Thursday night was Progress Iowa's annual Holiday Party. This year we posthumously honored Robin Stone for her work on behalf of Iowans with pre-existing conditions, and we gave our first Ruth and Tom Harkin Hero award to the namesakes, Ruth and Tom Harkin, for their decades of service to our state.

We wrap up the year (and decade!) with a parody poem from Iowa Citizen Action Network's Sue Dinsdale.

We'll be off next week so Happy Holidays from everyone at Progress Iowa!

Get your 2019 Holiday Party Tickets Today!

Joni Ernst backs an unqualified judicial nominee, abandons domestic violence survivors, and might have (probably) broken the law. What a week.

Matt and Lauren are joined by Paul Gordon, Senior Legislative Counsel for People for the American Way. Paul works on a variety of issues and regularly engages with government officials and national and state coalitions on judicial nominations to ensure that our courts have highly qualified, independent judges. They discuss Joni Ernst's recent vote to confirm Sarah Pitlyk, the most recent Trump nominee the American Bar Association deemed "unqualified" to sit on the bench.

Links:

What a Week is produced by Progress Iowa as part of the Potluck Media Network and would not be possible without grassroots supporters like you. We are recorded, mixed, and edited by Greg Hauenstein.

Trump holds court, forgetting to remember, Iowa loses a hero, and WTF Jeff Kaufmann. – what a week.

Here's a fact check for Chairman Kaufmann. The Cedar Rapids Gazette endorsed GOP candidates for Governor in 2010 and 2014, Mitt Romney for President, Chuck Grassley for Senate, and Chris Peters for Congress in 2016, and multiple GOP candidates for the legislature every cycle. And just this week they printed a column co-written by Kaufmann himself. Give us a break.

Links:

Joni Ernst refuses to reauthorize VAWA, DREAMers get their day in court, and Trump is in big trouble – what a week.

Matt's in DC so WAW producer Greg Hauenstein trades the mixing board for microphone to talk with Lauren about Joni Ernst stopping the Violence Against Women Act in its tracks, the DACA hearings in the Supreme Court, and the public impeachment hearings in the House Intelligence Committee. 

Links:

Matt and Lauren discuss the election results from Virginia, Kentucky, and right here in Polk County, Iowa.

They are then joined by two of the newly-elected members to the city council of Urbandale, Iowa, Bridget Carberry Montgomery and Matt Blake.

Matt and Lauren discuss the results of Iowa's public employee union recertification elections, Senators Ernst and Grassley's votes against outlawing junk "insurance" plans that don't cover pre-existing conditions, and tonight's big Iowa Democratic Party "Liberty & Justice Celebration."

Obamacare open enrollment begins today and runs through December 15th. Get covered at Healthcare.gov!

Joni Ernst takes a dive, Zuckerberg thinks he’s MLK, a record-setting debate, and the White House admitted to everything so can this please just be over now? What a week.

Rest in Power, Congressman Elijah Cummings.

Links: