Republican president candidate Newt Gingrich, the former speakers of the U.S. House from Georgia, will campaign in Carroll Monday.
Gingrich and his wife, Callista, will be at the Santa Maria Winery at 6 p.m. for a book signing and reception. At 7 p.m. they will screen the movie “Nine Days That Changed The World” about Pope John Paul II's historic nine-day pilgrimage to Po-land in June of 1979 created a revolution of conscience that transformed Poland and fundamentally reshaped the spiritual and political land-scape of the 20th Century.
Newt and Callista Gingrich, along with a Polish, American, and Italian cast, explore what transpired during these nine days that moved the Polish people to renew their hearts, reclaim their courage, and free them-selves from the shackles of Communism. Produced in partnership with Citizens United Productions.
WASHINGTON — The Republican presidential race is being shaken up again, with Mitt Romney retaking the lead, Newt Gingrich surging into second place, and Herman Cain dropping to third place, according to a new McClatchy-Marist nationwide poll released Friday.
The breakdown of the poll:
— Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, 23 percent;
— Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, 19 percent;
— Cain, the former restaurant executive, 17 percent;
— Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, 10 percent;
— Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, 8 percent;
— Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, 5 percent;
— Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, 1 percent;
DES MOINES -- As they weigh presidential candidates’ rhetoric about the federal budget in advance of the January caucuses, Iowans will have an opportunity to try to improve it themselves in a community-wide deficit-reduction exercise Monday, Nov. 14 at Drake University.
The exercise, designed by The Concord Coalition, is being co-hosted by the Des Moines Register and Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration. The event, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.
“Even after the country has fully recovered from its current economic difficulties, we are on course for sharply rising deficits as the population ages, health care costs continue to climb rapidly and the government’s interest costs spiral upwards,” says Robert L. Bixby, Concord’s executive director.
“Without reforms, the gap between government spending and revenue will get larger and larger,” Bixby points out. “We clearly need to put the country on a more responsible track and avoid burdening our children and future generations with our debts. Fortunately, various experts and bipartisan groups have recommended many ways to do that. We invite Iowa residents to join us next Monday night to discuss many of these options and decide which ones they believe would be most fair and effective.”
Bixby and Sara Imhof, Concord’s Iowa-based Midwest regional director, will be the presenters at the program.
The exercise allows people to assume the roles of members of Congress who have been appointed to a special committee to recommend a package of policies to put America on a sound fiscal foundation again – much like the “super committee” that is to issue its recommendations to Congress on Nov. 23.
The exercise calls for difficult decisions on domestic and defense spending, entitlement reform and tax policies.
“This experience should help voters to better understand the federal budget, the choices we face and the consequences of continued procrastination,” Imhof says. “That, in turn, should help them hold elected officials and candidates accountable for sound fiscal policy proposals.”
Although there is no charge for the program, reservations are appreciated and can be made at concordcoalition.org/RSVP .
WHAT: Community-Wide Deficit Reduction Exercise
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14
WHERE: Parents Hall, Olmsted Center at Drake University.
2875 University Ave., Des Moines
WHO: Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition
Strong school systems. Rich, black-coffee-colored-soil. Strong sewing in our social fabric.
When we discuss rural Iowa’s advantages, the reasons for our comparative successes, our lower unemployment rates than the prevailing national numbers, these factors come to the fore.
But there’s something else that deserves more attention as a determinative influence on life in rural Iowa: the presence of robust, credible, entirely trustworthy community banks.
Q&A on the Deficit Reduction Committee with U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley
Q: What exactly is the deficit reduction committee in Congress, and under what authority was it created? A: Last summer, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011. The law made it possible for the federal government to borrow more money, avoiding possible default on debt, and authorized the formation of a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Twelve members of Congress – six Democrats and six Republicans – were named by party leaders to the Joint Committee, and two of them are designated as co-chairs. Committee members are charged with presenting a ten-year proposal for at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by November 23. Both the Senate and the House are supposed to vote on the Joint Committee’s legislative package by December 23. If the Joint Committee doesn’t agree on deficit reduction legislation or it is not enacted, then an automatic spending reduction process would be triggered beginning in January 2013. These automatic reductions would be divided evenly between defense and non-defense spending. The way that the Budget Control Act restricts amendments and limits time for debate is unusual. I’m an advocate for regular order where standing committees develop responsible policy and legislative proposals in their areas of jurisdiction. And, I voted against the Budget Control Act because the spending reductions weren’t proportional to the massive fiscal challenges we face. But, Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution gives to both the Senate and House the power to “determine the Rules of its proceedings,” and the Budget Control Act was adopted by Congress and signed into law by the President on August 2, 2011.
Q: Can Congress unravel the law if the Joint Committee isn’t successful, preventing the automatic deficit reduction from taking effect? A: As the director of the Congressional Budget Office recently said, “Any Congress can reverse the actions of a previous Congress.” At the same time, there is tremendous pressure to begin reversing unsustainable growth in the federal debt and deficits. In 2009, for the first time ever, the deficit was more than $1 trillion. From 1946 to 2008, budget deficits averaged 1.7 percent of the gross domestic product and exceeded five percent only three times. From 2009 to 2011, budget deficits will average 9.4 percent of the gross domestic product. The federal debt held by the public has grown from 40 percent of the gross domestic product in 2008 to an estimated 69 percent of the gross domestic product in 2011. The fact that Congress can vote to abandon plans put in place for spending restraint – and, too often, either has unraveled budget controls or never adopted them in the first place – makes the case for a constitutional requirement for a balanced budget. I’m a co-sponsor of legislation that would establish a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The last time the Senate voted on a balanced budget amendment was in March 1997, when the nation’s debt was less than half of what it is today. The resolution failed by one vote. A balanced budget amendment passed the House of Representatives in 1995. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives must vote on a balanced budget amendment this year, sometime before December 31, thanks to a requirement in the Budget Control Act.
Q: Don’t tax increases need to be part of the solution for reducing deficits and debt? A: Fiscal discipline and economic growth need to be the top priorities for deficit and debt reduction. Unchecked government spending will further threaten economic opportunity with higher debt and higher taxes. It might be one thing if tax increases actually were used to reduce the deficit, but that’s not what happens. Since World War II, every new dollar in tax increases has resulted in Congress’ spending $1.17. Raising taxes has been a license for Congress to spend even more. And, every dollar spent by Congress is a dollar taken out of the economy, and higher taxes leave fewer resources for the private sector to make investments, expand production, and create sustainable jobs. The work of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction should stay focused on reducing spending, not on finding ways to increase revenue to fuel excessive government spending. In addition to supporting reforms to entitlement spending to make sure valued programs are available to future generations of Americans and sustainable for taxpayers, I’ve submitted specific recommendations to the Joint Committee for spending reductions totaling hundreds of millions to even billions of dollars from administrative restructuring, reduction of duplicative and overlapping programs, and unnecessary and wasteful programs under the authority and jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where I serve as Ranking Member. I also made recommendations to the Joint Committee for my bipartisan legislation that would save $4.8 billion in federal government spending on prescription drugs, including through Medicare and Medicaid, by stopping deals between name-brand and generic drug makers that keep less expensive drugs off the market. I’ve urged the Joint Committee to adopt caps on farm payments, for a savings of $1.5 billion, and backed a goal of saving $23 billion in spending from programs that fall under the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. The bottom line is that Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum, a Penn State grad currently running for the GOP presidential nomination, has said he is “devastated” over the scandal.
For Santorum, there is the prospect of damaging political fallout: On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that, while serving in the Senate, Santorum sponsored Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State defense coordinator at the heart of the scandal, for a “Congressional Angels in Adoption” award, citing his work with a nonprofit group he founded for foster children.
The British bookmaking site Ladbrokes.com has Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann favored to win the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses at odds of 7 to 4. She was at 5 to 2 just weeks ago. If you are using horse-racing strategy, though, and looking for a "good price" — a candidate with a good shot of winning but longer odds and a better payday -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry has the right stuff for Iowa and is likely to enter the race. He's at 6 to 1 for the Iowa caucuses. President Obama remains at 1 to 2 to retain the White House in 2012 -- making him a Triple Crown favorite in the betting for the general election.
Interestingly, Bachmann's odds of winning the GOP nomination dip to 6 to 1 and her odds of capturing the White House in a race with Obama canyon-dive to 20 to 1. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Labbrokes odds are 11/8 to come away with the GOP nomination for 2012, and 5 to 1 to beat Obama.
Iowa Caucuses Odds
Michele Bachmann 7/4 Mitt Romney 7/2 Tim Pawlenty 4/1 Rick Perry 6/1 Sarah Palin 10/1 Jon Huntsman 12/1 Herman Cain 14/1 Rick Santorum 20/1 Newt Gingrich 33/1 Ron Paul 33/1 Gary Johnson 50/1 Odds of Winning GOP Nomination
Mitt Romney 11/8 Tim Pawlenty 5/1 Rick Perry 5/1 Michele Bachmann 6/1 Jon Huntsman 10/1 Sarah Palin 14/1 Rudy Giuliani 25/1 Herman Cain 25/1 Newt Gingrich 33/1 Ron Paul 40/1 Rick Santorum 66/1 Gary Johnson 66/1 Thaddeus McCotter 66/1 General Election Odds
Barack Obama 1/2 Mitt Romney 5/1 Tim Pawlenty 12/1 Rick Perry 14/1 Jon Huntsman 20/1 Michele Bachmann 20/1 Sarah Palin 33/1 Rudy Giuliani 50/1 Herman Cain 50/1 Ron Paul 66/1 Newt Gingrich 66/1 Rick Santorum 150/1 Gary Johnson 150/1 Thaddeus McCotter 150/1
URBANDALE, IOWA – Sarah Huckabee Sanders is joining Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign as senior political adviser. She begins her new role in the campaign’s Iowa headquarters today, taking the lead for the campaign on the Iowa Straw Poll effort with a focus on expanding the campaign’s grassroots operations across the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
“Sarah is a results-oriented person with a great track record in Iowa and around the country,” Gov. Pawlenty said. “We are very excited Sarah is joining our team just as we are hitting our stride in Iowa.”
“I’m delighted to join the Governor and First Lady in Iowa, which holds a special place in my heart,” Sanders said. “It’s clear to me that Gov. Pawlenty has what it takes to unite the party, unite the country and beat President Obama.”
In 2007-08, Sarah Huckabee Sanders helped lead her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, to victory in the Iowa caucuses as his national political director. In 2010, she was campaign manager for John Boozman’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in Arkansas. Sarah was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s “40 under 40” and is widely recognized to be one of the best political operatives of her generation. Sarah is a full-time consultant with Tsamoutales Strategies, a transnational consulting firm.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (June 25, 2011)– Victory Film Group (www.victoryfilmgroup.com) and ARC Entertainment announced today that Governor Sarah Palin and her husband Todd will attend the premiere of The Undefeated at the historic Pella Opera House on Tuesday June 28 at 5pm Central Time in Pella, Iowa. Immediately after the showing, Victory Film Group and ARC Entertainment will host a traditional Iowa cookout to thank the Pella Opera House and the people of Pella.
In accepting the invitation to attend the premiere, Sarah Palin stated, “We are very excited to visit historic Pella and its opera house and look forward to seeing the finished film for the first time with fellow Americans from the heartland.”
Responding to the Palin’s announcement that they will attend the Iowa premiere, Larry Peterson, Chairman of the Board of the Pella Opera House said, “We look forward to hosting Governor Palin and her husband, Todd, at our beloved opera house as we welcome them to our community.”
“We are incredibly excited about Governor Palin and her husband Todd’s attendance at a location that speaks to the basic core values of The Undefeated,” said Stephen K. Bannon, the writer and director of the film.
“We are delighted that Governor Palin and her husband Todd have accepted our invitation to join us at the Iowa premiere of what we believe is a truly moving and extraordinary film,” said Trevor Drinkwater, CEO of ARC Entertainment, the film’s worldwide distributor.
The film begins its national rollout exclusively in AMC Theatres in 10 cities the week of July 15th. The film will debut in Dallas, Denver, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Atlanta, Orange County, Phoenix, Houston, Indianapolis, and Kansas City, with plans to take it nationwide in additional markets thereafter.
The Undefeated features leading prominent political commentators Mark Levin, Tammy Bruce and Andrew Breitbart as well as conservative activists Kate Obenshein, Sonnie Johnson and Jamie Radtke. Additionally, the film features interviews with Alaskan civil servants, elected officials and advisors who were involved in Alaskan politics during Governor Palin’s tenure.
The Undefeated, which was written and directed by Stephen K. Bannon and produced by Bannon and Victory Film Group co-founder Glenn Bracken Evans and Dan Fleuette, chronicles Sarah Palin’s rise from obscurity to national prominence.
About Victory Film Group
Victory Film Group develops, produces and distributes documentaries and films that address today’s leading political, socioeconomic and cultural issues while incorporating the conservative perspective.
The British bookmaking site Ladbrokes.com handicaps the Iowa GOP Presidential Caucuses with Waterloo native and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in the lead spot at 5 to 2. (Bet $200 to win $500)
Michele Bachmann 5/2 Tim Pawlenty 3/1 Mitt Romney 7/2 Sarah Palin 7/1 Jon Huntsman 8/1 Herman Cain 8/1 Rick Perry 8/1 Rick Santorum 20/1 Newt Gingrich 25/1 Ron Paul 25/1 Gary Johnson 33/1
Here is how Ladbrokes handicaps the general election -- giving President Obama Triple Crown horse odds of 1/2 -- and dropping Mrs. Bachmann into the long-shot arena.
Barack Obama 1/2 Mitt Romney 5/1 Tim Pawlenty 12/1 Rick Perry 14/1 Jon Huntsman 20/1 Michele Bachmann 25/1 Sarah Palin 33/1 Herman Cain 40/1 Rudy Giuliani 50/1 Ron Paul 66/1 Newt Gingrich 66/1 Rick Santorum 100/1 Gary Johnson 100/1
And here are Ladbrokes' odds on the identity of the Republican presidential nominee ...
Mitt Romney 11/8 Tim Pawlenty 4/1 Rick Perry 5/1 Michele Bachmann 8/1 Jon Huntsman 10/1 Sarah Palin 14/1 Rudy Giuliani 20/1 Herman Cain 20/1 Newt Gingrich 33/1 Ron Paul 40/1 Rick Santorum 66/1 Gary Johnson 66/1
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Thursday said it is time for the United States to “fundamentally rethink” the “so-called” war on terror.
“We need to get out of these large-scale conflicts, refocus our efforts on smaller operations, intelligence-gathering, law enforcement, and cooperating with our allies,” Harkin said.
In a conference call with the Daily Times Herald and other media on Thursday, Harkin said the Obama administration’s planned draw-down in Afghanistan, announced by the president on Wednesday, is too small.
“I don’t think the president’s proposal to withdraw 10,000 troops is enough,” Harkin said.
Making a case that the United States and allies had made significant progress, Obama said 10,000 troops would be pulled from Afghanistan by the end of the year with another 23,000 returning from the conflict there in 2012 — leaving 68,000 in Afghanistan.
Campaigns & Elections magazine this month named Carroll High School alum Ben Nuckels as one of its 2011 Rising Stars — one of the most prestigious honors in politics.
The award goes to a select group of operatives age 35 and under who have an established track record of achievement in political consulting or advocacy and the promise to achieve greatness.
Nuckels, 32, a vice president at Joe Slade White & Company, is a son of Steve and Marsha Nuckels of Carroll. Ben Nuckels lives in Oconomowoc, Wis., between Madison and Milwaukee.
Documentary about Gov. Sarah Palin will be shown at 111-year-old historic Midwestern landmark
SANTA MONICA – Victory Film Group (www.victoryfilmgroup.com) and ARC Entertainment announced today the premier of The Undefeated at the Pella Opera House in Pella, Iowa on Tuesday June 28, at 5 p.m. Central.
The Undefeated, which was written and directed by Stephen K. Bannon and produced by Bannon and Victory Film Group co-founder Glenn Bracken Evans and Dan Fleuette, chronicles Sarah Palin’s rise from obscurity to national prominence. ARC Entertainment is the film’s worldwide distributor.
“The community of Pella encapsulates what Iowa and the Heartland are all about. Steve Bannon certainly found a location that has the ‘Iowa-ness’ he was searching for,” stated Craig Robinson, editor-in-chief of TheIowaRepublican.com.
Built in 1900, the Pella Opera House is presently a non-profit founded by area leaders committed to bringing the finest performances to the venue. During the preceding 111 years, the Pella Opera House building has served many functions including headquarters for the Women’s Federated Club, as well as showing the country’s first silent movies at the beginning of the motion picture industry.
London Mayor (and Tory) Boris Johnson, a former journalist and provocative columnist I've been reading for years, has penned one of his most hot-blooded pieces for The Telegraph in which he says President George W. Bush may not get out of London if he comes for a book tour because of comments about interrogations done under his administration.
Here is Johnson -- whether you agree or not with his premise:
It is not yet clear whether George W Bush is planning to cross the Atlantic to flog us his memoirs, but if I were his PR people I would urge caution. As book tours go, this one would be an absolute corker. It is not just that every European capital would be brought to a standstill, as book-signings turned into anti-war riots. The real trouble — from the Bush point of view — is that he might never see Texas again.
One moment he might be holding forth to a great perspiring tent at Hay-on-Wye. The next moment, click, some embarrassed member of the Welsh constabulary could walk on stage, place some handcuffs on the former leader of the Free World, and take him away to be charged. Of course, we are told this scenario is unlikely. Dubya is the former leader of a friendly power, with whom this country is determined to have good relations. But that is what torture-authorising Augusto Pinochet thought. And unlike Pinochet, Mr Bush is making no bones about what he has done.
There is a highly encouraging piece on potential deficit reduction in The Washington Post that contains more bi-partisanship than anything I've read it some time.
After an election dominated by vague demands for less debt and smaller government, the sacrifices necessary to achieve those goals are coming into sharp focus. Big cuts at the Pentagon. Higher taxes, including those on home ownership and health care. Smaller Social Security checks and higher Medicare premiums.
The changes to Social Security would be phased in over the next 65 years ....
Social Security is proving to be the most emotional issue. Over the next 65 years, Bowles and Simpson would gradually raise the early retirement age from 62 to 64 and the standard retirement age from 67 to 69. They would reduce scheduled benefits for better-off retirees and use a less-generous measure of inflation to calculate cost-of-living increases. And they would guarantee higher benefits to the poorest and oldest retirees, those most in need of additional support.
It is never wise to bet against the American economy long term. Warren Buffett tells us this and I listen.
Amid the roiling economic times of the spring and fall of 2009 I decided to invest more in America, literally. I didn't select exotic companies to add to the range of diversified mutual funds and other investments. I had a firm belief that our economy would recover and people who were running scared from the markets and long-standing American companies were fools.
On August 11, 2009, I purchased shares of General Electric at $14.43. As of Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, close, they were up 12.43 percent to $16.22
On October 23, 2009, I purchased shares of Union Pacific at $58.97. As of Friday, Nov. 19 close the UP stock was up 55.71 percent to $91.82.
On Aug. 21, 2009, I purchased shares of Sirius-XM at $0.85. As of Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, they were up 63.68 percent to $1.40 a share.
These are basic American companies -- household names.
The Christian Science Monitor has an eye-opening cover story on immigration as a global issue. It is not just about Latinos coming to the U.S. from the south. The world is struggling with immigration like never before.
Here is The Monitor:
Contrary to popular perception, anti-immigrant sentiment today isn't just about rich nations shunning the mass arrival of migrants from poorer ones. It is poor nations sending their huddled masses to other poor nations. It is rich countries sending people to other rich ones. It is countries acting as transit corridors – switching stations of humanity. According to the UNDP, only about one-third of migrants move from a developing country to a developed one.
I am surprised this idea has not been raised in the United States, although pro-family conservatives probably couldn't stomach being on the opposite side of anything dealing with marriage:
The Netherlands and Britain, among others, have erected barriers to family-reunification visas by setting the legal marriage age for foreigners at 21 rather than 18 as it is for citizens.
And Mexico doesn't really have any room to preach to us about immigration considering that nation's own problems with handling Central and South American immigrants.
72 Central and South Americans were massacred in northern Mexico, allegedly at the hands of drug traffickers, because they refused to work as recruits for the gang. The case was not an isolated one: Mexico's National Commission on Human Rights issued a report claiming that 10,000 migrants were kidnapped in a six-month period from September 2008 through February 2009.
The latest installment of my Political Mercury column in Des Moines' Cityview newspaper looks at the smoking ban, poses some questions for our new lieutenant governor and makes some observations about I-Jobs. You can read the full column online through Cityview ....
But here is a sample:
Has the Iowa smoking ban had its intended effect?
In other words, is the law obsolete? Did it provide the needed cover two years ago to bars and gathering places frightened to make the smoke-free move?
Could it be lifted simply based on the fact that many places wouldn’t go back, and those that do would feed a niche market of sorts?
AND
Mothers Against Drunk Driving reports that a person arrested for the first time for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated has done this an average of 87 times before getting caught. Is that about the right number for you, Mrs. Reynolds? And should we double it?
As Clarke County treasurer did you ever come to work drunk or hungover or otherwise suffering the ill effects of consumption of spirits? And as a self-described protector of the public dime, did you reimburse taxpayers for any diminished performance stemming from the boozin’?
Suppose you had $100,000 to invest on the day Barack Obama was inaugurated. Why bet on a liberal Democrat? Here’s why: the presidency of George W. Bush produced the worst stock market decline of any president in history. The net worth of American households collapsed as Bush slipped away. And if you needed a loan to buy a house or stay in business, private sector borrowing was dead when he handed over power.
As of election day, Nov. 2, 2010, your $100,000 was worth about $177,000 if invested strictly in the NASDAQ average for the entirety of the Obama administration, and $148,000 if bet on the Standard & Poors 500 major companies. This works out to returns of 77 percent and 48 percent.
Iowa Independent editor Jason Hancock has two detailed stories on fallout from GOP candidate for lieutenant governor Kim Reynolds' openness to gay civil unions. She made the remarks in an interview with the Carroll Daily Times Herald this week (see post below). Here is Iowa Independent today:
When GOP lieutenant governor candidate Kim Reynolds suggested she would be open to the idea of civil unions for same-sex couples, she set off a firestorm of criticism from both the conservatives she was trying to woo and liberals who oppose efforts to overturn marriage equity in Iowa.
Bob Vander Plaats chats with Kim Reynolds before the primary in Mount Ayr (photo by Dave Davidson, www.TEApublican.com)
And despite the efforts of Terry Branstad’s campaign to diffuse the situation, that criticism continues. Some are even suggesting the statements could be the last straw for Bob Vander Plaats as he contemplates running for governor as an independent this fall.
GOP candidate for lieutenant governor Kim Reynolds Tuesday said she believes abortion is “equivalent to murder.” On another key contemporary social issue, Reynolds said marriage should be defined as being between one man and one woman — although she made three separate references to civil unions for homosexuals in an interview, saying she would be open to such a prospect in Iowa.
As former Gov. Terry Branstad’s running mate in his effort to win a fifth term, Reynolds, halfway through her first term as a state senator from Osceola, is spending some of her early days on the campaign trail in counties in which Sioux City business consultant Bob Vander Plaats and State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll, showed strength in the June Republican primary. (Roberts carried Carroll County in the primary with 74 percent of the vote.)
“In some of the counties that the governor (Branstad) didn’t carry I’m gonna try to get out there and meet with them and just talk to them and listen to them, give them an opportunity to get to know me,” Reynolds said.
Speaking at the Carroll Pizza Ranch, Reynolds fielded a question about gay marriage, now legal in Iowa.
“Well, I am pro-life, and I am pro-family,” Reynolds said.
If her stance on abortion prevails, and it is criminalized again, what should the penalty be for a physician who performs an abortion or a woman who has one?
“Well, I think it would be equivalent to murder,” Reynolds said. “I would want to research that before I would lay specifically out what the penalties would be.”
If someone is stabbed to death in front of Pizza Ranch now is the culprit guilty of the same crime as a doctor who performs an abortion?
“No,” she said.
So if it’s a different kind murder then?
“I would want to take a look at that and make sure that I completely walked through that before I would say anything right now,” Reynolds said. “I’m not going to give an answer to that right now without thoroughly looking through that and making sure that I’m looking at both sides.”
If she’s strongly pro-life, why hasn’t Reynolds thought about the punishment component as criminalized abortion is the end game, the logical conclusion, of the pro-life movement?
“I don’t know if it needs to be the death penalty,” she said. “Is that what you’re asking me?”
Should the doctors and women involved in the abortion get a ticket, a fine, or should they be executed?
“I think that we would take a look and make sure that the punishment met the crime,” Reynolds said. “It would depend on the level of crime that was served. I would want to be sure to take a look at that before I gave an off-handed comment to that issue.”
On gay marriage, Reynolds said Iowa voters, not the state’s Supreme Court, should make the decision about its legality in the Hawkeye State.
How has gay marriage hurt Iowa so far? How have homosexuals who are married hurt this state? What are they doing to Iowa that’s troubling to Reynolds?
“I believe that the definition of marriage is between one man and one woman from a religious aspect,” Reynolds said. “That is my belief. I have stated that. I always have believed that.”
That considered, Reynolds said she would be open to the idea of civil unions for gay couples.
“We could take a look at civil unions,” Reynolds said. “There are other options maybe that I would be in favor of looking at.”
She added, “They can do civil unions. I think they can get to some of the same place that they want to look at.”
Reynolds said that as a citizen she would vote for a measure defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
“But the bottom line is this is an extremely important issue, and I believe that Iowans have a right to speak on that,” Reynolds said.
On a conference call with media last week, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, raised the possibility that the Obama Administration's EPA may be biased against ethanol. He thinks the EPA is taking its cue from the Department of Energy and says officials with the latter are on record as believing ethanol is a dying fuel.
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota says she and other members of Congress want to find out why federal officials have delayed a decision on allowing higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it will wait until fall to decide whether to increase the maximum blend from 10 to 15 percent. The agency said the delay would allow more testing of the higher blend in vehicles.
Here are some links to stories to the passing of the longest-serving member in the history of Congress: New York Times:
Robert C. Byrd, who used his record tenure as a United States senator to fight for the primacy of the legislative branch of government and to build a modern West Virginia with vast amounts of federal money, died early Monday. He was 92.
In the middle of the night, West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd (D) -- the longest serving member of Congress (from 1953-2010) -- passed away. He was 92. And much like Ted Kennedy's death nearly a year ago, Byrd's passing complicates the math for Democrats in the Senate, at least temporarily. Democrats now have a 58-41 majority in the chamber, so two votes shy of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. That could make passing the financial reform legislation -- which seemed more than likely this week, with President Obama hoping to sign it into law before July 4 -- a bit more difficult
Sioux City, IA -- Matt Campbell, Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress in Iowa’s 5th District has called on Rep. Steve King to apologize for his remarks last week which claimed President Obama "has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race that favors the black person.”
Campbell said that King owes an apology to the President and the people of Iowa.
“King has had time to reflect on his comments, and it’s time he apologized or retracted the statement. He owes an apology to both the President and to Iowa” Campbell said.
Campbell is also concerned with King’s follow-on comments.
“I’m particularly disturbed by King’s follow-on comments this past week to his initial statement. Rather than apologize for suggesting the President and administration acts in a racist manner, he has more stridently made the charge” Campbell said.
“When Steve King makes comments like these, he jeopardizes the important progress the American people have made over decades in civil rights.”
“King's has made clear that he thinks the President and administration acts in a racist manner in instances, and has explicitly made the charge in interviews he’s given since,” Campbell said.”
King justified his remarks by saying he was ‘standing-up’ against racism.
"I'm standing up against something that is or could become racism," King had said.
“It’s important that Iowa’s GOP leadership condemn King’s remarks to protect the important progress we’ve made in America in race relations and equal rights,” Campbell said.
The British betting site Ladbrokes as of June 25 had the following odds for winning the 2012 presidential election. Obama is now under even odds -- meaning if you bet $100 on Obama and he wins you win $110. In horse-racing parlance there is something known as a "good price" -- which is horse that is not expected to win but has a thinking man's shot at doing so with some good odds. Romney qualifies on that score at 8 to 1. A little riskier bet with longer odds but reasonable chances is Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Republican governor at 25 to 1. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 33 to 1 is worth a look in the Ladbrokes context.
Here are the Ladbrokes odds:
Barack Obama 10/11
Mitt Romney 8/1 Sarah Palin 16/1 Mike Huckabee 20/1 Tim Pawlenty 20/1 Hillary Clinton 25/1 Bobby Jindal 25/1 Newt Gingrich 25/1 Haley Barbour 25/1 Jon Thune 25/1 Mitch Daniels 25/1 Joe Biden 33/1 Michael Bloomberg 33/1 David Petraeus 33/1 Jeb Bush 33/1 Jon Huntsman 33/1 Mike Pence 33/1 Scott Brown 33/1 Charlie Crist 40/1 Rick Perry 50/1 Rudy Giuliani 66/1 Eric Cantor 66/1 Tom Ridge 66/1 Rand Paul 66/1 Mark Warner 100/1 John McCain 100/1 Al Gore 100/1 Rob Portman 100/1 Kay Bailey Hutchison 100/1 Sam Brownback 100/1 Rick Santorum 100/1 Gary Johnson 100/1 Stanley McChrystal 100/1 Tom Coburn 100/1 Fred Thompson 125/1 Dirk Kempthorne 125/1 Ron Paul 150/1 Brian Schweitzer 150/1 Michele Bachmann 150/1 Dick Cheney 150/1 Paul Ryan 150/1 Mark Sanford 200/1 Lou Dobbs 200/1
In evaluating employees one of the more important measures is time management.
And it is in this way that we should judge Congressman Steve King’s cheap charge Monday that President Obama has a “default mechanism” that favors “the black person.”
King offered no evidence of this suggestion of presidential racism other than Obama’s ill-considered entry into what’s now a year-old dispute between a Harvard professor and a white cop in Cambridge, Mass., that led to a brief national discussion about law enforcement and race — and that laughable White House “Beer Summit.”
Indeed, Obama has come under criticism from African-American leaders for not having a “black” agenda, for being a product of elite Ivy schools. He’s more Wall Street than street, say some of his critics.
King, who gets testy when others challenge his motivations on racial matters, had no problems doing just that with Obama on Monday on the talk show of Watergate alum G. Gordon Liddy. Our congressman also spent the week doing a number of other interviews in which he defended, amplified and elaborated on the statements.
Read the full column in the Carroll Daily Times Herald ... King once made a great point in challenging some of my work. We can’t divine what is in the hearts of others on race, went King’s line of reasoning. King asked me to respect that in evaluating his remarks with race, but he fails to apply the same standard to himself in commenting on the commander in chief.
We can debate whether King is accurate with his portrayal of Obama as a closet black militant. But, really, is this the sort of business we want Mr. King, our $174,000-a-year employee, doing for us on the job?
U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, took to the national airwaves this week to attack President Obama for pressuring British Petroleum to create a $20 billion escrow fund to pay for damages related to the two-month-old oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, King’s Democratic opponent in the fall, Matt Campbell of Manning, strongly criticized the western Iowa Republican’s defense of Texas Congressman Joe Barton’s characterization of Obama’s meeting with BP officials as a “shakedown.”
The one-hour political talk show focused on the gubernatorial race, western Iowa Congressman Steve King, immigration and the changing newspaper industry -- among other issues.
98.3 WOW FM's newest show The Fallon Forum with Ed and Lynn Fallon, Monday through Thursday 7:00-8:00PM!
Lynn Fallon was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years until returning to Grand View University to earn her degree in religion. In 2003 she helped establish The Connection Cafe, a free-meal program for the homeless, low-income and working poor in Des Moines . In 2006 she left to work with Ed in his gubernatorial campaign. She was campaign manager for his congressional campaign in 2008.
Ed Fallon worked a variety of jobs before running for public office, including farming, construction, landscaping, grave digger, peace activist, musician, music teacher and owner and operator of a bakery. He served fourteen years in the Iowa Legislature and ran for Governor in 2006 and Congress in 2008.
I'M for Iowa is a limited liability corporation set up by Lynn and Ed in 2006. The business structure provides a broader scope for social and political activism than is allowed under a non-profit structure. I'M for Iowa is supported by people who share Ed and Lynn's vision for progressive reform and who want to invest in their work.
The environmental group finds that rural Midwestern states will face the greatest consequences of climate change. The three that will face the steepest rise in temperature -- Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa -- are farm states whose soil will be significantly less productive as temperatures rise more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit there by 2100.
What does this mean?
The consequences to these farm states will be far reaching. As droughts become more common, their soil and climate will begin to look more like their neighbors' to the south in Texas and Mexico.
It is no news flash to readers of “Taking Note” (in the Carroll Daily Times Herald) that this column has been used with some frequency in the last 13 years to vigorously challenge our congressman Steve King.
A skilled orator and turner of phrases, King often presents views in provocative fashion.
This column has pulled no punches on calling out the congressman where we find him wrongheaded.
In a strongly worded but civil exchange with me following his town-hall meeting in Carroll on Wednesday, King, a Kiron Republican who represents Iowa’s 5th Congressional District, offered reasonable criticism.
Put another way, the congressman called me out. And he has a point.
King doesn’t mind the colorful barbs, the political shots. King trades in those, too. They are the coin of the realm in American politics, and have been since British colonial rule.
But King took issue with my direct labeling of him as a “racist” — which I have done. (In a column in March 2008 in which King expressed concerns about President Barack Obama's name and a June 2007 piece about King's thoughts on declining birth rates among certain Europeans.)
When I asked King a question Wednesday afternoon about the GOP gubernatorial race and how his own foot-dragging with a decision may delay important commitments from those who have long supported both King and State Rep. Roberts, R-Carroll, who is in the race, King said he’d happily take the question (See related story on Page 1 of the Carroll Daily Times Herald). But he wanted to clear the air first.
“That’s a well-stated question, Doug,” King said. “Let’s just compartmentalize some animosity here before I move to answer that question. You know that that exists between us. I’ll just tell you the heart of that is this: in one of your articles you labeled me a racist in print. And I take great offense to that.”
He added, “I’m not going to get engaged in a debate, and I’m not going to defend myself. I think my life’s activities do that well enough.”
We moved back to the 2010 race for Terrace Hill, and King fielded some more questions from me and Daily Times Herald reporter Butch Heman.
Following the session at the Santa Maria winery, I told King that while the column will continue to challenge and criticize him it will never again affix the label of racist to him.
King is right. That’s not fair on my part. I cannot divine what’s in Congressman King’s heart, and our public discourse is limited by the quick-draw labeling of people as “sexist” or “racist.” I have been called both.
Where this matter is concerned I will quote King and let readers draw their own conclusions as to the content of his words. There is much nuance where race is concerned and what may appear prejudiced to one person comes across as according to Hoyle to the other.
SIOUX CITY – Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats, the 2006 Republican nominee for lieutenant governor who is leading the field for the party’s 2010 gubernatorial nomination, will officially launch his campaign on Monday, Sept. 7 in his hometown of Sheldon in northwest Iowa.
“Labor Day is the traditional start of the election season and Sheldon is the natural place for me to officially kick off the campaign. Sheldon is where I learned the value of freedom and leadership. It’s where my parents, teachers and neighbors instilled a traditional Iowa work ethic in me. And, it’s where I learned that the family is the foundation of society and it is government’s responsibility to foster a strong family instead of trying to replace it,” Vander Plaats said.
He continued, “The response we’ve seen since forming a campaign committee in January has been extraordinary. Support is growing every day around the state, pushing us far out in front of the five other candidates in the Republican field. Iowans of all political stripes recognize that Chet Culver is spending too much and demanding too little for taxpayers’ hard-earned money. They know he has to go and that we need a governor whose core principles will be less government, lower taxes and higher quality. They’re rallying behind this campaign because they know I’ll be that governor.”
Vander Plaats’ announcement will be at noon on Labor Day at the City Park in Sheldon. Vander Plaats will make a second appearance on Labor Day, visiting the Marlin Bontrager farm near Kalona. Bontrager and his wife, Becky, own and manage a livestock and grain farm. The couple and their 10 children have also formed the Bontrager Family Singers, a ministry that performs gospel/bluegrass music.
After growing up in Sheldon, Iowa, Vander Plaats pursued a career as an educator. After attending Northwestern College in Orange City on a basketball scholarship, Vander Plaats taught at Boone and Jefferson-Scranton High schools. Earning his master's and specialist's degrees in the area of educational leadership from Drake University, Vander Plaats also served as principal at Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn and Sheldon High schools.
In 1996, Bob became president and chief executive officer of Opportunities Unlimited, a Sioux City health and human services organization that provides rehabilitative services for young adults with brain or spinal cord injuries or other life-altering disabilities. In 2002, Bob led a positive and energetic campaign for governor. Though he narrowly lost in a three-way GOP primary, that campaign laid the foundation for a statewide organization that has continued to grow. Vander Plaats also served as Iowa chairman for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Vander Plaats is currently president of MVP Leadership, Inc., which specializes in strategic vision and executive leadership for business and industry, economic development, education, health care, human services, and private foundations.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The couple on the elevator snickered.
"You mean that trailer on stilts?" the husband said.
My companions on the ride from the fifth floor to the lobby of the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in downtown Little Rock, Ark., last Saturday were of course speaking of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, on the south shore of the Arkansas River.
After a country breakfast at the farmer's market, I walked several blocks from the River Market district in Little Rock to the Clinton museum, a silvery structure that is oddly rectangular and lounges off an incline toward the Arkansas River and a rusty relic of an abandoned railroad bridge.
The architectural comparison of Clinton's museum to a mobile home or a package of Reynolds Wrap hanging on a table isn't clever. It's obvious.
At the entrance outside the facility that archives the life and service of our 42nd commander in chief, I encountered some early-morning smokers, a husband and wife taking their last draws of nicotine before the tour.
The man, sporting a generous gut and speaking with a deep Southern drawl, pulled out his cell phone, and called a buddy.
"You'll never guess where I'm at," he said into the phone, laughing, and looking conspiratorially at his wife. "I'm at Slick Willie's place."
"Slick Willie's place" is much like President Bill Clinton. On the outside, it appears sort of white trashy, an easy punchline. But inside is a modern, intelligent, brilliantly organized presentation of Clinton's two terms as our president, with a dash of history about his life as governor, childhood and college years. Built with generous amounts of glass the Clinton museum allows visitors fantastic views of Little Rock and the sleepy, serene Arkansas River community. You get the distinct sense that you are in Clinton's brain looking at the outside world. It's a remarkable effect.
Inside the museum, I spent hours reading Clinton's speeches and going through displays. Among the most impressive was one dealing with the Internet and science. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore understood the intersection of technology and commerce in a way no president ever has, or perhaps ever will.
I'm on the edge of turning 40, a statistically likely halfway point for life. It's entirely possible that in 2050, if I'm near death and highly reflective, I will look back on the 1990s - the years of peace and prosperity under Clinton - as the best ones of my American life. Some will argue the Republican Congress deserves credit for those times and others maintain the positives of that period happened in spite of Clinton, not because of him.
For so many reasons, his presidency is deserving of reverence and high-minded debate. As is his work as a post president.
But with that there's always the taint, an eye roll.
In recent days, former President Clinton has been much in the news for his role in the retrieval of jailed American journalists in North Korea.
For this Clinton has been celebrated.
And mocked.
Because the reporters were female, there's been much late-night hee-hawing from Conan and Jimmy about the Clinton-led rescue - all stemming from Clinton's Monica Lewinsky infamy.
The jokes flow from the same theme: Did he hit on the journalists? It's a sick premise considering the import of the situation for the women, but let's face it, the thought occurred to more people than Rush Limbaugh.
As the man at the museum door said, "I'm at Slick Willie's place."
A 78-year-old Carroll woman says she's so tired of seeing President Barack Obama on the airwaves that she's selling her television sets - two of them.
Deloris Nissen, a retired nurses' aide and former Kmart employee who was raised on a farm near Audubon, placed a classified advertisement with The Daily Times Herald for Friday's paper.
In the $5.50 ad, Nissen tells readers she has two television sets for sale.
The reason: "Obama on every channel and station."
In an interview Nissen said she is serious about selling two TVs - and genuine about her disgust with what she believes to be an overexposed president.
"I just got tired of watching him on every channel," Nissen said. "I thought, my gosh, does he ever stay at the White House?"
Nissen, who voted for U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the 2008 presidential election, said she could live with seeing Obama come on television to make serious announcements. But he seems to be on all the time, Nissen said.
When the president does appear on a channel she happens to be watching, Nissen said, she quickly turns.
"I have the remote real handy," Nissen said. "I have the batteries. I'm ready for him."
Nissen's annoyance with the president as a frequent presence on her television doesn't mean she'll abandon the medium altogether.
She's keeping a bigger flat-screen television and selling an older 20-inch Sony and possibly a 13-inch set.
"It's too heavy," Nissen said of the 20-inch TV. "I can't handle it anymore."
That said, she doesn't plan on selling it for less than $100 - even if Obama was just on Tuesday pitching his health-care-reform plans.
Obama's own advisers and political observers across the ideological spectrum have for months debated whether the now popular president is overexposed.
For her part, Nissen said she expects to take some flack for the advertisement in her local paper. After all, Obama did win Iowa and Carroll County in the 2008 election.
There are no breaks in the business. Literally days after President Obama was elected, speculation started about potential challengers for 2012. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke in late November to a conservative crowd of about 800 people at the Sheraton in West Des Moines, feeding, of course, notions about White House-sized ambitions for the young GOP intellectual. And Sarah Palin seems to be everywhere with breathless analysts parsing her latest verbal contortions. Indiana Congressman Mike Pence hit both coasts of Iowa just two weeks ago. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour headlined a major Republican event at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines this summer. And U.S. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nevada) spoke to an American Future Fund-organized event in Sioux City. We can, of course, forget about that last one.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rod Roberts today called on Governor Culver and his staff to be more honest with Iowans about the condition of the state’s finances.
“Iowans need a governor who will be ‘real’ with them about the health of the Iowa economy,” said Roberts. “Iowans realize that we are in an economic recession. The recession is real, and the governor needs to be upfront about how the recession is affecting the Iowa economy.”
Roberts, a 51-year-old state representative from Carroll, made the statement after the governor’s office claimed on Monday that the state experienced a strong boost in revenue for July 2009. The governor’s office suggested that a slight increase in gross revenue indicated that the state’s economy had improved. But Roberts noted that gross revenues only increased slightly for July 2009 because of a state bookkeeping change which now credits the state government with receiving tax dollars which must be passed along to local school districts. As a result, the state’s gross revenues are artificially inflated.
Roberts also pointed out that net revenues—not gross revenues—should be used to determine the health of the Iowa economy. According to a non-partisan state budget office, the Legislative Services Agency (LSA), net revenues for the state dropped 6.1% for the month of July compared to July 2008.
“Net revenue is the amount which the state actually has to spend. It is the true indicator of the health of the state’s economy,” said Roberts. “By focusing on a slight increase in artificially inflated gross revenue rather than a sizeable decrease in net revenue, the governor’s office is not being straightforward about the true health of Iowa’s economy.”
Roberts notes that this is not the first time that the governor’s office has failed to be real with Iowans about the health of the state economy. The governor’s office has also disputed that the state is in a budget crisis, even though the state budget for the fiscal year 2009 ended with a $161 million shortfall. The projected spending gap for fiscal year 2011 is approaching $1 billion dollars. Roberts says that he will be more candid with Iowans as governor.
“Iowans are concerned that the state and nation are in a recession. They don’t need a governor who denies the state’s fiscal challenges; they need a governor who will acknowledge them,” said Roberts.
Roberts said the solution to the state’s budget crisis is to enact fiscally responsible policies. According to Roberts, state government will emerge from its budget crisis by reducing spending and keeping taxes low on businesses and families.
WHO-TV's Dave Price had me as a guest on his weekly radio program "Purple Matters" to discuss the gubernatorial campaign announcement of State Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll.
That section of the hour-long program in which I am involved starts at about the 31:00 minute mark and goes for about 15 minutes.
We discuss Roberts specifically and the Republican race generally.
Douglas Burns is a writer and columnist for the Daily Times Herald in Carroll, Iowa. Iowa Political Alert is in no way affiliated with the newspaper.
Additionally, Burns is a contributor to The Center for Rural Strategies' Daily Yonder, a national online rural newspaper. He also writes a regular column and pens features for Cityview, a Des Moines weekly newspaper.
Burns is a former founding fellow with the Center for Independent Media's Iowa Independent.com, and much of his work is still archived at that site.
