Krusty Konservative

Two Face Chet Culver

2009-03-25T10:38:00.001-05:00

Read the story here.

Kevin McCarthy’s Night Court

2009-03-20T10:28:00.001-05:00

Many times leaders prophetic, they have an uncanny ability to see into the future. Iowa has its own prophetic leader, Democrat Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

You see, last fall Leader McCarthy was so concerned about the safety of people at the State Capitol he alerted the Des Moines Register by giving them every speeding ticket and misdemeanor committed by various Republicans seeking office.

Read More Here.

I’m with Chet, Bring on the Sponsors!

2009-03-19T08:54:00.002-05:00

I know a lot of Republicans want to make hay over Culver wanting to sell sponsorships to cover the cost of Obama’s Health Care forum. I say, have at it. Why should my tax dollars be used to pay for what is basically going to end up being a Democrat rally for socialized medicine?

In fact, I’m so supportive of Culver’s sponsorship idea; I’m going to offer a few more suggestions.

The Iowa Flood Center: Pure Iowa Pork

2009-03-13T11:12:00.000-05:00

I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks the Rebuild Iowa bill really doesn’t help much. The good folks at Hawkeye Review had a sobering post about the state’s poor response to help get small businesses back on their feet. Also, Russ from Winterset deserves the krustacean of the week award. Russ had my back when I called the 1.3 million dollars for an Iowa Flood Center, a scam. Read More Here.

Gerrmandering!

2009-03-10T08:31:00.000-05:00

My liberal friends over at Bleeding Heartland are trying to predict what Iowa’s congressional map is going to look like for the 2012 campaigns. Before I totally destroy their proposal, I would like to point out that this usually takes a lot of time and effort to do. Krusty Kudos to them. Now let’s compare their map, continue reading here.

An Open Letter to Bob Vander Plaats

2009-03-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

Dear Bob,

Since you announced you candidacy for Governor on January 26th, I’ve probably been one of your loudest critics. I understand your stance of not responding to “anonymous bloggers.” It would be the same stance I would take if I was in your position. Yet, you did somewhat respond to my criticism when you were on with Steve Deace this past Friday afternoon. After listening to you and reading some emails that I have received from those involved with your campaign, I think that maybe I need to do a better job of letting you know why I do what I do.

To read the rest of my letter to Bob, Click here.

Distractions? Or Are Democrats Really This Stupid?

2009-03-05T10:35:00.001-06:00

I don’t really know what to make of House Democrats filing two Labor Union bills yesterday. One of the bills, HF 530 would allow union workers to choose their own doctor if they get injured on the job. The other is the most contentious bill they could file, HF 555. HF 555 requires non union members to pay union dues. Talk about un-American.

Read the rest here.

Linn County Residents Raise Their Taxes

2009-03-04T07:49:00.000-06:00

Am I the only one who thinks that the residents of Linn County voting for a tax increase to help pay for the rebuilding effort after last year’s flood is a clear indication that their government has failed them? I’m sure that some people will argue with me and say that there was no serious opposition to local option sales tax initiative, but I don’t think the people really had an option. They need to rebuild their city.

To read the rest of the story please click here.

Leftovers

2009-03-03T09:24:00.002-06:00

I’m packing things up today for the move, but have a couple of things to discuss.

State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald sucks at being the custodian of the IPERS fund.

The Des Moines Register has a story today that says that State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald missed the red flags leading to IPERS losing $339 million dollars. The Register just forgets to mention Fitzgerald in the story. Fitz is up for reelection in 2010.

People should be outraged about this, especially state employees and retirees who’s money Fitzgerald has lost. Republican’s should be using this story to find a competent candidate to run against Fitzgerald in 2010. If you want to know why I think republican’s can do well in Iowa in 2010 consider the following:

Governor Chet Culver and the Democrat Legislature: Increased Spending by a Billion Dollars, Mismanaged the Flood Recovery, Raised Taxes, Forced Local Governments to Raise Taxes, and will have budget problems for the foreseeable future. Oh, and they can’t pass one significant piece of union legislation…

State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald: Lost $339 million dollars of current and former state worker retirement funds. If he was in the private sector he would be out of a job today. Since he’s an elected official he will probably get reelected by a wide margin.

Secretary of State Mike Mauro: While it’s not in the news, there was rampant voter fraud in the 2008 elections. As these matters get investigated and come to light, Mauro could be damaged.

TheBeanWalker.com

Tim Albrecht’s TheBeanWalker.com launched last night. Iowa now has its own version of the Drudge Report. So I wonder, instead of having the famous Drudge siren, will the Bean Walker use something like this:

I mean if you want to keep with the ag theme it seems appropriate.

If you are like me and are not up to date on the term “walking beans” the ever helpful Kay Henderson gives us a history lesson. Maybe it’s the part of the state I’m from but I only knew of detasseling corn.

See you tomorrow at TheIowaRepublican.com!

I’m out of here!

2009-03-02T07:54:00.002-06:00

This past Thursday was the 3rd anniversary of Krusty Konservative. Usually I make a big deal out of such things and toss around some of my stats. As I’ve said on past occasions, I’m always amazed at the number of people who read this blog and participate in the comment section. Your participation has meant a lot to me over the years and has kept me going.

As we enter year three, you will notice a significant change, as I will no longer be blogging on this site. As some of may have noticed, I’ve experienced a number of difficulties with blogger in the last few months. While blogger has been a great free service, it’s time to find a better home for Krusty.

Starting on Wednesday, my new home will be on TheIowaRepublican.com. What? You thought I was hanging it up again? Never, I’m having too much fun.

While the technical problems with blogger were annoying, I also was interested to find a venue that could increase the viewership of my daily column. It is my belief that TheIowaRepublican.com will provide me with just that.

I’m also told that some other Iowa blogs will be making the move along with me. I do not know the details on who else will be blogging at TheIowaRepublican.com but I think its great idea to bring various conservative blogs together under the same roof. While I can’t announce the other blogs, I was able to take a screen shot when I was allowed on the site to take a look around.

The Iowa conservative blogosphere is going through some drastic changes. Later today Tim Albrecht’s TheBeanWalker.com will take root. I’m told that Bean Walker is a news aggregator, kind of like a state specific version of the Drudge Report.

Coming on Wednesday is Craig Robinson’s TheIowaRepublican.com, a conservative version of the Huffington Post that will focus on Iowa Politics. Robinson’s site will contain political news content, blogs like Krusty, and opinion and editorials from various Republican leaders.

One of the things I’m most excited about on the new site is the message board. I love the interaction we have on Krusty, but sometimes it gets out of hand. I think the message board will be a great place to interact with other people across the state.

These are exciting times for the Iowa Blogosphere. I look forward to blogging with my fellow Komrades. And if you’re a blogger and are interested in joining me at TheIowaRepublican.com, shoot me an email and I’ll hook you up with Craig.

My email will remain krustykonservative@gmail.com

The Union Play List: u-Tunes

2009-02-27T07:15:00.000-06:00

I thought it might be good to recap the activities of this past week.

On Monday, Democrats accepted defeat on the Prevailing Wage. They say they will be back.

On Tuesday, the Unions attacked Principal Financial Group for belonging to a pro-business, non-partisan group called the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

Also on Tuesday, CCI, Citizens for Community Improvement attacked Rep. Dolores Mertz and accused her of being factory farmer. CCI is just a lap dog for the Unions.

On Wednesday, House Leadership (Union Thugs) took away a number of Veteran bills that Rep. McKinley Baily was to manage on the floor. Baily is an Iraq War Veteran and one of the Democrats who votes against the Union Bosses.

I thought the following video was in order.

Obama/Vilsack lash out against farmers, they would rather spend money on fat kids.

2009-02-27T07:14:00.000-06:00

Our esteemed former Governor and current Secretary of Ag had this to say:

"If you had a dollar - one dollar - where would you put it?" Vilsack asked. "Would you give it to a child for more nutritious eating? Would you give it in a direct payment to a high-income (farm) operation?"

Tom, if I only had one dollar, I’d let the farmer keep it so he can keep producing the food that feeds the world, and the food that has become America’s greatest foreign policy asset.

Once again, liberals like Vilsack and Obama look at gross income and conclude whether or not a person is wealthy or not. They need to look at the net, ya know after they pay all the bills…

Once again, Sen. Grassley is the only adult in the room. "I'm a farmer, and I know that gross income or sales revenue does not reflect your ability to pay," he said. "Just because I sell a lot of corn doesn't mean that my input costs to grow that corn weren't even higher."

Liberals…

Bruce Braley and Leonard Boswell – Iowa Job Killers

2009-02-26T06:53:00.000-06:00

Through Wednesday’s passage of H.R. 1105 – The Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 - the U.S. House voted to kill a program that allows private sector collection agencies to help the Internal Revenue Service recoup old outstanding tax debts. I’m told that Federal Treasury Union Employees never liked the program because its success could have made the case for more effective collections by the private sector. And the last thing we want to do is create private sector jobs and reduce the size and scope of government…

They had reason to fear the program’s success. As of October 2007 the IRS' Private Debt Collection Program, which launched as a test program only a year earlier, successfully closed 9,000 old cases, collecting more than $30 million in outstanding debt. Knowing how much the Obama Administration – and Democrat’s like Congressman Charlie Rangel hates tax cheats (uh-hmm…) they should be very supportive of this program that collects tax dollars that are legally owed to the government and that are otherwise not likely to be collected by the IRS.

There is a unique Iowa angle to this story, which is why I’m writing about it this morning. As of October 2007, the program was responsible for the employment of 60 Iowans by the Waterloo, Iowa-based CBE Group Inc. – a company that at that time employed over 900 Iowans in Waterloo and West Des Moines. The owner of the company said that he expected the number of Iowans employed by them as a result of full implementation of the Debt Collection Program to grow to more than 200 Iowans. The CBE Group is one of those private sector companies that will be affected by the elimination of this program.

So with the economy is disarray, and with the federal government bailing out companies to prevent job cuts, I was surprised to see that Congressmen Bruce Braley (who represents Waterloo) and Leonard Boswell (who represents most of West Des Moines) voted to most kill these Iowa jobs? Why couldn’t they have convinced their leadership to remove this provision from H.R. 1105 based on the principals of saving jobs in their districts and that tax cheaters should pay up.

This just blows my mind. These are accounts that the IRS has all but written off because they don’t have the time and believe these owed taxes are un-collectible. Yet private companies have proven that they can successfully collect these dollars. Apparently the Democrats are fans of the new program where you name someone to Obama's cabinet to get the tax cheat to finally pay up!

I wonder is Senator Harkin will join Congressman Braley and Congressman Boswell in voting to kill Iowa jobs when this same measure is up before the U.S. Senate next week?

Jindal is more than a flash in the pan.

2009-02-25T15:46:00.002-06:00

So there is a lot of chatter today about Bobby Jindal’s poor performance in delivering the response to Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress. In the comment section a fellow krustacean asked if Jindal’s presidential aspirations ended last night. The answer is absolutely not.

If we were to follow such logic, then Jindal would have been the undisputed 2012 nominee on Sunday when he turned in a stunning performance on Meet the Press. I know we always say it’s too early for these types of setbacks to matter, but that is the case with Jindal.

While his national introduction last night wasn’t very good, meaning he’s not the shiny new penny anymore, he has plenty of time to recover. Now, I know this isn’t widely known, but President Obama was defeated in congressional primary by a two to one margin in 2000. Was that the end of the road for him?

I like Jindal a lot. If he ran, he would probably be my guy. The problem he faces is the same one that George Pataki and Mitt Romney had. No, he’s not bad on the social issues, but he is up for re-election in 2011. So I think that if Jindal wants to run for President in 2012 he can’t run for re-election as governor 2011. Trust me, it would be almost impossible.

Now unlike Pataki and Romney, I think that if he does run for President in 2012 as a one term Governor, watch out. He’s going to be a fundraising machine, and the smartest guy in the race.

So did last night help him? Nope. Did it hurt him? Just a little blow to his ego, he will probably come out a better candidate because of it.

It’s only Wednesday, and it’s been another bad week for the unions.

2009-02-25T08:01:00.000-06:00

First, in what many in the press called a “stunning defeat”, the first of four Big Union bills, Prevailing Wage, went down in flames. Despite the Big Lug twisting arms over the weekend, Big Union members sitting in the gallery and glowering down on Representatives during the debate, and the Speaker’s self-professed Big Irish Temper causing the vote to remain open for three days, the votes just weren’t there.

The loss on prevailing wage puts in serious doubt the other three Big Union Bills. While Speaker Murphy talked a tough line yesterday, and was supported by the Big Lug, one might have to say that the engine in the old Soviet Moskvitch is sputtering a little.

And yesterday, they were dealt another blow, this time in the United States Supreme Court. In a 6-3 opinion, the Court upheld an Idaho state law banning local governments from using payroll deductions to fund union political activities. Five unions and the AFL-CIO argued the law infringed on their First Amendment rights, but the Court disagreed. Reversing the Ninth Circuit, the Court held that the prohibition merely allows the state to avoid subsidizing political activities and does not restrict them (or the First Amendment) in any way.

It is a decision that could strike at Big Labor's ability to raise funds for their political activities. Commonly known as “paycheck protection” laws, in some of the state where they have been enacted there has been a drop in union PAC contributions by up to 50%.

As I wrote about last week, the Big Union agenda is pretty simple: it’s about being subsidized, about taking money from 89.4% of us to benefit the 10.6% of union members in the State. Once you shine a light on their activities, they lose public support. Once you allow people to think and act freely, i.e., paycheck protection laws, their money dries up.

Really, the Unions ought to be a little ashamed of themselves. They just can’t convince workers that union membership adds value anymore. They just resort to scare tactics, coercion and bullying.

Electoral College Bill

Alright you guys win, I’ll mention it briefly. This has to be the stupidest thing that I have seen since Speaker Murphy spent 90 hours keeping the voting machine open, when he could have had a one yes vote change to a no, accept a motion to reconsider. Wait…

Anyway, why on earth a small state like Iowa would support a bill giving our 7 electoral votes to the winner of the popular votes is beyond me. If that would have been in effect last fall that means no big Obama rally for Becky Greenwald to get her ugly on at…

Let me get this straight. Last week the people of Iowa were clear in their opposition to the Prevailing wage legislation. They emailed and called their legislators, who then voted against it. Yet, the Democrat leaders in the House don’t want to listen to the people and those they sent to represent them. So they keep the voting machine open all weekend in hopes that they can force someone to switch their vote. Interesting.

The founders of our nation did a great job; I’m going to side with them on this one.

A pattern? I doubt it.

2009-02-24T13:55:00.001-06:00

Liberal group attacks Rep. Mertz.

Unions attack Principal for being an ABI member and want Treasury to deny them TARP funds because they're member of a group that objects to the union agenda.

Seems like if they don't like what you say, they'd rather you just not say anything. It's Iowa's Fairness Doctrine.

It ain't fair, but well, it's their Doctrine.

So much for the wide open debate on the issues, change, openess, tolerance, and all that other crap Obama and his goons spread during the campaign.

The Unions assault on Iowa businesses enters a new phase

2009-02-24T11:31:00.001-06:00

I thought this was about jobs, good paying jobs, like the ones people who work at Principal Financial Group have…

Guess again, it’s about the Union Bosses, and they are pissed off.

Change to Win Iowa to confront the Principal Financial Group for their questionable involvement with Iowa Association of Business and Industry

(Des Moines) - With the Treasury Department poised to approve the second round of TARP funds, Change to Win has registered its opposition to granting assistance to the Principal Financial Group, which has applied for up to $2 billion under TARP. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Change to Win chair Anna Burger said, Unless and until Treasury can assure hardworking taxpayers that our money is not being used against us, firms like Principal that engage in extensive, gratuitous lobbying are undeserving of TARP assistance.

Change to Win Iowa will be confronting executive officers of the Principal Financial Group at their downtown Des Moines building at 11:00 this morning with a letter from Iowa officers of the United Food and Commercial Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the Service Employees International Union. Change to Win Iowas dispute with the Principal Financial Group derives from their involvement with the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI). The ABI has been running an extremely negative and wholly false radio advertisement campaign against a number of pieces of legislation that would benefit Iowa workers.

Merle Peterson, the vice president of government affairs for the Principal Financial Group sits on the ABI board of directors. In 2008, Principal paid ABI $15,000 in membership fees. The ask from Change to Win Iowa is to stop the false radio advertising and drop their membership with ABI. They should not be using their $2 billion of tax payers money to fight bills that benefit Iowa workers and have zero impact on their company.

The text of Change to Win Iowas letter to Principal is pasted below:

February 23, 2009

Dear Mr. Vice-President

The Iowa members of Change to Win are asking for your help. Principal Financial is an important part of our Iowa economy and has a reputation for being a very good employer. In fact, Principals reputation for standing up for the civil rights of their employees is honorable. In many instances we have sat on the same side of the fight for human rights.

But Principals complicit role in anti-worker messaging is intolerable. As active members of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, and through the board membership of Merle Petersen, you contribute significant resources to, and facilitate discrimination against members of organized labor.

In these dire financial times, vehemently opposing statutory changes that would empower workers and improve wages for ordinary Iowansnurses, food workers, laborers, police officersis unconscionable. Additionally, Principal Financial is the steward of the retirement resources of many Change to Win members. The same workers who ABI has opposed in their search for a secure middle class existence have been willing to support Principal Financial with their tax dollars.

Principal has the opportunity to influence ABI and help workers. We ask you today to terminate your ABI membership and/or stop the following hostile and false radio ad:
"Once upon a time, a band of union bosses roamed the Iowa countryside threatening hardworking people while claiming to do good deeds. (Sound of ripping paper.) Union bosses in Iowa are writing a very scary fairy tale. They want to make you pay union dues even if you're not a union member. The unions want to fix the cost on every public construction project, and strip our local school boards of their authority. And the unions want to control health care for Iowa workers. Their greed will cost you hundreds of dollars out of your paycheck. It will force local governments deeper in debt and raise our property taxes. It will drive up our health care costs. Please call your legislator today at (515) 281-3221 and tell them this is no fairy tale. Tell them in this story, hardworking Iowans will not live happily ever after."

We also ask you to speak out in our support. We suspect that you know as well as we do that the enactment of Fair Share will have no impact on economic development in Iowa. Please tell the truth and help your clients and benefactors win Fair Share in Iowa.

Thank you,

Jerry Messer, UFCW Sarah Swisher, SEIU Pat Navin, IBT
Quad Cities Iowa City Winterset

More to follow.

Prevailing Wage Fallout - IPERS Fraud

2009-02-24T09:46:00.001-06:00

Culver’s Influence Not Enough to Pass Prevailing Wage

Yesterday afternoon Kay Henderson had a column about her interview with House Speaker (for now) Pat Murphy. In it Murphy said that Governor Culver was working behind the scenes trying to influence Democrat legislators to support the legislation. As we all know the legislation failed to pass giving House Leadership a huge defeat, and now it looks like Speaker Murphy wants Culver to take his fair share of the blame too.

While Iowa Democrats tried their best to spin their way out of the defeat they suffered on Friday, and the 90 hour debacle that ensued after the vote, the blame game is now fully in effect. Speaker Murphy is clearly the biggest loser, but Culver is now a close second.

Culver more than anybody needed to olive branch this session to smooth over any bad feelings that were created when he vetoed the only piece of labor legislation that has been able to pass through both chambers, the collective bargaining bill. Now Culver needs to find another way to accomplish that goal before the end of this year’s legislative session. My money is on his $700 million bonding bill.

There is no conceivable way that the legislature can tackle bills like fair share, or collective bargaining after the messy prevailing wage fiasco in the House. If the Democrats try that they are complete morons. Instead, I think that prevailing wage language ends up in Culver’s $700 million dollar bonding proposal. Culver will state that the stimulus money from Father Obama requires a prevailing wage, and to keep things simple and fair, we need to use the same standards when dealing with the State’s bonding money. Its and easy argument for Democrats to make, and it allows Culver to send a $700 million dollar “I’m sorry” note to the union bosses.

Think about that for a moment. Culver is going to use $700 million of our tax dollars, and the tax dollars of some kid who’s in kindergarten right now, to make good with the unions to help his re-election next year. That sure sounds like Illinois and not the Iowa I know and love.

We need to prepare for the next fight.

IPERS Fraud

$339 million dollars of IPERS funds have been frozen from one of its investment firms. This is alarming, and once again I think the main stream media is missing the story or asking the wrong questions. Here is part of the story that I found in the Globe Gazette:

Officials at the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System have terminated a contract with a California investment management firm being investigated and demanded the return of IPERS assets valued at about $339 million.

“I’m not putting any sugar on this one,” said State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, a member of the IPERS Investment Board and fund custodian. “I’m very, very concerned. We have at least $300 million at risk here.”

IPERS spokeswoman Julie Economaki said the action was taken against Westridge Capital Management of Santa Barbara, Calif., which has managed about 2 percent of IPERS’ investment portfolio since March 2007 as the result of a competitive selection process.

So State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald is the custodian of the IPERS fund. That makes sense. He is concerned that two members of Westridge have been suspended by the National Futures Association. That makes sense. But I also read in the story that Westridge was selected in March of 2007 to manage 2% of the fund, so I want to know how much research did IPERS custodian, State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald do when he let Westridge manage $339 million of our state workers retirement money. How did this happen?

I guess I’m sensitive to things like this because Governor Culver wanted to use the state workers retirement fund to invest in his Power Fund, a move that would have been disastrous for our state employees and retirees.

Murphy’s Madness

2009-02-23T09:13:00.000-06:00

If the defeat of the Prevailing Wage legislation wasn’t enough, Speaker of the House Pat Murphy drew more attention to the situation by staging a sit in all weekend long in hopes to switch a no vote to a yes vote and pass the legislation. There is just one problem with his strategy; there is no way he comes out looking good. And while I’m sure he would celebrate the 51st vote, the court of public opinion would bemoan the fact that Murphy had to resort to strong arm tactics and a rules loophole to get his way.

Today I want to discuss the fallout, and the winners and losers of what transpired at the Capitol on Friday night and throughout the weekend.

The Fallout:

I found it funny that the Des Moines Register didn’t seem to find the Speaker’s sit in as a news worthy event yet Radio Iowa, and the local TV stations kept checking in on the situation over the weekend. If you are looking for a reason why the newspapers are being phased out, their lack of coverage in their own back yard is all the proof you need. It was a great story, a historic one actually and they failed to cover it. I guess Jennifer Jacobs or Tom Beaumont don’t work weekends or were on furlough, and we all know that Yepsen has already checked out but at least he put up a blog post. If it were me I would have had a live web cam…

The political fallout is pretty simple and straight forward. With Republicans only having 44 votes it should be absolutely impossible for House Republicans to score any victory during the legislative session let alone a major victory over a labor bill which most people thought would pass.

Out of the four labor bills, prevailing wage was seen as one of the slam dunks. Its defeat might mean that the labor agenda will have to be put on the shelf for the rest of this year. If they couldn’t get prevailing wage through, how do they expect to get Fair Share or the collective bargaining bill passed. There is a possibility that Sen. Mike Gronstal passes prevailing wage legislation in the State Senate with language that is acceptable to someone like Rep. McKinley Bailey, but I think that’s a long shot and puts Bailey is a really bad position politically. Doing something like that would be very short sided for Iowa Democrats. I think the labor issues are dead for the time being.

Winner/Losers

Loser: Pat Murphy

I’ll go on record saying that Pat Murphy will not be the Speaker of the House a year from now. That’s right; he’s not going to last through the next election. Murphy has never been seen as the brightest legislator at the Capitol, and his mishandling of the Prevailing Wage legislation is unacceptable to the most important constituent group in the Democrat Party. If people think the Unions don’t like Culver, their feelings toward Murphy after the defeat on the floor and a terrible PR stunt is even worse.

Loser: Chet Culver

I couldn’t believe that Culver came out publically in support of Murphy’s decision to keep the voting machine open all weekend. Heck, it wasn’t till the bill was defeated that people knew where Culver stood on the bill. The only thing that makes sense is that Culver wanted to sign some labor bills in advance of his re-election campaign. Now he may not get that opportunity. Ouch.

Push: Kevin McCarthy

This one might surprise you, but McCarthy is throwing Murphy under the bus behind the scenes with is Labor Union friends. McCarty’s statements to the press after the bill failed to reach the needed 51 votes were very telling, and he’s the guy positioned to be the next leader of the House Dems.

Winner: Iowa Taxpayers

There is no doubt that that passing this legislation would have increased the cost of public projects in the state and that tab would have been passed on to the taxpayer.

Winner: The 5 Dems

Reps. Quirk, Bailey, Marek, Mertz, and Kelly all deserve a lot of credit for standing on their principles. Iowans reward legislators who do what’s right for their districts, not political party.

Winner: Kraig Paulsen

Now I’m sure that there are some people who think that this victory fell into Paulsen’s lap. While I have been a tad bit critical of him, it was Paulsen who got the debate moved from late in the night on Thursday to mid-day on Friday with a time limit on debate. These things are easy to overlook, but at the end of the day they were very important development. The extra time allowed the public more time to influence the debate, and I think it’s safe to say that on Thursday night Larry Marek and McKinley Bailey vote for the bill.

Winner: Outside Influencers

I’m surprised and encouraged that outside groups such as the Association of Business and Industry, Iowa Progress Project, Newspapers, and Blogs can still get the public engaged in a short period of time. While ABI and IPP hit the airwaves with Radio Ads that helped shape the debate, it was the blogs and people like Rep. Chris Rants who shined a bright light on the deal making going on with Marek and Bailey. Without that type of transparency I don’t think this bill gets defeated.

Loser: The Voting Machine

It just timed out for the 3rd time! Who made this thing Diebold?

Rep. Larry Marek stands firm on his NO vote.

2009-02-21T11:43:00.000-06:00

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.”

# # #

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.

Prevailing Wage Stuck at 50-46

2009-02-20T18:13:00.003-06:00

Reps. McKinley Baily and Larry Marek both voted no, and left the building.

Voting Machine still open.

One vote short of passage.

Major blow to House Leadership.

Speaker Murphy will keep the voting machine open until Monday at 1 p.m. meaning he will have to sleep in the chamber.

Strong Arm tactics no match to the court of public opinion.

Rep. McKinley Bailey folds…then does the right thing and votes no!

2009-02-20T13:34:00.001-06:00

The young are always so impressionable…

Bailey who was thought to be one of the few Pro-Business Democrats, looks to be the vote McCarthy and Murphy need to pass the prevailing wage legislation. Don’t worry; I’m sure he will be pro-business when the next campaign rolls around. Pathetic.

Update: The amendment Baily wanted included didn't make the cut and he voted no.

Prevailing Wage: Day Two

2009-02-20T09:28:00.003-06:00

I had a loyal Krustacean help me with the video, with the economy I had to outsource it…

Yesterday the State House was going to start debating the prevailing wage bill at 9 a.m., then it was pushed back to the afternoon, then it was going to start at 9 pm, and then they called it a night. Now we are told the debate will begin today at noon and last no more than five hours. We will see.

So what went on last night? Here is what I’ve been able to find out.

As the day turned into night, House Republicans were very vocal about their opposition of debating this bill under the cover of darkness. Why was it so important for the prevailing wage bill that it could not wait until today? Republican’s won that battle. It’s one of their strongest arguments, if you are going to raise taxes on mom and pop contractors which could put them out of business you better be willing to do it while the people are awake and can follow the proceedings. With all of this talk about transparency, Republicans had a point.

I’ve also heard that Rep. Larry Marek was locked up in solitary confinement most of last night (Speaker Murphy’s office). Obviously Marek’s vote is key, and Murphy doesn’t want anyone to change his mind, even his constituents who are lighting up his phone.

I say we keep calling Marek and tell him to keep his promise to his constituents and vote against prevailing wage. His phone number in the house is 515-281-3221. If he doesn’t answer you can probably get him in the speaker’s office, that number is 515-281-5566.

Republicans are ready for the debate and plan to offer the following amendments:

H-1049 by Horbach strikes the entire bill and replaces with intent language that the Labor Commissioner must post the prevailing prior to the General Assembly debating a prevailing wage mandate

H-1041 by Tymeson changes the title to “Price Fixing for Public Improvements Act”

H-1042 by Tymeson adds language stating this section not be construed to promote or approve the price fixing of labor rates by competing contractors on public improvement projects

H-1030 by Watts adds language protecting local taxpayers from higher property taxes that result from inflated public improvement costs due to fringe benefits.

H-1028 by Watts states that “fringe benefits” do not include non-essential administrative costs associated with third-party trustees (attempts to eliminate a slush fund for the trade unions)

H-1036 by Horbach states that the prevailing wage rate is not required to be paid to union employees unless the unions can verify that all of its officers and employees are legal United States residents

H-1039 by Grassley, Schulte and Pettengill exempts disaster-related expenditures from prevailing wage, disaster-related expenditures means expenditures that include any state funding for a public improvement in an area that the governor has proclaimed a disaster emergency or the United States president has declared a major disaster during 2008 and in an area that experiences a disaster on or after January 1, 2009.

H-1040 by Van Engelenhoven requires the Attorney General and State Auditor to work with the Labor Commissioner to develop rules for the Act, this is necessary for added transparency to the process

H-1029 by Watts removes the authority of the commissioner to administer oaths, take depositions and subpoena the books, registers and payrolls of the contractors and subcontractors.

H-1037 by Helland removes punitive damages from the punishments, contractors would still be liable for wages and reasonable attorney fees (punitive damages were added in Labor Committee)

H-1043 by Tymeson tries to prevent union harassment of employees by not allowing them to collect union dues on the job site

H-1026 by Watts gives the State Auditor jurisdiction over third-party fringe funds in order to prove that the unions aren’t using prevailing wage for non-essential administrative expenditures

H-1032 by Horbach states that it is a violation of the Act to intimidate, threaten or interfere with the work of any person who is not working under a prevailing wage system on a public improvement

H-1048 by Lukan requires that the Labor Commissioner’s posting comply with the English only law

H-1059 by Struyk states that any employer who refuses to use the federal eligibility program (e-verify) shall not be eligible for public assistance

H-1060 by Struyk directs the Department of Public Safety to study the feasibility of developing a statewide database system designed to provide information related to the immigration status of a person

A Republican Come Back? Maybe…

2009-02-19T12:35:00.001-06:00

Michael Jordon did it, as did Lance Armstrong, Mario Andretti, and Brett Farve seems to do it on a yearly basis. They retire, and walk away from the game or sport in which they are dominate only to see those who try to fill their shoes fail miserably.

If you want to understand why Republicans in Iowa don’t have a long list of potential gubernatorial candidates, or even future legislative leaders, you need look no further than the long list of excellent legislators who have walked away, or sought higher office. People like Sandy Greiner. Chuck Larson, Jr., Jeff Lamberti, Steve Sukup, Willard Jenkins, Bill Dix, Jeff Elgin, Kitty Rehberg, Libby Jacobs, Paul Pate, Bill Schickel, Chuck Gipp, Brent Siegrist, and Dan Boddicker. And that’s just the folks off the top of my head.

With Governor Culver and the Democrats driving the state off a cliff, I wonder what the possibility of seeing some of these former legislators with plenty of gas left in the tank come back to help push back or correct the failed Democrat policies for the past few years. Maybe they don’t run for their old seats, but having them as candidate for state house, senate or statewide offices would be incredible. If that’s too much to ask for, they could be helpful in recruiting and mentoring candidates in their home areas or come to Des Moines to help our current legislators.

It might not be as farfetched of an idea as you may think. Apparently former State Rep. Sandy Greiner will be at the State Capitol today during some of the prevailing wage debate, and there are rumors out of Washington County that she has reopened her campaign account over Larry Marek’s flip-flop over labor issues.

Destroy the Rebuild Iowa Office

2009-02-19T09:29:00.001-06:00

Destroy the Rebuild Iowa Office

So the other day there was a big hullabaloo over the fact that Culver responded to all the criticism over the Rebuild Iowa Office. Yes the Governor cut the salaries of the employees, but in my opinion those salaries are still out of whack. There are 19 employees in that office and the average salary is $75k a year. The median family income in Iowa is just over $44,000.00, which is what the lowest earner in the Rebuild Iowa Office makes.

Folks we are spending $1.5 million a year on salaries that are not needed. Those who opposed the creation of this new government bureaucracy from the state were correct. There are other state agencies that are better suited in dealing with these issues. For example the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division claims on their website that they help coordinate activities before, during, and after emergencies through partnerships with local, state, federal and private agencies. Isn’t that exactly what the Rebuild Iowa Office claims to be doing?

We don’t need to simply adjust salaries downward at the Rebuild Iowa Office; we need close it down and let IHSEMD lead the recovery effort. With the budget crisis and the fact that such a move would allow for more dollars to go directly to flood victims, this seems like a common sense approach.

How Much is too Much, and when is Enough, Enough?

David Yepsen has an interesting column today, saying that the he think that the reason legislators are still advancing the idea of the gas tax even though the governor continues to say he is opposed to it is because they are using it as leverage. Basically if Culver wants to get his $700 million dollar bonding proposal through, he’s going to have to change his position on the gas tax.

Which leaves me to ask a simple question, how much money do they need? The Time 21 Study says that they need an extra $200 million a year for the next 20 years to fix Iowa’s roads and bridges. Now we all know how government works, they WANT $200 million, what they need is probably less. I don’t know of any state agency that would submit a request of what they actually need, it’s just not how the game is played.

Speaking of “the game,” we also know that before that 20 years is up Time 21 will want to adjust the $200 million a year by adding in inflation rates, and when the 20 years is up we are going to have to do a Time 22 Study because my gosh, some of these roads are 20 years old… You get the picture.

Anyway so let’s look at what Chet Culver and the democrats really want to spend on roads in the next few years. Is it the $600 million that Time 21 is requesting? Nope, its $1.6 billion dollars, and the scary part is I think my numbers are low because I couldn’t find solid per year numbers for the increased income from the vehicle registration increases.

Here is the breakdown is the gas tax and Culver’s bonding proposal pass:

Increased Vehicle Registration: $115 Million
Increased Gas Tax: $483 Million ($161 million a year)
Culver’s Bonding Proposal: $700 Million
Obama’s Infrastructure: $358 Million

That’s $1,655,000,000.00

And you know what’s going to happen in year four, the Iowa DOT is going to raise holy hell that they don’t have the money they had in previous years to fix the roads.

What’s my point, you have enough money to comply with time 21’s request so don’t make me pay more at the pump.

Prevailing Wage Toss Up or Done Deal?

Yesterday, Rep. Christopher Rants posed on his blog that the Democrats have found the votes they needed to pass the prevailing wage legislation. His explanation seems logical, but my other sources tell me that the House Democrats spent 6 hours in caucus yesterday. Obviously, there is something going on. And to back up that point, Rep. Larry Marek who told his constituents he opposed these labor bills on Saturday is now all of a sudden in the midst of a flip flop on the issue. He wouldn’t have to change his mind if they could pass it without him. Debate on the bill is scheduled for today; I guess we will have an answer soon.

Technical Difficulties

2009-02-18T11:57:00.002-06:00

I don’t know what’s going on with the comment section in today’s post. Sometimes they don’t show up, other times they do but you can’t see the new comments. I have contacted blogger so we will see what happens. I guess I can’t complain too much about a free site and service…

The march toward communism continues…

2009-02-18T09:17:00.002-06:00

I don’t know what the deal is lately, but it sure seems that I’m getting under peoples skin. Maybe it’s being confined to the Krusty Konservative World Headquarters during these winter months, or maybe it’s because I believe there are some things worth fighting for. As many of you know, I’m a passionate person and I tend to drone on and on certain issues that I care deeply about or don’t want to see screwed up.

So for those people who get a little angry with me, just remember I do what I do because I care. I want to see the gas tax defeated, I want to see those Republicans who support raising it find other ways to pay for our roads. I want to see Bob Vander Plaats become a better candidate for Governor than he’s been in the past, and I want to see a strong unified effort to defeat the four bills the Labor Unions are trying to pass through the legislature.

You know I learned a lot from my coaches in high school. To this day I still live by some of the things they said to me. Sayings like, “if it was easy everyone would do it,” or “you’ve got to want it.” The other thing that I learned is that when the coach yells at you at half time, it’s because they know you can do better. If they didn’t think so they would spend the time coaching up your backup instead of trying to motivate you. I have not called for anyone to be benched; I just want to see some better play out on the court.

Speaking of better play on the court, the Association of Business and Industry is out with a new media campaign fighting back against the Labor Unions. I’m told ABI’s grassroots media campaign will include radio, web, and direct mail. ABI’s message is a simple one:

“Only a small percentage of Iowans belong to unions, but these bills force the union agenda on all Iowans. It’s a fairy tale if they believe that these measures won't drive up property taxes, health care costs, and decrease the paychecks of working families,” said Mike Ralston, ABI President. "We want to encourage all Iowans to share their views with legislators on these controversial proposals that will cause real damage to our job climate,” he added.

I couldn’t agree more.

Chet Culver and the Democrats increased spending by a billion dollars in just two years. This reckless spending has now caused a budget crisis that is now affecting every service that state government provides. Culver’s lazy approach to the problem will force local governments to increase property taxes. If they hadn’t done enough damage to the state, they now want to absolutely ruin Iowa’s business climate, or what’s left of it by passing these labor bills.

So why should you care about these four bills? Maybe this will help motivate you:

You will be forced to pay union dues even if you're not a member.

Your health care costs will skyrocket because they want to turn Iowa's well-respected worker's compensation system on its head.

Your property taxes will immediately go higher, as school boards will lose their authority to control contract costs, and municipalities will be forced to pay construction costs that are set by union wage levels, not competitive bidding.

The story the labor unions are telling the people of Iowa is a fairy tale as ABI says.

The unions say they speak for average, hard working Iowans. WRONG, they speak for only about 12% of Iowa workers

The unions also say that this really won't cost us anything. WRONG, it’s going to drive up costs, and force local communities to increase property taxes.

The unions want to cut competition, raise construction prices, raise wage levels for union bosses, cut deeper into non-union worker's paychecks, and put increased pressure on the highest property tax structure in the country as well as our health care system that is already teetering on the abyss.

The union agenda doesn’t sound like the American Dream which was instilled in me as a young child. You know the idea that if you work hard and take care of yourself you can accomplish anything. Instead the union dream sure sounds like it came straight for the Communist Manifesto, something which I encourage all of you to read, because it sure seems like that’s where we are heading.

Labor Pains

2009-02-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

The legislative session is about a third of the way through and already we have had a number of interesting issues come up. We have seen the idea of selling the Iowa Lottery for quick cash come and go a couple of times. There has been a healthy debate on increasing the gas tax, the disaster that is the Rebuild Iowa Office, and Culver’s budget mess. But where is the vocal opposition in the legislature when it comes to the four big labor bills that the Democrats are pushing?

Sadly, there isn’t much coming from House and Senate Republicans on these issues, at least not yet. In fact, I’m getting the same feeling I had when same day voter registration passed through without any attention what so ever. Now I understand that there are plenty of things we don’t see that are going on at the state capitol, but these are big time issues that will have a huge impact on our state, and I would think our legislators would want all of these bills being discussed all across the state, not just in committee rooms in Des Moines.

Last night there was a forum on the prevailing wage legislation. I’m told only one person spoke against it. That’s pathetic. Where are the pro business groups? Where are the business owners? Couldn’t each Republican member find one person in their district to come to Des Moines and speak out against the bill? I know we are in the minority but you just don’t bend over and take it. For us to effectively push back on issues like these we need the public on our side, and if our legislators are not out there getting their constituents fired up, we are bound to lose this battle. Mark my words, we lost this one. Will we stand up against the other three?

While there is no doubt that Republican’s are against these bills, our Republican leaders need to be rallying the troops and educating Iowans on how disruptive these bills would be to Iowa’s business climate.

Follow up on Vander Plaats

Yesterday I wrote about Bob Vander Plaats and once again his supporters think I’m being unfair. I’m not going to apologize for wanting to see a little substance, especially when dealing with a gubernatorial candidate. Our state has serious problems, and I’m looking for a candidate who can provide some solutions. Is that out of line? Is that too much to ask for?

If Vander Plaats wants some good coverage on this blog he simply needs to do some things that get my attention. I think I’ve been extremely helpful in providing him some questions he needs to be out there answering. Bob needs to convince me that he would be a good Governor. While it is obvious some people are already convinced, I on the other hand want to see some indications of what he would do differently, and that means providing me with some specifics.

What about Bob?

2009-02-16T01:17:00.001-06:00

Its been 21 days since Bob Vander Plaats announced his campaign for Governor; and while a number of other candidates have indicated interest, Vander Plaats remains the only official candidate in the field to date. Vander Plaats was clear when he announced his campaign last month that an official announcement would come later in the year after he has tested the waters. For those of you new to politics “testing the waters” means can I raise enough money to run an actual campaign.

There is no doubt that Vander Plaats is trying to tap into Governor Mike Huckabee’s supporters from last year’s caucuses. In fact, I’m told that Vander Plaats plans to attend a HuckPAC house party in Urbandale on February 26th. While attending events like these are no brainers for Vander Plaats he also needs to expand his following outside of those groups if he wants to be successful in June of 2010.

While I know we are still more than a year from the primary, I’ve been surprised by the lack of buzz created by Vander Plaats since announcing his candidacy. First, I thought Vander Plaats would have responded directly to State Senator Mike Gronstal’s challenge about what and where to cut in the state budget. This is the advantage of being the only candidate in the race, yet Vander Plaats have been mum on the subject. Additionally he has been silent on the hullabaloo over the management of the Rebuild Iowa Office. I know the focus is on raising money, but being covered in the press does wonders for your campaign coffer.

Vander Plaats did talk to the Iowa Independent on Friday saying that the current budget crisis provides the state with an opportunity to cut spending outside of our priorities. I know I’m picky but I’d like to see him give some specifics. Heck, I’m a little disturbed that his website doesn’t have any information on any issues. I know some new candidates sometimes struggle to fill out their issue page, but Vander Plaats has been around long enough to know where he stands on most issues that voters care about.

One thing that should concern Vander Plaats is the fact that David Yepsen thinks more of his campaign’s state chair Rep. Jodi Tymeson than his own candidacy. The way I read Yepsen’s article it seemed to me that David doesn’t realize that Tymeson is Vander Plaats’ state chair. That’s a problem, and while Yepsen is known for mailing it in on occasion, Tymeson was part of Vander Plaats announcement tour.

Maybe Bob should spend a little more time talking to Yepsen at the Register, than doing an interview with Iowa Independent which is funded by Tim Gill, a gay rights activist.

Kevin McCarthy’s Night Court Comments Come True

2009-02-13T09:33:00.002-06:00

Shenanigans? Details of Rep. Burt’s Arrest Blacked Out

It seems that the police report from Rep. Kerry Burt’s arrest is creating more questions than providing his constituents answers about what really happened early Wednesday morning. Even personal information that is typically released has been blacked out. Charlotte Eby has the story here.

In Eby’s story the Ankeny Police Captain said, “Let me put it to you like this, we took an accident report, but I cannot put Kerry Burt behind the wheel at the accident, OK?” So, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I can’t specifically say that he was driving at the time of an accident. However, I can say that when our officers stopped Mr. Burt, that he was driving and we are – as a result of our investigation -- charging him with operating while under the influence of alcohol.”

I think people need a little more than the generic apology that Burt issued yesterday when he said, “I will work to assure that I never have a similar incident." Maybe he was still hung over, but that sentence doesn’t really make sense.

Another person I would like to hear from is House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. You see back in October McCarthy was feeding the Des Moines Register court records of a few Republican candidates. In fact this is what he was quoted in the Register saying:

"If these candidates were elected to office, would not be a stretch that we would need to establish night court at the state Capitol, together with a bailiff and maybe bring in Jerry Springer to cover it."

Well since McCarthy’s golden boys got in trouble, he has some explaining to do. It is appropriate to hold McCarthy to the same high standard he was holding Republicans to back in October.

RIO Facebook Staffer Strikes Again

Facebook Rio staffer, Jacqui DiGiacinto, set up the visit where Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano didn’t actually tour any of the flood damaged communities, instead she watched a DVD. DiGiacinto’s Facebook status said that she was in Cedar Rapids preparing for the event 3 days before the event occurred.

Seriously, how some of these people still have job?

Pelosi Sends Mighty Mouse to Stimulate American Economy

2009-02-12T15:13:00.001-06:00

Iowa State Busted for Being Stupid

2009-02-12T13:04:00.001-06:00

My Lord, first the Rebuild Iowa is messing around on Facebook all day.

Culver’s Communication staff is busy trying to provide for the RIO office by attacking Rep. Rants on something he didn’t have any control over.

Governor Culver has the Homeland Security Director come to Cedar Rapids to watch a DVD. (Great Read by Hawkeye Review)

And now Iowa State University is spending time producing a knock off of the TV show The Office. I was amused for a few minutes, but then started thinking about how much time and money went into this. Our tax dollars at work!

No wonder we have a budget crisis!

Democrat Legislator Busted for Drunk Driving

2009-02-12T12:24:00.001-06:00

A freshman state lawmaker from Waterloo has been arrested for operating while intoxicated in Polk County. State Rep. Kerry Burt, a Democrat from Waterloo, was arrested Wednesday at 2:34 a.m. in Ankeny for operating while intoxicated, according to a police report obtained from the Ankeny Police Department. Burt, a native of Waterloo, also is a member of Waterloo Fire Rescue.

Voters elected Burt, 44, to his first term in the Iowa Legislature in November, when he defeated incumbent Republican Tami Wiencek. Burt also is known for his football career at the University of Iowa, where he was an All-American from 1983 to 1987, according to a biography on his campaign Web site.

Burt is expected to release a statement through a spokesman later today.

Blog Wars – Krusty vs. The Des Moines Register, RIO, and Culver Press Shop

2009-02-12T08:49:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I posted about Rebuild Iowa staffers creating a Facebook fan club in support of their controversial boss Emily Hajek, another example of the lack of professionalism in the Rebuild Iowa Office. To my surprise last night, I noticed that the Des Moines Register political staff had a post about Rep. Christopher Rants spending $78,000 to carpet the House Republican office last year. Quoted in the story was Troy Price, a Culver spokesman.

The problem is the Register never thought to call Rants about the incident. In an email exchange, Rants told me:

“Ya know, you'd think the DMR might have called me to ask about it.... If they had the conversation would have started like this, Hmmmm, unlike Patty Judge, I specifically told them NOT to install any new carpet."

Rants then posted this on his website:

The DM Register’s Bias is Showing

So is their sloppy reporting…

So the DMR posted on their blog yesterday an attack from the Governor’s office that taxpayers’ dollars had been spent to replace carpeting in the Republican Leader’s office at the time I was the leader.

Before we get to the timelines and the inaccurate accusations by the Governor’s office, let me say first, it would have been nice if the “reporter” at the DMR would have picked up the phone and called me to ask. But it is a habit of the Register to write stories that attack Republicans and their proposals without asking them for comment. Puts a whole new take on the idea of the “fairness doctrine.”

So, let’s look at the facts and the timetable.

On Christmas Eve 2004 a pipe froze and broke in the northeast dome of the capitol building, and water came pouring out. The water flooded offices from the third floor to the basement. The next day the DMR published a photo of the water running down the steps outside the capitol. Damaged by the water were third floor committee rooms, the chief clerk’s office on the 2nd floor, the minority leader and staff offices (home to Pat Murphy and the Democrats at the time) on the 1st floor, and non-partisan Legislative Service Agency staff offices in the basement. Ceiling caved in, paint bubbled and peeled, and carpeting was ruined.

In the spring 2005, the replacement carpeting was purchased. It was stored in the attic of the capitol – yes there is an attic above the chambers, which is a really interesting place to visit, I found an old desk there once that I used in the Speaker’s office.

In the summer of 2007 the replacement carpeting was installed in a portion of the Chief Clerks office.

In the fall of 2008 the Department of Administrative Services, the executive branch agency that handles capitol maintenance, let the bid for the installation of the replacement carpeting in the remaining offices.

In the summer of 2008 the replacement carpeting was installed in the minority leader’s office, caucus staff offices, and the remaining portions of the Chief Clerk’s office.

When last I checked, the state was in mediation with the contractor, Neumann Bros, for payment to cover the cost of damages. At issue is whether or not the contractor improperly installed the pipe, as it should have been protected from freezing. The responsibility for paying for the replacement carpeting – and the replacement of the ceiling in the basement, the repairing of the walls in the stairwells, and the damaged computer equipment – all lies with the contractor and not with the taxpayer.

The DM Register would know this if they had asked anyone; me, the Chief Clerk of the House, the people responsible for maintenance of the building, even the contractor. But instead they apparently just took the barb from the Governor’s office and ran with it.

I did not ask for carpeting to be installed. In fact, I asked my staff to not have it installed because I thought it would look awful in light of the disaster. I was told, however, that the carpet was already in hand, and the bids had been issued and the work contracted for the previous year.

An additional bit of sloppy reporting - the DMR reported that my office was 2,335 square feet. The capitol floor plan shows that my office was 412 square feet.

While the DMR is a willing accomplice in this misleading attack, I know that its origins lie in the Governor’s office. After all, Troy Price, Culver’s spin meister is the only person quoted in the article. Perhaps the Governor and his agents don’t understand the difference between requesting that something be done, and having something done without their consent. It’s clear they are anxious to deflect any criticism or demand for accountability, but now we know that they have become so desperate as to make things up.

This whole ordeal shows us two things.

First, The Register bias toward Democrats is obnoxious. I seriously wonder if Culver’s press shop has the ability to post whatever they want on the blog section of the Register.

Second, it shows that the immaturity that is apparent in the Rebuild Iowa Office also exists in the Governor’s office. I find that troubling. We have serious issues like flood recovery and a financial crisis to deal with, and they are all consumed by what’s being discussed what’s on a little blog like Krusty Konservative.

If elected Governor I promise to hire grown-ups.

The Rebuild Iowa Office staff has a little too much time on their hands…

2009-02-11T14:47:00.001-06:00

Sure we’ve talked about the obsessive salaries, the incompetence, and the 19 grand for new carpet, but it just keeps getting worse.

Jacquie DiGiacinto, a RIO staffer has created a Facebook page called “Open to any one who thinks Emily Hajek is one amazingly cool person.” I wonder how flood victims feel about this? Seriously, don’t we have better things to do? Shouldn’t they have gotten the message that they need to straighten up because people are watching their every move.

It’s a secret site so I can’t see what’s going on there, but you can email them at fanclubofemilyhajek@gmail.com. I sent them a note, so should you.

Pawns

2009-02-11T14:23:00.002-06:00

Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter, and Susan Collins are pawns. Seriously can someone tell me why they are even Republicans? I don’t get it.

Another thing.

For my entire adult life the Democrats have been attacking trickle-down economics. To Republicans trickle-down economics provided tax cuts or other benefits to businesses and individuals. They would then take those incentives and create jobs, expand existing businesses, and reinvest; all of which would benefit the American economy.

Now we have a united Democrat Party and three Republican pawns who keep throwing trillions of dollars at these huge banks and corporations because they are too large to fail. The reasoning behind this approach is that the benefit of giving them taxpayer money is that it will trickle-down to help all of us someway or somehow.

What about the American people? It’s our money they are giving away!

The Gas Tax Can Wait

2009-02-11T10:19:00.001-06:00

So you all know I absolutely hate the idea of raising the Gas Tax during these difficult economic times. That’s not to say that I don’t believe in investing in our roads and infrastructure. If you listen to any of the legislators who support the gas tax increase you would think that Iowa hasn’t done anything to recently to help fund road improvements, which simply isn’t true.

Last year the legislation was passed and signed into law that increased vehicle registration fees substantially in our state. The increase in registration fees was one of the recommendations from the Time-21 study. The problem the legislators are having is that money isn’t rolling in fast enough. Remember Time-21 says that $200 million is needed per year at a minimum, but we should remember Time-21 is the Iowa DOT and just like every state agency they are lobbying for money. Just because state money goes for roads or schools does not mean we shouldn’t scrutinize their request.

I find it ironic that the story here isn’t about Speaker Murphy and Supreme Leader Mike Gronstal both wanting the increase and Governor Culver opposing it. Last session it was news worthy when they were at odds over labor issues, but we are not hearing anything about this dispute. Republicans need to be more disciplined, if the Governor is public in his opposition to the tax why on earth would anyone in the minority party think it’s a good idea to even address this issue until he publicly says he would sign it into law.

I don’t know why on earth we need to do this now. Like any family going through tough economic times we can fix what’s critically important now, and do the rest later. We also might be wise to see that the federal stimulus will mean to Iowa. If they want to fund shovel ready projects, nothing is better than roads. It also means that things bike trails will have to wait as I have yet to see major economic development take place around them.

I think the gas tax debate also feds into the labor bills that will be up for debate. On one hand we have all of these needs in terms of road construction, but at the same time they are pushing 4 huge labor bills which would raise the cost of construction exponentially. Which one is more important, roads, or the 12% of Iowans who belong to a labor union? I think we know that answer.

Finally, I’m troubled by the fact that Time 21 will not say what the immediate priorities are. They say they don’t want to politicize specific projects. What if there is some sort of bridge to nowhere? It’s our money they are spending; shouldn’t we know where it’s going? In FY07 Iowa received around $1.5 billion from state and local taxes and the feds, thats a lot of money for roads but yet we are being told another $200 million is a life and death matter. Meanwhile, I’m told that the Road Use Fund has more money it in now than ever before.

Would the goverment please stop taxing me. Go and find more money elsewhere in the budget to fix our roads. $200 million isn’t all that much to find in a $6.2 billion dollar budget; however the $400 to $500 a year a family will pay in increased taxes will hurt them.

I also was thrilled to see Iowans for Tax Relief come out against the gas tax. Historically they have been neutral in this matter. There help will be critical in getting Iowa Republicans to say no to higher gas taxes. Krusty Kudos to my good friends ins Muscatine.

8 Cents a Gallon! GAS Attack!!! (Update)

2009-02-10T14:22:00.004-06:00

HSB 164 was introduced today by the House Transportation Committee.

The bill would increase taxes on gas and diesel fuel by 4 cents when the bill is signed, and then by an additional 4 cents on Jan 1, 2010. I’ll have more on this tomorrow. But if you’re one of my Republican friends who want to support this I’ll leave you with the following to chew on.

Our state will spend 17 million dollars a day under Culver’s proposed budget. Don’t tell me there isn’t $200 million somewhere in that 6.2 BILLION DOLLAR BUDGET that could be used to fix our roads. We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. Fund the priorities, you have all claimed that roads and infrastructure are one of the top priorities of state government, so find other places that are not priorities to cut.

For the few of you who are delusional and think this will not happen. The ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee is for it, the Republican Leader in the House is for it, the Farm Bureau is for it, and Bill Northey is for it. This will absolutely kill us if we help pass it. People are losing their jobs and you want them to pay more at the pump? You better be willing to put that one on your door knocker.

More tomorrow.

ITR Came out against the bill today, and they have been neutral on previous gas tax increases. Sorry for any confusion, I was basing their stance on the Register's interview with ITR's President, Ed Failor, Jr.

Iowa a Monarchy?

2009-02-10T09:21:00.001-06:00

Congressman Steve King is the latest to indicate that he might run for Governor in 2010. King joins perennial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, Secretary of Ag Bill Northey, State Auditor Dave Vaudt, businessman Bruce Rastetter, State Representative Rod Roberts, and syndicated blogger Krusty Konservative in exploring a potential run for Governor.

King’s presence in a primary would create difficulties for any other candidate as nobody carries as much weight with Iowa conservatives as King does. King also has flexed some fundraising muscle as of late which could signal a possible nod to the future. That said I believe it would be very difficult for King to give up his congressional seat to run against an incumbent governor.

Who will join the party next? Stay tuned.

Rapid Consolidation of Schools?

The Register has an article today where Sen. Matt McCoy says he wants to consolidate districts with 750 or less students. This is a lot like Governor Culver dealing with the budget crisis with across the board cuts instead of cutting the fat. This too is a lazy approach if you ask me.

Consolidation should first be done to guarantee every student has the same educational opportunities in each district across the state. So if a school cannot provide advanced math and science courses for instance then consolidation is probably needed.

If large consolidated districts lead to better educated kids and more cost effective schools, the Des Moines School District should be the model district right? They are far from that. The goal needs to be the best product (educated kids) we can produce. I think the 750 number seems too high, especially in Iowa’s rural areas. That said, I do think there are schools that need to consolidate and it’s no secret to the people in those communities. Let’s start with those districts before we start floating out some arbitrary number.

I wonder is General Dardis regrets joining the Culver administration…

Seriously, this guy is now defending the purchase of carpet in the Rebuild Iowa Office. Read Kay Henderson’s carpet report here.

The Rebuild Iowa Office is just a huge bureaucracy, and it funds itself by skimming off money that is supposed to be going to flood victims. Instead they are spending over 200k on salaries for their communications staff, Emily Hajek the Chief of Staff and former Culver fundraiser made 66k last year in her government job, and now she’s making 120k. Heck she’s so stupid they don’t let her go to meetings with Legislators anymore. Seriously the Chief of Staff of Rebuild Iowa can’t meet with the legislators?

And why are these people not working out of Cedar Rapids? Wait, Chet says he wants to work out of Iowa City. I think he really just wants to hit the bars in the ped mall.

This is a scam and it’s being funded by the people they are supposed to be helping.

Big Labor Week

2009-02-09T09:01:00.000-06:00

Big Labor is going to be the focus this week in the State Legislature. While we celebrated the defeat of Fair Share and the expansion collective bargaining agreement is years past, they keep coming back, and they will continue to do so until their wish list is enacted.

This year the game plan is to spread the field. So instead of focusing on what they really want, they instead are advancing four separate pieces of legislation; Fair Share, Prevailing Wage, Choice of Doctor, and expanding Iowa’s collective bargaining law.

With this approach they will get some of this legislation passed. The question is how much and which ones. If I was a betting man, I think their main objective is passing some version of Fair Share. The rest will be determined by what type of opposition the Republicans put up. If they roll over without a fight, they might just pass all four of these.

IDP and RPI tab Executive Directors

If you ever wanted some proof that Republicans have turned the corner in this state, one needs to only look at who will be running the day-today operations of the political parties in Iowa. Strawn’s choice is Jeff Boeyink, the former President of Iowans for Tax Relief. Boeyink brings a ton of experience to the table.

Leading the Iowa Democrats is Norm Sterzenbach. Sterzenbach ran Patty Judge’s gubernatorial campaign, and then was Culver’s deputy campaign manager in 2006. This last cycle Sterzenbach served as Political Director at IDP. There is no doubt that Culver and Judge are making sure that their people are running their Party, but the best and brightest Iowa Dems are now out of state.

Krusty Kudos to Strawn, this is a good move.

Krusty Wish List

I really want to see Tom Harkin head to HHS. Why? To get him out of the Senate, but also I would love to see a 2010 cycle with two US Senate campaigns and a Gubernatorial Campaign. Man that would be awesome, and good for Republicans too. Unless we help the Dems pass the Gas Tax….

9.7 trillion!?!

The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation’s home mortgages.

Think about that for a second.

Jeff Boeyink to serve as RPI’s Executive Director

2009-02-07T21:38:00.002-06:00

Earlier today RPI Chairman Matt Strawn sent an email to the State Central Committee and other Republican leaders in the state letting them know that he will be forwarding Jeff Boeyink’s name to be his ED. Boeyink brings a ton of experience from his time with Iowan’s for Tax Relief.

This is a good hire, we are lucky to have someone of his qualifications run the day-to-day operation at the Republican Party of Iowa

Michael Steele in Legal Trouble

2009-02-07T00:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday RNC Chairman Michael Steele fired most of the 100 people who worked at the RNC. Today, Steele finds himself in legal trouble which could lead to him being removed as Chairman.

The Washington Post has a story about Steele’s campaign spending. Its not just your typical run of the mill story, the Feds are involved. You can read the story here, below are some of the interesting parts of the article.

In one of his allegations, Fabian points to a February 2007 payment by Steele's Senate campaign of more than $37,000 to Brown Sugar Unlimited, the company run by Steele's sister, Monica Turner. Campaign finance records list the expense as having been for "catering/web services." Turner filed papers to dissolve the company 11 months before the payment was received.

In a separate allegation, Fabian described the bank withdrawal. After the 2006 election, an aide transferred the funds that had been raised for Steele's lieutenant governor campaign -- more than $600,000 -- out of what had been the campaign's bank account.

The money had been raised for Steele in concert with Ehrlich (former Governor). Much of it, in fact, had been brought in by Ehrlich's team, said a senior Republican fundraiser and as well as a former Steele aide, each speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

We will see if this story has legs, but when Obama’s cabinet appointees are falling like flies from a bug zapper because of tax problems, one has to wonder if this story gains steam, if Steele will be able to hold on to the reins of the RNC.

President Obama, the campaign is over…

2009-02-06T09:06:00.002-06:00

If you watch the 10 o’clock news or nightline you have undoubtedly seen the ad by Americans United for Change which urges Senator Grassley to support Obama’s stimulus package and “reject the failed policies of the past.” Below is the ad:

I think the ads are well done, but I also think these ads show Obama’s arrogance. Yes President Obama, we know you won the election, but Grassley has also won an election or two, and if Obama thinks that 53% vote provides him a dictatorial mandate, then he should have more respect a Senator like who has been re-elected with 70%, 68%, 69%, and 66% in his last 4 campaigns.

I also think that it’s ironic that Obama lashed out last night at Republicans for being united is their opposition to the bill. Obama and the Democrats are blaming the Republicans for being partisan, but wasn’t it Obama who is playing partisan politics by attacking people like Grassley in his home state with TV ads rather than sitting down and talking with him? I don’t see the Republicans running anti-stimulus ads out there?

I also think it was a bad move for these ads to use Obama’s voice. I understand why they would think that’s a good idea, but now with the bill in doubt, Obama risks putting up a big loss on his record in the early days of his administration. And like I said above, using Obama’s voice shows the American people that it’s Obama who is using the partisan politics of that we are so used too.

Obama and his team need to realize that the campaign is over and it’s time to govern. His little temper tantrum last night about how the economic crisis was a little gift waiting for him is ridiculous. He ran for the job knowing what it entailed, and one could say that it was the economic crisis that lead to him winning in November. A majority of the American people thought Obama was best suited to deal with this crisis, now he needs to affirm they faith the American people have entrusted him with.

Lead or Go Home

I guess that’s my new motto…

Rod Roberts Considers a run for Governor

2009-02-05T15:01:00.001-06:00

Sorry I that I’m a little late posting about Rep. Rod Roberts running for Governor. It seems with each new day or week another Iowa Republican lets it be known that they are interested in running for Governor in 2010.

A week or so ago Bob Vander Plaats entered the race. To date he’s the most “official” candidate out there, but he even stated that this is an exploratory committee, not an all out campaign yet. Quickly joining him were the following: Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, State Auditor Dave Vaudt, Businessman Bruce Rastetter, syndicated blogger Krusty Konservative, and now State Rep. Rod Roberts.

Robert’s is soft-spoken, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a single person under that dome that has any sort of beef with him. Everyone really likes and respects Rod, and when he speaks into the microphone, his voice is quaint but his presence looms large. He is a staunch opponent of gambling, which endears him to the right. However, he voted for the dreaded Dream Act, which has left more than a few political careers in its wake.

He is largely unknown, which is a problem for him. While he has great things to tout - anti-gambling, elected in a strong Democratic seat, evangelical conservative pastor, assistant House majority leader - he has two big things against him, namely that he has not demonstrated that he can raise any appreciable sum of money and his legislative resume is thin in terms of policy that's been enacted with his name on it. If Robert’s is serious we will probably see him flexing some legislative muscle by floor managing some serious Republican amendments.

In terms of what this means politically, it’s more bad news for Bob Vander Plaats. Bob’s announcement created very little buzz around the state and smoked out more potential candidates that I ever expected to see. Again, I think it will be difficult for Vander Plaats to gain traction with so many potential candidates lurking. I really think he would have been better off saying that he’s “all in” rather than saying it’s an exploratory campaign.

Additionally, Robert’s poses an interesting dilemma for Vander Plaats. Both are from Western Iowa, and both should play well with the social conservatives in the state. I think Vander Plaats is going to find it much more difficult to campaign against people like Roberts, Northey, or Vaudt.

Speaking of Vaudt, I wonder if he has let the Rebuild Iowa Office that he’s going to stop by for a little audit. Now that would be interesting.

Unbelievable: Dems Gone Wild

2009-02-05T08:47:00.003-06:00

Rebuild Iowa or Carpet the Office?

A week ago the coffee shops were abuzz about the CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, spending more than a million dollars to redecorate his office, including $131,000.00 for a rug. Well it seems like Iowa has its own John Thain; her name is Lt. Governor Patty Judge, and she spent $19,000.00 to carpet the Rebuild Iowa offices.

This is a ridiculous use of taxpayer money, like I said after Culver’s Condition of the State speech, I’m all for helping those affected by last year’s floods, but opposed to funding the bureaucracy he has created. State Representative Jeff Kaufmann also brought up an interesting tidbit in saying, "the lowest paid job in this new bureaucracy is $46,700”, and he went on to say there are people in the Rebuild Iowa Office making more than $100,000.00 a year. When Kaufmann asked who authorized spending $19,000 for carpet, Emily Hajek, Rebuild Iowa’s Chief of Staff said “the lieutenant governor wanted to put new carpeting in."

One legislator has pointed out that Emily Hajek earned $66k last year, but as COS of Rebuild Iowa she’s pulling in $121k. Not bad work in this economy if you can get it…

And people wonder why our state finances are a mess…

The Lottery Lease is Back!

I wonder if my friends over at Iowa Independent are going to continue to say that this is some conspiracy cooked up by Republicans… The Register has a story today about Sen. Gronstal and Speaker Murphy still pushing for this to happen. You all know where I stand. Don’t sell something that brings in around $60 million in to the general fund every year for some quick onetime money.

I find it ironic that this story comes on the heels of Terry Rich, the director of Blank Park Zoo being named the lottery’s director. I find that weird anyway…

The fight to keep our Right to Work Law

Some might think that the Democrats effort to scrap Iowa’s Right to Work Law is something new. Not at all, Democrats have been trying to overturn the law for years. Need proof? Check out the Mason City Globe Gazette from February 3rd 1959, ya know the Day the Music Died…

Lets do a quick review…

Sell the Lottery for some quick cash, around $200M,

Apply some lazy across the board budget cuts that will force local governments to increase property taxes.

Revoke Iowa’s Right to Work law, meaning union thugs can force local governments to hire more teachers or city/county workers, which means increased property taxes.

Show an emotional video in the Condition of the State speech demand the legislature to pass a flood relief bill 6 months late, and then use the money to pay former campaign staffers 6 figures, and spend 19k for some carpet.

For Republicans their slogan should be “Iowa, fields of Opportunity.” Yet many Iowa Republicans are willing to piss it all away by helping the Dems pass an increase to the state’s gas tax.

PLEASE, I’m begging you just say NO.

Lead or go Home

2009-02-04T09:27:00.004-06:00

We elected our elected officials to go to Des Moines or DC to represent us, to do what’s right for our district, state and country. For the most part they do a good job, while partisan politics sometimes occurs, I think it’s safe to say that they all want to do what’s best for the people they represent.

That said; I’m a little miffed that the Democrats and Republicans in the House had created websites or blog posts to solicit budget cuts from the people without offering any of their own. So when you ask me what should be cut, my first suggestion is their salaries and their daily per Diems. They are elected to make the difficult decisions, they pledge to do what’s best for the future of our state and when our state is in a great time of need they punt the ball to the citizens? They sure didn’t ask me for my input when they increased the state budget by 20% over the past 2 years…

Lead or go home. Don’t waste millions of taxpayer dollars to sit in Des Moines and do nothing. Be part of the solution. K’mon.

Follow up on the Gas Tax

So I got a few emails yesterday questioning my criticism of Iowans for Tax Relief on the gas Tax. First, let me apologize for not explaining what I based my criticism of ITR on. My criticism was based on what ITR said in the Des Moines Register editorial board meeting a few weeks ago. You can see here what I'm talking about.

Again, the Legislative Republican’s are stupid if they help pass the Gas Tax increase. The Dems will use it against our incumbents, and you know that road money isn’t going to go to those districts represented by Republicans who help pass the tax increase. The Dems are going to take care of their own, meaning all of those road dollars go to Dem Districts, and then they beat Republican incumbents over the head for raising taxes.

Farewell Yepsen

A few week ago I was told that David Yepsen didn’t get the gig at SIU. I felt bad because I really thought he was a great fit for them, and it has to be difficult working for a company like the Register which is bleeding financially. So I was happy to hear that Yepsen got the gig. No comment from him yet, apparently he is on an unpaid furlough this week.

Fair Share is Coming

Get ready to fight folks. It looks like a fair share bill is coming down the pike and this time it’s being written by the Governor himself. Which means it will happen unless the people of Iowa rise up and stop it. So let me see if I have this right. Culver’s budget under funds city and county government meaning they will be forced to raise property taxes. Last year it was accepted that Fair Share legislation would also cause property taxes to increase. So how much of an increase will we see? And when is enough, enough?

The Gas Tax

2009-02-03T08:57:00.001-06:00

If you want to see my blood boil, just send me some a news story or show me a clip from Iowa Press of a Republican in the state legislature agreeing to raise the gas tax if their Democrat counterparts decide to act on the issue. While I agree that one of the purposes of state government is to invest public infrastructure, state government also must realize that raising taxes or fees during the current economic crisis is risky, especially when you realize that the state raised motor vehicle fees just last year to help pay for our infrastructure needs.

I love to hear how some legislators think an eight to ten cent increase per gallon is really no big deal. Some suggest that it would only cost Iowa’s another $50 bucks a year give or take. I think that number is low, and I choose to resist the government incrementally taking more of my money. Maybe our elected officials should look at what the DNR just did; they took fee increases off of the table for the time being because of the economy. The same should be done with the gas tax.

The most frustrating thing in regard to this issue is the lack of discipline on the Republican side. State Representative Dave Tjepkes, the top Republican on the House Transportation committee is for the increase, as is House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen. Paulsen is employed by a large trucking firm in Cedar Rapids, CRST who want to see the increase in the gas tax. Trucking companies prefer paying gas taxes for road improvements over vehicle registration fees because it’s easier for them to pass on the cost of fuel to their customers.

Another group that is surprisingly silent on the issue is Iowans for Tax Relief. One would think that a large organization like them would at least weigh in on the issues. Their silence on the gas tax may have something to do with Scott Newhard, the VP of Public Affairs for the Associated General Contractors of Iowa, and Scott Weiser, a long time lobbyist for the trucking industry, both serve on ITR’s board of directors.

Let me paint a quick picture why this issue is a loser for Republicans.

First, when the Democrats insist that any increase in the gas tax has to be a bipartisan effort, be weary. If increasing the gas tax was such good public policy the Democrats who have majorities in both chambers and occupy the governor’s office would simply whisk the legislation through.

Maybe our leaders in the House should call up Jamie Van Fossen and Dan Rassmussen and ask them if the hint of their willingness to increase the gas tax affected their failed reelection attempts. The senate should do the same with Mark Zieman, maybe they could go talk to him about it at an Iowa Motor Truck board meeting just down the street. Zieman is their chairman.

In the 2008 elections the Democrats showed us that they could beat incumbents who supported higher gas taxes, yet many of our Republican legislators seem willing to march straight into the trap. They need to wake up. Iowa Democrats are not interested in passing good public policy for our state, they are simply just interested in getting reelected and keeping their majorities. Republicans supporting the gas tax will just help them achieve this goal.

What we have on the Democrat side is the classic good cop vs. bad cop. The bad cops are guys like Gronstal, Murphy, and McCarthy whom all represent solid Democrat districts. They are going to be very public in their support of increasing the gas tax and will pass the legislation in both chambers. This is music to the ears for trucking companies, road builders, unions, and other contractors meaning the money will flow into their campaign coffers. The good cop, Chet Culver who has already publicly said he opposes the gas tax increase due to the economy. Culver, the populist, will veto the bill and run for reelection using the line, “When Republicans and some in my own party wanted to raise gas taxes during this economic crisis, I said no!” Meanwhile the bad cops will be out there running anti-gas candidates against our Republican incumbents who supported it.

Trust me, if Republicans help pass the gas tax we will continue to lose seats in both chambers, and Chet Culver will be reelected. This is just another case where Republicans are failing to win the debate on the fiscal issues.

The Democrat Train to Nowhere

2009-02-02T08:41:00.002-06:00

On Friday I had a post about Rep. Kraig Paulsen wanting the state to disappropriate some $300k for an Amtrak station in Dubuque, Murphy’s home town which doesn’t even have Amtrak service. Then today the trusty Krusty research staff reminded me that some Iowa Dems think that the economic stimulus plan currently being considered by Congress provides an “incredible opportunity to build a modern regional passenger rail network.” Their words, not mine.

I seriously doubt we are going to see the revival of train travel in this country.

Lets say that I’m a big Steelers fan and want to go to Pittsburgh to celebrate their 6th championship. I could travel there one way for $142.00. Below is my itinerary:

Osceola to Chicago - Board at 8:40 a.m. Arrive in Chicago at 3:50 p.m. (7 hours 10 minutes)
Chicago to Pittsburgh – Board at 7:05 p.m. Arrive in Pittsburgh at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow. (9 hours, 25 minutes)

That’s almost 24 hours to get to Pittsburgh. Or I could fly for $400 bucks round trip and get their in five hours. Now I know some liberal is going to come on here and tell me that $116 is a lot of money in this economy. But one also needs to consider how much longer you would need to miss work if you opted for the train.

Our society is never going to embrace something as slow as train travel. Our society values freedom, and instant gratification, meaning if I was going to take that trip, I’d fly, probably rent a car so I didn’t need to depend on public transportation, and most likely drive through a McDonalds for a meal.

Train travel reached its height in 1916, but with the invention of the automobile on the 20s and 30s ridership declined. In the 40s the railroads saw its highest ridership as our soldiers were headed out to fight World War II. After the war however, ridership declines. It gets worse for the railroads in the 50s and 60s as the first passenger planes take to the skies. In the late 60 the two major railroads merge, but just two short years later it too files bankruptcy.

What’s left for passenger rail service is Amtrak, a government owned entity. Amtrak employs 19,000 workers, and had an operating loss of $381.1 million in FY 2008. Yet our federal government wants to throw more and more money into it and Iowa Democrats are leading the way.

News Release
January 30, 2009

Contacts: Senator Daryl Beall, 515-573-7889 (Home); 515-570-0779 (Cell)
Senator Jack Kibbie, 712-852-4140 (Home); 712-260-2345 (Cell)
Representative Paul Bell, paul.bell@legis.state.ia.us
Laura Kliewer, Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, 630.925.1922

STATE LAWMAKERS CALL ON CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT OBAMA TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR RAIL IN STIMULUS PLAN

DES MOINES – Three members of the Iowa General Assembly joined colleagues throughout the Midwest today to urge federal lawmakers to invest significantly in intercity passenger rail in the economic stimulus plan working its way through the U.S. Congress.

State Senators Jack Kibbie and Daryl Beall and State Representative Paul Bell are Iowa’s legislatively-appointed members to the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC), a 10-state coalition that advocates at the local, state and federal levels for passenger rail development. The MIPRC commissioners urged the public to contact their members of the U.S. House and Senate, urging support for an increase in funding for passenger rail.

"The economic stimulus plan currently being considered by Congress provides an incredible opportunity to build a modern regional passenger rail network that makes America and Iowa more energy-efficient, sustainable and prosperous, while at the same time putting more Iowans and Americans to work," said Sen. Beall (D-Ft. Dodge), who serves as MIPRC’s financial officer.

Unfortunately, the first drafts of the federal stimulus plan miss the mark, the lawmakers said.
Wednesday night the U.S. House passed its stimulus plan, the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. The bill allocates only $1.1 billion to rail – $800 million to Amtrak and $300 million to state projects to improve intercity rail outside of Amtrak's capital needs. While investing in state projects is the best way to build up the Midwest’s intercity passenger rail network, $300 million is not nearly enough to build up intercity rail.

A much better proposal came from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which recommended a $5 billion total investment in rail: $3.4 billion for state passenger rail projects, $1.5 billion for Amtrak and $100 million for short line railroads.

"The best way to make sure our transportation investments meet our energy policy goals is to invest in intercity rail, said Senate President Jack Kibbie (D-Emmetsburg). "We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to create jobs that lead to long-term prosperity through better intercity rail that connects the Midwest."

Passenger rail is the most energy-efficient means to move people over medium distances (100–600 miles). Increased funding for states to plan, design and construct these interconnected passenger rail systems would bring tangible benefits to the Midwest, not only creating short- and long-term jobs, but building a new, efficient passenger rail system across the region.

Investing taxpayer money into the railroads is just ridiculous. I would suggest the next time Speaker Murphy, President Kibbie, or Sen. Beall or Bell need to travel to D.C. they hope on the train instead of that airplane. Maybe then they will stop wasting our money on foolish projects.

Michael Steele to Lead RNC

2009-02-01T22:13:00.000-06:00

The RNC election was a wild ride to say the least. The race say the lead changes between former Chair Mike Duncan who led after the first ballot, then Michael Steele lead after the 3rd, and Katon Dawson with the lead after the 4th.

In a surprising move, conservative Ken Blackwell of Ohio backed Michael Steele after the 4th ballot, leading the way for Steele to win on the 5th ballot. What it means for Iowa’s “First in the Nation” status is unclear. We don’t know if any assurances we made by Steele or not, but we do know the Iowa delegation did not back Steele, which could come back to haunt them down the road.

In reading the comment section some are quick to think that the election of Steele means the end of the Iowa Caucuses. I don’t necessarily agree with that sentiment even though I’m worried. If Steele is a chairman who enforces the rules and doesn’t allow any shenanigans from a few larger states wishing to crash our party we will be fine.

In regards to Steele there are some things that I do like. First, he is a recognizable figure. Most people didn’t have a clue who Mike Duncan was. That’s a problem. That means he can’t really help fundraise for the national party, or even make the rounds with the cable news network. Steele can do all of those things. I also think Steele is a great communicator, I’ve seen him speak a number of times and have been impressed by him. There is no doubt that Steele also wants to make the party more inclusive. I have no problem with that as long as we don’t have to compromise our principles to achieve that goal.

As for Chairman Strawn, Steve Scheffler and Kim Lehman I don’t think we can blame them for not supporting Steele. In Scheffler and Lehman’s defense they backed the right conservative; their guy was only 8 votes away from victory. And even if they had backed Steele, there still would be questions about whether or not our First in the Nation status was in jeopardy or not.

Strawn, Scheffler, and Lehman now must reach out and heal divisions that might now exist. Inviting Steele to the state might be a good first move. To be really honest with you, if Anuzis would have been the one that put Steele over the top I’d be more worried than I currently am.

Final RNC Ballot - UPDATED Below - Steele wins

2009-01-30T10:46:00.012-06:00

168 voters (including proxies)
Simple Majority needed to win.

Mike Duncan: 52

Michael Steele: 46

Katon Dawson: 28

Saul Anuzis: 22

Ken Blackwell: 20

Picture is from Patrick Ruffini via his Twitter page, the KK budget doesn't allow me to travel.

You can watch it on CSPAN
Follow Ruffini on Twitter here.
Follow Chris Cillzza on Twitter here.

Or I'll have the results for you.

Let the horsetrading begin!

Second Ballot

Mike Duncan: 48

Michael Steele: 48

Katon Dawson: 29

Saul Anuzis: 24

Ken Blackwell: 19

Third Ballot

Michael Steele: 51

Mike Duncan: 44

Katon Dawson: 34

Saul Anuzis: 24

Ken Blackwell: 15

Steele is positioned to win this unless the Southern/Conservative Vote makes a deal with Duncan.

Round Four

Katon Dawson: 62

Michael Steele: 60

Saul Anuzis: 31

Ken Blackwell: 15

5th Ballot

Michael Steele: 79

Katon Dawson: 69

Saul Anuzis: 20

Final Ballot

Michael Steele: 91

Katon Dawson: 77

My reaction to follow.

Krazy Train

2009-01-30T09:23:00.001-06:00

Krazy, but thats how it goes…

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen called on Speaker Pat Murphy to freeze spending on all Pork Projects like the Amtrak station in his home town of Dubuque since Amtrak doesn’t even service that community.

The money for the station has been appropriated but no contracts have been signed yet meaning the state can recoup their money rather than spending it on such a foolish project. While it’s only 300K, this is exactly the type of stuff we need to be cutting. Props to Rep. Paulsen.

Murph’s going off the rails with his crazy train…

Ahhh its Friday, and in honor of Chet Culver and Pat Murphy’s stupid pork project and terrible budgeting practices, I dedicate this to all Iowa Democrats.

I think I just channeled my inner QCI. Speaking on them its QCI’s one year anniversary. Congrats, man. But you have a little ways to go to get your stat counter to look like mine… I’m nearing 45k this month. Sorry, just feel the need to throw down once in a while.

Big Change for Iowa Democrats

While Iowa Democrats will have a new Chairman after Mike Kiernan is selected by their state central committee, they are also going to be getting a new executive director as Mike Milligan has announced he will not be back. This is a significant development. Milligan has run the day to day operation at IDP since December 2004.

More likely than not, Milligan is just moving on. He has his own consulting business, and owns Shane’s Rib Shack in Clive. Some good Q is you ask me. It will be interesting to see who fills his shoes, but one thing is for sure, Iowa Democrats are witnessing a brain drain. Many of their best and brightest are in DC with the Obama administration, and with people like Milligan moving on could be a sign that the good times are over for Iowa Democrats.

Big Killer is a Fighter

I have not heard much regarding 1st District SCC member Karl “Big Killer” Gilbertson. Karl is up in the Mayo Clinic fighting a rare form of cancer. I inquired about his condition with a few mutual friends and was pleased to see that Karl and his family are using a blog type system at Mayo to communicate with people.

While I’d never wish that anyone would have to endure something like this, it’s amazing to see the strength and faithfulness of people shine through during these tough times. It is inspirational. Karl’s posted some pics on his blog, they are classic Karl. I’m not sure they want them posted here or not. They one thing they do need is our prayers, so send one or a thousand up for the big guy and his family.

Super Bowl Picks

I have to admit it; it’s going to be impossible for me not to be rooting for Kurt Warner on Sunday. While this Super Bowl match-up isn’t what I expected when the playoff started, I think it will be a great game. With the weather supposed to be partly sunny and 70 degrees, I’m taking the Cardinals.

I respect the Steelers defense, but I’m just not sold on their offense. I think Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm have a lot of motivation in showing the Steelers they deserved a look when replacing Bill Cowher.

I’m running for Governor

2009-01-29T09:06:00.002-06:00

After careful consideration, I’ve decided form an exploratory committee to run for Governor of the great state of Iowa. I know, I know you thought I was running for U.S. Attorney against fellow blogger Gordon Fischer, but we all know you don’t campaign for that position, unless you’re Gordo. Anyway, I think that I’ve done a good job over the past 3 years letting you know my views and thoughts on things so I figured why the hell not. I’ll now take some questions.

O. Kay Henderson: Krusty, you’re anonymous how would that work?

Krusty: Good question, good question. You see Kay part of the problem we have in Iowa politics is that our leaders lack the intestinal fortitude to stand up to people and say no. Just look at Culver’s budget proposal, it’s across the board cuts rather than targeted cuts; it’s simply our governor being lazy. But to answer your question being anonymous allows me to do what’s right for Iowa, not what keeps me popular with my friends.

David Yepsen: Krusty, since this is an exploratory committee will you have to come back and formally announce your campaign, and when will that be?

Krusty: DAMN IT DAVID, I’M NOT JOKING AROUND HERE. DO YOU THINK I ENJOY HAVING PRETEND PRESS CONFERENCES?

David Yepsen: Krusty, settle down, I didn’t mean to incite such anger. I don’t want you to have a heart attack or something. What would you do about the budget crisis here in Iowa?

Krusty: What’s that?

David Yepsen: The budget crisis…

Krusty: Budget crisis? Don’t talk to me about a Budget Crisis, you kidding me, a Budget Crisis?

David Yepsen: You don’t think we have a budget crisis?

Krusty: No, if Mike Gronstal says there isn’t a deficit then I doubt there one actually exists. I mean he’s really the guy in charge.

Sorry, I don’t know where that came from…

Anyway, it has been an interesting week to say the least.

Vander Plaats announces his campaign on Monday.

Northey indicates he might be interested later that day.

Then we learn that Vaudt considering it on Tuesday.

Rants takes a shot at Vander Plaats on Wednesday, we know he’s interested.

Then Bruce Rastetter decides yesterday would be a good day to walk around the capitol. Swings by the press lounge and takes a shot at BVP.

Now today we learn that a well know GOP opinion makers and syndicated blogger is throwing his hat into the ring.

This is just crazy! But what does it mean?

First, it means the GOP knows that Culver is vulnerable. Second, there are a lot of people interested in a running, but don’t want to allow Vander Plaats to run free being the first candidate out of the gate. Third, Vander Plaats is going to come under more scrutiny this time around.

Reading the early tea leaves I think the GOP primary is going to be more about issues than personality. This would be a welcomed development. Iowa has serious issues, which require serious solutions. I think Iowa Republicans are going to look past the sound bites and slogans and look for the candidate who can inspire them by what they want to do, not by what they say and how they say it.

Hold on tight, this one is going to be fun!

Fact of the day: Even with the 6.5% cut--Culver's 2010 budget is the largest in the state's history!

Yepsen worries that financial crisis could lead to Culver having a stroke

2009-01-28T14:22:00.001-06:00

In this morning’s press conference Governor Chet Culver bristled at David Yepsen’s question about whether or not he would have to come back and make more cuts.

Again, another must read from Yepsen.

Giving Credit where Credit is due…

2009-01-28T11:10:00.001-06:00

One of the most difficult things for me to do is communicate with my readers are some things that go on in the State Legislature. Sure I can shed some light here and there and fill in a back story on occasion, but I’m not there, I’m not in the arena as they say.

One of the guys in the arena is Rep. Christopher Rants. Now to some he’s a villain, others see him as a victim. But what is true, is that Rants is intelligent and very knowledgeable about these issues. Fortunately, he also uses his blog and twitter to communicate.

On his website blog he is starting a series of posts that offer areas where our state can save money. This is much needed information and people should go check it out.

His use of Twitter today is phenomenal. If you want to know what’s in Culver’s budget proposal go read it here. This is what he’s got thus far.

Krusty Kudos to Rep. Rants.

Culver says all $180M of his cuts fr this year carry forward to FY10, LSA & reality disagree, only $80M carry forward - can't cut a bldg 2x

Culver currently planning no changes to current FY09 budget - thinks we'll get by - daily receipts make that unlikely in my opinion

Culver does $0 fund state employee salary bill - so no matter whats negotiated, depts have $0 to pay for it. Bold move for him.

Culver budget $100M short of closing the $779M gap - he uses plug numbers, underfunds medicaid, etc... Leaves a hole for Legislature to fill

Property Tax increase #2 - Culver cuts K-12 allowable growth but not spending authority - allows districts to levy $50M more in prop tax

Property Tax Increase #1 - Culver under funds the homestead prop tax credit by $41M from last year

Culver also proposed killing the Gambler Treatment program - which is funded with gaming revenue - so I think we'll see more shifts

Culver proposes caping the research and activities tax credit - not good for business development

Culver proposes scooping the last $27M in the Senior LIving Trust - and then killing the Trust Fund program - gone forever

Culver budget exempts the AG's Victims Compensation fund of $4M from his reduction - a good move. I hope the Legis Ds follow through on it.

Culver sites $20M in savings from "improving efficiencies"... He should read my blog post on the state vehicle fleet

Culver is calls for $200M in reserve funds in FY2010, AND $56 M in reserve funds for this year as well, FY 09

Culver's budget document just hit the desks in the statehouse

Give me a break...

2009-01-28T08:56:00.003-06:00

Waiting on Culver’s budget proposal, I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

In the mean time here are a couple things that make me scratch my head.

Iowa Independent – Independent my A$$

So we all know that the Iowa Independent is written by liberal bloggers, and we also know that Tim Gill, the gay activists from Colorado funds them along with some other liberal foundations and unions, but their story on the lottery scam the other day was beyond obnoxious.

The Iowa Independent thinks that the Iowa Lottery fiasco was generated by the Des Moines Register, saying that no legislator has been in support of the idea. Look this issue didn’t just appear out of mid air, Culver has had meetings with Dan Kehl from the Riverside Casino about it. Culver talked about it at the editorial board meeting with the Register.

“Culver said Friday during a meeting with The Des Moines Register's editors and reporters that he is exploring a possible lease of the Iowa Lottery and other state assets because the worst recession since the Depression of the 1930s could force major cuts in state programs such as education and health care. He dismissed claims by critics that campaign donations could influence a decision on a lottery lease.”

This is not some concocted issue the Des Moines Register and a few bloggers have created. And mark my word, this issue isn’t dead. Culver and the Democrats need to find massive amounts of money to be able to comply with Iowa’s balanced budget law.

Teachers Want More Money

Teachers in the Des Moines district want a 6.5% pay increase, better benefits, and more time for planning. Seriously, have they not been reading the news lately?

I think everybody would like 6.5% raise. I think everyone would like some free time every day to get their crap in order. And I think that most of us no teachers would love to have 2 months off over the summer to recharge our batteries or take on a summer job.

No I know I’m going to be torn to shreds in the comment section that teachers are important in preparing the next generation. Look I agree, but when the state budget is in disarray don’t take your case to us in the public, be pissed at Chet Culver and Mike Gronstal for not doing a good job in managing our state budget. Let me tell you all something. If our budget wasn’t in such disarray, you would get your 6.5% because I don’t know of any politician in this state that has the stones to oppose any increase in education funding.

Go tell your sob stories to Chet and Mike the next time your union delivers them that big PAC contribution.

Give me a break.

Culver suggests 6.5% Budget Cuts

2009-01-27T08:27:00.001-06:00

Last night Governor Chet Culver announced that his budget proposal will cut most state programs by 6.5%. The governor said that he wanted to spare public safety, workforce development, human services, disaster relief, the teacher quality program, and early childhood education from a full 6.5% cut.

Why?

Just because a program is popular or worthy of funding doesn’t mean there is no wasteful spending occurring in it. For example, I’ve been in support of immediate flood relief; you know a package that funds the rebuilding and recovery process; not sneaks things like forced unionization language in the bill. The Culver and the Democrats have been good at making promises, but they have also been good at dragging their feet. People are still waiting. But the reason flood relief shouldn’t be spared from the budget cuts is simple, Culver is funding bureaucracy with it, we need to stop that and get the money directly to the people.

The same is true in any government program; there is waste to be found everywhere, so let’s do the hard work of finding it and getting rid of it. I think Culver’s approach is clumsy and might not generate good results. Using his approach we are probably going to cut some muscle and leave a bunch of fat.

There is no better time for Legislative Republicans to stand up and lead. Everyone but Mike Gronstal knows that we have a $600 to 750 million dollar hole in the FY2010 budget, so instead of sitting back and seeing what Culver proposes to cut, we need to tell the people of Iowa what we would do. This is the time when elections will be won or lost, not on some fall day in 2010. We must prove to the Iowa voters that they should trust us to lead. We do so by showing them.

Last night Steve Deace had a great segment on his radio show that everyone should listen to. Like him or not, his plead for Republicans to lead was right on. We can’t just be against something, we can’t be too cute by half, and expect the voters to reward us with their trust. We must always be advancing our conservative, free market principles. That means when Culver wants to sell the lottery, we don’t propose selling it to someone else, that’s not the issue. The issue is fixing Iowa’s budget, so instead of floating the idea of selling it to IPERS (which could come back to bite us in the ass) we should have been finding areas in the budget to cut.

It’s not easy or glamorous work, but it’s necessary if you want the voters to trust you. I hope you give it a listen.

Progress Report

2009-01-26T23:00:00.000-06:00

There are some weeks when I wonder if it’s even worth blogging anymore. I think all bloggers go through periods like this, and it’s bound to occur to those of us who post original content on at least 260 days a year. We do so because it’s our passion, and don’t want to let our readers down.

Fortunately, there are days and weeks when it you get rewarded for your dedication. There is no better feeling than getting a shot out from another blogger, or hearing your blog being discussed on the radio. This past Sunday I was shocked when WHO’s Insiders opened up with a call out to Krusty Konservative. So while I hit rewind on the TIVO, I also emailed Dave Price a quick thank you. Check it out here.

Tonight when in put on my fuzzy slippers and cuddled up to the old laptop and pulled up the old stat counter, the traffic was through the roof. Now sure, I’m proud of what I write. I try to uphold a Jim Rome standard of posting, have a take and don’t suck. But nothing is better than seeing your stat counter put up a big number. For that, I owe Ben Smith over at the Politico a thank you.

So for all you blogger out there, and those who are thinking about adding your voice to the conversation, I urge you to do it. It’s not going to make you wealthy, and it takes a lot of time, but you can make a difference. Jump on in, the water in fine.

BVP: Retrofit or Restoration

2009-01-26T12:43:00.000-06:00

Politics can be a tough business, but it is especially true for anyone who has ever put their name on the ballot. Thick skin and resolve are important attributes for any candidate, but especially true for a candidate making their 2nd or third attempt at running office.

The question that looms large for them is simple, what’s different this time around the block. For some candidates it can easily answered, but many candidates struggle and can never find a way to answer such a simple question.

Iowa’s political grave yard is littered with the carcasses of failed two and three time candidates. In fact, I can only think of one time in which a 2nd time candidate was successful, Jim Leach in 1976. In 1974 Leach lost to Ed Mezvinsky 56% to 46% but bounced back in 76 and won 52% to 58%. Leach’s victory didn’t set a precedent, and if victory probably has more to do with the unique campaign he waged, than just being a better campaigner. People will also tell you that his marriage to Deba between campaigns had major impact as well.

Here at how some 2 time candidates have done in Iowa.

In 1980 Chuck Grassley defeated Stephen Rapp 50.8% to 49.2%
In the 1982 rematch Grassley won 56% to 44%

In 1980 T. Cooper Evans defeated Lynn Cutler 51% to 48 %
In the 1982 rematch Evens won 55% to 45%

In 1986 Neal Smith defeated Robert Lockard 61% to 39%
In the 1988 rematch Smith won Lockard 68% to 32%

In 1992 Jim Nussle defeated Dave Nagle 50% to 49%
In the 1994 rematch Nussle won 56% to 43%

In 1994 Jim Ross Lightfoot defeated Elaine Baxter 49% to 47%
In the 1996 rematch Lightfoot won 58% to 41%

In 2002 Leonard Boswell defeated Stan Thompson 53% to 45%
In the 2004 rematch Boswell won 55% to 45%

In 2004 King defeated Joyce Schulte 63% to 37%
In the 2006 rematch and 59-37 in 06

Now I understand that Vander Plaats has never been the gubernatorial nominee, but I think the list above clearly shows how difficult it is to be a two or three time candidate. After listening to Vander Plaats this morning on WHO radio, he didn’t say anything new or different from his previous campaigns, which leads me to think he is simply a restoration candidate.

A restoration candidate is one that restores themselves to their original condition after years of wear and tear. The Bob Vander Plaats on the radio sounded just like the one from 2002, just a little better known. For Vander Plaats to be successful he needs to retrofit his campaign with new ideas and new proposals. A lot is different from early 2001 when he first started running for office, and I’m still waiting to see what changes he has made.

I think Vander Plaats has a steep hill to climb. While being the first candidate in the race has its advantages, it can also be difficult to keep a level of excitement for your campaign. I think the jury will be out on Vander Plaats till other candidates emerge. There is no doubt that he can run a campaign against a sitting congressman or someone with a record, but how would he fare against someone who isn’t an elected official? Time will tell.

Vander Plaats Announces 2010 Campaign

2009-01-25T21:58:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow morning (Monday) Bob Vander Plaats will announce his 2010 campaign for Governor on the Jan Michelson Show on WHO Radio. Vander Plaats will also appear on the Steve Deace show in the afternoon. I have also been told that two special guests will be joining Bob for his announcement. I think it’s safe to say that Mike Huckabee will be one of those guests. His 2010 campaign marks his third attempt for the office.

In 2002, Vander Plaats finished 3rd (31.6%) in a close primary race behind Doug Gross (35.8%) and Steve Sukup (32.3%). While that race was extremely tight with Gross just beating the 35% threshold, it’s also important to know that Gross assembled his campaign in January of 2002, while Vander Plaats and Sukup dueled it out between themselves for all of 2001.

In 2006 Vander Plaats was the main primary challenger to then Congressman Jim Nussle. Nussle commanded most of the spotlight in 2005 by assembling a strong campaign team and showing off his fundraising abilities. The May merger of the Vander Plaats and Nussle campaigns came as a surprise to many. While Vander Plaats campaign was running on fumes, Nussle apparently didn’t want to spend his war chest on defeating Vander Plaats so a deal was struck.

From my viewpoint the Nussle-Vander Plaats tickets never took off, it just simmered. The awkward merger never made sense to many, and it also didn’t help that 2006 turned out to be a horrible year from Republicans. Nussle-Vander Plaats lost to Culver 53.7% to 44%.

Many thought that have been the last of Vander Plaats, but signing on with Mike Huckabee’s Presidential Campaign was thought to be going nowhere proved to be a good move for Vander Plaats. As Huckabee surged in Iowa, Vander Plaats was by his side, which is why it’s a safe to sat you will probably hear from Huckabee tomorrow.

State Rep. Jodi Tymeson will serve as the Campaign Chair
Former State Auditor Dick Johnson will serve as the Campaign Co-Chair

Vander Plaats has a goal to raise $250k in the next 5 weeks.

Below is the intro to his the email his campaign has sent out:

Welcome to Team VP 2010!

Today is an exciting day! Perhaps you tuned in to the Jan Mickelson show on WHO Radio this morning, saw the news on television, read it in the newspaper, or heard it from a friend. Allow me to tell you personally. Today, we are excited to announce the formation of Team Vander Plaats 2010, a Candidate’s Committee for a run for governor. Iowa needs leadership and we need your help to take back Terrace Hill.

Chet: Good at drinking, bad at providing leadership

2009-01-23T01:10:00.002-06:00

My staff placed me in a padded cell yesterday after they figured out that I wasn’t about to cool down over Culver’s plan to see the lottery. During my confinement, a tasty story about Governor Culver appeared on the Politico.

“The governor of Iowa, Chet Culver, was spotted double-fisting at the Recording Industry Association of America party at Ibiza.”

Iowa’s budget situation would drive anyone to drink. I’m starting to wonder if Culver has a problem with the bottle. I posted a few weeks ago that Culver was our drinking with Bill Knapp on a Thursday night. At that time he had made it known that he wasn’t able to submit his budget proposal to the legislature. Now we see Culver double fisting it in DC, providing further embarrassment to our state, and we are still without his budget proposal. That sentiment is catching on.

Speaking of fisting…

Ummmm, yeah I’m not going to add anything to that.

How long will Joe last?

Look at President Obama’s body language. I think Joe’s on borrowed time. We all know he just can’t help himself. He’s not going to change. I put the over/under on Biden’s time serving as VP at
2 years.

Caroline Out: Tax Issues, Nanny Issues, and Marriage Issues to blame

And don’t forget she’s as dumb as a box of rocks. If her name wasn’t Kennedy she would have never, ever been considered. Read the NY Post Story here.

Just say NO!

I was happy to see our Republican leaders speak out against Culver’s lottery scam. Props to them. That said I don’t like the idea of selling the lottery to IPERS, just leave it alone. It provides the state with $60 million every year. It’s bad business to sell it for pennies on the dollar for some quick one time cash advance. We have to stop doing this.

Limited Time Offer

2009-01-22T07:56:00.002-06:00

Do you have too much credit card debt? Are those bill collectors calling you at all hours of the night? Krusty Konservative can help.

If you are an Iowan making $40,000 you are pre qualified to receive $274,000.00 right now! Think of what you could do with that money. All you have to do is route your annual salary ($40k a year) to us at Krusty Konservative and we will send you a check for $274,000.00!

Wait, that’s not all!

In addition to your payment of $274,000.00 we will also pay you $8,800.00 a year!

That’s a total value of $705,200.00!!!

Call now to order.

Laugh all you want, but this is exactly what Chet Culver and Mike Gronstal are proposing. So while that poor Iowan making $40k a year thinks, that $274k looks tempting, he’s actually agreeing to give up $40k a year for $14,391.84 a year.

That my friends is getting fleeced. You know what’s funny, these are the same people who were outraged by the car title and payday loan places, yet they are the ones knocking down the door to sign one of these stupid deals.

Hypocrites

Just to warn you, I might be going into a posting craze we have not seen since TouchPlay…

WHERE IS MY COFFEE!

Yepsen: Iowa Lottery Scam is a Done Deal

2009-01-22T07:08:00.000-06:00

Grab the pitchforks!

David Yepsen writes in his column today (a Krusty Must Read BTW) that the Lottery Scam is a done deal, and its just a matter of time before the deal is done. He points out that Iowa would be giving up 2.8 billion dollars in future revenues to receive $200 million now, and 22% of the adjusted gross profits, the same rate Iowa casinos pay.

This is outrageous.

Yepsen correctly states the following:

Take $200 million from a lottery sale, add some creative accounting by not obeying the state budgetary laws, and stir in several hundred million from Uncle Sam's coming bailout to the states and - Voila! - Iowa's budget shortfall evaporates. Culver and his pals can safely get re-elected in 2010.

This isn’t about doing what’s right for Iowa, its about slapping a band-aide on a problem in order to make sure the big lug and his lug nuts get reelected in 2010.

Getting to know Chet

2009-01-22T06:54:00.000-06:00

How does the old saying go? You can learn a lot about someone from looking at their checkbook register. I think that’s true, you can see what organizations, churches, and charities they support, and what else they spend their money on. Well the same is true in politics; you can learn an awful lot from looking at campaign disclosure reports.

So let’s see if there is anything else we can learn about Governor Culver from his most recent report.

Total Dollars raised: $1,027,517.49
Total Number of Donors: 409
Number of Donors of a $1000 or more: 133
Of that 133 how many are PACs and Special Interest Groups: 50
The 133 $1000 plus donors made up $743,050.00 of the million dollars he raised.
$457,500.00 of the $743,050.00 came from just 16 donors.

So what does it mean? Culver is in the pocket of special interest groups and a few large donors who want something. While I always find the above interesting, there’s always something else. Like Tom Gill, they guy who targeted Danny Carroll in 2006. He’s not getting his friends to send in small checks anymore, he’s just giving IDP, Gronstal, McCarthy, Murphy and Culver big contributions. But the most telling sign in the disclosure is how he paid his bills, especially his campaign credit cards.

Simply put, Chet Culver has poor money management skills. It took him till February to pay his to VISA bills from December 2007. He repeatedly is paying finance charges on his credit cards meaning he was either late in paying them, or isn’t paying them off every month, which is stupid when you have over a million bucks in the bank. What a waste of money.

While on the surface these are all minor things, but this is the guy who wants to put $700 million on our state credit cards. He say’s we will pay it back with gambling revenues, which seems to be the answer to everything these days. I think I remember him wanting to pay teachers with gambling revenue during the 2006 campaign. Anyway, my point is Chet Culver is the LAST person we should trust with our state finances. If you need proof, just check out his online discourser, don’t bet on Chet.

Odds and Ends

2009-01-21T14:53:00.001-06:00

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.

You are either with us or against us.

2009-01-21T01:43:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Governor Chet Culver’s 2008 campaign disclosure finally showed up on the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. There are a couple different aspects that require discussion. I’m going to start with the easy stuff first.

Culver raised $1,037,791.00 last year.
Culver spent $546,292.49 in an off year.

Since his election he has raised $2,519,789.11, and spent $1,027,517.49 or 40% of what he has raised. That’s a big number if you ask me. One would have thought that Culver would be building a war chest; instead he is paying out-of-state consultants at a hefty clip and leaving himself wide open for a serious challenger in 2010.

In looking at his expenditures besides the out-of-state consultants one thing strikes me as out of place. Culver is renting a condo for $800 bucks a month and the Park Place Condos in Des Moines. The explanation next to the expenditure states that it’s for consultant housing. Now I know plenty of consultants, but I don’t know any who require their client to provide them for a place to live. So what’s the deal Governor? What’s going on at your campaign condo?

I have to say I wasn’t surprised at the lack of journalism going on at the Register. They reported what the Governor had raised, but didn’t look deep at all. Sure they tell their readers that AFSCME and a number of PACs and other unions gave to his campaign, but what about Dan Kehl? You know the guy they wrote about last week when they did a story about Kehl giving Culver $25,000 in 2007 and wondered if his generosity had anything to do with his willingness to lease the Iowa Lottery. Yet they skip the fact that he is one of a few people who gave Culver $25,000 in 2008. More interesting is the fact that Culver received the $25,000 for Kehl this past November after the election. Around the same time that Kehl met with Culver to float his Iowa Lottery bailout plan.

It also seems that Polk County Democrat Chairman, Tom Henderson is very interested in chairing IDP; he gave Culver $2000 in December. Looks like Chet has his Pay to Play thing down. Way to represent the Midwest!

So while all of that is disturbing in its own right, what should really bother my fellow Republicans is the fact that major Republican donors are some of Chet’s biggest donors.

A month or so ago we had a healthy discussion about how the Republican Party needs to be more inclusive. In saying that I made clear that both moderates and social conservatives must coexists if we want to win elections. Another part of that argumentwhich I didn’t discuss is the simple fact that you are either with us or against us.

For example, when Joy Corning contributes to Planned Parenthood, she is funding the enemy. Planned Parenthood is simply a branch of the Democrat Party. They don’t sit on the sidelines, so when you contribute to their cause, you are funding their ability to attack our Republican candidates. So it is inconsistent to fund Planned Parenthood and be support our Republican candidates. It would be like giving bullets to the British but fight for the Continental Army only to be killed by one of the bullets you provided the Brits.

Our stalwart GOP donors are funding the enemy. The largest contribution Governor Culver received from any individual was $25,000. 44% of what Culver raised came from just 16 people or organizations.

Gary Kirke gave Culver $25,000

Gary Sandquist gave Culver $25,000

Dan Kelh gave Culver $25,000

Denny Albaugh gave Culver $25,000

To put this in perspective, these guys (REPUBLICANS!) are giving as much as Bill Knapp or Jerry Crawford gave to Culver. THEY ARE GIVING CULVER THE SAME AMOUNT AS AFSCME DOES. Heck, Bonnie Campbell only gave Chet $12,500! And it’s not just the four Republicans mentioned above that gave to Culver; those are just the big fish. These are all guys who all supported Jim Nussle, and heck Kirke was Nussle's finance chair.

Now we all know that Kehl has a motive, he wants to buy the Lottery. Kirke wants a casino license in Ottumwa, Sandquist wants an increase in the gas tax, and maybe Albaugh wants illegals to help keep his private golf course in tip top shape, but this is a major problem for the GOP.

We have a hard enough task in uniting our Party let alone seeing our major donors supply the ammunition for our enemy to shoot us with. Not only is this disheartening, it’s stupid. On one hand these donors give to individual Republican candidates in lesser amounts and some also give to other GOP organizations, yet they turn around and give equal amounts or more to Culver.

Now I’m not saying that they have to support every GOP candidate who walks through the door, they can sit out a particular campaign if they choose to. Heck, they could give Culver a token contribution of $1000 and I'd be fine with it, but to be on his list largest donors is unacceptable. Whose side are you on? What do you believe in?

Pick a side, be for something.

One Word: Ambiguous

2009-01-20T12:36:00.001-06:00

My reaction to President Obama’s inaugural address is split. On one hand it had plenty of lofty rhetoric which is to be expected in a speech of this stature. On the other hand, George W. Bush could have given the same exact speech. As a Republican looking for clues on how President will govern, I didn’t find much substance.

In a political sense, being ambiguous can help one successfully navigate through rough times, but in the day an age in which we live, where people what to know information sooner rather than later, being ambiguous can been seen as being secretive or alternative motives. Maybe Obama wanted it this way, or maybe this is how he will lead.

We all have our own opinions on George W. Bush’s presidency, but there is one thing that I did like, you always knew where he stood. So while people of many different stripes celebrate Obama’s election, we now enter into a time of uncertainty in terms of what our leaders are thinking. For those like me looking for a glimpse of what direction Obama will take our country I think we will have to wait and see.

If I had to guess, Obama is going to be better known for how he reaches out to the Right, than what he does for the left. I think Obama will continue the Bush foreign policy, notice no calls for troop withdraw in his address. So one could say that where Bush reached out to the Left on education, immigration, and prescription drug coverage, Obama will work with the right on issues concerning foreign policy, and economic policy. Just a guess.

Rest in Peace

2009-01-19T08:45:00.002-06:00

Another State Legislator from Cedar Rapids has passed away. This morning Rosemary Thompson who served in the Iowa House from 1995-2000 passed away. Thompson filled the House seat vacated by Mary Lundby when she ran for the State Senate.

A time of Hope

2009-01-19T08:42:00.001-06:00

I think it is very appropriate that today we honor the life and accomplishments or Martin Luther King, Jr., and tomorrow they eyes of the world will watch our country inaugurate its first African-American president, Barack Obama.

One might expect an old krusty konservative hack like me to sit back and mock what President Obama has accomplished, but I’ll be doing none of that. Instead, my eyes will be fixed on the inaugural festivities as I take in this historic moment in our history. Barack Obama is no longer the Democrat nominee; he is now our American President. I sincerely hope that as our President, Obama can unite us as a people.

There is one thing that has gotten under my skin concerning the lead up festivities to Obama’s inauguration. Yesterday Bono, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, Usher, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce headlined an inaugural concert. In addition to the musical talent on display Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks gave speeches at the event. There is no doubt that events like these inspire hope and goodwill during this time of transition, but I wonder if John McCain would have seen such a celebration if he had been elected.

Now I know that the Hollywood types were early supporters of Obama, and I understand their excitement, and I have no problem in celebrating our peaceful transition of power. I just wish we would celebrate like this for every new president, not just the ones who Hollywood supports.

Rest in Peace

2009-01-17T12:10:00.002-06:00

Former State Legislator Mary Lundby passed away this morning. You can read the Register’s story here. While some grimaced at some of her political beliefs, her style of politics is something we could use more of here in Iowa and across the country. There was never any doubt where she stood.

Krusty for US Attorney

2009-01-16T13:34:00.001-06:00

I know you just spit up your hot chocolate when you read that, but I’m not joking. If I assert myself, go to law school, and pass the bar before the next Republican is sworn in as President, it could be a definite possibility, especially if I got onboard with the winning candidate early on. You know the game, its pay to play baby!

You have probably heard by now that Gordon Fischer is campaigning to be the next US Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. If you are a long time reader of this blog, you will remember that we spent the early days debunking Gordon’s attempts to tie our honorable Republicans like Tom Latham and Steve King to any national scandal possible. You also might remember Gordon’s countless posts about alleged push polls too. But my favorite time was when he took his Alaskan vacation which provided the perfect opportunity to expose him as the political hack he really is.

Now my friend Gordon, who I do like by the way, wants to be US Attorney. Do we really want a political operative, a guy who has run the day to day operations of the Iowa Democrat Party, who obviously has a political bias, to serve in such a highly regarded capacity? I mean he spent considerable time tussling with an anonymous blogger. I would think a US Attorney candidate would be above such things, and I also think it is a bit tacky to actively campaign for the job anyway.

The other thing that concerns me is that we already have an Iowa Attorney General who only focuses on filing lawsuits against businesses. Would Gordon use his cool looking badge to come after a particular anonymous blogger who disagrees with him, and focus on driving business out of the state like his buddy Tom Miller has?

Ab better question to ponder might be, how would Gordon have dealt with the Marshalltown immigration raid or the CIETC scandal?

Look there is one thing I know, I would make a terrible US attorney because I’m a political hack. If Gordon has dreamed of being named US Attorney since birth, than he made some bad career choices in my opinion. Instead of running a political party and spewing political venom on his blog, he should have settled on being active in the Democrat Party in a different, less public way or ran for office.

Don’t make me go all Gopal on you Gordon…

Iowa Dems want to sell the Lottery

2009-01-16T08:13:00.000-06:00

An Iowa casino operator wants to “lease” the Iowa Lottery for the next 49 years and it seems very evident that Speaker Murphy, Senator Gronstal, and Governor Culver are sold on the deal. The offer from Dan Kehl would pay more than $200 million up front and then allow the state to tax the adjusted gross revenues at 22%.

Last year the lottery provided the state with 57.2 million in profits, under the new deal the state would only would have received $22.4 million. If you ask me it seems like an awful lot to give up per year for a one-time payment of $200 or so million.

Don’t fool yourself; this is only about the one-time payment and nothing else. Our Democrat leaders are looking for a quick fix so they can continue to get reelected. I find it fully that on one hand Senator Gronstal claims there is no $600 million dollar deficit, yet he wants to sell the lottery for quick cash.

More later today.

I’m Twitterpated

2009-01-15T08:49:00.003-06:00

So yeah, you can now follow me on Twitter. I guess you can thank new RPI Chairman Matt Strawn for that. You see Strawn sent a “tweet” and I wanted to read it but ended up with my own Twitter page, then somehow people began following so I felt pressure to tweet them specially. So if you really want to follow the boring life of an anonymous blogger, you can do so here.

It’s COLD

Since I have cold induced writers block, I’m going to do what Governor Culver did in his Condition of the State address and supplement my weak content with some videos.

Lack of SUVs in DC

Apparently the Governor of Missouri is driving to the DC for the Obama Inauguration because there is a lack of SUVs for use during that time period. I wonder if Iowa taxpayers are paying a trooper to drive Culver’s SUV to DC since it has a specially modified seat that allows the Governor to be more comfortable due to his bulkiness.

Congratulations, you get a week’s vacation! Unpaid… RAT FARTS!

Gannett Corp announced that it’s going to require “most” employees to take an unpaid week of vacation to help the company out. I guess I already thought that was happening, until recently David Yepsen would write one column a month. Speaking of the “Dean”, David will know whether or not he gets the gig as the director of The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University on February 12th. Good luck David, because it would be tough watching you get fired or having to do some actually reporting if you stay at the Register.

Bush says Goodbye tonight, I say Good riddance.

I’m just sick of hearing him talk about “Helicopter Drivers” and the other stupid things that come out of his mouth. I mean wasn’t this guy a pilot in the Air Nation Guard? I mean k’mon. I would be nicer about things like this if he didn’t oversee the massive growth of government on his watch, and his Chicken Little approach to the bailout.

Don’t worry about the details, its easy.

2009-01-14T01:14:00.002-06:00

After listening to Governor Culver’s Condition of the State speech I’ve had a very simple question stuck in my head. How many families out there are sitting around the kitchen table at night talking about building a huge addition onto the house as a way to combat our bad economy?

We all know that isn’t happening. Everywhere you look Iowa families are cutting back on their spending, yet our Governor refuses to do just that. Yesterday Governor Culver proposed borrowing $700 million bucks that would be used for infrastructure projects. The press lauded him for the “bold” proposal, and his Democrat colleagues were quick to endorse the idea as well, meaning it’s probably going to happen.

Is going in debt really our best and only solution? If it’s really that easy why haven’t we done it in the past, or why haven’t we done it during more prosperous times? Simple, because it’s risky, and is probably something any good financial advisor would warn families not to do.

IPERS, which already had solvency issues before the financial crisis, has seen a third of its assets disappear. Shouldn’t the state make sure it can fund its commitment to it workers before it takes on a massive amount of debt?

Iowa’s K-12 education system needs to know very soon how much money the state will allocate to them for their 2009-2010 fiscal budget. The legislature has already earmarked 4% allowable growth, but many districts are concerned that the legislature could cut that funding to 2 or 3% allowable growth. The uncertainty that is being caused by the lack of any budget projections from the Governor is wreaking havoc on some school districts. I don’t think Culver said hardly anything about education in his speech yesterday. Should we be borrowing $700 million when our schools are in the dark about what level of funding they will be receiving? I don’t think so.

I know what the Democrats and the liberal media are telling us, that all of this will be paid with gambling revenues. Heck is you read the paper, gambling revenues is the states version of the Easy Button. Polk County has a $1.6 million shortfall, yet they want to retrofit Vets auditorium for more convention space, how do they propose to pay for it? Gambling Revenues! I believe that some gambling revenue already goes into the general fund, yet under Culver’s new proposal requires that $56 million in gambling revenues a year would be allocated to pay for his $700 million dollar infrastructure plan.

When do run out of gambling revenue to use? In FY 2008 the state of Iowa had $322,441,000.00 in appropriations and outlays from gambling revenues. Is Culver suggesting that an additional $56 million a year is going to be needed to pay for his plan, or will does he plan to eliminate using gambling revenues to fund Vision Iowa, School Infrastructure, and Capitol Complex renovations for the next 20 years?

Simply put Culver’s speech yesterday created more questions than answers. It’s troubling that the media his fellow Democrats are ready to sign the loan papers without asking any questions. What is likely to happen is another expansion of the gambling industry in Iowa, the reintroduction of TouchPlay, and a sweetheart deal leasing of the State Lottery to a casino operator. Leaving our future generations in debt and over-reliant on the gambling industry.

The Condition of our State: DIRE

2009-01-13T12:20:00.002-06:00

We all know the hardships facing our state, but what really puts Iowa in a dismal position is the fact that we our governor is incredibly weak and obviously in over his head.

Iowa is facing some of the most serious challenges in its history, yet our Governor ‘s address to the legislature and the people of Iowa lasted about 48 minutes, of which significant portions were spent on thanking or praising other “leaders” of our state, consoling victims of recent natural disasters, thanking his family and those who serve our country, especially those who have sacrificed their lives, and watching a 10 minute video about the floods. Out of those 48 minutes Culver probably spoke maybe 10 minutes about what he thinks should be done.

Even those 10 minutes were weak. Culver asked for $42 million from the Rainy Day Fund, and if you read between the lines that money is needed to keep the lights on his newly created Rebuild Iowa office, meaning a significant portion of that money is going to fund it, not to help people get back on their feet.

If you were looking for details about Iowa’s economic situation, like the 2010 state budget for instance, you didn’t get anything. Culver wants to borrow $700,000,000 and create another government entity called Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Authority, meaning a portion of this is used to grow government, not build bridges and roads.

His solution to balance the budget was also short on specifics. Culver’s plan is to nix the $37 million for the new state office building, even though I’m pretty sure that could be deemed as needed infrastructure with the sad state of the Wallace building and then take $10 million from another fund. That doesn’t get us anywhere close to the projected $600 million dollar deficit he has to deal with.

I don’t know about you but I’m pissed off. These are serious times and the Governor failed to outline anything significant in his speech. I think it is very telling that Culver acknowledged his own weakness as our Governor by ceding the most important speech of his administration to a movie producer. Obviously our Governor is unable to inspire the members or the legislature and the people of Iowa in a great time of need.

The 10 minute video Culver had produced was an embarrassment. I was waiting for Sally Struthers to emerge on the screen and ask me to sponsor a poor flood victim for less than what it cost for a cup of coffee. It was no different than that commercial Sarah McLachlan does for the ASPCA.

Culver’s speech reminded me of high school speech class, you know the kid who’s lazy and thinks he can get by with bringing in Dad’s metals from Vietnam or by showing off his new four-wheeler. The people of Iowa deserved more than what we got this morning.

Programming Note

2009-01-13T09:27:00.001-06:00

Governor Culver will give his Condition of the State speech this morning. I will be posting after his speech. I can’t wait till he opens with the false premise that the condition of our state is strong, we all know the troubles that we are in. I’m also sure we will be reminded that we are in a much better position than most other states, while that might make some feel better it doesn’t mean anything.

During Culver’s campaign and early months in office he liked to say that those who are given much, much is expected. In his 2008 condition of the state speech he said” The Condition of our state is strong! First of all, our fiscal house is in order. The budget you passed and the one I signed was fiscally responsible.” All Iowans, except maybe Senator Gronstal, knows that isn’t the case.

The fact is Chet Culver and the Democrats have not lived up to the standard they set for themselves.

Iowa would be better off if they didn’t increase spending by a BILLION dollars last session.

Iowans would be better off if the huge tax and fee increases wouldn’t have happened, because now in a financial downturn our state government has no other option than to knock on our doors and ask for more of our hard earned money, money we need to live.

More this afternoon.

Now back to our Governor to hear him say something like, “While frolicking in fields near Effigy Mounds, I never once imagined that my path in life would take me through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then to Grand Avenue to be the Governor of the great state of Iowa….

More on Saturday’s RPI Elections

2009-01-12T08:20:00.000-06:00

It seems that some people are a little miffed that a “Dark Horse” candidate emerged in the race for Co-Chair and also won. Most people like an unobstructed view of the road ahead of them, but the world of politics is the last place one could look for such a situation. The election of Jim Kurtenbach caught many off guard, outside of a few anonymous dissenters it will be difficult to find people who are upset with his new position at RPI.

For those who think the election of Kurtenbach was some sort of back room deal, they need to realize that this is how the past chair elections went down. And while there was much more transparency in the chairman’s race, the battle for Co-Chair gathered little attention until Paul Pate openly sought the position late last week. In addition to Kurtenbach and Part, Leon Mosley also received votes, but like I mentioned on this site the SCC members made it clear to Leon that he would not find the votes needed for reelection.

Speaking of Leon, one of the odd things that came out of the meeting was his claim that the letter I posted regarding Gopal Krishna’s removal from the party in 2000 was forged. I find the entire thing odd, I didn’t doctor the letter, and it was also supported by the Yepsen articles I posted and the minutes from the SCC meeting in which Gopal’s actions were discussed.

As a Strawn Administration takes shape there are a couple of things that I think are critical for him to accomplish early on. The first is reaching out to those who supported Danny Carroll. Danny had some passionate people on his side and we can’t afford to lose them. Party elections are like primaries, sure its winner take all, but no campaign is ever successful when the winning camp fails to reach out to those who they defeated. Reaching out is easy, its building trust that always seems to be the difficult part.

Strawn has a tough road a head of him with Republican’s being outnumbered in Iowa by over 100,000 voters and the ugly fact that Strawn will have to raise significant amounts of money in order to do anything about it. One advantage he does have is a Co-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer who have the Party’s best interest at heart. Those three also have the ability to raise funds for the party if he used in that capacity, which they should.

But all of that takes a back seat to his first task, getting Iowa Republicans to unite as a team.

Blog Updates

As some of you noticed I’ve updated my sidebar with some more appropriate subject matter as we enter into the new legislative session. If you have a blog that doesn’t suck I’m more than happy to add you to my list of Krusty Komrades. There is one catch; it needs to be active and about politics.

Strawn, Kurtenbach, Randall and Schickel– Oh My!!!

2009-01-10T11:39:00.003-06:00

Matt Strawn was elected Chairman, I’m told he received 10 votes to Carroll’s 7.

Jim Kurtenbach was elected Co-Chairman – This is a great development.

Matt Randall was elected to be the RPI Treasurer – Again, awesome.

Bill Schickel was elected to serve as the committees Secretary – Outstanding.

There are a lot of people who have been very public with their opinion that the State Central Committee is dominated by Social Conservatives, and because of that all they care about is forwarding that type a agenda and not doing what’s best for the Party. It is time for those people to eat some crow.

There should be no doubt that this SCC committee wasn’t going to have their arms twisted by no one, and instead would simply do what they think is best for the Party. They did just that, and now we as bloggers and activists must do our party to be part of the solution as well.

Also clear for the vote today is that this SCC will not stand for any shenanigans or infighting. Gopal Krishna and Lisa Smith were stripped of their positions as Treasurer and Secretary. Gopal was just elected Treasurer last spring and Smith has been the Secretary for over a decade.

Those who needed to heed a message got one loud a clear. Let’s talk about a new positive direction for the party, it’s a great day for Iowa Republicans.

More on Monday.

RPI Chair Election Open Thread

2009-01-10T08:49:00.003-06:00

What say you? The Register thinks it will be Strawn.

Governor Culver works overtime on his beer belly…

2009-01-09T11:43:00.002-06:00

his condition of the state speech, and state budget will just have to wait….

With the economic outlook of our state in shambles, there is no doubt that Governor Culver’s condition of the state speech is probably going to be a downer. Nonetheless, this is probably the most important speech he will give. So I was a little surprised to see his preparation involved drinking beer with Bill Knapp at 11 p.m. at a bar last night.

It’s almost over…

2009-01-09T10:24:00.001-06:00

In a just a few short hours members of the State Central Committee will arrive in Des Moines for this weekends meeting. While the vote will take place tomorrow morning, the last minute arm twisting takes place tonight in the nooks and dark hallways of the RPI headquarters. If I’m reading the tea leaves correctly, I think Strawn’s their man, but there is a possibility that someone could change their mind. If Strawn is successful in his bid the Co-Chair race is going to be interesting.

Despite being told that he doesn’t have the votes to be re-elected, Leon Mosley is seeking reelection according to SCC member David Chung. I trust my source that told me there is a solid block of 12 SCC members who will not vote for Mosley. However, I think there will still be a few people who vote for Mosley. Assuming that Carroll would run for Co-Chair, that means we could see a three way Co-Chair race between Mosley, Pate, and Carroll.

Now there has also been mention of a Dark Horse Co-Chair candidate from the comment section. I don’t give that rumor much credibility, but if there is a Dark Horse Co-Chair candidate its probably Ted Sporer. Sure Ted’s been AWOL for months, heck I’m starting to really wonder what the heck happened to him, but the one thing that the SCC has agreed on is Sporer’s action plan. While I think it’s highly unlikely, it wouldn’t surprise me either.

As for the Treasurer and Secretary Positions, I’m all for Matt Randall being elected Treasurer, you shouldn’t even has to ask about that…

Moving Forward

My friends over in Flyover Country has a great post the other day about what the new chair should do moving forward. I’d also like to chime in with some things that might help our party unite behind our new chairman.

The new chair and ED should organize a summit of all past RPI Chairs. Look nobody is going to have all the answers, and I’m one that believes you can learn a lot from those who have gone before you. As a party we need to do a better job of utilizing the knowledge and creativity of these people. Additionally, these people need to still contribute to the party even though they are no serve in an official role. When was the last time you saw Steve Grubbs or Mike Mahaffey at an RPI event? Our new Chair needs to reach out and bring these people back in the fold.

I also think the party needs to engage and empower more activists. There is no reason that RPI can’t create study committees on specific issues or major events like the Straw Poll and Caucuses. It seems like we always must reinvent the wheel every two, four, or eight years. We need to retain our institutional knowledge, not watch it walk out the door. Talk about the brain drain.

State of the Race

2009-01-08T08:47:00.001-06:00

Strawn and Carroll in a tight race. I think at the end of the day we are going to end up with both of these men serving in official roles in our Party. Pate’s entrance into the Co-Chair race is an interesting move as he is the only announced candidate for the position. SCC members have assumed that the Co-Chair would materialize out of the Chair candidates. So where’s Leon? Word on the street is that the committee has made it known that he doesn’t have the votes to get re-elected. While Leon remains popular with many activists, his endorsement and campaigning for Steve Rathje in the last election cycle rubbed some people the wrong way.

No matter what happens on Saturday, I will stick to my pledge in supporting our new chair. My friends in Flyover Country have some great ideas for the next chairman. I have some ideas of my own which I will share with you tomorrow. Give their post a read, its first class.

The Dark Horse: Linda Harrington?

I agree with those who find humor in the latest entry to the chair race. Not really what I had in mind for my dark horse. While that candidate never emerged, the recent development of Gopal not running and Paul Pate offering his services as Co-Chair not Chair proves the volatility of races like these.

Out of Nowhere QCI endorses Strawn

Grant’s endorsement is well done, and a good read. I guess one could say instead of an endorsement, I went the other direction with Gopal…

The Other Chair Election – RNC Chair

2009-01-07T10:35:00.001-06:00

This past Monday American’s for Tax Reform hosted a debate held between the six candidates who want to head the RNC. Grover Norquist moderated the event, and he did an outstanding job. I had a trusted Krusty Korrespondent there who provided me with some insight.

The similarities between the debate going on here in Iowa for the RPI chair race, and the debate centering around the RNC race are very similar. In fact some of the questions at the RNC debate were how many “tweets” each has, and how many facebook friends they have. Again, just like here in Iowa, I don’t think these are the things that win elections, and this level of discourse sounds like something you might hear around the lunch table at your local high school. We need to be talking about mechanics not gadgets if you ask me.

Anyway here is my Krusty Korrespondent’s take on the candidates.

Mike Duncan – Current Chair seems to be the national version of Ray Hoffmann. Duncan is now pledging to be an agent of change which one would think is a tough sell for him to make. In his favor however is the fact that the 168 members of the RNC he is seen as one of them could be reelected.

Michael Steele – GoPAC Chairman and former Rudy supporter is hands down the most eloquent speaker of the bunch. However from an Iowa perspective he said some discouraging things about our state’s status during the 2008 campaign which should make us nervous.

Saul Anuzis – The Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party is always on the move and breaks the mold of what many consider to be your average Republican. People like his no-holds-barred attitude, but Michigan is a blue state and also broke the RNC rules which caused havoc in the 2008 nomination calendar. As chair of the RNC would he be enforce the rules against his own state if they attempted to move up again?

Ken Blackwell – Former Secretary of State in Ohio and gubernatorial candidate. Blackwell is also articulate and we all know how important Ohio is to the general election. While Blackwell has been supported by numerous conservative groups, he’s performance wasn’t that great on Monday.

Katon Dawson – Chair of the South Carolina GOP, has turned around his state in a short period of time. Dawson represents the southern conservative, and with South Carolina’s status of 1st in the South firmly in place he probably wouldn’t be hostile towards Iowa. Dawson wasn’t memorable on Monday.

Chip Saltsman – Former Chair of the Tenn GOP, Bill Frists main man, and Huckabee’s campaign manager. Anyone who stereotypes Chip by only looking at his work with Huckabee would be doing themselves a disservice. Chip is young, bright, and has some major accomplishments under his belt, like beating Al Gore in his own state in 2000. Chip did a great job on Monday, but it might not matter. It seems as if the RNC members are going to discount him as a candidate which is unfortunate.

So who will our Committeeman and Committeewoman support? All signs point to Dawson followed closely by Blackwell who is followed up by Saltsman. Both did attend the debate on Monday, which could explain why they were not at the RPI forum on Saturday. I’m glad they were there.

Who would I vote for? Blackwell. Those Ohio guys always seem to have our back and Blackwell is a conservative who shouldn’t bother the moderates in our party.

Vilsack to Commerce?

Seems like it’s an option being explored. We all know that Tom doesn’t have any farm experience, but did come from an Ag state so I was supportive of him in that position. I think Commerce is a real stretch for him.

Dear Gopal

2009-01-07T09:33:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, Gopal Krishna let it be known that he is not running to be Chair of the Republican Party of Iowa, and never has been a candidate. He also took a little time to call his colleges on the State Central Committee immature and that the reason he would not run is because he doesn’t want to be their babysitter.

If you ask me, it looks like Gopal is the one who needs to grow up, get his facts straight.

First, while I question some of the actions taken by the SCC, they are all good people who want to do what’s best for the party. Unfortunately, we have lacked a strong chairman for the better part of a decade meaning the committee has been adrift. I’m actually one of the few who think this committee is a lot better than the previous one.

Additionally, it is no secret that the Iowa Christian Alliance is responsible for helping get most of these members elected to the SCC. So if Gopal is upset with maturity level of many of the members, he can thank himself for putting them in their current position.

Secondly, Gopal calls out members who don’t attend meetings. Yet it was Gopal who didn’t show up at State Central Committee meeting when he was Co-Chair 19 years ago, and he also didn’t attend the 1999 Straw Poll, yet he has the audacity to call other people out for their attendance record.

Gopal might be able to fool the media that he was never a candidate, but will never fool those who understand how these campaigns for chair are run. There is no doubt in my mind that Gopal was a candidate. However, this chair election has been very different that the previous ones. Usually a perspective candidate will reach out to the SCC members, but if they can’t garner the 9 votes needed they don’t pull the trigger. While it might not have been Gopal reaching out to other SCC members, there was an effort on his behalf. What happened is that Gopal is unable to get the 9 votes he needed, so of course he’s not running.

Finally, Gopal painted himself as a victim of lies and hate spread by a few blogs.

I guess he might be talking about me. While I understand that he probably didn’t like seeing all the stuff from the 2000 election cycle back in circulation for public consumption, I’m not the one who wants to reinvent history, Gopal is.

I did not make up the fact that the State Central Committee sent out a letter to county leaders about Gopal’s behavior which lead to his dismissal from the Party which was signed by Leon Mosley and Steve Scheffler and a majority of the SCC members at the time.

I did not magically produce a couple of Yepsen articles that deal with Gopal’s actions on the SCC in 2000 that are eerily similar to Yepsen’s columns this year about the dysfunction within RPI.

I did not make up the fact that he skipped out on the Straw Poll and wasn’t present at the SCC meeting which lead to his forced resignation.

Gopal, I have not lied about your past; I have simply made sure people knew about it. Sorry you if you cannot accept the truth. You might be glad to know that I held back at times, because I wanted to keep the debate about your “candidacy” for chairman about the facts.

Other Chair Business – Let the maneuvering begin!

I’ve heard through the grapevine that 2 potential chair candidates might pull from the race. One is Matt Randall, which doesn’t surprise me. Matt’s a good guy who is smart enough to know whether or not he’s got the votes or not. His vote is extremely valuable as the race between Strawn and Carroll is tight. The other rumor out there is that Paul Pate will not run for chairman, but for the Co-Chair position.

Presumptive 2012 Iowa Congressional Districts

2009-01-06T09:07:00.001-06:00

With the 2010 campaigns currently stuck in neutral, I decided to make a different type of prediction this year. While I certainly have my eye on a few gubernatorial possibilities like Mark Pearson and Matt Whitaker, neither have made any moves that would indicate that a statewide campaign is looming. Currently the only candidate out there is perennial candidate Bob Vander Plaats. The candidate who I was most likely to name this year if I went that direction was Chuck Grassley. Sure he’s already an icon in this state, but I get the sense that we will see a more engaged candidate Grassley this cycle which is very much needed.

Instead of predicting a breakout candidate, I’ve decided to make an early guess in how Iowa’s congressional districts will look after the 2011 redistricting where Iowa will lose one of its seats in Congress. I wanted to take this approach for a couple of reasons. One, I find it fun. Two, as a party we need to always have an eye to the future, and three, redistricting should effect the rebuilding effort that RPI will go through this cycle.

Now, for you hardcore government employee geeks, I did this while watching football on a piece of paper while enjoying my favorite beverage. I also realize that the new 4th CD has a larger population than that of the other 3 districts, but remember, I’m trying to predict what the map will look like, so I intentionally made the new 4th more populous now, because counties like Polk, Dallas, Linn, and Scott will continue to grow while the rest of the state is stagnate.

Here are some of the things I found interesting:

I intended to keep Linn and Johnson County in the same district but doing so proved to be difficult. Keeping the two counties together became difficult. Then I remembered that the first redistricting plan in 2001 spit the two, and the new 2nd CD is very similar to the 2nd CD in the first attempt for the 2001 redistricting.

There has been a lot of discussion about the possibility of the new 3rd district would stretch south to pick up Wapello county, giving former 2nd congressional candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks a new district to run in. That scenario is almost impossible. The 2nd CD did see significant change however, but if you are looking for a Republican candidate my search would probably start in Scott County.

I think this redistricting plan proves most difficult for Loebsack. Running in a much larger more diverse district could get him in a lot of trouble. On the other hand, King, Latham, and Braley all would do well in their districts.

I will be writing more about this in the coming weeks. I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

First District (Salmon)
19 Counties
Population: 743,729
24.9% of state pop

Second District (Yellow)
22 Counties
Population: 742,687
24.9% of state pop

Third District (Blue)
12 Counties
Population: 741,372
24.8% of state pop

Fourth District (Purple)
46 Counties
Population: 756,017
25.3% of state pop

(Click on map to enlarge it)

Without a Vision the Party will Perish

2009-01-05T09:28:00.001-06:00

With the Republican Party of Iowa electing a new chairman this coming weekend, I’ve decided to postpone my prediction post. Don’t worry; it can wait a day or two. I think the selection of the leader of our party is far more important than me trying to accurately predict the future, which you all know I’m good at anyway.

I spent some time this weekend reading the reaction and commentary of the candidate forum on various blogs and newspapers. Again, kudos to the six people who participated, we need more dedicated people like them who care deeply about the future of our Party. As I’ve reminded my readers time and time again, these races are complicated and can change on a whim.

If Gopal Krishna’s absence from the forum means he is not running for chair, then there are three candidates in play, Danny Carroll, Matt Randall, and Matt Strawn. Now I know there are some who mock me for still mentioning Gopal as a serious candidate. I do so not because I’m naïve, I do so because unlike Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney who refused to kill off John McCain when he was down, I want to see my prey mounted in my trophy room, not stealing a victory.

For the most part Saturday’s forum was a healthy exercise. However I’m disappointed in the lack of vision the candidates offered. It seemed to me the debate was centered on the party platform, internal communication between the state party and county organizations/activists, and the use of new technologies. Those issues have been debated continuously in blogs, but I was disappointed that the issues debated ended there because even if executed perfectly, I doubt they make a major impact on outcome of the general election.

Missing was any substantive discussion of fundraising. Sure every candidate says it’s important and claim that they can raise significant amounts of cash, but to effectively raise money you have to give the donor a reason to give. That’s what was lacking. It’s not good enough to just say we need your money to win elections. What are we raising money for? To pay staff, the electric bill, fund an early voter program. For the new chairman to be effective in fundraising, they must be able to articulate the purpose for the party. I can’t answer that for any of the candidates right now. If forced to tell a donor what their contribution is go toward I’d say internal party communication, YouTube videos, a glossy cover on the party platform, and staff salaries. I doubt many donors will be excited about that.

It’s also important to realize that in the last election cycle the RNC gave 1.7 million to the party. Sure that money was for the McCain effort, but in 2010 Iowa Republican’s will not get a dime from the national party. So how are we going to fill that void? We will be on our own to build a statewide infrastructure to help our candidates.

Our next chairman needs to focus on cutting the Democrat’s voter registration advantage, building a voter database that is comparable or better than the Democrats, and determining what the party can provide our Republican candidates at all levels to help them be successful. While this debate is one that rightfully includes the activists of our party, the focus of the discussion needs to be about voter, more specifically how register and turn out more Republican voters.

Some scoff at the idea that the SCC can still look outside of the six candidates who participated in Saturday’s forum for our chairman, I think it is their responsibility to find the best person for the job, not give it to the person who wants it the most. Many people were not happy with our 2008 US Senate candidates, or some of the candidates who ran for Congress because we limited ourselves to those who were willing to run, choosing not to go out and encourage or ask the best and brightest people in our party to run.

The best way to unite the party is to make sure our next chairman is the absolute best person possible for the job.

Good read: Steve Deace has a good write up on the chairman forum.

No Go for Gopal?

2009-01-03T19:05:00.001-06:00

I was unable to attend the RPI Chair forum held in Des Moines today. From all reports it seems that the forum was very well attended and seen a positive thing for the party to organize. The photo above is from the Des Moines Register.

Probably the most interesting development was the fact that Gopal Krishna was a no show. To some that might indicate he’s not running. Many think that it will be difficult for him to find the necessary votes. I on the other hand think it is probably more a display of arrogance. Why go to a public forum when there are only 17 SCC members who vote, and most if not all of them have had the opportunity to grill these candidates one on one.

All I know is if Krishna is a the Chair a week from today there are going to be A LOT of upset activists who know more about his checkered past with RPI than his plans to re-build it.

Krusty Kudos to the six candidates who participated in today’s events. The comment section is open since I’m sure there was more than one New Years Resolution to be a better citizen in the blogosphere.

New Year Resolutions

2008-12-31T00:50:00.000-06:00

Blago Rocks

Governor Blagojevich (Pay-Rod) is better than a reality show. His move yesterday to fill Obama’s Senate Seat was awesome. No I don’t think there is a chance in hell that Roland Burris will be the next Senator from Illinois, but you have to admire Pay-Rod’s audacity.

What I find amusing is the fact that Harry Reid is the one who really messed this up. It was Reid who doesn’t want a special election which would let Republican’s run a candidate. His stance cause gridlock in Illinois legislature which could have been working on getting a special election rather than a lengthy impeachment proceeding. Now they are all screwed. But I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Go Hawks!

Alright Hawkeyes, make us proud. Is it just me or is it true that every year the Hawks play on New Years day Kirk Ferentz is rumored to be headed to the NFL?

New Year Resolutions

I will refuse to bow to outside pressure to give Gopal Krishna a pass on his previous stint with the Republican Party of Iowa. I believe that people can change, but I want to see proof.

I will be supportive of whoever the SCC elects to lead the Republican Party of Iowa. Except if it’s Gopal Krishna. Sorry, I have standards.

I will give all Republican candidates for governor a fair shake, but if they have run in the past they must communicate what is different this time around.

I will attempt to blog for the entire year. This blog was created in Feb 2006, I have to blog for a complete calendar year. Kinda sad.

I will announce Krusty’s Breakout Candidate in January 2010, not in 2009.

But I will have a kick ass prediction on the first Monday of the New Year.

GOP Chair Race

2008-12-30T10:18:00.001-06:00

I see that SCC member David Chung thinks I’m off my rocker when it comes to the SCC chair election. He refutes the possibility of a dark horse candidate, and thinks that I’ve been unfair to Gopal Krishna which has lead to all the negative comments on my blog.

Maybe it’s because I don’t really respond well to being called out, or it could be the massive headache I’m dealing with today, but I’m in a pissy mood.

Lets see, where should I start.

Gopal Krishna

Many folks have called me out for the comments I made about Krishna’s ability to communicate. I regret making those comments not because I don’t stand by what I said, but because it has distracted from the reason why he should not elected to lead our Party.

This is what I don’t like about Krishna. He has been involved with the Party before, yet created division and distrust within its ranks. Heck Krishna was the co-chair of the Party during the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, yet he didn’t even attend. There isn’t a bigger event for the Republican Party than its Straw Poll, yet he was absent. Why does it seem that some people only participate when they are calling the shots? That’s not leadership folks; that’s an opportunist.

We are also to believe that Krishna is well connected and will be able to boost RPI’s fundraising ability. If that’s the case why didn’t he help raise funds for the Party in 2008? Why does he or any candidate have to be in charge before they begin to help?

While I’m still waiting for Krishna or members of the SCC to explain what has happened between the time that Krishna was removed as co-chair in 2000 that he is not the ideal person to lead our Party in the 2010 cycle, a do-or-die election cycle for Iowa Republicans? What’s more troubling, I have yet to see any plan from Krishna, it seems as if we are to trust him, but his previous history with RPI doesn’t instill any such trust.

Handicapping the Race

David Chung seems to be looking at the activity of the candidates. In that sense, I agree with his assessment. However he states that he hasn’t polled his fellow SCC members, and its only those 17 votes that count. This is as inside baseball as you can get. David might be out of the loop because the powers that be don’t want to see their conversations on his blog. Currently I think the race will boil down to Krishna vs. Strawn. However, while David thinks that no Dark Horse exists or will even emerge, I think there is an outside chance.

I wish the SCC would be more active in going out and recruiting someone rather than waiting for someone to run. This election should be about winning statewide in 2010 and hanging the way RPI does business.

Candidate Forum is Back On

It will be this Saturday at 10 a.m.

Chair and Co-Chair Candidate Forum Canceled

2008-12-29T08:58:00.002-06:00

I know many in the Iowa Blogosphere were disappointed that the RPI Chair and Co-Chair forum was cancelled. I think we all thought it was going to be a turning point in the race; its cancelation only benefited one candidate, the Dark Horse.

I think the candidate forum was a good idea, but the SCC came up with the idea a little late in the game. A better idea might be to invite those interested in leading the party to the SCC meeting before the election. I also think they would be wise to give these candidates more than 2 minutes to state their case to the SCC and visiting activist. That said, it might be a good thing that the forum was canceled so that the dark horse candidate still is able to emerge.

As many of you have probably figured out by now, I’m not overly supportive of any of the current candidates. They are all fine people, and I’m glad that they are involved with the Party, but with the current financial crisis nationally and in here Iowa, and with 2010 being a do or die election cycle for Iowa Republicans, its imperative that we get the right person for the job.

I know many of the people who post comments on this blog in support or in opposition to a particular candidate for personal reasons and I understand why people do that, but we need to put personal friendships and loyalties beside and focus on one thing, who gives us the best chance at winning.

As you can tell in the comment section, none of the current candidates seem to universally respected, it seems they all have their fair share if detractors. There is no way we can win in November 2010 if we are a divided party. We need a chair who the SCC and our county leaders respect.

We also need a chair who has the ability to raise massive amounts of money for our 2010 election efforts. Currently there are only a few candidates who have raised anything significant money from Iowa donors and none of the current candidate have raised anywhere near the amount of money the party will need to raise if we are hoping for a major turnaround which should include an early voting program. I hate to say that fundraising ability is one of the most important attributes for a chair, but without it, we can’t make the changes needed.

I think a Dark Horse exists, the question is can we entice them to do it? This is where Grassley, Latham, King, Vaudt, and Northey could be helpful in convincing a Dark Horse to run. While I respect the SCC’s right to elect the next Chair, it’s the five people mentioned above who will be impacted by the next chair.

Get ready for City and County Income Tax

The tax proposal from the League of Cities should scare the daylights out of you. We are already taxed to the max. Our home assessments are already out of whack so that local government can generated their needed income without “raising” taxes. Chet Culver and the Democrats have raised taxes and fees, and will have to do it again to balance the books, and a gas tax increase still looms. And now the cities and counties want to tax your income.

I just have one question, when will we audit state government and get rid of government programs that are not needed or are duplicated by other state agencies? Sure, Governor Culver ordered a 1.5% across the board cut, but why can’t we make it 10%? I know it would hurt, but why should state government feel less pain in the pocket book than the citizens of our state?

Stop the Nonsense

Again the comment section is out of hand. This time there is some BS about the Huckabee campaign spreading anti-catholic messages. I got this message from Eric Woolson this morning:

“Trainor did not leave the campaign because of any supposed anti-Catholic message.

And Chip Saltsman and I have had our differences but he did not “spread any anti-Catholic messages.” And I would not have tolerated that stuff. Do you want to know how I know all that? Chip is a Roman Catholic. I am a Roman Catholic. The governor’s body man, Drake Jarman, is a Roman Catholic. Kirsten Fedewa, the governor’s communications person is Washington D.C., is a devout Roman Catholic. Karen Johnson, who was on the Governor’s inner circle, is a Roman Catholic.

I was Trainor’s boss. He did not leave because of any anti-Catholic messaging. He left because he had a tremendous opportunity on the campaign of a close family friend.

Please put an end to this nonsense. You can post this e-mail verbatim, if you like. But I tell you from my heart, I would have left the campaign had there been any sort of anti-Catholic activity. I owe that to my faith and my party.”

As for those who think I should patrol the comment section and are upset with me. Newsflash, I actually have a life unlike many who post BS comments. Grow up.

'Twas the Night Before Session

2008-12-23T23:00:00.001-06:00

Santa Culver has been making the rounds delivering the following email to folks. Just in case you have not seen it yet, here you go.

'Twas the night before session, when all through the House
Not a member was stirring, no one there to grouse.

The portraits were hung in the rotunda with care,
In hope that new money soon would be there;

The lobbyists were nestled all snug on their benches
While visions of budget cuts sent their stomach in wrenches,

And Murphy in his speaker's perch, and I in the gallery,
Had just settled down, to again raise his salary.

When in the Capitol basement, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter.

Down the spiral staircase I flew like a flash,
Tore open the door to see Governor Culver, without any cash.

A frown on the face and a furrowed brow,
The Governor is thinking, "What to do now?"

On top of this, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
The REC with a new bad forecast near.

With a little old accountant, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment which route the governor would pick.

As the numbers were dim, and shortfalls abound
The Governor says, "We must raise taxes, all around!"

"Now, Murphy! Now, McCarthy! Now Gronstal and Kibbie!
On Paulsen! On Upmeyer! On, Kettering and McKinley!

To the Senate and House! Inside the chamber wall!
Despite what I've said, we should raise taxes on all!"

The Governor demands it, the legislators sigh,
They meet with dark forecasts, fearing the end is nigh.

So up to the chamber they flew,
Armed with new tax bills, wondering what to do.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard in the lobby,
"They're spending money as if it's their hobby!"

As I grabbed my wallet and was turning around,
Up from the basement the Governor came with a bound.

He was dressed to the nines, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished from lobbyists taking root.

A bundle of new bills he carried on his back,
And he looked like a beggar, opening his sack.

His eyes – how they sparkled, with new taxes born,
"How to keep up with spending?" he shouted, forlorn.

His droll little mouth quivered as the votes drew near,
In his eye, while it twinkled, he mounted a tear.

With fierce determination, he gritted his teeth,
Knowing higher taxes lied beneath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, but often a grump,
Despite his actions while on the stump.

I watched with wonder, as the votes drew nigh,
Seeing all these new taxes made me want to cry.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Spending more money, then turned with a jerk,

And laying a finger aside of his budget,
Taking great care not to smudge it.

And giving a nod, down the staircase he descended,
Admitting there was no money – and no way to spend it.

He slumped to his office, the legislators gave a whistle,
Noting the Register had gave him a "Thistle."

But I heard him exclaim, ere he hid, out of sight,
"I'll raise taxes on all, to get my budget right!"

Tuesdays with Krusty

2008-12-23T08:52:00.001-06:00

Yesterday’s comment section was disgusting. It’s good to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates for RPI chair, it’s another thing to launch into personal attacks and kindergarten antics. Some of you need to grow up. I really question if some people really want a strong Republican Party that wins elections, it seems that a few only want their guy to win and if he doesn’t screw it. We have to get beyond that people.

Pizza and Politics

Strawn continues on his barnstorming tour of the state. One of my trusted correspondents reported that 20-25 people showed up at his Cedar Rapids event yesterday, SCC member David Chung was there so maybe he will have more on the stop at his blog. Strawn’s efforts are to be commended, and the fact that a good number of people turned out to talk with him shows us that there are many Republicans ready to get to work. Too bad some on this blog think it’s more constructive to rip our party apart.

Everyone has a plan, except the guy with the most votes.

I think almost all the candidates running for RPI chair have put forward a plan or general idea which allows us a glimpse of how these candidates would lead our party. The one guy without a plan is Gopal Krishna. Oh I guess we are to believe that Sporer will be his Co-Chair but Sporer is AWOL. Additionally, the Co-Chair is elected by a separate vote so there is no guarantee he would even be elected. More troubling is that the SCC could elect a guy without knowing what he plans to do in the position.

I’m told this is consistent with his previous actions on the SCC. He never talks about why he would be a good leader for the Party, instead he focuses on why others are bad. I’m also still waiting for people like Leon Mosley and Steve Scheffler to explain what has changed in the last 8 years that has you convinced that Gopal is the right man to lead the Party. Eight years ago you both signed a letter to county leadership banishing him, what’s the deal?

Culver organizes” A Season of Hope” event today in Cedar Rapids

The press release says. “The holiday program will recognize the outpouring of support and assistance the Cedar Rapids community has received since the floods, as well as the continuing challenges the community has faced while trying to rebuild.”

This is nothing more than Chet Culver wanting a little pat on the back for all he’s done for the people of Cedar Rapids. The only problem is he didn’t do much. He refused to call a special session because it would have exposed Iowa’s budget crisis before the elections, all he did was scream at the federal government when many of the holdups were created by local inaction. I think some of the flood victims need a little more than a cup of coffee, a cookie and a Chet Culver for Governor Rally; they need help.

Waiting on the Dark Horse

2008-12-22T09:24:00.001-06:00

On Saturday the Des Moines Register did a story about Chairman’s race. It’s just another story that paints the Republican Party of Iowa in a poor light if you ask me. The article states that we are looking for “stability.” Again, I couldn’t disagree more. We need a new approach, a new vision, and better results.

With Christmas just a few days away, and a public chair forum the following weekend, the race for chairman is deadlocked and little will change until 2009 rolls around. If I was a SCC member, the mere fact that nobody is able to get close to the required nine votes for a victory would make look outside of the current list candidates, rather than compromise my vote just so someone can win.

Let’s look at what votes are locked up (for now).

Gopal Krishna is the frontrunner. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Supporting his is National Committeeman Steve Scheffler, Committeewoman Kim Lehman, Lisa Smith, and Gopal himself.

Danny Carroll is in the game with two committed votes in Eldon Pals and Wes Enos. The problem for Danny is the fact that he has very little opportunity to see his support grow as the races comes to a close. I think it’s safe to say that if Carroll can’t find more votes, it’s logical to see Pals and Enos throw their support behind Krishna. If that happens, Krishna moves within 3 votes of victory.

Matt Strawn is the wildcard. I’m confident that he has support on the committee, but I don’t think he has the solid type of support that Krishna and Carroll have. That’s not all bad for the Strawn camp as he’s probably the first choice of the majority of the 10 other SCC members who are not supporting Gopal, Carroll, or Matt Randall.

This is why I’m betting on a Dark Horse to emerge. These are serious times for the Iowa GOP, for the Party to be relevant we need a Chair who can speak about Iowa’s fiscal crisis, and use it to grow the Party. While all of the candidates seeking the chair position are honorable people (except Krishna), we are not a party looking for stability, we are a party looking to find our purpose. The SCC needs to look for the candidate who can make the party relevant again. I don’t think that candidate is in the mix yet.

Total Domination

Even with Greg Jennings yet to play, I have won the championship in Yoda’s fantasy football league. Going into the playoffs as the 2nd seed, I was confident that the number one scoring team in the league would be just fine. Krusty Kudos to Phillip Rivers, DeAngelo Williams. Antonio Gates, Matt Prater, and that wise GM who made some last minute roster moves to ensure a victory. Oh and if your curious, Yoda finished the season at 5-8 and missed the playoffs.

Culver’s first draft of his letter sent to state employees.

2008-12-18T17:57:00.003-06:00

Dear Fellow AFSCME Member,

Over the last few weeks, I have ordered all state departments to reduce spending. This will have an effect on state employees, and the services you provide Iowans. I want to take this opportunity to tell you directly why I took these actions, and what the next steps will be as we respond to our economic situation.

As you know, I’m the most incompetent Governor is our state’s history. Now that we are in the midst of an economic challenge my incompetence has become more apparent. My advisors like Bonnie Campbell want me to blame Wall Street and the Federal Government for our state’s financial mess, but that wouldn’t be truthful and while I might be a complete moron who’s in way over his head, I don’t often lie. The result from our reckless spending over the past two years has created an economic recession that is hitting Main Streets and factories and farms and families – and state government agencies – all across Iowa.

And as we speak, 43 of our states are either in or headed towards a deficit. Iowa’s Constitution does not allow our state to operate in a deficit; if it did everything would be fine except my reelection effort. This means cuts in spending are needed to balance our budget.

This process began this fall, when the state’s revenues fell short of predictions. You may have read State Auditor Dave Vaudt’s warning about our looming financial crisis, everyone kept telling me we had $600 million dollars in our reserves and an AAA bond rating. Only recently have I learned that I must cut expenses and unnecessary travel, and to freeze state hiring.

Last week marked another important step in this process. On Friday, the Revenue Estimating Conference lowered revenue projections for both fiscal years 2009 and 2010. I guess Dave Vaudt was right, but how was I supposed to know that our economy wouldn’t grow at a 10% clip?

At that time I indicated I would take action to cut spending in the current 2009 budget by an additional $60 million. I was advised then that this amount would be an appropriate, measured response to the REC action. It would allow my office, state budget planners, the respective state departments and the legislature to begin focusing on the task ahead of putting together a 2010 budget.

However, after further review of our revenue projections and budget commitments along with several meetings of my budget team, I am convinced that $60 million in additional adjustments to the current budget is not enough to prepare us for the challenges before us.

The REC indicates that revenue estimates for both 2009 and 2010 may be reduced even more in April. My Council of Economic Advisors predicts that the bottom of this economic downturn has not yet reached Iowa. And economic trends, both nationally and internationally, continue to bear bad news. Simply put, my Democrat collogues and I really put our state in a bad place. We are committed to find ways to make things look better than they really in hopes that you and the people of Iowa continue to vote Democrat, and reelect me as your governor.

Therefore, over the next few weeks, I am going to take the following steps:

First, I have met with Bonnie Campbell who is on the Board of Regents about selling the Iowa Lottery for some quick cash. I know the Board of Regents doesn’t have anything to do with the lottery, but she really the one running the show. She tells me that selling the Iowa Lottery for a quick pile of money is a lot like one of those risky reverse mortgages that they con old people whit when they need quick money to pay off their gambling debts. Bonnie assures me that if we can somehow put a bandaide on this mess I can get reelected in 2010.

Second, I will have additional secret meetings with Dan Kehl, a casino operator about buying the Iowa Lottery. See Dan has been very generous lately to House Majority Leader McCarthy and myself so we feel it’s justified to give him first crack at buying the lottery. That said, I will encourage him to let some of the other big investors in TouchPlay get in on the action as well since most of my large contributions come from gambling interests.

In addition, I will ask the legislature to approve transferring approximately $10 million to the General Fund from the Senior Living Trust Fund, our Infrastructure Fund, and our Rainy Day Fund. This is exactly why we couldn’t use our rainy day funds to help flood victims in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Columbus Junction and other communities in Iowa. Helping flood victims wouldn’t help me get reelected; I needed to make sure that money was there to fool Iowans about the true state of our budget.
These actions are in addition to $77 million in reduced spending that I announced on December 9. Together, these cuts represent nearly $180 million. This will have an impact on programs that the State provides.

As you can imagine, this is not how I thought my first term of Governor would go. I thought it was all about helping those who gave money to my 2006 campaign and staying at the Knapp Condo in Florida every weekend. It sucks by the way that I now have to “rent” a room for a $160 bucks a night.

Nonetheless, in 2006 and 2008 the Iowa voters proved that you are about as intelligent as I am, so by selling the Iowa lottery and playing some budget games we will fool the voters again in to believing our state finances are in a better position than most states.

Mike Gronstal, Pat Murphy, Kevin McCarthy and I take full responsibility for creating this economic crisis. The responsibility however calls on the taxpayer to respond to it. You can count on us to do just enough to get reelected in November of 2010, you can take that to the bank!

We have endured challenges in the past. Iowan’s are known for their short memory and laziness. Knowing that and coupled with the actions I have mentioned above, gives me optimism and confidence about what the future holds for me and my family. Our Iowa values of resilience, strength, and common-sense will sustain us through this, and any, challenge.

Finally, as this year comes to a close, I want to thank you for your service to our state. From floods and tornadoes, to the economic situation we now face, state employees have always risen to the occasion. So, even as we meet these unexpected challenges, on behalf of the First Lady, and the Lt. Governor, I want to wish you and your families a safe holiday season, and best wishes in the New Year. If you need us, we will be in Knapp’s condo in Florida, its frickin cold in Iowa and I hear the roads might be bad tonight so be safe.

Sincerely,
Chester J. Culver
Governor of Iowa

P.S. We are in this together. In that spirit I hope you can join me tonight to help raise money for my reelection. The Details are as follows:

Thursday, December 18, 2008
Governor Chet Culver
and
Lt. Governor Patty Judge
Chet Culver Committee
Please come and enjoy an evening of fine foods and friends.
5:30 p.m. -- 7:00 p.m.
Noah's Ark Ristorante (second floor)
2400 Ingersoll Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa
Patrons - $25,000
Hosts - $15,000
Guests - $5000
Please RSVP to Chris Khoury
Ph 515 288-2287 or email Chris@chetculver.com

The Fundraiser is actually going on this evening. Great timing! i wonder who's giving the $25,000? "Mr. Kehl, the Governor will see you now."

Governor, You are elected to lead in times of crisis, not play the blame game.

2008-12-18T16:06:00.003-06:00

Below is the letter Governor Culver sent to state employees. Once again, he blames George W. Bush for our state's problems, not the Democrats out-of-control spending of the past 2 years.

Dear Fellow State Employee,

Over the last few weeks, I have ordered all state departments to reduce spending. This will have an effect on state employees, and the services you provide Iowans. I want to take this opportunity to tell you directly why I took these actions, and what the next steps will be as we respond to the national economic situation.
As you know, we are in the midst of an economic challenge that is historic in its scope. While its cause comes from actions on Wall Street, supported by misguided federal policies from Washington over the past eight years, the result has been an economic recession that is hitting Main Streets and factories and farms and families – and state governments - across the nation.

And as we speak, 43 of our states are either in or headed towards a deficit. Iowa’s Constitution does not allow our state to operate in a deficit. This means cuts in spending are needed to balance our budget.

This process began this fall, when the state’s revenues fell short of predictions. As a response, I directed agencies to cut expenses and unnecessary travel, and to freeze state hiring.

But maintaining a balanced budget and staying in front of this national economic crisis requires continued and shared responsibility throughout state government, as well as in communities statewide.

Last week marked another important step in this process. On Friday, the Revenue Estimating Conference lowered revenue projections for both fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

At that time I indicated I would take action to cut spending in the current 2009 budget by an additional $60 million. I was advised then that this amount would be an appropriate, measured response to the REC action. It would allow my office, state budget planners, the respective state departments and the legislature to begin focusing on the task ahead of putting together a 2010 budget.

However, after further review of our revenue projections and budget commitments along with several meetings of my budget team, I am convinced that $60 million in additional adjustments to the current budget is not enough to prepare us for the challenges before us.

The REC indicates that revenue estimates for both 2009 and 2010 may be reduced even more in April. My Council of Economic Advisors predicts that the bottom of this economic downturn has not yet reached Iowa. And economic trends, both nationally and internationally, continue to bear bad news.

As Governor, I hear these warnings. I will protect our State’s fiscal position, and I will do so without raising taxes on Iowans.

Therefore, over the next few weeks, I am going to take the following steps:
First, I am directing the Department of Management to immediately revise its projected balance sheet for the General Fund in order to adjust for the recent REC action and make other adjustments based upon DOM’s best projections of income and expenditures. This means the State will have a projected negative ending balance on June 30, the end of our current fiscal year.

Therefore, next week I will make across-the-board reductions in General Fund expenditures to assure there will be no State budget deficit at the end of fiscal year 2009. I will sign an Executive Order to implement an across-the-board cut of 1.5% to the general fund, or $91.4 million.

I will ask for one exception to this across-the-board cut: the Correction Officers and Troopers who are on the frontlines and are essential to our public safety. I will ask the legislature to “backfill” an appropriate amount of funding to make sure essential positions are not cut.

In addition, I will ask the legislature to approve transferring approximately $10 million to the General Fund from accounts and funds in state government that have balances that exceed the amount needed for the current fiscal year.

These actions are in addition to $77 million in reduced spending that I announced on December 9. Together, these cuts represent nearly $180 million. This will have an impact on programs that the State provides.

As you can imagine, this is not what I want to do, but as Governor I believe that this is what must be done.

Nonetheless, we are in a better position than most states. We have more than $620 million in cash reserves that will help us through this situation. We have a AAA bond rating that allow us to do some things that other states cannot.

And I am confident that, in January, President-elect Obama and Congress will immediately go to work on an economic stimulus package that will make a difference to critical financial issues facing all States, such as funding for Medicaid, improving our infrastructure, creating new jobs, and rebuilding our economy.

We did not cause this economic crisis.(?!!) But the responsibility falls to us to respond to it. We have endured challenges in the past, and we have succeeded. Our long history of fiscal responsibility, coupled with the actions I have taken, gives me optimism and confidence about what the future holds for our state. Our Iowa values of resilience, strength, and common-sense will sustain us through this, and any, challenge.

Finally, as this year comes to a close, I want to thank you for your service to our state. From floods and tornadoes, to the economic situation we now face, state employees have always risen to the occasion. So, even as we meet these unexpected challenges, on behalf of the First Lady, and the Lt. Governor, I want to wish you and your families a safe holiday season, and best wishes in the New Year.

Sincerely,

Chester J. Culver
Governor of Iowa

Kondolences

2008-12-18T12:41:00.001-06:00

Former State Representative Barbara Finch has died in an auto accident.

Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. KCCI has the story.

Iowa’s Financial Bailout: Sell the Lottery

2008-12-18T09:25:00.000-06:00

Just a few months ago when the national and world economies collapsed, Iowa Governor Chet Culver, and the Democrat Leaders in the State House and State Senate assured us that Iowa’s economy was still strong and that thanks to the Democrats we have a balanced budget, $600 million dollar cash reserve, and a AAA bond rating. Here, let me translate that for you. Umm we don’t talk about the 1 Billion dollars of increased spending over the last two years, things are great, and you should thank us by voting Democrat.

Now its doom and gloom and I wonder if the average Iowan recognizes their hypocrisy?

What scares the living daylight out me is the fact that in addition to their increased spending, they have also already passed significant tax and fee increases.

They raised the cigarette tax by a dollar per pack.

They increased vehicle title fees dramatically, yet the Iowa DOT says our public road system will experience a $4 billion shortfall in funding for construction and maintenance of public roads over the next 20 years and thus they want a fuel tax increase.

With property values either stagnant or in decline, local municipalities continue to increase the valuations of our homes to generate more revenue, yet many people could not see their home for its assessed value.

Yet with all of these increased fees and taxes Governor Culver and his Democrat friends are going to come and ask for more of your hard earned money because they have to, there is no way around it.

Things are so bad Culver is considering selling the Iowa Lottery to a casino operator. Props to the guys at City View for scooping this one. We don’t know they term of the lease, but we do know that it will be leased for a one time lump sum. Its deals like this that we must oppose. This has absolutely nothing to do with doing what’s best for Iowa, this is all about making sure Chet Culver can paint a good fiscal picture, just like the Dems did in 2008, so he can get reelected.

Wake up people. Say no to Chet’s risky re-election scheme.

Can/Should the new RPI Chair serve two masters?

2008-12-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

With the Kim Lehman fiasco finally behind us, the original argument used against her and Steve Scheffler in their bids to become our representatives at the National Convention, are now in play for the race for chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa.

Gopal Krishna is on the board of the Iowa Christian Alliance
Danny Carroll is on the board of the Iowa Family Policy Center
Matt Strawn is on the board of the Iowa Right to Life

This is a tricky issue because on one hand this is a clear indication that the above candidates will not walk away from the core principles of our party. On the other hand we have seen how wearing two hats can get messy. Whoever is elected chair needs to put the Party first, if one can’t do that they shouldn’t be running.

Pate is up with a website.

Check it out here, sorry I mean here.

Follow Up on Vilsack

For all you arm chair politicos, Tom Vilsack is not going to run against Grassley now that he’s the Secretary of Agriculture. If anyone serious is going to run against Grassley they need to start today. In October Grassley had $2,655,814.95 cash on hand. It take a long time and a bunch of $2300 dollar (1155 if you want the actual number) to raise that much coin. AS SOA Vilsack will not have the time to do his new job while raising money and campaigning against Grassley. Christy is another story but I think she would get killed.

Pizza on Strawn tonight.

In Mason City, with a bad economy this could get spendy. :D

Vilsack to be Named Secretary of Ag

2008-12-16T17:39:00.002-06:00

Congrats Tom, but I thought you were in line to be our next US Senator?

While I question his Ag credentials (he’s a town boy/attorney/state senator/ governor) having the SOA from our state is a big deal.

I wonder is Poohsack will try to increase honey production in the US?

The Dark Horse

2008-12-16T09:27:00.002-06:00

While the Blogosphere is white hot with discussion about the Chairman’s race for the Republican Party of Iowa, the way I see it, no candidate is close to garnering the nine votes required to be elected. At best one of the candidates may have five votes, but getting to nine is proving to be a difficult task. There is no doubt that this is as volatile of a chair race that many of us have ever seen.

That said; this is the perfect environment for a dark horse candidate to emerge. Some had thought that Strawn was the dark horse, but I had heard rumblings about his quest for chair right after the November elections so I’m not sure that I would classify him as a dark horse.

All I know that with none of the current candidates being able to approach the nine votes needed a dark horse candidate probably has a better shot at winning than most of the current candidates with their hats in the ring. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing either.

Yesterday the Flyover Boys did a great job in describing what we should be looking for in a chair. While many have stated that the best breeding ground for leaders of the party is our grass roots county organizations, I disagree. Our county organizations have many great people associated with them and I mean no disrespect to those people, but the chair of the party needs to be the CEO. I think that is exactly what they Flyover Boys made clear in their post yesterday.

We need a chair that can raise millions of dollars.

We need a chair that will have instant respect from major donors, legislators, Vaudt, Northey, King, Latham, and Grassley.

We need a chair that understands our grassroots activists and wants to help them.

We need a chair who doesn’t want to water down what our party stands for, but wants to create bold contrasts between Republicans and Democrats, but also refuse to walk away from our conservative principles.

There are very few people in Iowa who fill that bill, but they do exist. Recent guys who have raised that kind of money are former statewide and federal candidates like Jim Nussle, Doug Gross, Mike Whalen, and Jeff Lamberti. While they all have baggage from their losing campaigns, we would be stupid not to do all we can to keep them involved with the party.

Another name that gets kick around as a potential gubernatorial candidate is Bruce Rastetter. There is a debate on whether he wants to run for Governor or be a king maker in Iowa politics. If he’s the later, than he’s a name that deserves consideration. Rastetter clearly has an interest in Republican politics and he has been a major player in a multiple cycles.

As for me, I’m a patient man. I’ll wait until the first of the year or so to see what the field looks like them because I don’t think the field is set yet.

What say you?

(Keep it clean and positive please. Some of you went over the line yesterday.)

There is more to leading the Party than being well versed in BlogSpot, Twitter, and YouTube.

2008-12-15T09:24:00.001-06:00

There is no doubt in my mind that the Republican Party in Iowa needs to do a better job in communicating its message to voters, and communicating with its county organizations and activists. Last week it seemed to me that many of my collogues in the Iowa Blogosphere went a little overboard on the importance of New Media. Yes it’s free and we should be using it, but it’s really a small piece of the puzzle.

Last week technology buzz was largely created by Matt Strawn’s chairman announcement which was made done on YouTube which was followed up with a blog and email communication. Krusty Kudos to Strawn for doing using these mediums, I think it was a very wise move on his part.

As for the technology debate, I think these conversations are more pertinent in the discussion of what type of person the party should hire to be its communications director. Should we hire someone who can write a press release for the 2 or 3 times a year where that is needed, or should we instead look for a person who can use social networking tools to communicate for the Party? I’d rather have the later. The RPI communications director should be more of a reporter, than a sit behind the desk staffer.

As for the chair election, I remain unkommitted. I want to see big ideas; I want to see someone discuss the mechanics of voter turnout. Unfortunately, nobody has released those types of plans yet, but it’s still early and I don’t have a vote in this matter so I might not be privy to such information.

My friend over at Fly Over Country nailed it today. This is a must read.

Newsflash: It’s Cold Out

-2 yikes, I’m glad the heat is working at the Krusty Konservative Corporate Offices.

Props to President Bush

For showing some athletic ability when an Iraqi journalist stood up and threw his shoes at the President. Bush took it in stride, but maybe someone might want to tell this dude what would have happened if he had done that to Saddam Hussein…

I can’t wait till Bush is gone…

I had thought that Bush could do no more damage for the Republican Party after Obama won the election. Man I was I wrong. Bush is set to give the auto industry (UAW) another $40 billion dollars. This is insane; the UAW President was out there bashing Republicans and the “Far Right” on Friday. So what does Bush do, he goes out and gives them more than Congress was going to give them. Sure the UAW will thank Bush, but continue to be the Democrat grassroots operation. Sickening.