Liveblogging ObaMarshalltown

I had intended to liveblog this event but got stuck in an overflow room with no option of standing in the back. I’m not sure how many updates I’ll be posting as this event starts in a few minutes…

…that situation has been remedied.   Read on for liveblogging.  Sorry for typos, etc., but this is all being typed on a Blackberry pseudo-keyboard.

State rep Mark Smith is on now talking about the successes Dems have had in Iowa and about history. He compares Obama to Abraham Lincoln.  Then he makes sure to note that he hasn’t endorsed anyone  yet and that it’s too early for him to make an endorsement.

Obama is on now. He thanks Mark Smith and volunteers who helped with the event. He says Iowa and Illinois are a lot alike, except Illinois has Chicago.

…He’s going over his bio and tieing that in to the purpose of politics…

Now he’s on to the issues. Goes down list of problems we face; gets applause at the end when he says he was against the war from the beginning. Casts himself as Washington outsider and gets more applause. It sounds like he hasn’t quite memorized his stump speech yet, because it has been a little choppy.

Says we can use ethanol just like Brazil. Says using incentives can make capitalism earth-friendly.

Mentions his senate bill on Iraq withdrawal and gets applause again. Says diplomacy is the answer and alludes to Marshall plan.

He is finishing his speech by talking about the importance of us getting involved and finally mentions briefly that he had a lot of small donors during the last quarter

Now questions…

First questionis on universal health care. Obama talks about preventative health care as part of the solution. He talks about obesity as an example of the problem, but he sounded a little critical of fat people - oops.

This answer is taking too long considering everyone already knows his position as it has been defined. .

Next question is from a peace activist on Israel and Palestine. Obama starts tip toeing…

Religious conflict between shia and sunni predates Israel, he says, dodging the original question.

Obama does believe that Israel-Palestine is serving to perpetuate problems in the reason.

He calls for two-state solution. Palestinians must recognize Israel’s right to exist and stop terrorism. US must be a part of negotiations. My pro-Israel friend just said Obamas answer won his vote.

Sandy shaver from UAW/Maytag asks about outsourcing. It turns out Barack Obama is against it.

Solution one is stop giving tax benefits for outsourcing.

Solution two is improving infrastructure like broadband.

Solution three is spending a lot of money on green technology (on the scale of the Manhattan project, he says).

Finally Obama says he supports both free trade and fair trade. My Econ major friends roll their eyes a but but it sounds good to me

That was all his answer to the outsourcing question.

Next question from a teacher is whether he will consult teachers on his education plans. He says his sister is a teacher (and yes, he will).

Everyone has to work to improve education: parents, students, community, etc.

Obama says he does support some of NCLB’s goals, including higher standards for students. But he thinks it needs to be more sensitive to individual students, and he thinks the funding situation needs reform.

Also he wants to increase teacher pay tied to some accountability measures.

Cute kid asks about year-round school. Obama says he might like the idea of changing the school calendar to avoid one long summer break.

Next question comes from an Iowan with a mental disability on employment possibilities. Obama praises tom harkin forhis work on the issue and promises to get one of his staff to help Him get in touch withthe right people.

Next question is ,what has happened to our democratic party? Dems are too friendly to big business and too soft on immigration.

Obama says you can’t be pro-worker without also being pro-employer. Question-asker isn’t satisfied and asks more specifically about immigration.

Obama supports more secure border and better I’d verification. But he also thinks that those people who are here can’t - and shouldn’t - be sent home.

Last question comes from a student about how expensive college is. He says student loan systemshould be reformed so banks are no longer making money on kids.

Obama is also in favor of expanding national service programs and offering to pay for education for kids who go into certain important professions (like teaching).

He closes by waving a supporter cardsnd asking is to get involved. More thoughts later

2 comments April 6th, 2007

Heckling Scott Raecker

Iowa Progress has previously profiled a cutthroat Grinnellian, now we turn our attention to a Grinnell alum who has come up with a really dumb idea. Scott Raecker ‘84 is a Republican member of the State Legislature who introduced an amendment in the Iowa House to the anti-bullying bill which recently passed the State Senate. The bill is designed to prevent the real problem of bullying in Iowa’s public schools. How does Raecker’s amendment address the problem of bullying and harassment? It’s designed to protect the most vulnerable people in the state, members of Iowa General Assembly.

While it’s nice to protect such frail and fragile members of society, the amendment, if passed, would create all sorts of issues. If while Scott Raecker was speaking at a campaign event, you shouted “Hey Raecker, the only thing dumber than you is that amendment to the bullying bill you introduced,” and Raeker then stopped speaking, you would be guilty of bullying and harassing. You would have engaged in conduct based on a “mental ability or disability” that would have substantially interfered with Raeker’s “campaign performance.” This only skims the surface of the massive First Amendment issues this amendment would have created. However, there was another issue with the amendment that ultimately prevent its passage. It has nothing to do with bullying in schools.

So why did Scott Raeker introduce this amendment, (which was instantly ruled non-germane)? Because it was designed as a wrecking amendment. If it’s added to the bill, it makes a hash of it. And if it isn’t added, all the Democrats are on record supporting “bullying and harrassing of and by public officials.” The Republicans immediately tried overturn the Speaker’s ruling that the amendment was non germane. Predictably, it failed on a party-line vote.

Although the bill ended up passing the House by a vote of 62-37, it did so after hours of debate and more pointless wrecking amendments introduced by House Republicans. But none were quite as pointless and badly thought out as Scott Raecker’s. Many legislators introduce bills or amendments that are stupid, many others introduce bills or amendments that are unconstitutional. But few can say they’ve ever done as good a job of interweaving those two threads as Scott Raecker did yesterday.

8 comments February 8th, 2007

Marshalltown A Hot Spot

Well Marshalltown’s at it again as a hotbed for the radical pinko-leftist agenda. This time, the conflict is over whether the school district should ban bigotry:

District superintendent Harrison Cass, Jr. said he’s gotten countless e-mails, letters and phone calls from people weighing in on the proposal to revise the anti-harassment policy.

The controversy is over a proposal to include “sexual orientation” as one of the protected categories along with race, religion, national origin, age, sex, physical or mental disability, creed, color, marital or familial status, socioeconomic status, and physical attributes.

“I think some people are afraid that it implies the school district is condoning homosexuality,” Cass said. “We’re not saying we condone it or don’t condone it. We’re just saying we don’t allow harassment.”

And here’s an update on the Marshalltown immigration protests story, in which 80 students left school for an organized, peaceful march.  Apparently, they’re facing disciplinary action:

About 80 Marshalltown middle and high school students face disciplinary action for leaving school to protest federal legislation that would make it a crime to be in the United States illegally or to offer aid to illegal immigrants, school district officials said Thursday.

Add comment April 3rd, 2006