06 Dec 2011

Golden Day for The Salvation Army in Davenport, Iowa

By Holly Nomura
Davenport, IA - The Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign was in full swing this weekend and received its first gold coin of the season. The quarter-ounce coin was placed in the kettle last Wednesday at Schnucks Market in Bettendorf. In years past the coins received in the Quad Cities were put in Moline, Illinois kettles.

"It is very exciting to receive this coin in Davenport. In realistic terms for The Salvation Army, this coin could help provide shelter to three families for one week, or feed 10 children residing at the Family Service Center for an entire month, or help provide day camp services to 20 children this summer," stated Major Gary Felton, Quad Cities Coordinator.

The Red Kettle Campaign is The Salvation Army's largest yearly fundraiser, raising 70% of their annual budget. The donations received support The Salvation Army's life-transforming services throughout the Quad Cities.

The Red Kettle campaign runs from November 11 through December 24. The goal of the campaign is $700,000. With the gold coin, the total-to-date stands at just over $183,000.

The Salvation Army is still making a plea for donations, any amount will help; but also for a gift of time. Volunteer bell ringers are needed. Please go to www.ringbells.org for an easy, quick sign up. Or call Holly Nomura at 563-271-7933 for more information.
06 Dec 2011

COMMENTARY -- founding principles at stake in White House initiative

By Sen Chuck Grassley

Constitutional Principles at Stake in President's Actions, Rhetoric

by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

President Obama's latest media campaign is built around the tag line We Can't Wait for Congress.  Under this banner, he has announced executive actions for everything from mortgage and student loan relief, job placement for veterans, grants for health care workers and stricter funding requirements for Head Start programs.  The new slogan highlights the President's frustration that Congress did not pass his latest economic stimulus proposal in its entirety.  Instead, Congress has passed pieces of the President's proposal where there is bipartisan agreement and put forward other approaches.

A President being frustrated with Congress is nothing new.  What's more remarkable is the notion that the President will act completely independent of Congress.  "Where they won't act, I will," he said.

Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States says, "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives."  Having had their rights violated by a King, our Founding Fathers intentionally put the power to make laws in the branch of government that is most directly accountable to the citizens.  Under our Constitution, the President's role is not to make policy unilaterally, but to, "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

So is the President overstepping his constitutional authority?  In some cases, the We Can't Wait slogan is simply being appended to actions implementing laws already passed by Congress.  For instance, job placement services for veterans have been around for a long time.  The health care worker grants were authorized under the 2010 health care law, and the Head Start reforms the President touted were actually included in a law passed by Congress way back in 2007.  On the other hand, the President's authority to change the rules for refinancing of certain mortgages and to offer more generous student loan terms to select borrowers is much less clear.  In fact, I wrote a letter to the President asking him to explain to Congress and the American public the legal authority he is claiming to implement the student loan changes.

If the President isn't usurping the legislative powers vested in the duly elected representatives of the citizens of the 50 states, he's certainly talking like he is.  The President should show leadership, which has been lacking when it comes to working with Congress on the politically difficult decisions needed to reduce the deficit, such as entitlement reform.  However, no President should even pretend to have the authority to unilaterally implement policies not authorized by law.  This attitude is particularly concerning given this President's history of bypassing Congress to implement his agenda.

For instance, the House and Senate have considered various proposals to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, but no climate legislation was able to achieve sufficient support to pass Congress.  Nevertheless, in the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has moved forward with regulations for greenhouse gases under a law Congress never intended to be used for that purpose.  While a Supreme Court ruling cracked open that door, the fact that Congress pointedly did not authorize this step should have given the administration pause.  The President's Race to the Top education program is another significant overreach.  Congress bears responsibility for writing a $5 billion check to the Secretary of Education in the 2009 stimulus bill with minimal guidelines attached, but the administration blew past even those broad guidelines to implement an unprecedented federal intervention into state education policy.  The resulting program offered the possibility of big dollar grants to cash strapped states, provided they first changed state laws to implement specific policies favored by the Secretary of Education.  Most states, like Iowa, implemented the Secretary's preferred policies and applied for the funds yet never saw a dime in return.  In a similar move, with states clamoring for relief from the ever tightening requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, the President has announced that he would grant waivers.  The catch is that states will have to adopt key components of his education reform agenda.  This is despite the fact that Congress is currently considering legislation to update federal education policy and may not adopt all aspects of the President's proposal.  Moreover, current law allows for waiving existing requirements on a case by case basis, but does not authorize the Administration to add new requirements in return.

We Can't Wait for Congress isn't just a bad PR gimmick, it contradicts the philosophy underpinning the American Revolution, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.  It violates the Declaration's concept of "unalienable Rights" and the principle "That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."  By contrast, the French Revolution was inspired by the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote that claims of natural rights must be abandoned in favor of submission to the authority of the "general will" of the people as a whole, as expressed through a ruling elite.  This philosophy allows for a more active government, but has also led to some of history's worst tyrannies.  Our system of separation of powers, federalism and checks and balances, designed to protect individual rights, results in a more deliberative form of government.  This can be frustrating.  It means that the President cannot expect Congress to just pass his proposals without reading them.  However, America's founding principles have kept us free for over two centuries and the President shouldn't blithely dismiss them, whether in word or deed.

Monday, November 28, 2011
06 Dec 2011

Senate Foster Youth Caucus Continues Speakers Series to Highlight Best Practices

By Grassley Press

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, founders and co-chairs of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, are sponsoring a speakers' series event tomorrow, Tuesday, November 29, from 2 to 4 p.m. in SVC 203-02 in the Capitol Visitor's Center.

The purpose of the speakers' series, which is a 2011 initiative of the Caucus, is to highlight grass-root practitioners of innovative programs and strategies that improve outcomes for children and youth in foster care and to allow these individuals to share their experiences in the field and their ideas about reforms to the system.  Ultimately, the Senate Caucus plans to release a compilation of best practices.

"A major goal of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth is to help draw out and spread innovative strategies and best practices in the foster care community and focus on making things better for kids in the system and when they leave the system," Grassley said.  "It's fitting that the policy community take time right now to focus on what can be done to foster valuable permanent connections for these kids.  These kids often feel even more lonely and isolated during the holiday season."

"I am happy to continue working with Senator Grassley and the other members of the Foster Youth Caucus to highlight foster care best practices.  I am pleased that the House also recently formed a Caucus on Foster Care to further highlight these issues," said Sen. Landrieu. "Organizations like Wendy's Wonderful Kids are achieving remarkable success placing children by implementing innovative practices. This success upends the belief that some children are 'unadoptable,' and gives hope for every child in foster care. By spreading the word on best practices, we move closer to finding a home for every child waiting for his or her forever family."

Landrieu and Grassley will speak at tomorrow's event.  There will be presentations by leaders in the foster-care community and a discussion of issues associated with adopting older youth and the release of important research on effective methods for increasing successful adoptions of older youth.

Since forming the Senate Caucus in 2009, Grassley and Landrieu have sponsored a series of working sessions with the goal of assembling policy recommendations for child welfare reform.  The Caucus has engaged current and former foster youth in these working sessions.  The senators have said they want the Caucus, which is particularly focused on youth when they age-out of the foster care system, to build on improvements made by the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.  This law provides additional federal incentives for states to move children from foster care to adoptive homes, expands adoption assistance to all special needs foster youth, allows states to extend care to youth up to age 21, allows for federal reimbursement for kinship care, and makes health and education improvements for youth in foster care.

A listing of the speakers for tomorrow's event is below.

 

Gretchen Looney

Adopted from foster care

Age 14

Southern Colorado

In foster care, Gretchen Looney was separated from her siblings, moved many times and suffered a disrupted pre-adoption placement.  Not surprisingly, she was adamantly opposed to adoption when she was referred to the Wendy's Wonderful Kids program in June of 2010.  Gretchen was adopted three months ago by Joseph and Camille Looney, who are both members of the United States Air Force.

 

Christina Miranda

Foster Care Alumni

Christina Miranda entered foster care at the age of five and aged out at 18 without a permanent connection or place to go.  She lived in over 10 foster homes and attended 10 different schools.  Despite the many unfavorable outcomes and odds that she faced, she graduated from high school and college.  Christina attributes much of her success to Paula, a professor who took her in when she had no place to go during a Christmas holiday break.  Since then, Paula accepted Christina into her family and has provided the unconditional love and support Christina yearned for all her life.  Christina states "... without Paula believing in me, I wouldn't have believed in myself.  There is no such thing as an unadoptable child.  Every human being deserves a loving family to call their own."  Christina is currently a graduate student and continues to be a child welfare advocate in hopes of helping vulnerable children who are in the shoes she once wore.

 

Angela Gomes

Wendy's Wonderful Kids Recruiter

Adoption Rhode Island

Angela is a native of Cape Verde, off the West African coast.  She earned her bachelor's degree in social work from Rhode Island College and has been working in the child welfare field for 15 years.  Her broad range of experience includes therapeutic residential care, supervision, and intake.  For six years, Angela has been the Wendy's Wonderful Kids recruiter at Adoption Rhode Island.  During that time, Angela has served, or is currently serving, 51 of the state's hardest to place children and has found adoptive families for 27 of them, with six more in pre-adoptive placements.  Angela says she loves this work, and is honored to be a part of the Caucus presentation.

 

Rita L. Soronen

President & CEO

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

For more than 25 years, Rita Soronen has worked on behalf of abused, neglected and vulnerable children.  Ms. Soronen has provided leadership for local, state and national efforts to improve the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, while striving to assure safe, and permanent homes for North America's children.  Since 2001 and under Ms. Soronen's leadership, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a national non-profit public charity, has significantly increased its grant-making and awareness commitments, while developing strategic signature initiatives that underscore and act on the urgency of the issue.  In 2010, the Foundation dedicated more than $11 million in privately generated resources to grants and award-winning national awareness activities, including Wendy's Wonderful Kids, Adoption-Friendly Workplace and the annual 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list, National Adoption Day, national foster care adoption attitudes research, A Child is Waiting: A Step-by-Step Guide to Adoption, national foster care adoption poster and PSA campaigns and educational videos.  Since 2005, the Wendy's Wonderful Kids program has grown from seven pilot site grants to 122 active sites across the U.S., the District of Columbia and five provinces in Canada dedicated to evidence-based strategies that aggressively and effectively move children from foster care to permanent families.  More than 3,400 children have been adopted or placed in pre-adoptive homes as a direct result of Wendy's Wonderful Kids.  Ms. Soronen serves on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, the Ohio CASA/GAL Association, the Public Education Committee of the National CASA Association and is a fellow of the Jefferson Fellowship for Executive Leadership.  Ms. Soronen is a recipient of the Angels in Adoption Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, the National CASA Association Kappa Alpha Theta Program Director of the Year Award and the Ohio CASA/GAL Association Statewide Leadership Award.

 

Hope Cooper

Vice President for Public Policy

Child Trends

Hope Cooper is Vice President for Public Policy at Child Trends.  In this position she develops and directs policy communications strategies to ensure that Child Trends' research is conveyed in timely and meaningful ways with decision makers.  Ms. Cooper has nearly 20 years of public policy experience.  Prior to joining Child Trends, she served as a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she directed Pew's Kids Are Waiting Campaign and also designed and managed other national initiatives to advance changes in public policy.  Ms. Cooper also spent 10 years working in the U.S. Senate, including as a policy advisor to the Senate Finance Committee, where she was responsible for legislation and oversight of Medicaid, the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, and other income-related health and social service programs.

06 Dec 2011

Ron Paul Polling Third in Iowa and New Hampshire

By Drew Ivers
Solid showing among the Hawkeye and Granite States' likely GOP caucus-goers and primary voters
LAKE JACKSON, Texas - 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul polls third among likely Republican caucus-goers in the key first-in-nation state of Iowa, according to a recent American Research Group poll, and different angles to this survey reveal his support may keep him anchored in third place or higher.

Congressman Paul also polls third in New Hampshire, according to a recent WMUR/University of New Hampshire poll.

In Iowa, Congressman Paul garnered 16 percent of the likely Republican caucus goers surveyed, on the heels of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich who earned 20 and 27 percent, respectively.  Paul's third-place showing in the poll is far ahead of past and aspiring top-three competitors.  Pizza baron Herman Cain, Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum all earned a modest 6 percent of the vote, Texas Gov. Rick Perry earned a mere 5 percent, and just 3 percent of respondents selected Jon Huntsman.  The ARG poll also notes that among likely caucus goers who are already enrolled in the Republican Party, Paul remains a strong third place with 14 percent of the vote, with Gingrich and Romney at 30 and 17 percent, respectively. 

Also in Iowa, voter self-identification with the Tea Party, or lack thereof, both help Paul remain in the top three or better: Among likely Republican caucus-goers saying they are supporters of the Tea Party, Paul polls in second place with 19 percent.  Among likely caucus-goers saying they are not supporters of the Tea Party or that they are undecided about the Tea Party, Paul polls third with 12 percent.  The poll of 600 likely Republican caucus-goers was conducted over November 17th to the 23rd and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.

In New Hampshire, Congressman Paul is holding strong in third place, within the margin of error of +/- 3.8 percent for second place in this survey of 665 randomly selected adults.  Among likely New Hampshire Republican Primary voters, Paul polls at 12 percent behind Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich who earned 42 and 15 percent, respectively.  As in the Iowa poll, the WMUR/UNH poll shows that other Republican presidential hopefuls failing to place in the top three have modest single-digit results.

"These poll results demonstrate that Ron Paul's support in Iowa and New Hampshire is loyal, solid, and diverse, not subject to the media and pundit-fueled 'flavor of the week' whims.  As the finish line approaches, we're hopeful for a strong showing that reflects this strong base of support and its steadily growing numbers," said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton.
###
06 Dec 2011

Davenport Parks and Recreation December 2011

By Davenport Parks & Rec

RECREATION:

For all events and activities, go online at www.cityofdavenportiowa.com/parks to register or call 328-PARK (7275) for more information. Fall/Winter catalogs are now available.

 

INDOOR WINTER VOLLEYBALL
Tuesday or Wednesday - Smart
Wednesday - Sudlow
Games played 6:30-10pm
Early bird: $140 per team till 12/26
After 12/26: $160 per team   Register Today at www.cityofdavenportiowa.com/parks

Sign up for the league that best fits your team. Check the rules for full description of leagues. Leagues are broken down by skill level. The leagues are briefly described as follows: B1/B2: Advanced players, B3: Competitive players and B4 Competitive Rec. players.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call our offices at (563) 328-PARK (7275).

 

WINTER CELEBRATION

Chill's and thrills are what you will find at Centennial Park and Rivers Edge on January 8th from 2pm-4pm.  So put your parka and mittens on and grab your families for inside and outside fun! Join us for snow sports, hot chocolate, ice skating, children activities and so much more! Silver skates speed skating will take place at the Rivers Edge during this great event so get pre-registered.

 

Dinner Theater at Comedy Sportz

Join us for good food and laughter at our interactive dinner party.

No scholarships are available. 12/5  Fee: $10  Time: 6-10 pm

 

30-Hour Play Fest: Performances- 12/11/2011

That's right!  Junior Theatre students will only have 30 hours to prepare a Holiday Classic story!  Students will arrive the night before, prepare a full production in only 30-hours, and then perform for you!  Local professionals will help guide the students to success.  Come see how the holiday project turns out!  $3.00 for anyone 3 years and up, tickets sold at door, Sunday, Dec 11 @ 2:00 PM & 4:00 PM

 

Kindernature- Winter Animals

Kindernature is a nature program for young children ages 3 to 5 which enriches awareness and appreciation for nature. Each class focuses on an environmental theme includes a story, hands-on activity, craft and themed snack. Class fee is $6 per child.  An adult must accompany the child. Registration is required and class size is limited to 20 children. Each class begins at 10am in the Vander Veer Conservatory.

What do animals do in the winter? Where do they go? Come find out the mystery of these questions.

 

Bowling Tournament

December 6, 2011:  1:00pm  People 1st Bowling Tournament @ Miller Time Bowl-Prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd places.  Pre-registration is required.  Admission is $10.00. Fee includes bowling and shoe rental.

 

Holiday Organizing

Do the holidays get you down? Do you feel rushed, hurried, and disorganized at Christmas? Or maybe the Festival of Trees has put you in the holiday mood! Join Professional Organizer Mona Brantley from Organize That as she gives you all the tools and information needed for a fun, relaxing, and festive holiday season. This three hour course will cover the planning and preparation stages to cover meals, gifts, cards, parties, scheduling, and all your holiday needs.  Preregister to receive your detailed paper holiday planner especially designed and created for class participants. $40 with a limit of 12.

This class will be held at the Collins House - 1234 E. 29th Street, Davenport (Corner of Bridge and 29th Street, North of Genesis East)

 

Ooey Gooey Treats

Measure and mix your way to some of your favorite gooey concoctions!  Each week participants will be guided in how to follow directions to reach their final goal...a delicious treat.  No Scholarships are available for this class. 11/29-12/20  Fee:$35 Duck Creek Lodge

 

Toddling on the Wild Side at the Libraries

Come to your local library with you 18 month to 4 year olds and experience nature first hand. Program starts at 2pm and last for 30 minutes. Fairmount December 1st and 15th. Eastern Ave Library December 10th. Free program.

 

Senior Coffee 12/14 10am to Noon

Come and enjoy the Conservatory Display ( Holiday Show) at Vander Veer Botanical Park . your admission fee includes entertainment and refreshments ($1).

 

Holiday Safety Seminar

On December 8th at 10am, Officer Hank of the Davenport Police Department will be giving a Holiday Safety presentation at Roosevelt Community Center on Minnie Avenue, just off South Concord.  The talk will be about Holiday scams and how to handle donation you wish to give. Come join us for the free presentation and coffee.

 

RIVER'S EDGE-

Located at 700 W. River Drive (Across from Modern Woodmen Park)

Skate with Santa at The River's Edge!

Come for Public Skate and visit with Santa!

Santa will make an appearance at 3pm

Public Skate Fees Apply

Date/Time: Sunday, December 4th from 2:45pm-4:45pm

 

Toys for Tots at The River's Edge!

Bring a toy or book to donate to Toys for Tots and skate *free!

*Skate rental is $3/person

Date/Time: Saturday, December 17th 2:45pm-4:15pm

 

First Shot Program

Adults! Come learn to play hockey at The River's Edge

Hockey Equipment Required

Program runs for 10 weeks $170 per player

Starts Jan 5th 2012

Runs every Thursday night from 9:30 - 10:30pm

 

Adult Hockey League at The River's Edge

"C/D" level players only

January 5th - March 11th

$200 per player/$150 for goalies

Games are Sunday nights at 9:30pm and 10:45pm

 

U12 Stick and Puck at The River's Edge

Sunday December 4th 5:00-6:00pm

Full equipment required

$10 per player

 

Gear up for winter at The River's Edge!

Holiday Public Skate times start December 19th

See www.cityofdavenportiowa.com/parks for

Schedules and pricing

 

HOLIDAY SOCCER TOURNAMENTS ON THE TURF

Youth team winners receive an automatic bid to the National Indoor Soccer Championships in Kansas City this Spring!!!

U-10 December 27 and 28

U-12 December 29 and 30

U-14 December 31

Coed Adult 3v3 January 1

 

GOLF:

Duck Creek Golf Course will remain OPEN as weather permits through the winter season. Call proshop 326-7824 for daily conditions.

 

Indoor Golf Practice Range will open in December at The Rivers' Edge, 700 West River Drive. Call 328-PARK (7275) or click www.golfdavenport.com for daily schedule and availability.

 

Logon to www.golfdavenport.com to see the latest announcements for 2012 season that include : re-loadable player cards and new rain-check policy.

 

Call Your Davenport Golf Professional for Fall/Winter specials on merchandise an apparel. Ron Thrapp (Emeis Golf) 326-7825, Matt Hasley (Duck Creek Golf) 326-7824.

 

Golf Gift Certificates - The perfect Christmas gift for the golf enthusiast in your family!  Purchase at any golf course or at the River's Edge.  Available in any denomination in multiples of $5.

 

Red Hawk Lodge

This clubhouse gathering and meeting space is now available for rental for your holiday parties!.  Call 563-328-PARK (7275) for availability and prices.



PARKS:
Credit Island Lodge and Red Hawk Lodge are both now open for indoor winter rentals!  Both lodges have kitchens and are great for your holiday parties. Call 563-328-PARK (7275) for availability.

06 Dec 2011

Facts are STUBBORN Things, Knowledge of the Connection between Agent Terry's Death and Fast and Furious

By Sen Chuck Grassley
Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearings with Secretary Janet Napolitano, October 19, 2011, and Attorney General Eric Holder, November 8, 2011

Knowledge of Connection Between Agent Terry's Death and Fast and Furious

  • Senator Grassley: "Have you had any communications with Mr. Burke about Operation Fast and Furious?"

Secretary Napolitano: "When Agent Terry was killed, it was December 14th, I went to Arizona a few days thereafter to meet with the FBI agents and the assistant U.S. attorneys who were actually going to look for the shooters.  At that time, nobody had done the forensics on the guns and Fast and Furious was not mentioned.  But I wanted to be sure that those responsible for his death were brought to justice, and that every DOJ resource was being brought to bear on that topic.  So I did have conversations in - it would have December of '09 - about the murder of Agent Terry.  But at that point in time, there - nobody knew about Fast and Furious."

  • Senator Grassley: "When we met that day [on January 31, 2011], did you know that the guns connected to an ATF operation had been found at the Terry murder scene?"

Attorney General Holder: "I did not."

  • Senator Grassley: "Documents produced by the department suggest that your deputy chief of staff spoke with U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke about Fast and Furious, shortly after Agent Terry's death.  Did Mr. Wilkinson say anything to you about the connection between Agent Terry's death and the ATF operation?"

Attorney General Holder: "No, he did not.  The conversations that they had were about a variety of things.  I've looked at the emails.  Now the possibility of me coming out to at some point talk about being engaged in a press conference, other matters, but there was no discussion between them of the tactics that are of concern with regard to Fast and Furious and as a result of that, Mr. Wilkinson did not share information with me about his contacts with former U.S. Attorney, Burke."

FACT

The Attorney General's Deputy Chief of Staff Monty Wilkinson sent an email to U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke at 11:18 am on December 14, 2010, the day before Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's death.  The email had only a subject line: "You available for a call today?"  On December 15 at 2:14 am, Burke responded: "Sorry for going dark on you.  I was at Navajo and Hopi all day and coverage was weak at best.  I did get your vm.  We have a major gun trafficking case connected to Mexico we are taking down in January.  20+ defendants.  Will call today to explain in detail."  Documents show that notice of Agent Terry's death was emailed to Burke an hour later, at 3:31 am.

According to emails produced by the Justice Department, Nathan Gray, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Phoenix Field Division, was at the press conference held that day to announce the death of Agent Terry, and was telling individuals there about the connection to Operation Fast and Furious.  Thus, by the time Secretary Napolitano visited Arizona a few days later, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office were clearly aware of the connection.

The emails that have been produced by the Justice Department so far are insufficient to draw any conclusions about what Wilkinson and Burke may have discussed over the phone on December 15.  Whether any follow-up conversation between them included the fact that Fast and Furious guns were found at the scene will remain unknown until Burke completes his testimony, which was interrupted on an earlier date, and Wilkinson testifies for the first time.  Unfortunately, the Justice Department has to this point refused to make other witnesses with first-hand knowledge available for transcribed interviews.

It is clear, however, that multiple officials from multiple agencies knew almost immediately of the connection between Fast and Furious and Agent Terry's death, including Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler.  The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have failed to adequately explain why Attorney General Holder and Secretary Napolitano allegedly remained ignorant of that connection.

Documents supporting the FACTS.
06 Dec 2011

Mississippi River Distilling Company's Cody Road Bourbon Release Friday, December 2

By Rick Martin

LeClaire, Iowa, November 28, 2011 - It's been a year in the making and Mississippi River Distilling Company is anxious to release their Cody Road Bourbon Whiskey on Friday, December 2, 2011.

For owners and distillers Ryan and Garrett Burchett, this release has been their ultimate goal from the beginning.  "We got into this business to make whiskey," said Ryan.  "It's so exciting to finally have our first bourbon ready for the market."

The spirit's namesake is LeClaire's most famous son, Buffalo Bill Cody.  Buffalo Bill's road started in LeClaire and the distillery sits on what is now known as Cody Road.  The cork features a wood top that is laser engraved with Buffalo Bill's face and the label includes a historic picture of Cody Road in downtown LeClaire taken in the late 1800s.

MRDC takes a unique blend of corn in LeClaire along with wheat and unmalted barley from Reynolds, Illinois to make their sweet and smooth bourbon.  To be called bourbon whiskey, a spirit must be made with at least 51% corn and be aged in brand new, charred oak barrel.  In addition to local corn, Cody Road also has wheat and barley for a distinct taste unmatched by anything else hand crafted.  Each bottle has been individually hand labeled.  Cody Road has been soaking in handmade barrels made from white American oak trees, many of which are harvested in Iowa and Illinois.  MRDC uses a variety of specially sized smaller barrels to increase the ratio of wood to spirit, in order to extract flavors in a shorter period of time, including delicious vanilla and caramel flavors that only time in wood can provide.  The result is a sweet and smooth bourbon with enough oak to bring familiar flavors, but also young enough that you'll still be able to taste the sweetness of that local grain.

"We decided to up the proof for the bottling from 80 to 90 proof because it was just too smooth," said distiller Garrett Burchett.  "Bourbon needs to have a bit of a bite.  At 80 proof, the bourbon was so smooth that by the time the ice melted in your glass a bit, you wondered where all the whiskey was.  So we upped the alcohol content so it would have a little of the kick that we presume Buffalo Bill would have preferred.  I think many whiskey aficionados will appreciate the higher proof as well."

Friday is the first release of Cody Road Bourbon and there will be approximately 900 bottles for distribution in this first batch.  Get to your local retailer soon as supplies are likely to go fast!  The next release of Cody Road will be ready in March.

Cody Road's release also comes the same day as MRDC's First Friday, which will be held Friday from 5:30 - 8 p.m.  MRDC features two signature cocktails at each First Friday.  This month we'll have Mississippi Mocha for visitors to try, which is made of MRDC's Iowa Coffee Company Liqueur (ICCL) and hot chocolate.  The second cocktail, Holiday Rose, is a mixture of River Rose Gin, orange and cranberry juices.  Chef Stephanie Godke has also come up with two new recipes using MRDC products.  Free samples will be served of chocolate coffee fudge pecan pie made with ICCL and whiskey BBQ pork made with Wide River Wheat Whiskey.  Artist Darrell Bush will be on hand to sign his artwork that is currently on display in the tasting room.  There will also be bottle specials in our retail area just for Friday night.  Friday night also corresponds with Le Claire's Christmas in Le Claire.

Mississippi River Distilling Company is open from 10 AM to 5 PM Monday through Saturday and from 12 to 5 PM Sundays.  Free tours are offered to the public daily on the hour from 12 to 4 PM or by appointment.  The tour takes visitors through the entire distilling process.  Tours end in the Grand Tasting Room with free samples of products for those patrons over 21 years of age.

06 Dec 2011

Harkin, DeFazio Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Cited in Krugman Column on Ways to Reduce the Deficit

By Sen. Tom Harkin

MEMO

To: Financial Writers
From: Kate Cyrul for Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA); Jen Gilbreath for Congressman DeFazio (D-OR)
Re: Harkin, DeFazio Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Cited in Krugman Column on Ways to Reduce the Deficit
Date: Monday, November 28, 2011

In case you missed it, Senator Harkin and Congressman DeFazio's Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax was cited in today's column by Paul Krugman entitled "Things to Tax."  Analysis conducted by the Joint Committee on Taxation found that the Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act will raise $352 billion over the time period of January 2013 through 2021.  The Joint Tax Committee also estimated that the Act raises $218.6 billion in the last 5 years, on average over $43 billion per year.

For more information, please contact Kate Cyrul at (202) 224-3254 or visit http://harkin.senate.gov/ or Jen Gilbreath at (202) 731-0063 or visit http://www.defazio.house.gov/.

The New York Times

The Opinion Pages

 

November 28, 2011

Things to Tax

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The supercommittee was a superdud ? and we should be glad. Nonetheless, at some point we'll have to rein in budget deficits. And when we do, here's a thought: How about making increased revenue an important part of the deal?

And I don't just mean a return to Clinton-era tax rates. Why should 1990s taxes be considered the outer limit of revenue collection? Think about it: The long-run budget outlook has darkened, which means that some hard choices must be made. Why should those choices only involve spending cuts? Why not also push some taxes above their levels in the 1990s?

Let me suggest two areas in which it would make a lot of sense to raise taxes in earnest, not just return them to pre-Bush levels: taxes on very high incomes and taxes on financial transactions.

About those high incomes: In my last column I suggested that the very rich, who have had huge income gains over the last 30 years, should pay more in taxes. I got many responses from readers, with a common theme being that this was silly, that even confiscatory taxes on the wealthy couldn't possibly raise enough money to matter.

Folks, you're living in the past. Once upon a time America was a middle-class nation, in which the super-elite's income was no big deal. But that was another country.

The I.R.S. reports that in 2007, that is, before the economic crisis, the top 0.1 percent of taxpayers ? roughly speaking, people with annual incomes over $2 million ? had a combined income of more than a trillion dollars. That's a lot of money, and it wouldn't be hard to devise taxes that would raise a significant amount of revenue from those super-high-income individuals.

For example, a recent report by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center points out that before 1980 very-high-income individuals fell into tax brackets well above the 35 percent top rate that applies today. According to the center's analysis, restoring those high-income brackets would have raised $78 billion in 2007, or more than half a percent of G.D.P. I've extrapolated that number using Congressional Budget Office projections, and what I get for the next decade is that high-income taxation could shave more than $1 trillion off the deficit.

It's instructive to compare that estimate with the savings from the kinds of proposals that are actually circulating in Washington these days. Consider, for example, proposals to raise the age of Medicare eligibility to 67, dealing a major blow to millions of Americans. How much money would that save?

Well, none from the point of view of the nation as a whole, since we would be pushing seniors out of Medicare and into private insurance, which has substantially higher costs. True, it would reduce federal spending ? but not by much. The budget office estimates that outlays would fall by only $125 billion over the next decade, as the age increase phased in. And even when fully phased in, this partial dismantling of Medicare would reduce the deficit only about a third as much as could be achieved with higher taxes on the very rich.

So raising taxes on the very rich could make a serious contribution to deficit reduction. Don't believe anyone who claims otherwise.

And then there's the idea of taxing financial transactions, which have exploded in recent decades. The economic value of all this trading is dubious at best. In fact, there's considerable evidence suggesting that too much trading is going on. Still, nobody is proposing a punitive tax. On the table, instead, are proposals like the one recently made by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Peter DeFazio for a tiny fee on financial transactions.

And here's the thing: Because there are so many transactions, such a fee could yield several hundred billion dollars in revenue over the next decade. Again, this compares favorably with the savings from many of the harsh spending cuts being proposed in the name of fiscal responsibility.

But wouldn't such a tax hurt economic growth? As I said, the evidence suggests not ? if anything, it suggests that to the extent that taxing financial transactions reduces the volume of wheeling and dealing, that would be a good thing.

And it's instructive, too, to note that some countries already have financial transactions taxes ? and that among those who do are Hong Kong and Singapore. If some conservative starts claiming that such taxes are an unwarranted government intrusion, you might want to ask him why such taxes are imposed by the two countries that score highest on the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom.

Now, the tax ideas I've just mentioned wouldn't be enough, by themselves, to fix our deficit. But the same is true of proposals for spending cuts. The point I'm making here isn't that taxes are all we need; it is that they could and should be a significant part of the solution.

06 Dec 2011

The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences receives grant

By Shelley Klimes
Amana - The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences is pleased to announce they have been awarded a grant in the amount of $6,000 from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.

The grant will fund performances of The Very Best Me to public elementary schools in Washington County in the spring of 2012. The Very Best Me is The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences 2012 school tour. Each year the tour reaches more than 40,000 Iowa school children with positive messages. The production is based on stories submitted by students across Iowa in grades 1 - 6.

For more information about The Old Creamery Theatre for Young Audiences call 800-35-AMANA or online at www.oldcreamery.com.

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 40 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.
06 Dec 2011

"The White Rose" exhibit at the GAHC

By Kelly Lao

Davenport- Beginning Sunday January 8th 2012, the German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second Street, Davenport, Iowa, will be featuring the exhibit "The White Rose." The exhibit explores one of Germany's most famous civilian resistance groups, formed by a small group of university students in Munich during 1941-42. The leaders were brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl and friends. Using only their ingenuity and youthful fearlessness, they outwitted the Nazis to issue several leaflets that urged their fellow students and citizens of Munich to resist Nazi tyranny. These leaflets were the first to print accusations that the Nazis were systematically
exterminating Jews and other minorities. Nearly all of the original White Rose students and their professor Kurt Huber were captured after a furious Gestapo manhunt, given a sham trial, and then brutally executed. After the war the Scholl's sister, Inge, worked diligently to tell the story of the sacrifice made by the group. Sophie Scholl has been voted the "most admired woman in German history" in  numerous public polls for decades.

This record of civil and personal courage is one of the brightest spots during a very dark time; you will be heartened and astonished to learn how it unfolded. This exhibit comes to GAHC on a national tour from the White Rose Foundation in Munich. GAHC's partner in this exhibit and companion programming is the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities.

Pages

more

Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts

On Stands Now

 

Tagged Content

Two Ways to Subscribe

1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.

You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?) 

Subscribe!

* indicates required

2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48

Get 12 issues mailed monthly for $48 per year.

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Subscribe now.

 
 

Meetings Calendar

Kids Calendar

Eat & Drink Calendar