You are either with us or against us.

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.

Giving Credit where Credit is due…

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

Prevailing Wage Fallout - IPERS Fraud

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.

Iowa’s real disaster: Governor Culver

My friends in Fly Over Country have been doing a great job keeping tabs on how Chet Culver is handing Iowa’s flood recovery. If you ask me the state hasn’t done a damn thing to help its citizens, instead Governor Chet Culver has leaned on the federal government to provide assistance.

I guess this should be expected in the post Katrina world. People, especially Democrats, like to sit back and play the blame game instead of being part of the solution. There is no doubt that FEMA is everybody’s favorite scapegoat, but we need to remember that every state and local government has a responsibility to provide for its citizens, not just the federal government.

Now I’ll admit that I haven’t followed the Iowa Floods as closely as I probably should have, but what exactly has Governor Culver done? Let’s see, he has created a new government agency, hired some lobbyists, and has made demands of the federal government. A moron could do that, wait….

Anyway, last week Culver said that he would not call special session of the legislature. The reason behind his decision is because the state is absolutely broke, and can’t afford to use their rainy day funds, because they need them to balance the books for the next fiscal year.

There is a lot of chatter out there that Culver is reminding people of Kathleen Blanco, the FORMER Governor of Louisiana. Like Blanco, Culver has done absolutely nothing to help the people affected. He’s good at pointing fingers at the Federal Government, but he needs to be putting pressure on local municipalities and counties to be getting the Feds the information they need so that those dollars can flow.

I don’t think the Federal Government asking for a recovery plan before they allocate funds is out of line, yet all Culver wants is a big ole pot of money, and when he doesn’t get it he cries to the media, and then calls out leaders of the minority party for playing politics because they want a special session.

Culver is out of his league; let’s send him down to the minors in 2010.

Governor Gronstal?

Since returning home I’ve had a chance to catch up on the newspaper and what I recorded while I was gone. One of the most interesting political stories in Iowa that is out there is Governor Culver’s feud with the employee unions. Last weekend Iowa Press showcased two union leaders their frustration with Governor Culver was obvious. Then I saw yesterdays milk carton story, which my friend Nathan wrote about over on Battleground Iowa.

It seems to me that big labor is responding to the Yepsen’s of the world who thought that the recent floods would ease the tensions between the Governor and the unions. Simply put these guys are pissed off over the governor’s veto of the expansion of the collective bargaining bill, and Culver has made it worse by blowing these guys off. All of this leads me to think that Chet Culver could have a primary on his hands in 2010 unless he bows down and kisses the union leaders ring.

Culver is in a tough spot politically. First, he did the right thing by vetoing the bill, but in doing so he pissed off his base. For example, how do you think the Iowa Family Policy Center folks would respond to a Republican Governor who vetoed a pro-life bill? That’s right, with a primary.

So who could the unions get to primary Culver? It’s not as hard as one might think. The conversation starts and ends with Mike Gronstal.

Do you really think a guy like Gronstal is content with being the top dawg in the Senate for the rest of his political career? His other options would be to run against Grassley or King, that can’t be appealing. He could wait for Harkin to retire or to be beaten, but that’s at least 6 years away. That leaves him with one option, to primary Chet Culver.

I think he’s game as long as the unions line up to back his play. Also Gronstal would not have to give up his Senate Seat to primary Culver.

2010 is going to be fun folks!

Show me the Money!

I was listening to WHO the other day when a top of the hour news report came on by Jim Boyd. One of the items he was reporting on was Governor Culver’s trip to D.C. to ask for assistance. The report featured a Culver proudly saying he had requested 1.2 billion dollars. The weird thing is I almost expected the Big Lug to say that billion with a “B”. Anyway, I didn’t really think much more about it till I read today’s article in the Register stating that the American Red Cross thinks Culver’s number is inflated, not by a little bit, but by 50% or so.

Now, I’m all for Iowa getting its fair share, but I don’t think it is right to fleece the American taxpayer for more than we need.

So how did Culver come up with his number; by using the number of request for assistance that has been submitted. On the other hand the American Red Cross actually does a visual assessment, reported that 12,302 homes in Iowa had some type of flood-related damage, and that another 704 were damaged by tornadoes. Culver’s number was 32,000.

On the surface Iowa’s flood recovery seems to be going smoothly, but with every passing day flood victims are going to become more and more anxious. Culver’s actions put Iowa flood victims are at risk. People need assistance and they need it quickly. Now I imagine that Congress will need to reexamine the request, or they simply might use the numbers from the Red Cross.

I know a lot of people where impressed by the way that Culver handled the floods when they were occurring, but that’s the easy part. Look at how the country rallied around President Bush after 9-11. Culver and our members of Congress will be judged not by their initial response, but by how quickly they can return life back to normal for the flood victims.

If people are frustrated in November it will not be good for incumbents.

Culver should fire Patrick Dillon for his comments about John McCain

Outside of the comments made by Wally Horn (Iowa’s version of Ray Nagin) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal’s (Iowa’s version of Kathleen Blanco) opportunistic push to raise taxes and have the state spend it self into dept, I have been impressed with out leaders at the state, local and national level.

The federal government’s response has been much better than Katrina. There is no doubt in my mind that Iowa is benefiting from Jim Nussle's position as the OMB Director and his closeness to the President in this great time of need. Governor Culver has stepped up, and Senators Grassley and Harkin have preformed well.

Unfortunately, my opinion was changed when Governor Culver’s office released to the media that John McCain disregarded Culver’s request to stay away from the flooded communities. Culver's office felt local law enforcement would be pulled away from the flood recovery effort to provide security for the McCain visit.

I’ll be really honest here. I don’t have a problem with Culver’s office advising McCain to stay away, but I think it was extremely distasteful for his Chief of Staff, Patrick Dillion, to go to the press with the story after McCain’s visit. What good does such an action accomplish? It simply stinks of politics.

My source on the ground, who was handling the media aspect of the visit, said that McCain well received in Columbus Junction yesterday. The mayor, city council members, business owners and residents all appreciated McCain’s visit and didn’t seem put out at all.

I also think its ironic when I read Dillon’s comments that local law enforcement being pulled away from flood recovery, but then I see pictures of Mari Culver in the entourage with President Bush. Was Mari serving in an official capacity and needed to travel with the president, or did she just want to ride in Marine One?

I have also been told that none of the Republican legislators were contacted by the Governors office regarding the Presidents visit, but Democrat legislators Tyler Olson and Art Staed were both present. Oh, I forgot as my friend Wally “Ray” Horn says, “These are good loyal Democrats, and they need our help” so why would a legislator like Kraig Paulsen (yes he really spells it with a K) be included, I mean he only represents the large rural area around Cedar Rapids that has seen extensive damage.

I’m sure Wally “Ray” Horn and Mike “Blanco” Gronstal were upset that Air Force One didn’t just fly over and drop a pallet full of cash on Wally’s lawn. Instead President Bush actually showed that he cares about the people affected, just look at the pictures.

I thought yesterday was a great day here in Iowa. The President, Homeland Security Secretary, the OMB director, and a Presidential candidate all took the time to walk amongst those who have suffered from these floods and talk to them one on one about their concerns and needs. Unfortunately, the political hacks in the Governors office felt the need to take a swipe at a Presidential candidate for showing he cares about Iowans.

I have a quick question for these punks. Are you going to reprimand Specialist Curtis White and Daniele Ritter who got married yesterday in Columbus Junction? The Mayor walked her down the isle, people from the town gathered to witness the event, and oh my God, I bet they prayed to boot.

I would argue that the wedding in Columbus Junction was a bigger distraction than McCain’s visit there. I’m also willing to bet that the people in Columbus Junction appreciated both distractions yesterday after what they have been going through.

Get a life Dillon. Oh I forgot to add that his wife was recently hired as battleground states director for the Obama campaign. Dillon should be fired for playing politics in a time of crisis in Iowa.

Culver suggests 6.5% Budget Cuts

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.

Culver is in Denial

I forgot to mention this the other day. Apparently Governor Chet Culver isn’t worried about the financial crisis that our country is dealing with. This is from the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

The next president will have to "figure out why our national economy is going in the tank," Culver said. "I'm not worried that Wall Street will affect Iowa" in the four months until the next president takes office.

"We've got a very stable economy," the first-term Democrat told The Gazette Editorial Board on Tuesday. "Our unemployment rate is a point-and-a-half below the national average. I was just at a groundbreaking in Newton for 500 new jobs. We've created 10,000 jobs in the past year-and-a-half. Standard & Poor's told us Friday our bond rating is going from AA+ to AAA. We have more money in our cash reserves than any time in our history."

Maybe our good friend Auditor Dave Vaudt should knock on the Governor’s door and remind him that the money in the cash reserves is already spoken for in next year’s budget, which is why Culver can’t call for a special session because the state doesn’t have the money to help its citizens. This is what happens when you increase state spending by a BILLION dollars in two years.

The State of Iowa is broke. Our financial situation is dire. For the upcoming fiscal year, Culver and the Democrats spent $370 million more than the state will receive in revenues. They pass these irresponsible budgets with the hope that revenue growth will be around 10%, but they never take into account that our economy could sour. Vaudt’s calculations the next legislature will have to deal with a $569.3 million spending gap.

Think about it folks, this week Culver gave flood victims $50 million in relief from the state. Where did he come up with that number? Take the $620 million in the rainy day fund, minus the $569.3 million that the state is on the hook for in the next fiscal year, and Culver is left with $51 million to give to flood victims. Pretty simple math.

Iowa is in a financial crisis, and just like Fannie, Freddy, and AIG we are looking for the federal government to bail us out. It’s ridiculous to keep the execs at Fannie, Freddy, and AIG in place when the American taxpayer has to step in and bail out a private company. It is also ridiculous to keep our elected officials in office after they have run our state in to the ground.

Chet: Good at drinking, bad at providing leadership

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.

The Condition of our State: DIRE

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.

Don’t worry about the details, its easy.

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.

Give me a break...

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.

Getting to know Chet

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.

Destroy the Rebuild Iowa Office

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.

Murphy’s Madness

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?

Iowa’s Financial Bailout: Sell the Lottery

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.

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

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.

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

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."

Implosion

For a while now I have been on record stating that Barack Obama will go down as the biggest flop ever to run for President. Just a few months ago it was inconceivable that John McCain would have any chance to win on November 4th. McCain lacked the support of the Republican base; he couldn’t raise the money needed, while Obama couldn’t do any wrong. Now it’s hard to see how Obama can turn things around, especially when you consider he’s not good debate settings.

For some people Obama’s fall is hard to comprehend. For us Iowan’s however, we saw an example of this in the 2006 election with the gubernatorial race between then presumptive Governor Jim Nussle, and Chet Culver. We know how that turned out.

It is said that the campaigns really start after Labor Day. In 2006 it was right after Labor Day when Jim Nussle spent at least 5 days explaining his position on abortion. It was a disaster, and his campaign was never able to recover. Culver stiffed armed Nussle in the debates, and the Nussle campaign got desperate and said that Chet Culver had secret plan to bring back touch play.

While it wasn’t as bad and Jim Ross Lightfoot’s totally nude dancing ads, it was an indication that campaign was on the wrong track. Neither Nussle or Lightfoot were able to capture Terrace Hill after being ordained the frontrunner in the early summer.

The same is happening with Obama. He is off message, his national convention didn’t do anything for him, and he’s going to struggle in the debates. He has spent days talking about Sarah Palin. Joe Biden recently asked a paraplegic state official to stand up to be recognized, and then stated that Hillary Clinton is probably more qualified to be VP than he is. Sure these things may seem minor, but they add up, and you simply cannot make mistakes in the final 60 days before an election because so many people are starting to pay attention.

Obama is even bad at his own events where he can drive the topics. The above electoral map gives McCain the White House, it’s from yesterday. McCain has Obama on the ropes, let’s do our part in helping deliver a knockout.

Almost forgot, Iowa-Iowa State Prediction: Clones 24 – Hawks 21

Hey, it’s not what I want, but it is their super bowl. They have pulled upsets against better Hawkeye teams…