Obama’s State Of The Union Tour Hits Five States

President Obama is on a five state tour promoting the economic proposals he made in his State of The Union address. He started in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Conveyer Engineering and then into Arizona to an Intel plant. Thursday he want to Las Vegas and Denver. Today he is in Ann Arbor Michigan to speak about college affordability.

Obama Sells His Plan In Cedar Rapids, Iowa

President Obama visits Conveyor Engineering and Manufacturing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and speaks about strengthening America’s economy.

Transcript of President Obama’s speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa … Continue Reading

How Should We Pay For Campaigns & Elections?

It takes a lot of money to get elected to federal office in the United States. Barack Obama’s campaign spent $750 million in 2008 to win the Presidency. Tens of millions of dollars are spent on single Senate campaigns.

Who should pay for that? More and more the answer has been large corporations who now can spend unlimited dollars on ads to influence elections

Is that the way it should be? The UpTake posed that question to mostly Republican voters in Iowa during the January caucuses. Surprisingly most of the conservative voters we talked to told us there should be some sort of limit on what corporations can do to influence elections. That’s in direct opposition to the Republican party line that corporations should be able to spend as much as they want on elections.

Video shot by Allison Herrera and Jacob Wheeler, edited by Allison Herrera.

GOP Candidates Ignore Americans with Mental Disabilities

Rick Westendorf, an Iowan with a mental disability, told The UpTake on Caucus night that the candidates competing for the Republican presidential nomination have not addressed the rights of Americans with mental disabilities.

Westendorf, who lives in a group home in Waterloo, Iowa, is appalled that the candidates have paid lip service to opposing Social Security benefits. He mentioned seeing a television advertisement recently that appeared to attack the popular program. No GOP presidential candidates have actually advocated for eliminating Social Security, but former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has favored making immediate cuts to the program. He did so in Fort Dodge, Iowa., and again Friday in Keene, New Hampshire.

“That would mean that I couldn’t live in a group home,” said Westendorf. “But people need those kinds of places. What about people who have to live in group homes because they don’t have any other place to live?”

“People are going to get very mad if we lose our funding, and have to go find work even though we can’t work.”

Iowa Voter: “Corporations Should Quit Buying Elections”

“If Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney are on the (Republican) ticket, I think we deserve four more years of Barack Obama,” Waterloo, Iowa, resident Paul Smith told The UpTake during Caucus night.

Smith, who says he’s been a conservative ever since voting for Jimmy Carter in 1976, supported Rick Santorum on Tuesday night. He takes offense to wealthy elitists like Romney coming into Iowa and donning blue jeans and a flannel shirt to pretend he’s a farmer. “He’s not me, he’ll never be me, he doesn’t want to be me,” said Smith. “I don’t want to be him, and I’m tired of him.”

If Mitt Romney ultimately wins the Republican nomination, as the former Massachusetts governor is expected to, Smith will consider voting to re-elect Obama, or he’ll vote for a third-party candidate.

“You’ve got to be a registered voter to make a contribution and if you’re not a registered voter, get out!” added Smith, who wants to see corporate money out of political elections. “Corporations need to get back to their jobs of doing business and quit buying elections. We all know that if I make million dollar contribution to your campaign, I do so because I expect something in return.”

“That’s the part of politics that really has to change.”

Iowa Caucus:A Look Behind The Scenes

The Iowa caucuses are held in hundreds of locations across the state, but there is one central location where the votes are tallied and the media gathers. That’s media filing center in Des Moines, Iowa. On caucus night the place was filled with congressmen, famous media people, and of course, The UpTake. Google was a major sponsor of the venue, hence the “Google Hangout”.

Romney Cost Me My Job Says Worker

A former employee of one of presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s bankrupt companies says Romney’s decisions cost him and many others their jobs.

Randy Johnson who used to work for Bain Capital is in Des Moines, Iowa wants to make sure anyone who will listen knows how badly Romney mismanaged the Indiana paper plant where Johnson used to be employed.

According to the Des Moines Register, Romney was the chief executive officer of Bain Capital in 1992 when the company purchased American Pad & Paper, or Ampad, and oversaw the management of that company and others.

Ampad went bankrupt in 2000, and investors netted over $100 million from the deal, according to the Boston Globe. Johnson and others from the Indiana paper plant where he worked traveled to Massachusetts during Romney’s Senate race against Democratic incumbent Ted Kennedy to express their concerns over not getting a fair shake from the new management.

A few months later the plant was shut down. Johnson received a personal letter from Romney on the day the plant closed expressing his condolences about the turn of events.

About 200 workers lost their jobs, and it didn’t have to be that way, said Johnson, who was told the plant was still making a profit when it was sold to Bain Capital initially.

Romney Will “Say Anything” To Get Elected Says DNC

The Democratic National Committee is camped out in Iowa responding to attacks on President Obama from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

DNC National Press Secretary Melanie Roussell says despite his claims to be a job creator, Romney actually has a poor record in that area.

Roussell also says Romney relies on polling numbers instead of his “core values” to determine his stances on issues such as abortion.

Roussell says because he lacks those core convictions, Romeny will “say anything” to get elected.

Roussell noted that the entire field of Republican candidates in Iowa are fighting to see who can be the most extreme.

We work hard for this country

Meet Mr and Mrs Antonio Guerrero. Both have worked and lived in Des Moines for over 10 years. A few years ago they ran into some trouble with house payments made gone missing. When the bank said, “You need to leave,” they turned to Iowa CCI for help. Since then, Elvira has been a leader in the community helping others with similar problems.

Former National GOP Chair Defends Corporate Election Spending

Former National Republican Party Chair Michael Steele says corporations have the right to spend as much money as they want on elections.

But at the same time, corporations ought to disclose how much they give, and do so immediately, such as the law in Virginia stipulates.

Steele is in Des Moines for Tuesday’s caucuses. Steele said he likes the grassroots shake-em-up candidates like Ron Paul, and fears that Mitt Romney won’t fire up the base.

Oh, and he liked Mission Impossible.