Democrat presidential candidate Tom Steyer, from California, stopped in Council Bluffs and Atlantic, Tuesday. In Atlantic, Steyer spoke to about 20-people about his upbringing, education, and how be became a self-made billionaire. He also spoke about term limits, education assistance and what it will take to challenge and defeat Republican President Donald Trump in November, 2020.

Dem. Tom Steyer speaks to a small crowd in Atlantic (1/21/20) – Ric Hanson/photo

Steyer, in talking about his roots, made a veiled reference to Americans who support Trump as being akin to Germans in World War 2, who were blinded by the fiery rhetoric and power of Adolph Hitler. He said his father, who as an attorney, prosecuted the Nazis, said “The Germans had something wrong at the heart of their society, and they did nothing about it. They thought it would go away, they thought they could control it, they thought it would be okay, and it just went to a place that no one ever intended or could have imagined.”

That’s why he says he said started the “Need to Impeach” movement. “Eight and a half million people signed the petition,” he said. “They called their [representatives]…saying ‘do the right thing. Stand up for the country. I think those 8.5 million people dragged Washington, D.C into impeaching this President.”

Steyer said his simple thesis with regard to why he’s running for President is: “The government is broken.” He said “I think it’s been bought by corporations. I don’t think it’s trying to serve the people [In the audience], and I don’t think it’s gonna try to serve [those in the audience] until we take it back.” Steyer called for 12-year term limits for Congress people and Senators, as part of a Washington “restructuring,”  saying “If you want real change, we’re gonna have to put different new and different people in charge.”

When asked about the “Perceived benefits of the new tax law,” Steyer said he considers it “The worst piece of economic legislation in American history. They gave the biggest tax break in history to rich people and corporations…and blew up the budget (instead of reducing the budget).” Steyer said there has been 40-years of “Trickle down” economics (where the assumption is tax breaks for the rich will flow down and benefit others in society) which he says “Has never worked, not one time.” He says the current “regressive tax rate…where working people pay higher rates of taxes than really rich people..and where the top 400 corporations pay an average tax rate of 11-percent. That is outrageous and wrong,” according to Steyer.

Steyer said with regard to continuing education, he proposes a plan to make college affordable that includes two years of free community college. Loans would have an interest rate of one percent, so you pay back the money you owe. If you go into some type of profession that is a community service or country service (such as a doctor, or military), teaching social work, nursing (etc.), at the end of 10-years, you get what everyone in the military receives: Your loan is forgiven.

Steyer also touched on his recurrent theme of green energy and the importance of climate change.

The Harlan Police Department reports a man from Des Moines was arrested Sunday. 29-year old Cameron Stuart Cunningham, was on charges of Theft in the 5th Degree, and for being a Felon in possession of a firearm. Cunningham was being held in the Shelby County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senators are considering bills to regulate the use and purchase of tobacco products. One bill changes Iowa law to follow the new federal standard that raised the age for buying tobacco products to 21. The other would add electronic cigarettes to Iowa’s Smoke-free Air Act. It means “vaping” in public places like restaurants, office buildings and schools would be banned. Chaney Yeast is a social worker from Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. “It’s a good first step in addressing the national vaping epidemic amongst teens and youth,” Yeast says. The owners of vape shops say Iowa’s Clean Air Act was designed to protect people from second-hand smoke.

Seth Peters operates “The Vaped Ape” in Carroll. “Anytime you compare cigarette smoke with vapor smoke, there’s a disconnect,” Peters says. “There is no science indicating that vapor causes anywhere near the damage of cigarette smoke.” Jim Obradovich is a lobbyist for the Iowa Nurses Association and Iowa School Nurses. He told senators the Centers for Disease Control has concluded bystanders can breathe in the aerosols from someone else’s e-cigarette. “We think that’s very dangerous and we applaud you moving this forward,” Obradovich says. Doug Struyk, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society, says the group supports the ban on vaping in public — but wants to see the bill go further and ban smoking pot in public, too.

“While we all sitting in the room today may not believe that marijuana will be legalized in the State of Iowa, while we’re doing this we think we should identify that,” Stryk says, “and include it as something that is a prohibited activity.” The ban on vaping in public has cleared a three-member senate subcommittee. Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames suggests vaping has created an enforcement nightmare. “If you’re the cop on the beat who comes into a restaurant and you see people vaping and you can’t tell them to quit, but then somebody else starts lighting up cigarettes, how are you going to enforce the ‘Smoke-free Air Act?” Quirmbach asked. “The patrons are going to say: ‘These vapers can vape. Why can’t I smoke?'”

Senator Mark Segebart of Vail says he’s been concerned about illnesses and deaths related to vaping. “There’s chemicals that are released from what I’ve read, during the vaping process that not necessarily happens when you smoke a cigarette,” Segebart says. The proposal is now eligible for debate in a senate committee. Another group of senators are working on legislation to make Iowa law match the federal change that moved the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21. Dave Scott, a lobbyist for Phillip Morris, says the cigarette-maker supports the move — and warns the state cannot enforce the new “Tobacco 21” standard.

“If a 19-year-old were to go in and purchase tobacco products,” he says, “they would be legal under Iowa law currently.” The State of Iowa also stands to forfeit some federal grant money if it fails to raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21. A key senator says it’ll be a couple of weeks before the issue is debated in a senate committee.

AMES, Iowa (AP)- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has mostly sidestepped President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as he campaigns in Iowa this week. But Biden and his advisers know the trial 1,000 miles away on Capitol Hill could color the closing days of the first nominating contest as much as anything Biden says to Iowans. Biden’s campaign is urging the media not to repeat Trump’s discredited claims about his son Hunter’s work in Ukraine and his own foreign policy role in that country when he was vice president. But the Biden campaign also insists that the trial won’t distract from Biden’s closing message to Iowa voters.