gdp's Comments

Iowa Senate Democrats : Iowa students' SAT scores top in the nation

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:26:49 +0000

What percentage of Iowa students take the SAT compared to students in other states?

GazetteOnline.com : Fun with Satire - Totally Secret Hobo Knows How Obama Must Feel

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:29:57 +0000

This whole thing reminds me of that Seinfeld episode. "We're not gay! Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

GazetteOnline.com : Driving Me to Link

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:13:22 +0000

I like that link on colonial newspapers leaving space open for reader comments. Must have made life easier for typesetters who had to do everything by hand. Also no worries if you didn't have enough copy to fill your space. It reminds me of this story on a researcher comparing 18th and 19th century diary entries to Twitter updates.

GazetteOnline.com : Totally Secret Muslim - Updated

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:43:17 +0000

I am desmoinesdem everywhere on the blogosphere! But I haven't had much time for DKos this year. I even lost my "trusted user" status. Why don't you drop by Bleeding Heartland sometime?

GazetteOnline.com : Totally Secret Muslim - Updated

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:55:49 +0000

Someone needs to get Lightfoot's "totally nude dancing" ad up on YouTube. I wasn't living in Iowa at the time, but I remember hearing about that one.

GazetteOnline.com : Totally Secret Muslim - Updated

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:54:14 +0000

She wasn't tweeting it to her whole network of Twitter followers, she was tweeting a "reply" to Politico. Probably she just got mad after reading Tim Grieve's August 19 article, which described the number of Republicans who believe Obama is Muslim as "a dramatic spike in false views about the president’s religious faith."

GazetteOnline.com : An Axe Grinders' Convention

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:18:51 +0000

So was that farmers' cooperatives deal the main hot-button issue during the 1920 campaign, or were there other burning social questions that people wanted to deal with at the constitutional level?

GazetteOnline.com : The Big 4-Oh

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:30:12 +0000

Don't worry, Todd. With age comes wisdom. And anyway, 50 is the new 40. Happy belated birthday!

GazetteOnline.com : Feverishly Blogging

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:26:18 +0000

I feel your pain. The number 1 song the week I was born was "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe. If I'd been born just a few weeks earlier it would have been "Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone, and even better, if I'd been born a couple of weeks later it would have been "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" by The Fifth Dimension, one of my all-time favorites. The Carpenters weren't so bad, by the way. Neither was Bread.

GazetteOnline.com : Terry's Attention not on Retention

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:08:39 +0000

It's a disgrace for Branstad not to forcefully defend these judges. They all have distinguished careers and have participated in hundreds of rulings. But a bunch of wingnuts want to chuck them out over one decision, and Branstad can't be bothered to voice his opinion.

GazetteOnline.com : Culver Casino Cash

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:41:22 +0000

We should change the way our elections are financed.

Iowa Senate Democrats : Desmoinesdem debunks McKinley claims of fiscal doom

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:30:17 +0000

Thanks for reading!

GazetteOnline.com : ChetChase Reality Check - Property Taxes

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 04:12:11 +0000

I hear a lot of "Culver didn't heed warnings," but rarely does anyone acknowledge that the drop in state revenues during the recent recession was the sharpest measured in the last 60 years. Iowa got through it without depleting our state reserve funds and without shuffling money around to hide deficits. It's regrettable that school aid was cut at all (I would have preferred eliminating more corporate tax credits), but the legislature preserved the most essential state services. The Branstad campaign jumped all over this draft report on property tax hikes but ignored reports last week from the Legislative Services Agency and the Department of Management showing better than expected revenues and a larger surplus than anticipated at the close of FY 2010.

GazetteOnline.com : Analyst calls Iowa House race ‘tossup’

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 18:00:45 +0000

I think Democrats' chances of holding the Iowa House are better than 50/50, but control of the House is definitely in play. Democratic control of the Iowa Senate is not threatened this year, but whether the Republicans gain 1-2 seats or 4-5 seats will greatly affect how "in play" it is for 2012.

GazetteOnline.com : Low Skill Theater - Balloon Glow

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 17:54:56 +0000

I know it's a trek from Cedar Rapids, but the National Balloon Classic in Indianola is a great event for famiies. They have balloon flights for ten nights in late July/early August (weather permitting), plus bounce houses/inflatable slides. Some nights there is live music, but I prefer to go on a weeknight when it's a little less crowded.

GazetteOnline.com : Sarah and Terry

Sat, 5 Jun 2010 12:48:06 +0000

I think the third Congressional district Republican primary is about to prove you wrong, but we'll find out on Tuesday.

GazetteOnline.com : Sarah and Terry

Sat, 5 Jun 2010 12:47:28 +0000

But has Palin crafted an image as someone who always picks a winner? No, she's crafted an image as someone who's not afraid to go rogue, stand up for principles, etc. She just undermined her own brand.

GazetteOnline.com : Fun With Numbers -- Polls v. Votes

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 20:10:00 +0000

It's especially hard to poll a primary and figure out who the "likely voters" are. All of the polls of the Alabama Democratic gubernatorial primary (which happened yesterday) were way off. Like Todd says, we don't have to wait long for the votes to come in. I thought the worst news for Branstad in the poll was that he trailed BVP among people who knew enough about BVP to have an opinion.

GazetteOnline.com : Not What a Dad Wants to Hear

Mon, 24 May 2010 22:46:25 +0000

That is hilarious. When my son was five he mentioned that someone in his preschool class has two mommies (this was before Varnum v Brien). I waited to see if he had any questions about that, but no further questions, just passing along the information to me that so-and-so has two mommies.

GazetteOnline.com : It's Now Official - Culver's In

Mon, 17 May 2010 22:29:54 +0000

Republicans need to explain how they would have paid for flood recovery without I-JOBS. About $100 million of the I-JOBS money secured about $500 million in federal matching funds to rebuild the U of Iowa campus. What was the Republican plan for paying for that? They can't just say, "we would pay as we go," because the flood happened just as we were entering the worst recession since WWII. Sharpest drop in state revenues in 60 years--literally. I'm not even counting at least $45 million in I-JOBS money for Linn County flood recovery. The Republican plan was what? Culver may have oversold the jobs component of I-JOBS, but it's false for Republicans to say no jobs were created with the money. Also, long-term borrowing to make capital investments is wise when interest rates are low, IF the projects are solid. Probably all the Republicans blasting Culver have taken out home mortgages or loans to finance capital investments in their businesses.