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Posted February 26, 2014in Political Mercury

Inside the freshly harvested Farm Bill with Vilsack

The meat of the recently-passed farm bill, signed by President Barack Obama into a law governing agriculture for the next decade, is the elimination of the $4.5 billion annually in [...]

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Posted February 19, 2014in Political Mercury

Can Mark Jacobs represent the wind in the U.S. Senate?

It’s eye-rolling, this posturing and re-posturing of Iowa Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Jacobs. Faced with news that he gave money to a Democrat — former U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine [...]

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Posted February 12, 2014in Political Mercury

Why Hillary Clinton should select Tom Vilsack as running mate

Some long-assumed sagacity about success in Iowa politics is this: never say things are going too well on the farm. Considering the last five years, that wisdom, which always sort [...]

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Posted February 05, 2014in Political Mercury

GOP senator: Iowa’s 3 universities too many

State Sen. Mark Segebart, R-Vail, says Iowa shouldn’t have three state universities. The population just doesn’t justify it, says the lawmaker-farmer who represents a vast swath of western Iowa. “We [...]

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Posted January 29, 2014in Political Mercury

Could you (today) handle the truth of Lincoln?

At Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership in Washington, D.C., visitors encounter a overwhelming visual — a 34-foot tower of books written about Abraham Lincoln, 6,800 titles representing less [...]

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Posted January 22, 2014in Political Mercury

Clinton paces the race with British oddsmakers

Ladbrokes, the British oddsmaker with a global reach into the betting markets, shows Hillary Clinton with Big Horse advantages in both a potential Democratic presidential nomination bid and general election. [...]

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Posted January 15, 2014in Political Mercury

The Third Motive: Christie scandal builds bridge to regional stereotypes

Let’s say you are on the Jasper County Republican Central Committee. You’re rolling over the 2016 GOP presidential candidates. And you really like Paul Ryan. He’s earnest. Intelligent. And focused [...]

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Posted January 08, 2014in Political Mercury

All parasites aboard! A rip-roaring tour of America’s ‘town’

What better place to start a book about parasites than a funeral? And that’s where Mark Leibovich introduces us to his take on Washington, D.C. — at memorials for newsman [...]

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Posted January 01, 2014in Political Mercury

Hatch: Hog lots should get casino-style scrutiny

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch says Iowa’s system for approving casino developments — state regulation with local control at the county level — should guide how government manages large hog [...]

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Posted December 26, 2013in Political Mercury

Can Hatch dish-towel Brand Branstad?

He’s Uncle Ben. The rice. Charmin. Ivory soap. The Folgers in Iowa’s cup. For about 20 years — with a clear-seas-ahead shot at 24 — Brand Branstad is the reliable [...]

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