This Newsbuzz edition of River to River starts off with discussion of the Inflation Reduction Act. The budget reconciliation bill, which passed along party lines in the Senate, includes $433 billion in new spending on energy, climate and healthcare programs, and aims to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. Host Ben Kieffer talks with University of Iowa Public Policy Center Director Peter Damiano about how the bill's health provisions for Medicare and prescription drug prices shows a major cultural shift for healthcare in the United States.
Then IPR reporter Kendall Crawford shares how a proposed ordinance could eliminate the potential for wind energy in Woodbury County, and The Gazette's Erin Murphy reflects on the derecho's impact on Cedar Rapids two years later, and Gov. Kim Reynolds' call for district court to lift an injunction on a 2018 law banning abortions around six weeks of pregnancy.
Later in the episode, Katie Akin previews which political candidates are set to make their pitch on the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Celebrating IPR's 100 years of radio, the latest edition of 'What Dennis Found in the Basement' spells out the "radio alphabet" of the 1940s, and we groove into the weekend with Studio One host Cece Mitchell.
Guests:
- Peter Damiano, University of Iowa Public Policy Center Director
- Kendall Crawford, IPR Western Iowa reporter
- Erin Murphy, The Gazette Des Moines Bureau Chief
- Katie Akin, Des Moines Register politics reporter
- Dennis Reese, retired IPR midday host
- Tim Walch, historian and director emeritus, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
- Cece Mitchell, music producer and Studio One host
