Punching the Hot Buttons

Punching the Hot Buttons


Looks like the session is heating up this week:

Chris Rants is facing a back bench revolt on the cigarette tax. Smokers are about as popular as sex offenders these days, but is Rants more beholden to his caucus, or his donors?

Touch play is doomed. There will be much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments but I expect the convenience stores and bars of Iowa will survive.

Speaking of bars. It took me a few years in Iowa to notice a big cultural difference from Wisconsin: there are far far fewer neighborhood taverns here. There's downtown and college strip bars, sure. But Iowa doesn't seem to have the kind of corner bars in residential neighborhoods that are ubiquitous in Wisconsin.