Posted January 27, 2016in Political Mercury
Jamie Lee Curtis, a Golden Globe-winning actress, said that had she been nominated for this year’s Academy Awards she’d attend rather than joining the boycott of some in the film industry protesting the total absence (whiteout) of minorities in acting categories. “Of course I would,” she tells us. “It is not a
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Posted January 20, 2016in Political Mercury
The Iowa caucuses give the rural Midwest — not just Iowa, but a sweep of the Northern Plains — leverage. And unlike oil-slicked Texans, we are up front with how we use it. We don’t seek to bury sweetheart deals in the catacombs of the tax code or 500-page legislative packages. We know having
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Posted January 13, 2016in Political Mercury
Dr. Allen “Duke” Anneberg has showed up at dozens of events for Gov. Terry Branstad around Carroll County over the past four decades. The retired Carroll physician often registers his fervent support of Iowa’s Republican governor with the ringing of a cowbell. At a recent Ted Cruz presidential campaign event, Anneberg shook
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Posted January 06, 2016in Political Mercury
Bernie Sanders rolled his Navy-suit-covered forearm and extended it. The Democratic presidential candidate paused, looked at the right arm and summoned a searing childhood memory. Members of Sanders’ family — on his Polish immigrant father’s side — died in the Holocaust. “In the neighborhood I grew up in, there were
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Posted December 23, 2015in Political Mercury
Somewhere between the western Iowa town of Kiron and Washington, D.C., Steve King lost his way. And he apparently woke in Texas, with barbeque sauce smeared on his cheeks, the twang of two-steppin’ tunes ringing in his ears, and oil, black gold, Texas tea, rushing through his veins to the heart
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Posted December 16, 2015in Political Mercury
Cruz wants to end ethanol mandate rural leaders see as key Rising with a record-breaking Iowa Poll surge over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says he doesn’t want to be drawn into a “cage match” with rival Donald Trump. But the billionaire businessman — who Friday night darted dizzyingly
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Posted December 09, 2015in Political Mercury
Eric Branstad, leader of a fierce grassroots organization backing renewable-energy sources like ethanol, said last Thursday that Ted Cruz is far and away the most hostile presidential candidate — of either major party — to Iowa-grain-boosting fuels. Branstad, a son of Gov. Terry Branstad, is the state director of America’s Renewable Future,
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Posted December 02, 2015in Political Mercury
Republican White House aspirant Marco Rubio spots big openings for Iowa grain and livestock farmers in an emerging Pacific nations trade deal. What’s more, the U.S. Senator from Florida told Political Mercury in a five-minute interview that he supports moving the United States from family-chain migration to fully merit-based immigration. Additionally, Rubio said women who have abortions should
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Posted November 25, 2015in Political Mercury
Marco Rubio isn’t a patient politician. And a sense of urgency is what the nation — the world scene at this place and time — demands, the Republican presidential candidate told an audience of about 100 people Monday morning at Greasewood Flats, a rustic Carroll events barn. “It’s our identity that’s at
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Posted November 18, 2015in Political Mercury
Wall Street judges us every day. Minute to minute, in fact. No tears. No mercy. But if we are to believe Hillary Clinton, the denizens of the New York financial district — and their U.S. senator at the time — earned immunity against our judgment 14 years ago. To challenge Wall
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