Saturday, February 21, 2009

Rep. Larry Marek stands firm on his NO vote.

Rep. Larry Marek told his constituents at his legislative forum this morning that he is firm in his opposition to the prevailing wage legislation. Krusty kudos to Marek for keeping his word.

One has to wonder how long Speaker Murphy will hold the machine open and who will he get to switch their vote. He has run out of options, and even the voting machine crapped out this morning. Here is the press release from the House Republicans.

Man vs. Machine: House Republicans win another round

(DES MOINES) – Long after last night’s vote on the prevailing wage bill, the legislative vote machine timed out this morning, clearing the whole electronic voting board in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Democratic leadership was forced to re-enter the votes manually, re-opening the machine, which clearly was not constructed with the intention of staying open so long. Typically, the machine is closed immediately following a vote. House Speaker Pat Murphy, however, has kept the machine open, hoping someone will switch from a “no” vote.

“House Republicans continue to remain vigilant in this chamber, even if we outlast the voting machine itself,” said House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen. “Republicans believe this bill was rightly defeated, Iowa taxpayers agree, and now even the machine has said ‘enough.’ We hope the speaker will do the right thing, shut down voting and allow us to focus on other things – like how to revive Iowa’s economy, how to create new jobs and how to fix the state’s budget deficit.”

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Murphy is an embarrassment to our state. I guess he is just following the democrat play book that says when you lose a close one just keep counting votes. It seems to be working for Al Franken, but I don’t think Speaker Murphy is going to be as lucky.

16 comments:

  1. do you suppose they were couting on it crapping out so they could change the votes when they though no one would be looking? They did this in Congress not too long ago. Is this one of their new tools in the toolkit on how to steal an election?

    I am so proud to be a republican today.

    OK Henderson has a great story on what happened last night. Great strategy! Awesome! Very impressive.

    Jody Tymeson is a great marine who took on the gearheads.

    The leader put together a great strategy and a great team of debaters.

    jocks win out over the gearheads again!

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  2. Good for Larry - but he flirted way too much.

    In 2010 he needs to go. We should thank him for his vote on this but then remind everyone that Larry was a waffler - that he cannot be trusted -that his vote for Speaker of the House still goes to Pat Murphy or one of his other elected Murphgoons.

    When Larry is up for re-election in 2010, the good people of his district need to remember this: They aren't voting for Larry Marek. They are voting for Larry Marek's "Team".

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  3. I think Josie Klingaman who wrote that press release is pretty generous to Pat Murphy - calling him "Man" - as in the "Man versus the Machine".

    Better idea: Goon versus Machine. I know it is not as catchy - but is actually far more accurate.

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  4. How much will Murphy's misadventure cost taxpayers? Will the members receive per diem for Saturday and Sunday? What about their weekly travel?

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  5. Yes, I think next we need to examine how much Murphy's charade will cost us. Not only is this a bad bill, but we still paying for it this weekend even if it fails.

    Such a lack of respect that clown Murphy has for ordinary Iowans. His family, friends, caucus members, and staff should be ashamed to be associated with him.

    Iowa needs leadership...not Murphy and McCarthy.

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  6. Murphy is a thug. As a taxpayer, this is tantamount to spitting in the face of Iowans. How is he getting away with this? Rep. Cownie said it well on Newscenter 13 tonight..."craziness".

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  7. Kraig Paulsen should be commended for his leadership on this issue. Thanks, Leader Paulsen!

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  8. So we're at 50-47 and the machine has now died twice. Does Murphy actually believe he can get that 51st vote, or is there another reason for this act of futility?

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  9. How can you admit to being a democrat after this?

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  10. Murphy seriously believes that after a weekend of "convincing"..he's going to get that 51st vote.

    Make no mistake..there's a reason why cars with Illinois licence plates dominated the legislative forum that Larry Marek had on Saturday morning.

    There's a reason why McKinley Bailey isn't answering his cell phone or text messages.

    We've seen these strong-arm tactics used before. Dawn Pettengill is very familiar with them. Go ask her what the pro-union forces tried to pull with her.

    That's what Murphy and McCarthy are counting on happening again..except with a different result.

    And Monday morning..if Marek..or Bailey..or Mertz, etc..comes in and switches their vote...the Democrats will have made the fatal mistake for the rest of the session and beyond to 2010.

    They will have proven once again they are merely lapdogs for their campaign contributors and special interests--all while trying to convince everyone that "this isn't a union bill"..

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  11. The Illinois plate thing was blown out of proportion. Only one car was from IL. Their were 3 union thugs at the forum. Funny they were all very large and Larry is a small guy.

    The union guys got beat up (verbally) bad by the crowd. Larry took it worst from the liberal dimwits of his own party. His campaign finance reporter ate him a new rear end. It was funny, us republicans treated him very well and his party killed him.

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  12. If Republicans want to pick up Larry Marek's seat, then reach out and get him to switch parties. He fits in the democrat party like a sore thumb. By the end of this session he will be looking for a new home.

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  13. Doubtful that Marek will switch parties. He's sucked up too much to the trough of the Democratic Party bosses in order to get himself elected in the first place.

    If he doesn't change his vote on Monday..he'll probably get primaried next June. Problem is..a far left liberal would get killed in that district.

    How the GOP needs to frame this is simple..On the 10% of issues like prevailing wage, Marek would be with us..but on the other 90%..Marek will be fighting against us.

    Does HD 89 need someone who will be fighting against them 90% of the time?

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  14. "You might like Larry Marek. On the surface, he SEEMS like one of us but in his first term, he's been known to talk like we talk here in SE Iowa and then go to Des Moines where he's a regular at the fancy cocktail parties and acts in complete contradiction to the way he talks back home."

    "If you vote for Larry Marek - you aren't actually voting for Larry Marek - you are voting for Larry Marek's team". "Who is Larry Marek's team? Big city legislators like Speaker Pat Murphy and Leader Kevin McCarthy that are controlled by union bosses who only want to raise our property, income, tobacco and gas taxes, put our employers out of business and spend our state into deficits that your children and grandchildren will be forced into paying off."

    You aren't voting for Larry Marek - You are voting for his team because he supports the Democrat leadership that puts your family and your job in jeopardy.

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  15. Even if they primary Larry he will win it. He won because he has great name I.D. No real liberal will beat him in a primary. But that doean't mean he can win the general again. Osama won that for him with the high D turnout in Johnson county. That won't happen again. Plus some of his friends who are big R's and voted for Larry are none to happy with him right now.

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  16. Anon 9:20,

    Marek only won Johnson County by roughtly 400 or so votes against Klein. That was expected. Even with supposed "great name I.D", Jared Klein, a 1st time candidate from the western part of that district, nearly knocked him off.

    Klein in fact was leading Marek after Election Night..only after absentee ballots had all come in did Marek win.

    So by no means is Marek safe in 2010 by any stretch of the imagination. And..I do belive he will get primaried if he doesn't change his vote.

    The Democratic Party bosses threw a lot of money Marek's way to get him elected and they're downright PISSED with Marek for this vote on "prevailing wage".

    I'd be very interested to see how many calls Marek got this weekend from McCarthy/Murphy and IDP with promises of $$ money...

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