Greetings from the down ticket! That’s the first level of representation alongside city officials. That’s not meant to be a self-deprecating comment, nor is it meant to diminish the importance of state and local government; it is simply where the office of a State Representative resides in the matrix of elections. At the top are the presidential candidates, of…
Author: gary1164
I'm an advertising executive and former actor/producer
Education Must Resonate
This link was sent to me at the end of the last school year: https://msg.schoolmessenger.com/m/?s=P7Mxhkr5lN8 When I first began to think about running for public office, I asked friends, already in office, what moved them to take the leap into the political arena. They all had different sets of priorities with regard to issues, but…
Call Me Stupid, Just Don’t Call Me Late For Dinner
This weekend I was out to dinner and a friend that I rarely see came up to me and pulled me over to her table. Immediately she descended upon me. “I can’t even be your friend anymore. You are so stupid and your blog is so idiotic that I de-friended you on Facebook. I don’t…
To Sir, With Love (a defense of teachers)
In a never ending quest to bridge ideological differences between Democrats and Republicans (and Independents and Libertarians), I consistently engage in conversations with people with whom differences exist. If I have any trait for which I may be uniquely suited as a representative, it is that I welcome such engagement. And it is with a…
Government and Manure
Now that I have your attention…. An article was posted today in the Iowa Daily Democrat and it perfectly illustrated the role of government in our society. The subject was the application of manure from large animal confinement feeding operations. Current state laws are weak with regard to animal waste and with relatively few inspectors…
The Die Hard Constitution
Bruce Willis has a message for advocates of stricter gun control legislation: “Don’t infringe on my rights!” “I think that you can’t start to pick apart anything out of the Bill of Rights without thinking that it’s all going to become undone,” said Willis. “If you take one out or change one law, then why…
The Measure of Our Purpose
The Iowa Legislature finally adjourned at 6pm on Friday, April 29th. Issues that remained unresolved include Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, water quality, and medical marijuana. While we must consider any agreement to be a positive result and Democrats and Republicans came to an agreement on a $7.35 billion budget that will now go to…
Monica Vernon for Congress
When I was running for Congress I was running against two other Democrats in the primary for the nomination. Naturally, the political stump is competitive as it is essential to differentiate ourselves so that voters can make a decision, but, my strategy from the beginning was to clarify myself, rather than define the other two.…
Historical Histrionics
Stop! The claims being made on both sides, Republican and Democrat, regarding historical triumphs are flawed! The political parties do not represent consistent ideologies throughout their histories. The essential ideological arguments today are (and always have been) between Conservatism and Liberalism, and not Republicans and Democrats. Republicans, for example, can make a legitimate claim to being…
A Job Worth Doing!
For most of my life I have been involved with programs that deal with poverty. My mother was a Head Start teacher and I helped her during semester breaks in high school and college, as a professional actor in Los Angeles I helped raise funds for Homeless Health Care. Since coming back to Iowa I have been proud…