Grounds For Divorce

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Marty & Stephanie

There are two occasions when women have a certain “glow.” The first is pregnancy. The second is when a bad marriage finally ends in divorce. The vows that are spoken, “for better or worse; in sickness and in health; ‘til death do us part’” are a serious commitment. But when only one party honors those vows, the vows have been essentially voided. The relationship is unhealthy and should come to an end.

A prime example is the current crumbling marriage between the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP). There had been a nurturing and productive relationship during the many years of Iowa being the first in the nation to hold its caucuses. Iowans embraced the role that slowly developed into a statewide system of vetting presidential hopefuls. This enabled any candidate, some from very diverse backgrounds to launch a successful campaign. But caucuses are much more than simply showing support for candidates. It’s a way for community members to gather and connect over problems and concerns; to work developing platforms based in current issues; and select delegates to bring these concerns from the local level, to the regional, state and national level. It is grassroots; therefore, it naturally evolves and cannot be corrupted or controlled.

It may be hard to believe, but the Iowa Caucuses have been around since the late 1800s. In the past, caucuses were held to select candidates for local offices. It wasn’t until 1968 that Iowa’s Democratic leadership (Gov. Harold Hughes) changed the format to select delegates to conventions based upon an elector’s personal preference for President.

The first two caucuses after the procedural changes, 1972 and 1974, resulted in “uncommitted” as the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucuses in its debut and sequel. The media was not yet a major player in the nomination process in Iowa. Theoretically, presidential candidates took note and realized that Iowa voters want more meat from campaigns. Spinning the usual political rhetoric wouldn’t work in Iowa. Candidates toured the state and met future constituents in small venues like coffee houses, town halls or even living rooms, and were put on the spot for where they honestly stood on issues. It was a grueling method that brought national attention to candidates that wouldn’t have made it out of the gate.

During those first eight years of the caucuses, little attention was given to the uniqueness of the process. Although Edmund Muskie was declared the winner, he “won with 35.5% of the vote. But 35.8% of Iowa voters signaled that they were uncommitted. Unlike what many think of the caucus results of the past, Jimmy Carter did not come out in front at the Iowa Caucuses in 1974. He came in second after “uncommitted,” 37% to 28%.

Over time, Iowa Democrats developed a pattern of choosing minorities, such as the first black President, Obama; a strong woman candidate, like Hilary Clinton; and the first openly gay man to run, Pete Buttigieg. The DNC wanted to control who was selected, for example, white, male career politicians like Joe Biden. He came in fifth in Iowa, so like a jealous, frustrated spouse, the DNC plotted its elimination campaign. Afterall, wasn’t Iowa just a “fly-over state” not worthy of the attention and focus? It was time to search for a trophy wife.

More than 90 percent of Iowa caucus-goers are white, according to entrance polls” conducted in 2020. DNC leadership wanted to begin the process of electing a Democratic candidate for president “in states that are less white, especially given the importance of Black voters as Democrats’ most loyal electoral base.” Wait a minute! Organized Labor was the Democrats most loyal base. Oh, that’s right, Labor, like Iowa, cannot be controlled. So, the DNC moved on to an attractive southern belle that welcomed and submitted to the will of the DNC. South Carolina was courted and dubbed the DNC new lead off.

Iowa, like many spouses before her, worked hard to make the marriage work. Even agreeing to use an app during the final lead-off Democratic Caucus in 2020. There wasn’t time to test the app or do the necessary statewide training needed for it to be a success. It was a failure before it even launched. It was also an opportunity for the DNC to paint Iowa as an archaic, backwards, state that is no longer worthy of its historic, political influence.

The DNC isn’t the first spouse to go through a mid-life crisis; making poor decisions to prove its vitality. Today, a (former) DNC vice-president recently resigned after an idea to “court” new candidates to run against incumbents – disloyalty. The Party is having financial problems and may need to take out a line of credit. One donor quipped: “The thing that’s clear to a lot of us is that the party never really learned its lesson in 2016. They worked off the same playbook and the same ineffective strategies and to what end?”

It’s time for Iowa to get its glow on. Even if the DNC doesn’t understand or appreciate the value of the grassroots political process, it’s what this country desperately needs. Neighbors gathering together to support and build communities. Iowa needs to do what countless underappreciated spouses have done in the pass. Kick the bum out and build a strong, healthy future.

This article first appeared in the July 2025 issue of The Prairie Progressive

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Water woes

Posted on June 24, 2025 by Marty Ryan

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.” Well (no pun intended), you can drink it, but water in the Des Moines area is as priceless as – well, water.

Central Iowa has a water problem, but it’s not Central Iowa’s fault. The primary water source for the Des Moines metropolitan area includes two rivers, the Des Moines River, and the Raccoon River. At the moment, both are heavily-laden with nitrates. As a result, the Central Iowa Water Works (formerly Des Moines Water Works), has placed a ban on lawn watering. But it goes a bit further than lawns. It affects the personal idiosyncrasies of every residential customer in the CIWW jurisdiction.

According to the CIWW, “lawn watering uses upward of 40 million gallons a day in the system.” Residents are asked to cooperate by “watering your flowers with a watering can, taking shorter showers, and washing full loads of laundry.” No mention of baths. “Generally, taking a shower uses less water than a full bath. A full bathtub can require about 36 to 70 gallons of water, while a typical shower uses around 10 to 25 gallons, depending on the duration and flow rate of the showerhead.” My understanding of a shorter shower would be to get out of the shower while still soapy. Or, alternatively, don’t use soap. And I suppose watering the garden with a watering can is included under the “flowers” category.

“Des Moines Water Works produces and delivers an average 54 million gallons of high-quality drinking water each day to 600,000 central Iowans through Central Iowa Water Works.” If lawn watering usage amounts for 40 million gallons a day, that computes to 14 million gallons of water remaining for other usage, such as data centers, etc.

“Records show that data centers use 2-6% of the system capacity.” That number jumped out at me. Two percent of the system capacity is a little over 1 million gallons; six percent of the system capacity is approximately 3.24 million gallons. There is quite a difference between 3.24 million and one million. We have to assume that the smaller amount is during the winter months when cooling data banks is easier because of the outside weather, whereas hot summer months would require more cooling capacity. “Collectively, data centers rank in the top 10 of “water-consuming industrial or commercial industries” in the U.S., according to a study led by Landon Marston, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech.” https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/issues/magazine-issue/article/2024/03/engineers-often-need-a-lot-of-water-to-keep-data-centers-cool

The numbers presented by CIWW on its website looked suspicious. Looking at simple math, if the CIWW produces 54 million gallons of water daily, and a data center uses an average of just over 2 million gallons, and 40 million gallons of water are not used because of a ban on lawn watering, Central Iowa residents are left with about 10 million gallons of water.

If 54 million gallons of water are produced daily (and the statement by CIWW makes no differential distinction of any seasonal adjustments), 3.24 million gallons are used by data centers and 10 million gallons are used by residents and businesses of the metro Des Moines area. The result shows that data centers are using one-third of the water produced by CIWW. It’s a classic example of “what would you like the math to prove.”

The 2-6% estimates appear to have come from the data centers, and not the CIWW. Even if I’m wrong, what happened to the 40 million gallons of water that are not making green grass? “The exact amount of water consumed by individual data centers is difficult to determine because there is very little data publicly available for research and analysis. Moreover, that water demand can be controversial, especially because of the negative impact that data centers can have on the communities in which they are built.”

The CIWW is not to blame because nitrate concentration is high in both watersheds of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. The fault lies with the animal feedlots, runoff from the farm fields in the watersheds, and excessive fertilization of golf courses and lawns north of the Des Moines area. This is a problem the Iowa Legislature and the Iowa Courts refuse to address.

We are expecting rain over the next few days. On Monday, June 23, CIWW posted the following: “The lawn watering ban is still in effect, but there is rain in the forecast for this coming week! We will continue to monitor the nitrate concentrations in Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers.” I’m confused. Wouldn’t additional rainfall in the watershed bring more nitrates to our troubled waters? But what do I know?

***

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Skeletons and scum

Posted on May 10, 2025 by Marty & Stephanie

This article was first published in the Prairie Progressive.

Once Governor Kim Reynolds announced that she wasn’t going to run for reelection, Iowa newspapers that still sell print editions needed more paper to publish all the potential Republican candidates. This sort of free publicity keeps Republican names in the news while any Democrat running (possibly Rob Sand?) is relegated to the footnotes.

In order for the Democrats to achieve more newsprint, I have decided to begin my exploratory committee to run in a primary against my current favorite Iowa Democrat. I have everything it takes to be a viable candidate.

This wouldn’t be my first foray into the race for a public service position. I have run for mayor and city council person – not at the same time – in a small western Iowa community of fewer than 500 residents when I was in my twenties. I lost both times. I announced my candidacy for the Iowa House of Representatives at two county conventions in western Iowa, only to withdraw when the Democratic incumbent was persuaded by the House Speaker to seek another term. Supposedly, I was too liberal for the district and defeat would be inevitable.

There was a second run for the Iowa House when I moved to Des Moines. The nomination papers were about to be filed when I met with two other Democratic candidates for the open seat in a heavily Democratic House district. At my invitation, the three of us met at a restaurant in the district to see if any of us should drop out. When two of us had been seated at a table, the third candidate came in and began at the first booth introducing himself and proclaiming his candidacy as he moved down the line to eventually introduce himself to both of us. I looked at the other potential candidate and said, “that does it for me.”

The most satisfying and shortest candidacy of my life was a time when an Iowa Democratic woman representative and an Iowa Republican male state senator asked me if I would run for governor. I was so honored! Both sides of the rotunda and both sides of the aisle were interested in me as a possibility to be the head honcho in Iowa. And it was a special occasion – Dubuque Night at the Fairgrounds. Of course, I never followed through with the suggestion. I believe all three of us sobered up the following morning.

As you can see, I have extensive experience in starting a campaign. Therefore, once again, I propose to get into the race for Governor of Iowa.

 Of course, there are skeletons in my closet: a drunk driving conviction, a divorce, and failure to go to church over the past many years, all afflictions that once sank Democratic candidates. Those afflictions are no longer the kiss of death. Once Republicans demonstrated that they can be human and fallible, bankruptcies, affairs, and felonies were all dismissed from the list of family values, along with my sins previously mentioned. Still, the competition to the bottom of qualified gubernatorial candidates scares the bejesus out of me. Some of those considering a run for the top Iowa job might be located toward the bottom of the barrel. But I could be situated lower.

Before I was married for the second time (hey, Reagan’s candidacies were not affected), a woman I dated for a short time brought me to meet her family. Her father went on and on about how lobbyists were ruining the country. “They’re the scum of the earth,” I believe he affirmed. Then, he asked what I did for a living. “I’m a lobbyist.” I replied. Now, that’s a huge skeleton!

Like so many of the possible Republican candidates for governor, my announcement may lead to a director’s position with a state agency if I can’t raise the required boxcar load of money. Or, I might be chosen to be the running mate as lieutenant governor. Maybe not. After all, I might be too liberal. Department of Labor director would be comfortable for me. I once won an election to become secretary-treasurer of my local union.

That liberal label needs to be adjusted downward. I just might go to church, join the NRA, and the Farm Bureau in order to tone down my radical progressiveness. On the other hand, why would I want to sell my soul for a better job than the one I have? I’m retired. And I’m President of Iowans Against the Death Penalty, the only other position I was elected to besides my Labor position.

My candidacy for the Iowa House of Representatives was short-lived, just like this announcement, I will be withdrawing before I place a period at the end of this sentence.

Marty Ryan has been scum for over 30 years at the Iowa Capitol

***

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Cap Snip

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Marty & Stephanie

“Our house is a very, very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard”

– Graham Nash – recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

We have two cats. Excuse me. Two cats have us. No one owns cats.

Four years ago, a mother cat and her litter of kittens walked through our backyard. One black kitten had climbed into one of our garden boxes stared up at Stephanie and never left. The mother cat and her litter moved on.

Stephanie started feeding the kitten hoping to protect the birds that we’ve fed for years. One sunrise, she walked out to take care of the habitat and there were now two identical black kittens. We enjoyed watching the siblings play, chasing each other around the yard, climbing trees, basically honing their survival skills. Tom, an older tiger-striped cat retuned to our yard at this time after running away when Stephanie’s daughter’s dog, who we were dog sitting, barked at him. He was happy to be back and bonded with the kittens.

There was a feral cat problem in our neighborhood and Marty wanted to get them fixed before they could reproduce. So, we captured all three cats to bring to The Animal Rescue League for their respective surgeries. One of the black cats was female, who we named Sam (since we couldn’t get close enough to determine its sex and figured Sam could be short for Samantha), the other male, who we named Junior, after Blackie, a cat that had hung around our yard. Blackie had been seriously injured a few months before the kittens arrived and we brought him to the ARL believing he would be euthanized. To our surprise, the ARL informed us that the black tom we had brought in previously had been repaired and sent out for adoption. The staff called him “Martin” after Marty. Some people have buildings named for them. Marty’s namesake is a cat.

Sadly, Tom had to be put to death shortly after he had been neutered. He had an oral disease that kept him from eating. We brought him back to the ARL where we were told that the problem was a dental issue that hurt him every time he ate, so he quit eating.

Shortly after the death of Tom, another cat entered the scene. His front paw was broken and he couldn’t put any weight on it for months. We called him “Paws”, as you have probably figured out, we lack creativity in naming the homeless cats that visit out humble home. We protected Paws so that he could heal.

Not long after Paws joined the cat crew, another cat walked into the fold. This cat belonged to someone in the neighborhood because he showed up with a red collar around his neck. We didn’t call him “Collar” until after he had managed to get the collar off and later returned with another around his neck. He managed to get that one off, as well. We don’t know why someone would allow a male cat with his balls still attached to run loose in the neighborhood, but there he was, meowing to be fed. Unlike Paws, he was not shy. But he had a broken tail and we were afraid he may have been abused. The tom cats chased poor Sam away.

Before we could get Paws and Collar neutered, Paws quit eating. We believe he wondered off to die. We haven’t seen him since the middle of winter. Shortly after Paws left us, Collar disappeared. It could be that both cats succumbed to a pack of coyotes, since they had been declawed and couldn’t protect themselves. One night, around 3:00 am, Marty looked out the window after using the bathroom and saw three coyotes walking up Lynner Drive in front of our home. A few weeks earlier, a neighbor who lives a block away had his small dog snatched up by a coyote right out of the front yard. Ironically, the dog’s name was Lucky.

J.R. is still with us (we felt he was too old to be called Junior). He lives on the deck out back like an alpha dog. Although still quite feral, he demands attention like an indoor cat. He jumps in front of Stephanie, lies down on his back and expects her to pet him. She does until her back gives out. As for Marty, he has the night shift and goes outside when the cat is staring at him in through the patio doors window. Marty has to sit on a patio chair and hang his hand over the edge where the cat can maneuver itself under Marty’s hand, thereby manipulating Marty into thinking he is really in command. But Marty has trained him to know that “here you go” means he’ll set a treat on the deck for J.R. to eat. And he has also trained him to know what “last bite” means, since Marty has always wanted to know beforehand when he was about to eat the last bite of anything.

Recently, Sam came home like a prodigal son/daughter. We know it’s her because she’s identical to J.R., and her ear is snipped (that’s what the ARL does to help identify those felines who have been fixed). She now comes to the front door. Sadly, J.R. will not accept her like he did the several toms. Siblings!

It’s been years since we have had a mouse in the house. Now that Sam is back home, we have both sides of the house covered. Along with the absence of mice, we have no ground squirrels, rabbits, ground hogs or snakes. We don’t mind missing the ground hogs, rabbits, or ground squirrels, but snakes provide excellent natural pest control, especially in the garden. And speaking of the garden, parts of it are now being used as a litter box.

The average life expectancy of a feral cat is five years. Average-wise, we should expect the siblings to last only one more year. We don’t know about Sam, but J.R. has gone through at least three of his nine lives of which we are aware. He broke his back (probably from falling out of a tree); and his front paw swelled up for days as a result of a bee or wasp sting. There is also the possibility he was shot with a BB gun in the side. He always finds his way home.

Life is a journey. We will continue to care for the people and animals that cross our paths. For Stephanie, this is the definition of being prolife. It has never and will never be about abortion.

***

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Flaws in the laws – Part VII

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Marty Ryan

Apparently, research at the Iowa Capitol is a thing of the past.

Senate File 397 passed the Iowa Senate and House with a total of two[1] “nay” votes between the two chambers and is waiting for the governor’s signature. SF 397 is a bill that enhances penalties for assault on people employed in certain occupations. The list of those occupations (included below) adds “juvenile detention staff and employees of the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) who conduct investigations or inspections to the long list of occupations.” The floor manager in the House made a remark that the bill added a “protected class,” as if this is class warfare.

.A Legislative Fiscal Note issued by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimates there will be an increase “penalties for assaults on persons in certain occupations.” The Fiscal Note also believes there “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.” If you don’t care, you should. America has a higher incarceration rate than any other civilized country in the world[2].

In FY 2024, there were 27 individuals admitted to prison, 9 individuals admitted to parole, and 125 individuals admitted to probation for the most serious offense under Iowa Code section 708.3A. Under the Bill, the DOC estimates that prison and parole admissions and LOS (length of stay) would be increased. The probation counts would be redistributed given the enhancements, since some individuals would be ordered to prison under the Bill.

The list of occupations affected by this legislation includes:

    • peace officer
    • jailer
    • correctional or juvenile detention staff
    • member or employee of the board of parole
    • health care provider
    • employee of the department of health and human services
    • employee of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations or inspections
    • employee of the department of revenue
    • national guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active duty
    • civilian employee of a law enforcement agency
    • civilian employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, whether paid or volunteer

That’s a lot of Iowans. You could be charged with a class “C” felony if you should assault[3] someone who worked in one of those occupations. However, the law does not state that the assault must occur while the person in the occupation is “on the job.” It’s just another “flaw in the law.” That means that a dispute between you and your neighbor, who happens to be a “health care provider,” may lead to you being charged with a class “C” felony, punishable by “no more than ten years, and in addition shall be sentenced to a fine of at least one thousand three hundred seventy dollars but not more than thirteen thousand six hundred sixty dollars.” That’s pretty steep for slapping your neighbor (ala Will Smith v. Chris Rock). But wait, you don’t even need to slap her. Iowa Code section 708.1(1)(b) defines an assault as “Any act which is intended to place another in fear of immediate physical contact which will be painful, injurious, insulting, or offensive, coupled with the apparent ability to execute the act.” [Emphasis mine.] So, just raising your hand to slap your neighbor will contain the necessary elements of the crime under subsection (1)(b). I am not an attorney, but it seems to me that it may be the case for most instances while using the plain language of the law[4], especially when the law emphasizes that a member of the National Guard must be “engaged in national guard duty or state active duty,” but requires no “on-the-job” requirement for other occupations.

The bill also adds saliva to the list of offensive objects resulting in an “employee’s contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, or feces [] that is intended to cause pain or injury or be insulting or offensive and that results in blood, seminal fluid, urine, saliva, or feces being cast or expelled upon an employee of the jail or institution or facility under the control of the department of corrections.” This part of the bill could have stood alone.

Back to the lack of research

Enhancing penalties for these crimes is counter-productive.

“Research on crime deterrence shows that increasing punishment severity does little to prevent crime. This is partly because criminals seldom know the legal sanctions for specific crimes.[5]” But it’s more than that; assaulting a person in an occupation that deals with the public on a continuous basis is usually the result of rage, impairment, mental issues, miscommunication, or some other factor lacking in logic or rationale[6].

I have always called this type of legislation an “Animal Farm” bill[7]. I know it wouldn’t hold up in court, but I like to believe that laws such as this violate Iowa’s Constitution, Article 1, section 1: “All men and women are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights – among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.”

These assault laws protect no one. There can be no preventive measure to the law because someone who is going to strike another rarely weighs the consequences. There can be only two results to this madness. Time in prison can mean the incarcerated individual learns from other inmates about better ways to commit crimes[8]. Also, it can satisfy the person in a certain occupation to know that their attacker is going to be punished more than if they were an “average” Iowan. That is known as revenge. Archie Bunker said: “What’s wrong with revenge, Edith. It’s the best way to get even with someone.” Is that what Iowans want – revenge?

Unfortunately, enhancing penalties do very little but provide prosecutors additional options to offer in plea bargains. Iowa legislators need to perform more research and prevent passing bills that may seem to make sense and provide a comforting election brochure item, but only add to more senseless incarceration and crime statistics.

[1] Representatives Elinor Levin (D-Iowa City) and Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D-Ames).

[2] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/incarceration-rates-by-country

[3] https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/708.1.pdf

[4] “We do not search for legislative intent beyond the express language of a statute when that language is plain and the meaning is clear. Voss v. Iowa Dep’t of Transp., 621 N.W.2d 208, 211 (Iowa 2001).” McGill v. Fish, 790 NW 2d 113 (Iowa 2010).

[5] https://gigafact.org/fact-briefs/does-increasing-the-penalties-for-a-crime-reduce-the-incidence-of-that-crime/

[6] https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence/

[7] ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.’ https://interestingliterature.com/2020/05/a-summary-and-analysis-of-george-orwells-animal-farm/

[8] https://www.npr.org/2013/02/01/169732840/when-crime-pays-prison-can-teach-some-to-be-better-criminals

***

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What were they thinking?

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Marty Ryan

This blog was written a little over two years ago as an op-ed. The newspaper to which it was submitted rejected it. Now that the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has recommended members of Congress cancel and never reschedule town hall meetings, this essay has more meaning.

The Iowa Capitol Press Association canceled its annual legislative preview forum earlier this week when Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, House Speaker Pat Grassley, and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver rejected the ICPA’s invitation to participate in the event that has been held over the past twenty years without incident.

The ICPA should have continued to schedule the event without the unreliable Republicans. There is another faction of the Ninetieth General Assembly that has participated in the past – the minority party, otherwise called Democrats.

Canceling the event because the party in power refuses to be confronted by questions that might be tough to answer is ceding power to power. The Republicans win again. At the rate things are going in Iowa we’re about to face the edge of state-run press. There are hints of it already when you read the newspaper and see the media release by the governor’s office the day before printed in toto.

The media has more power than it recognizes. Hold the legislative preview forum with Democratic leadership from each chamber. Surely, they have something to say. Perhaps it’s time to hear the other side, even if it has an extremely small opportunity to have its ideas enacted. Empty chair debates have been going on for at least 100 years.

Burton K. Wheeler, Progressive vice-presidential nominee in 1924 addressed a packed room in Des Moines.

“You people have a right to know how a candidate for President stands on issues, and so far President Coolidge has not told you where he stands on anything… so I am going to call him before you tonight and ask him to take this chair and tell me where he stands.” People in the auditorium began to crane their necks to see if Coolidge really was somewhere on the premises. I pulled a vacant chair and addressed it as though it had an occupant. “President Coolidge,” I began, “tell us where you stand on Prohibition.” I went on with rhetorical questions in this vein, pausing after each for a short period. Then I wound up: “There, my friends, is the usual silence that emanates from the White House.”

There is a possibility that the media may once again be able to question Republicans without relying on media releases. Reporters should wander out into the rotunda and talk to lobbyists, visitors, and anyone else out there. A serious outside-the-box suggestion would be to randomly call a constituent or two, or more, in a legislator’s district to receive an indication of how a lawmaker’s voters feel about the person.

Slowly, like a frog sitting in a pot of cold water, the media in this state is waiting for the pot to boil. Waiting for those in power to determine when they might talk to reporters is not going to happen with the status quo.

Journalists in the ICPA membership should not be afraid that the governor and the legislature might not cooperate with the media if the ICPA extends coverage to those not in power, the minority, certain lobbyists, constituents, and readership.

What’s the worse that happen? Losing selected parking outside the Capitol?

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