Rick Smith

Many Iowa Democrats have embraced raising the minimum wage as a major theme in their 2018 election campaigns. However, there hasn’t been sufficient discussions about linking raising wages of low income Iowans with the child care “cliff.” The child care cliff is the point where rising income triggers a cut-off of child care assistance (CCA).…

The Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census is their latest attempt to punish Democratic states. It’s another tactic in their broader efforts to suppress the vote. The same Republicans that have pushed strict voter ID laws are behind this attack to alter an accurate census count. The Kansas Secretary…

The Polk County Democrats featured speaker for their spring fundraiser is a legend in the Democratic Party. Democratic Congressional Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s amazing record speaks for itself. She is the longest serving political leader of either party in the past 40 years. Pelosi is the first and only female Speaker of the U.S. House…

Late last Wednesday, just three days before millions of Americans marched to end gun violence, the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature gave a dangerous gun gift to the NRA. While youth across America are demanding legislators pass greater gun safety measures, Iowa Republicans are passing dangerous bills that create additional barriers to prevent future gun safety legislation.…

The rate of technological advance in automation is likely to cause businesses to jettison huge numbers of jobs in the near future. Robots are getting programmed to flip burgers, drive cars and trucks and act as self-serve cashiers. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that as many as one-third of U.S. workers could be displaced by…

When Iowa Democrats criticize Governor Reynolds’ leadership, the public might assume it’s simply political bias. However, when an experienced and respected Iowa Republican criticizes Reynolds’ leadership, it certainly should get the attention of Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike. Reynolds’ gubernatorial primary challenger, Ron Corbett, specifically points to Reynolds’ lack of leadership on a number of…

Republicans made a pledge in their massive 2013 commercial and corporate property tax cuts that they would protect cities, counties and schools that lost revenue. They promised these local governments that they would replace or “backfill” the 10 percent lost property tax revenue. They promised to backfill this amount with state funds. Now, Republican legislators…

Why do Iowa law enforcement leaders oppose the Iowa Republicans’ anti-immigrant bill? The bill, SF481 (the so-called sanctuary bill), threatens to withhold state funds from cities and counties that they claim do not cooperate with federal immigration agents in holding undocumented immigrants for potential deportation. This bill has passed the Senate and may be up…

Today’s special congressional election in Pennsylvania is incredibly important to both Democrats and Republicans. It gives Democrats another early test of their future success in the 2018 midterms. This congressional district’s voters chose Trump by 20 points in 2016, which makes a Democratic win a real game changer. This was such a safe red district…

Democrats have received criticism that they don’t have a message and aren’t offering bold alternatives to the Republicans’ agenda. With the Republicans in complete control of the Presidency, the House and the Senate, much of the Democrats’ efforts have been devoted to blocking the worst of the damage from GOP legislation. With literally no power…