Rick Smith

Governor Reynolds’ Medicaid privatization crisis deepened in the last few weeks as more revelations emerged of her failed for-profit healthcare program. A July 6th article in the Des Moines Register exposed Medicaid private managers’ repeated attempts to deny care to Jamie Campbell, a paralyzed Iowan from Fontanelle. Gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell reacted immediately to this…

For many central Iowans, the reality of a changing climate was all too evident this past weekend with flooded basements, stranded motorists and water rescues. Many cities around Polk County were deluged with up to 10 inches of rain in just a few hours. Before we write this off as an extreme weather event or…

“We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately” – Benjamin Franklin That quote from one of our Founding Fathers should be a reminder to Iowa Democrats that we must all unite. Franklin gave that advice to all American patriots following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In signing the…

Iowa farmers and Iowa companies that depend on exports better beware of Trump’s tariff promises. His flip-flop from friend to foe with Harley-Davidson should be a warning to all Iowans not to trust his promises. Iowa Republicans are calling for patience and suggesting Trump’s regime will protect the Iowa economy. However, based on how his…

Washington Governor Jay Inslee is the featured speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame celebration dinner tomorrow night. Nearly every national Democrat coming to Iowa is automatically assumed to be a potential 2020 presidential candidate. However, Inslee as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), is focusing on electing Democratic Governors in…

It appears that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got exactly what his father and grandfather never could. President Trump elevated Kim, North Korea’s ruthless dictator, to a position on the world stage equivalent to the President of the United States. Posing in front of equal numbers of matched U.S. and North Korean flags gave…

This coming Saturday, June 16, the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) State Convention will ratify the 2018 platform. The draft platform represents balanced progressive Democratic positions on hundreds of issues hammered out by hundreds of activists over several weeks. It’s critical that the convention retain that balance and prevent the insertion of any extremist poison pills.…

Iowa farm leaders and manufacturing industry leaders have hit the panic button as Trump’s tariffs jeopardize the state’s economy. Trump’s trade war is quickly escalating as China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union have already retaliated or promised to punish Iowa’s agricultural producers. Iowans realize that even though they may not be directly involved in…

Today’s the day that most Iowa Democratic primary candidates will learn whether all their time, work and speeches paid off with a clear win. For a few candidates, it’s possible they won’t reach the 35% threshold and will need to continue their campaigns to the convention. For those candidates that win their primary today, the…

One of the Democrats’ greatest challenges is winning back the so called “Trump triers.” These are the Democrats, Independents and some Republicans that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, but then switched to vote for Trump in 2016. Extensive interviews conducted by the Washington Post suggest that many of these Trump triers may be…