Rick Smith

President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget would totally eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS). Cutting PBS funding would be a significant blow to more than a thousand public stations across the country. Both Iowa Public Television and Iowa Public Radio would suffer severe cuts to their programing. Local public radio and television broadcasters…

Many of you may recognize this as former Senator Tom Harkin’s comparison of the two political parties.  He often used this comic line as a simple and easy-to-understand description of the difference between Democrats and Republicans. “Just remember one thing,” Harkin said at the Democratic Convention in 2000. “All you ever needed to know about…

Iowans might assume the Iowa Republican controlled Legislature’s anti-labor collective bargaining bill resulted from a massive demand from their Iowa constituents. That assumption would be wrong and a bit naïve. The author of this shameful anti-labor bill and various other Republican Legislators have been asked to identify the sponsors and supporters of this bill. They…

The promise by Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix to “kick in the door of government” should leave no question about the Iowa Senate Republican leadership’s extreme agenda. Senator Dix’s threat certainly sounds like a declaration of war on moderation, cooperation and compromise. Democrats knew losing control of the Senate in the 2016 election would likely…

The information age has created a totally new landscape of news sources. The shift from traditional print journalism to radio, TV and digital is dramatic and concerning. A decade ago consumers relied on newspapers as their main news source. Today according to Pew Research Center on Journalism and the Media, newspapers now rank last behind…

President-elect Donald Trump is continuing his war on the media. Throughout his campaign he would call out the press at nearly every event. He directed taunts at the press covering the events and called them out as disgusting and biased. He encouraged his rally supporters to boo and condemn the dishonest media covering those events.…

Interviews with past and present Iowa Democratic Party Chairs provides a fascinating inside look at how they see the requirements of the job. Following the crushing Democratic election losses in Iowa, the role of the next IDP Chair will be crucial in rebuilding the Iowa Party. The new Chair will likely need to play a…

There is one dominant issue emerging as Democrats sift through the recent election losses and search for answers: the developing debate over the role that “Identity Politics” played in the losses. Identity Politics refers to the way Democrats have divided themselves into their various constituent interest groups. In recent years Democrats have gradually divided into…

It was 7:00 p.m. on December 23, 1967 on the floor of the United States Congress. Just two days before Christmas, former Iowa Congressman Neal Smith finally got his anti-nepotism legislation passed. 49 years later Smith’s legislation may prevent President Donald Trump from hiring his children or his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Congressman Smith’s late night…