Laura Belin

Troubling facts about Iowa's latest impaired waters list Wally Taylor identifies problems with the 2026 draft list of impaired waters, issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

New post: Wally Taylor identifies problems with the 2026 draft list of impaired waters, issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/03/06/t...

YouTube video by Bleeding Heartland "Transgender people are not welcome in Iowa" (lawmaker slams new discrimination bill)

Today the Iowa House approved yet another anti-trans bill, to prohibit local governments from banning discrimination on basis of gender identity.
State Rep Aime Wichtendahl @repaime.bsky.social (Iowa's first trans legislator) spoke passionately against the bill:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFuY...

YouTube video by Bleeding Heartland Catching up with Iowa AG candidate Nate Willems

I caught up with Nate Willems at the state capitol today, after he filed papers to be the Democratic candidate for Iowa attorney general.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lrc...

Steve King kept his committees until early 2019. He was officially removed over comments the New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel published: www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/u...
(Many suspected the real reason was King almost lost to @jdscholten.bsky.social in 2018, so Rs suddenly saw him as a liability)

Whenever a guest author quotes Orwell in a post, I always look it up because there are so many famous Orwell quotes that he never said.

Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for the Wall and Anti-Immigrant Politics (Published 2019)

He actually lost his committees in early 2019, not over that post but over comments published by New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel:
www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/u...

$1 billion could give 120,000 people free tuition for a two-year Associate’s Degree, or it could provide free child care for a year for $71,000 kids. That’s the cost of this war every single day.

By the way, TPM let me spend three days on this, which is what it takes to wade through expensive piles of bullshit white papers. Please consider supporting TPM during our annual membership drive. It is currently 25 percent off! talkingpointsmemo.com/memberships

Private college officials say Iowa lawmaker threatens state tuition grants Brooklyn Draisey: Iowa private college officials say State Rep. Taylor Collins is threatening funding to a state tuition grant program.

New post: Brooklyn Draisey reports that Iowa private college officials say State Representative Taylor Collins is threatening funding to a state tuition grant program over their opposition to allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees.

www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/03/04/p...

This kind of "smooth handover" is one of my huge pet peeves. So corrupt.

A short while ago the Iowa House approved a "three strikes" bill w/long sentences for some repeat offenders.
www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/...
Vote was 68 to 23, with 3 Rs (Cisneros, Lohse, Shipley) voting no & 7 Dems (Bagniewski, Gosa, Judge, Meyer, Turek, Wichtendahl, Wilson) voting yes.

Voting along party lines, the Iowa House just passed a so-called "parental rights" bill "allowing a person to raise, guide, and instruct a child in a manner consistent with the child's sex."
Will force conversion therapy and other abusive practices on LGBTQ kids.
www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/...

Pseudoscientific Push to Frame Abortion as a ‘Water Quality’ Issue Rears Its Head in Iowa About an hour into the Republican gubernatorial debate in Iowa earlier this...

I used Iowa to take a look at the nationwide push from right wing groups to link abortion drugs to water quality issues. It's an organized effort that has no basis in actual science. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pseudos...

One of the ads targets #IA01 Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
x.com/imeupolicy/s...

Even though Trump has endorsed Miller-Meeks in #IA01, you have to wonder how safe she is against MAGA primary challenger David Pautsch, who got about 44% of the votes in the 2024 primary.

YouTube video by Bleeding Heartland Iowa Senate subcommittee on GOP property tax bill (full video)

On Tues afternoon an Iowa Senate subcommittee heard testimony about the Senate GOP property tax reform bill. Meeting lasted for an hour and a half.

Lots of public comments (mostly expressing concerns about parts of the bill), with five senators speaking at the end.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hH1...

Iran strikes, governor using state plane, 2026 campaign news March 2 edition of "KHOI's Capitol Week"

On "KHOI's Capitol Week," @spencerdirks.bsky.social and I covered Iowa reaction to the Iran strikes, Iowa angles on the SOTU, the "governor's plane" story, plus 2026 campaign and legislative news (all in 30 min).
Here's the audio and a detailed written recap:
laurabelin.substack.com/p/iran-strik...

Make Iowa healthy again by reforming Medicaid Jack Hatch: The Iowa legislature should reform Medicaid's pharmaceutical services and approve a “public option” to purchase Medicaid coverage.

New post by Jack Hatch: The Iowa legislature should enact the Republican-appointed Medicaid director’s recommendation to reform the pharmaceutical services, and should go further to include a “public option” to purchase #Medicaid coverage. #ialegis
www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/03/03/m...

BREAKING: As I was first to report earlier, Trump has nominated Bradford Wilson, who does not meet the statutory requirements—which include that the nominee be nonpartisan and professionally qualified—to be the next Archivist of the United States.

lastcampaign.substack.com/p/breaking-t...

Prof. Robert Pape:

"I have studied every air campaign since WWI... I've modelled the bombing of Fordow and regime change in Iran for 20 years... We are now in the grip of the escalation trap... This has never worked in over 100 years... Trump is up against the weight of history".

U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus Advocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military

EXCLUSIVE: At more than 30 installations, U.S. commanders told troops the war on Iran is a Christian war.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been “inundated” with more than 110 complaints.

One NCO said they were told the U.S. war is to bring about Armageddon and the return of Jesus…

Let's discuss waste, fraud, and abuse Dean Lerner: To curb waste, fraud, and abuse, President Trump should share the substance of his conversations with nursing home executives.

New post by Dean Lerner: In the interests of transparency and curbing waste, fraud, and abuse, perhaps President Trump will share the substance of his conversations with the nursing home executives who so generously donated to his MAGA, Inc. super PAC.
www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/03/02/l...

KHOI Community Radio on Reels

I forgot to mention that KHOI Radio is now live-streaming our show as well. If you're on Facebook, you can watch or listen to "KHOI's Capitol Week" here.
New episodes stream at 7 PM Central every Monday.
www.facebook.com/khoicommunit...

You can listen to tonight's Iowa politics radio show now on podcast platforms or smart speakers: "KHOI's Capitol Week"

Tomorrow I'll send the audio file with a detailed written recap to subscribers of my free email newsletter: laurabelin.substack.com

Anthropic’s AI model Claude gets popularity boost after US military feud Claude climbs to top of app store charts in US and UK after being blacklisted by Pentagon over ethics concerns

As I've been saying for days: this feud with Hegseth -- in which Anthropic looks principled, and Claude looks so valuable that the Pentagon can't live without it -- has been terrific marketing for Anthropic www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

In a minute @spencerdirks.bsky.social and I will go live on KHOI Radio to talk about the week in Iowa politics.
89.1 FM in the Ames listening area or online: www.khoifm.org
(will be on podcast platforms later as "KHOI's Capitol Week")

I've never seen these kinds of stories as useful.

honestly, this goes in the war crimes prosecution file, a pretty clear declaration that the mission is not guided by rules rooted in the law of armed conflict

I hope that's not how they described it to the parents and/or spouses when they were informing them

A titan of vaccine development sees his field’s achievements slip away Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," is watching his field’s achievements slip away.

“In a pair of recent interviews with STAT, Plotkin expressed dismay at seeing the achievements of his career & his field slip away. He knows what lies ahead…
“All I can say is that I’m beginning to regret having lived so long —because we’re going downhill,” Plotkin said” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social