Odds and Ends

Odd – Iowans for Tax Relief scheduling a press conference in Des Moines at the same time of former legislator Mary Lundby’s funeral in Cedar Rapids.

Look, I know the world doesn’t need to stop because of her funeral but it’s also good to show some respect whether you were a fan of hers or not. Senator Gronstal and Speaker Murphy both showed some class by cancelling most of the committee meetings so people could attend the services.

So what was the big deal, ITR is following up on President’s Obama’s pledge to provide more transparency in government. They introduced the Iowa Taxpayer Transparency Act of 2009, basically calling on the state to spend $40k on a website that would allow people to see where their tax dollars are being spent. Look I’m all for more transparency, and $40k to provide this information to the people of our state is a good value. What I don’t understand is why they had to have this press conference today, at the same time as the funeral. Even if it was at 9 or 10 a.m. it wouldn’t have created much of stir. Now instead of talking about the proposal, we have stories like this from Kay Henderson, and this from my friends In Fly Over Country. Am I missing something here?

I was hoping for a statement on why the gas tax is the wrong thing to do, or maybe a proposal that forces county governments to bring their property assessments in line with what the property would bring in the market.

Radio Iowa Story about the press conference with audio.

The End – Well it looks like the Hollywood celebrities are ending their 8 year long strike against America. It’s too bad really, no more Michael Moore movies. Anyway this dude lays it out better than I ever could. It’s your Krusty Must Read of the Day.