former Harkin staffer and DSM school board member) won the Des Moines City Council race in Ward 1 (covering the heavily Dem northwest side). He joked tonight, "It's the first time in history that the progressive young Latino is the well-funded candidate" www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBNw...

Overshadowed by many other important races today: voters in Des Moines, Iowa approved a $265 million school bond issue. (A month ago many thought bond had no chance of getting 60% because of the scandal surrounding the former DSM superintendent who's now facing federal charges.)

Every week, @spencerdirks.bsky.social and I pack a lot of Iowa politics news into 30 minutes, including some stories you won’t see anywhere else. Here’s the latest audio file and written recap of “KHOI’s Capitol Week.” laurabelin.substack.com/p/snap-and-s...

New post: Dan Guild flags two things to watch for in tonight's elections in New Jersey and Virginia www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/04/w...

👀 Scoop: IRS Direct File, the free government-backed program that let you file your taxes for free, is dead. IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained. IRS Direct File: 2023-2025. (Story from when the pilot launched.)

New post: Connie Ryan of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa weighs in on a story that's all over Iowa social media feeds: the guy who wore a Nazi costume at a suburban bar's Halloween party. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/04/w...

It’s an interesting time-capsule artifact from when our memories of Bush II were fresher, the wounds no longer raw but also not fully healed. Not contemporaneous, but also not further clouded by the passage of another 13 years and the upheavals of the Trump era. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dick-...

Raises the question: Were the grand jurors informed of the date when Richman resigned from the FBI?

Trump confirms he is weaponizing hunger

Another must read from @sulliview.bsky.social margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/trump-just...

Des Moines Public Schools bond initiative (needs 60 percent "yes" votes to pass) Des Moines City Council Ward 1 School board races in Johnston and Ankeny (swingy suburbs of Des Moines)

Polls are open across Iowa until 8 pm Central for city and school board elections. Iowa followers, please let me know about any interesting results from your area (including school bond initiatives). Two years ago, progressive school board candidates had a very good year in Iowa.

Dick Cheney did more than anyone else to build up expansive and destructive executive branch powers in the wake of 9/11; he lived to see another president turn those same powers against his own daughter. He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.

Tonight's show is up on podcast platforms and smart speakers now (search for "KHOI's Capitol Week" to listen). Tomorrow I'll share the audio file & a detailed written recap (for those who would rather read) on my free email newsletter: laurabelin.substack.com

In a few minutes @spencerdirks.bsky.social and I will be live on @khoiradio to talk about the week in Iowa politics. 89.1 FM in the Ames listening area or online: www.khoifm.org (will be on podcast platforms later as "KHOI's Capitol Week")

another win for the "destroy anything good" wing of the american media

Readers: "Quite informative & well researched" "This column is the real 'Roast and Ride'" "Belin is a workhorse that takes journalism to new heights" (LOL) www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/02/t...

Trumpist health care policy turns out to work like Trumpist trade policy: You navigate a bureaucratic tangle by requesting the personal intercession of the executive.

This is an amazing clip. Trump basically says that he doesn't care what crimes CZ committed, because what matters is that he gave Trump a bribe

As a kid who never thought college was in the cards, I often felt like a failure when everyone told me I had to go to college to be successful and I had no way of getting there. Thankfully, the GI Bill helped me be the first person in my family to go to college.

I'm not a Christian, but...seems pretty blasphemous. (also unconstitutional)

Snarkier than usual for me today. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/02/t...

Who's up early? Just posted my take on Randy Feenstra's weird, weak rollout as a candidate for governor. #Iowa #iapolitics #IAGov www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/02/t...

New post: Dr. Emily Boevers shares insights from the history of the Affordable Care Act and discusses the challenges of taking care of patients in our current health care system. www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/11/01/o...