Monday, December 29, 2008

New state laws set for Jan. 1

(This release from the National Conference of State Legislatures)


States crack down on drunken drivers, text messaging while driving


DENVER - State legislatures across the country enacted 31,000 laws in 2008, some of which become effective Jan. 1, 2009. The issues range from health care reform to criminal justice to labor practices. Forty-six states met in regular session and three came back for special sessions in 2008.

In Illinois, Alaska and South Carolina, new laws mandate ignition-locking devices for those convicted of drunken driving. Californians who text message while driving face a fine and prospective pet owners in Colorado who want to adopt a pet from a shelter must have it sterilized.

Also, convicted sex offenders in Alaska must register their e-mail addresses in the state sex offender registry database. And 12 states will have a new minimum wage in 2009.

Some legislation may have been enacted in 2007, but becomes effective Jan. 1, 2009, even if the state was not in session in 2008. This is not an exhaustive list, but just a sampling of some new state laws effective Jan. 1, 2009.

DRUNKEN DRIVING


In Illinois, first-time offenders convicted of drunken driving can petition the court for a monitoring-device driving permit. This driving permit would mean that the offender would have a breath alcohol interlock ignition device installed in his or her car. (Illinois 95th General Assembly; SB 2295)
In Alaska, misdemeanor DUI offenders are eligible to get a limited license that allows them to drive an ignition interlock-equipped car during the period of license revocation following a 30-day suspension. (Alaska 25th Legislature; HB 19)
South Carolina passed a similar measure mandating ignition interlock devices for convicted DUI offenders. The law also sets requirements for vehicles with TV screens or other image display devices that are visible to a driver while a vehicle is in motion. (South Carolina 117th General Assembly; S 472)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE


In Alaska, a new law requires convicted sex offenders and child kidnappers to add their e-mail addresses and online names to the list of required information they now must register with law enforcement agencies and the state sex offenders database. At least 10 other states in 2007 and 2008 added the online identities to information that sex offenders must provide as part of required registration. (Alaska 25th Legislature; SB 185)
South Carolina changed the procedures for victims' compensation awards allowing the director of the state Office of Victims' Assistance to approve mental health counseling for victims and allow electronic compensation claims. Expands responsibilities of the crime victim ombudsman to include standards and training for victim service providers. (South Carolina 117th General Assembly; HB 4601)

PRIVACY AND SECURITY

New York now prohibits employers from posting or displaying an employee’s Social Security number, printing the number on any identification badge, card or time card, and discussing an employee’s personal identifying information in public. (New York Legislature; S.B. 8376)

ALCOHOL


Illinois now restricts advertising alcohol to young people and requires alcopops or flavored malt beverages to have labels indicating the beverage contains alcohol. It limits where alcohol can be advertised including prohibiting billboards within 500 feet of schools, public parks, amusement parks and places of worship as well as the display of any alcopop beverage in any videogame, theater or live performance where the audience is primarily children. (Illinois 95th General Assembly; SB 2472)

DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS


Adult adoptees who were born in Maine can now obtain their original birth certificates. (Maine Legislature; LD 1084)

TRANS FATS

Oregon now bans food containing trans fats from restaurants, with a few exceptions. The new law requires restaurants to label or document foods that contain fats, oils or shortening. (74th Oregon Legislative Assembly; AB 987)

HEALTH


A new law requires health insurance policies in Connecticut to cover physical, speech and occupational therapy services to treat autism disorders if the policies cover these services for other diseases and conditions. (Connecticut General Assembly; PA 08-132)
Minnesota established a statewide health improvement program that, among other things, creates health care homes, streamlines payments and sets up an electronic prescription drug program. (Minnesota 58th Regular Session; SB 3780)
In Connecticut, a new law requires that group comprehensive and health insurance policies extend coverage to children until the age of 26. (Connecticut General Assembly; PA 08-147)

IMMIGRATION


California expanded the eligibility of its state health programs, Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, to allow children with family incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify and removes the citizenship and immigration status requirements. (California Legislature; AB 1)

LABOR


Connecticut increased its minimum wage tip credit for hotel and restaurant employers from 8.2 percent to 11 percent for bartenders and from 29.3 percent to 31 percent for waiters, waitresses, and other service workers. (Connecticut General Assembly; PA 08-113)
Maine made it a felony to force someone to work in a commercial sex trade, which includes exotic dancing, pornography and prostitution. The law also would prohibit an employer from taking advantage of an employee by forcing him or her to work for unfair wages or under unfair conditions. (Maine 123rd Legislature; HP 360)

SAME-SEX MARRIAGES


Washington has expanded the rights of same-sex couples and registered domestic partners concerning dissolutions, community property, estate planning, taxes, reciprocity, services to veterans and other public assistance, conflicts of interest for public official and guardianships. Also, Washington now recognizes legal unions (other than marriage) between same-sex people made in other states. (Washington 60th Regular Session; HB 3104)

SMOKING

Delaware passed law to study “reduced ignition-propensity cigarettes,” which are less likely than conventional cigarettes to ignite furnishings such as a couch or mattress. This bill establishes definitions and standards for the reduced ignition-propensity cigarettes and cigarette fire safety. All cigarettes will have to be tested and meet those standards. There shall be a $250 fee for cigarette certification paid by the manufacturer. (Delaware 144th General Assembly; HS1)

Oregon will expand the number of indoor workplaces that are required to be smoke free and also prohibits smoking within 10 feet of entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes of workplaces or public places (74th Oregon Legislative Assembly; SB 571)

TRANSPORTATION


Californians who send or read text messages while driving will face a traffic ticket and fine of $20 for the first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oregon, New Jersey, Alaska and Washington also ban texting while driving. (California Legislature; SB 28)
Minnesota passed a $6.6 billion transportation bill that increases the gas tax by 8.5 cents over the next five years to fund road and bridge repairs. It also boosted the sales tax in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area a quarter percent for transit projects. The law creates a bridge improvement program and provides funding for highway maintenance and local road repairs. (Minnesota 58th Regular Session; HB 2800)

ANIMALS

In Colorado, animal shelters can't release a dog or cat to a prospective owner unless the animal has been sterilized or the prospective owner signs an agreement to have the animal sterilized within 90 days after the date of release. (Colorado Legislature; HB 1185)
New Hampshire refined its standards as to what constitutes adequate shelter for outside dogs. Dog shelters must be structurally sound, provide sufficient air circulation and be large enough to keep the dog clean and dry in inclement weather. (New Hampshire 160th Year of the General Court, HB 1143)
NCSL is the bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staff of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.

Friday, December 26, 2008

New liberal media: Progressives should buy newspapers

By Jason Salzman

It’s time for the liberal media to become a reality—rather than a talking point for conservatives.

Newspapers are for sale across the country, from Florida to California, and they’re available at bargain rates. A rich liberal philanthropist should take this opportunity to buy a newspaper or two, and show conservatives that liberals can run a newspaper with a strong progressive voice on the opinion page and strict fairness and accuracy in news reporting.

The properties to choose from include the Austin American-Statesman, Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, and San Diego Union-Tribune, among others. Most of these newspapers are owned by public companies whose shareholders are howling because they’re watching their stock drop and hearing that newspapers can’t survive in the Internet age.

And the fact is, newspaper circulation is dropping along with advertising revenue due to the double whammy of the recession and the migration of readers to the Internet, where newspaper articles are available for free. In particular, the loss of classified advertising to the Internet (see Craigslist) has been a huge problem for big daily newspapers, which once earned consistent double digit profits.

These changes in the media landscape, coupled with the economic crisis, have led to the recent closure of brand name papers, such as the Albuquerque Tribune and the Cincinnati Post. But just because Wall Street is pushing public companies out of the newspaper business, and privately held media like the Tribune Company are facing bankruptcy or serious cash crunches, doesn’t mean the newspaper industry is doomed.

Common sense says there will always be a need for mass-market advertising, and we humans seem to have an innate interest in the news, even if infotainment may be more effective at attracting the attention of so many of us than serious journalism. Interestingly, while paid circulation of newspapers is down, readership has actually increased dramatically, due to all the free visitors to newspaper websites.

Long-time newspaper analyst John Morton believes big-city dailies will return to profitability when the economy improves, though he says the days of big-time profits will not likely be seen again. Also, newspapers are generating more revenue from online advertising, so newspaper websites will likely turn a profit some day. But we don’t know when.

Adjustments to the familiar model of newspaper delivery may boost profits as well, such as the experiment in Detroit, announced in mid-December, of delivering the newspaper three days per week—and requiring subscribers to access the news online the rest of the week.

So there’s plenty of hope for the business, which we rely on for the information we need to make decisions in the voting booth and to hold government accountable.

But there’s a real need for philanthropists with deep pockets to cover losses at newspapers while they adjust to the changing information environment. Hence the need for those liberal donors.

They can swoop down and show Fox News what the liberal media looks like. They can insist that their newspapers, unlike Fox, contain credible news reporting strictly adhering to the ethics of professional journalism.

This includes not only basic fairness, but credible sourcing, fact checking, thorough research, and breadth in coverage and points of view. In so doing, rich liberals would be affirming the importance of newspapers—and reliable information about local, national, and international issues—in a democracy.

Now is the time for philanthropists to step forward and create the liberal media, but do it within the confines of professional journalism.

(Distributed by Minuteman Media)

IS THAT CONGRESS CALLING DETROIT INCOMPETENT?

By Donald Kaul

I’m always conflicted when I watch some fat-cat miscreant being worked over at a Congressional hearing.

On the one hand, the person on the spit usually deserves it. He or she has almost certainly violated the public trust in a way so obvious that it caught even the half-closed eye of Congress. It’s good to see victims squirm as the senators and congresspersons pound them with questions that are more like bills of indictment.

That enjoyment is mitigated, however, by the fact that it is Congress asking the questions. The sight of a politician clothed in righteous outrage, upbraiding someone for sleazy behavior and bad decision-making reaches a level of hypocrisy that is well beyond the reach of all but television evangelists.

The subjects of these hearings---in an effort to curry favor---generally accept their public chastisement humbly; thus the meekness of the auto executives who appeared before Congress last month in search of a few stray billions left over from the Wall Street bailout.

They were refused, ultimately, and lectured to as though they were high school students who had been caught smoking in the parking lot. They were told that they were dumb; how dare they come to Washington in their corporate jets when they were asking for a handout. They were told they deserved to lose their jobs and their companies to fail. They were a black mark on the escutcheon of Free Market Capitalism, they were told.

To which our captains of industry answered Yes, Massa,” or words to that effect.

Just once I’d like to see one of the witnesses at a hearing respond in kind. For example, an auto executive under attack might have said:

I may be a bad man, I don’t know. I may even be a stupid man who doesn’t deserve the responsibilities and rewards he’s been given. I’ll let others make those judgments.

I do know this, however: You are not the people to make the case against me.

“You’ve gotten us into a pointless war at enormous cost, defending people who hate us. You’ve run up the largest federal deficit in our history without a clue as to how you’re going to repay it, other than later.”

You ignored the warning signals given off by the savings and loan scandals and the collapse of Enron, letting dodgy financial schemes proliferate unchecked until they imploded, taking the economy with them.

And us with them too, don’t forget that.

Have we been behind the curve in developing fuel-efficient cars? Yes we have. But don’t tell me we’re making cars that people don’t want to buy.

Last year General Motors outsold Toyota in the United States by 1.2 million vehicles. Ford sold 850,000 more vehicles than Honda and Chrysler sold more than Nissan and Hyundai combined. Sales for those foreign manufacturers, and Mercedes too by the way, are down by almost as much as ours are this year.

We can’t sell cars because people are afraid; they’re afraid that the economic policies you put in place will bring them to ruin. We can’t sell cars because potential buyers can’t get loans, another gift your stewardship of the economy has given us.

Now you want to appoint a car czar to run the auto industry? Give me a break. Off your record you guys couldn’t run a car wash.

Some of you suggest bankruptcy as a remedy for our problems. Terrific idea. If you were going to buy a $30,000 item whose resale value is an important consideration and you had your choice between a company that was in bankruptcy and one that wasn’t, which would you choose? I thought so.

Look, give me the money or don’t. In the meantime I’m going back to Detroit---by plane---to keep trying to save my company. I could use your help and so could the three million Americans who depend on the auto industry for their livelihood.

I’m not saying that approach would work, but it would be great to see.

(Distributed by Minuteman Media)

Palin calendar tops list



According to The Wall Street Journal, a Sarah Palin calendar tops Amazon's list of office supplies sales.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

King's comments on immigration have national life

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has been trafficking in provocative falsehoods about the tie between immigrants (read Hispanics) and crime. The comments frequently pop up in arguments and debate about immigration across the nation -- in newspapers large and small and other places.

One of the better responses I've seen came today, Christmas Eve, in an opinion piece in The Port Townsend Leader in Washington State.

Here is some of the piece:


Letter writer Gary Price claims "we need to ... face some hard facts" on illegal immigration. Mr. Price lifts his "hard facts," without first verifying them, from pronouncements Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, made more than two years ago and since thoroughly debunked. These "hard facts" erroneously devolve from King's claim that 28 percent of prisoners in all American jails and prisons are "illegal aliens," citing an April 2005 GAO report.

However, that report addresses only federal prisoners and includes both illegal and legal immigrants. It includes no prisoners in state and local jails, about 92 percent of the U.S. jail population. Rep. King wrongly extrapolated the GAO data into unfounded "statistics" that Mr. Price regurgitated here. The actual percentage of illegal immigrants in state prisons and local jails was less than 4 percent, not "28 percent," as determined from SCAAP compensation to states and localities and federal Bureau of Justice Statistics prisoner counts. So much for the "25 deaths each day" caused by "illegals."

Friday, December 19, 2008

Fort Dodge Messenger rips Obama's appointment of Vilsack

In an editorial today The Fort Dodge Messenger clearly felt obligated to preface a blast on Barack Obama's selection of Tom Vilsack as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture with the obvious Iowa angles, the benefits of having a Hawkeye Stater in the top farm post, etc.

But in the last few paragraphs The Messenger (which endorsed John McCain) tells you what it really thinks of Vilsack as the likely ag chief. The newspaper thinks it'a pure political payback, and that Vilsack has, in The Messenger's opinion, a lack of depth on agriculture.

Here is The Messenger:


It's not so certain, however, that Vilsack brings to this new assignment the broad-ranging knowledge of agriculture that would be desirable for one occupying this crucial post.

This nomination seems to be primarily a "thank you" to Iowa for its help in giving Obama's presidential drive the boost it needed at a critical time. As an indication of real commitment by soon-to-be president to addressing agricultural issues with creativity and innovative leadership, however, it comes up short.

Culver looks to go FDR in Iowa



Gov. Chet Culver is touting an intriguing massive public works program in Iowa that he says the state can issue bonds to finance.

He thinks a combination of state money and federal stimulus funding could help Iowa develop a major infrastructure renewal -- that would in turn lead to more private investment in Iowa. We need to hear more specifics but the money would go heavily toward transportation and bread-and-butter needs. Here in rural Iowa we will be watching to see that this means more than just DSM and Cedar Rapids improvements.

One area where western Iowa, now flush with wind energy and ethanol and biodiesel, could get a boost is with public works that improve the efficient transfer of fuel and electricity from our region to the rest of the nation. Barack Obama has talked about this as well.

Here is The Des Moines Register:

Culver today emphasized that a major infrastructure program, partially paid by the federal government, could help rebound the state’s economy and build or improve such things as an electrical grid, telecommunication systems and railroads.

From Blagojevich, Merry Christmas sounds like the middle finger

The Illinois governor -- he of the apparent outlandish horsetrading and casual use of profanity -- isn't going quietly. In all my life, I've never heard such a disingenuous use of "Merry Christmas." It's as if he were using the phrase to tell us to go, well, you know ...

Andy Williams' influence

Among my rural journalism career highlights I count being in attendance several years ago in Wall Lake as legendary crooner Andy Williams sang his most famous tune, "Moon River," in front of his boyhood home there.

The home is an historic landmark and a tourist draw for this Sac County town.

In the closing weeks of 2008, a hot new CD, "Day and Age" from the alternative rock group The Killers, features a reference to "Moon River," in the extraordinary lyrics to "Dustland Fairytale."

Vilsack 9th in line to presidency




In politics it is often said that a few months represent an eternity.

That really is the case with former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He will be part of a powerful one-two Hawkeye State punch steering farm policy as U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee.

This past summer, Vilsack drove himself from Des Moines to Carroll where he campaigned for Democratic congressional candidate Rob Hubler. Fewer than 10 people were at the event.

Vilsack, an early and outspoken supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid who campaigned several times on her behalf in Carroll, seemed very much the forgotten man, a politician on his way out, not up.

At the dinner table that mid-August night at Crossroads Bistro, Vilsack openly complained, knowing I was a reporter, about the attitude of the Barack Obama campaign toward Clintonites like himself, going so far as to note that a young Obama staffer spotted the former Iowa governor at a political event and told Vilsack it was good he joined the Obama camp - even it if was a little late.

Now Vilsack will be part of the Obama cabinet. He's actually ninth in line to presidency according to the official rules of succession. Vilsack is behind the vice president, speaker of the House, president pro-tempore of the Senate, secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, attorney general and secretary of the interior.

The first official major party candidate for president himself in 2008, Vilsack dropped out early in 2007 because he couldn't raise enough money. When Vilsack exited, the weekly Washington Post "Fix" ranking of candidates in the Democratic and Republican presidential nominating processes replaced Vilsack in the No. 5 Democratic slot with U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.

(This originally appeared as part of a column in The Carroll Daily Times Herald).

Little Adolf Hitler?

Some couple in New Jersey really named their kid Adolf Hitler (Campbell). And they're upset a grocery store wouldn't put the full name on a cake.

Classic Holiday Essay: Why Pottersville is better than Bedford Falls




In an instant classic essay in today's New York Times, Wendell Jamieson, clearly a lover of "It's A Wonderful Life," makes the hilarious (and perhaps accurate) case that the hated Pottersville would actually be a more vibrant town today than Bedford Falls.

Jamieson first relates how initially felt about Beford Falls and Pottersville when he first saw the movie as a teen-ager.

Here’s the thing about Pottersville that struck me when I was 15: It looks like much more fun than stultifying Bedford Falls — the women are hot, the music swings, and the fun times go on all night. If anything, Pottersville captures just the type of excitement George had long been seeking.


Then Jamieson gets into the economics -- noting that the economic base of manufacturing that Jimmy Stewart famously promoted probably would have been outsourced while the gambling of houses of Lionel Barrymore's Potter would be thriving today.

Not only is Pottersville cooler and more fun than Bedford Falls, it also would have had a much, much stronger future. Think about it: In one scene George helps bring manufacturing to Bedford Falls. But since the era of “It’s a Wonderful Life” manufacturing in upstate New York has suffered terribly.

On the other hand, Pottersville, with its nightclubs and gambling halls, would almost certainly be in much better financial shape today. It might well be thriving.

I checked my theory with the oft-quoted Mitchell L. Moss, a professor of urban policy at New York University, and he agreed, pointing out that, of all the upstate counties, the only one that has seen growth in recent years has been Saratoga.

“The reason is that it is a resort, and it has built an economy around that,” he said. “Meanwhile the great industrial cities have declined terrifically. Look at Connecticut: where is the growth? It’s in casinos; they are constantly expanding.”

In New York, Mr. Moss added, Gov. David A. Paterson “is under enormous pressure to allow gambling upstate because of the economic problems.”

“We ease up on our lot of cultural behaviors in a depression,” he said.

What a grim thought: Had George Bailey never been born, the people in his town might very well be better off today.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Getting Beyond Christmas Card Politics

Being single at 39 is life's great consolation prize.

Yes, there is much freedom in such a situation, but I will stipulate that men with wives and children have more fulfilling, better if you want to be really direct, lives than mine.

The daily Christmas cards in my mailbox tell the story as the smiling faces of the progeny of a life's worth of friends greet me from behind the laminate.

At the Iowa Family Policy Center fund-raiser in Des Moines a few weeks ago, I absorbed the full effect of this as 800 people gathered to promote the family - something I don't have, at least in the traditional sense they are talking about politically with me positioned at the head of the table.

Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Action Center and a leading Christian conservative voice in our state, had the crowd rolling with anecdotes about his 10 children.

"We are not only pro-life, we are prolific," Hurley said.

Near the back of the banquet hall, his whole family rose from a table at one point in his speech. It was really quite moving.

And, yes, Hurley's life is something more than what I have here.

Perhaps my station will change. Perhaps not.

I've long since reconciled a collection of decisions, some personal, many professional, that have me singing the single man's anthem on the cliff's edge of 40.

Through fate or flaw or remarkable self-awareness (some people really shouldn't be parents, as Carroll Police Chief Jeff Cayler told me the other day) many do not live the life achieved by Hurley and celebrated by his politically muscular organization.

The fresh-faced families sitting around the tables at the West Des Moines Sheraton, raising thousands of dollars, should be humbled by their good fortune.

Instead, this wing of the Republican Party uses its Christmas card-friendly families as a political bludgeon against those whose lives have taken other turns.

The message from the podium to all those not living in traditional family arrangements: Our lives are better than yours.

It may have worked for the ghosts of elections past.

But as the Republican Party hits reshuffle after a November thrashing, as it seeks to build competitive machinery for a run against the president-elect and his allies, Battlestar Barack, they need to do more than just rely on the family values angle.

First, there's an increasing number of people who just don't fit the mold.

Not all of us are going to jump to get married, either.

When I was a kid, my family would visit Grandma Burns in Emporia, Kan. At the time, one of the colleges there had been taken over by a cult - The Way. We heard tales that this cult required its followers to form male and female lines and blindly march to an altar. Members would have to marry whomever reached the altar at the same time.

One gets the sense that the Iowa Family Policy Center would have all of us living without their seal of approval similarly line up so we could join the ranks of "the married."

Now, of course, the Iowa Family Policy Center isn't going to change its agenda. Nor should it.

But what will be interesting to watch as a crowded field forms for the 2010 gubernatorial race in Iowa is how much influence Christian conservatives will have in shaping the Republican Party.

For the party to become competitive, to offer some much-needed balance to current Democratic tilt, it must move beyond this business of family values stagecraft and ugly shots at gays and tired posturing on abortion.

The GOP should look to be the party of robust businesses, small government, the party that embraces competition and the marketplace - one that, instead of spewing hate at marginalized minorities, exudes confidence in what Iowa innovators can do if only the government steps out of the way.

Democrats nationally and statewide are bound to overreach. We need competitive Republicans to pull them back.

This is about more than Iowa, too.

Just as Iowa launched the dream-filled vessel of Barack Obama into the reality of the White House, the state will help frame the future of the GOP for a generation or more in the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.

Republicans better do more than tell me their Christmas-sweatered family Sundays are richer than my TV-dinner Wednesdays.

I know that already.

(This column originally appeared in The Carroll Daily Times Herald).

Kaul: The Party Of Dumb

By Donald Kaul

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, my column pointing out that the Republican Party has become the Party of Dumb seems to have struck a nerve. Ever since it appeared, I have been getting abusive mail from outraged Republicans. Here are just a few examples:

“What a stupid jackass you are,” says Kurt B.

“It is this same ignorant liberal rant that will keep myself and millions of others like me, fighting you liberal buffoons and your corrosive rhetoric….why don’t you go and crawl back into the liberal cave from which you came and let America remain free and the human race non-tarnished by the likes of you and your ignorant cronies,” Dr. Galen from Arizona.

Mark B. weighed in with “What an oxymoron that you wrote an article claiming your apparent enemies are ‘stupid’ yet your column was void of any intelligent thoughts---surely not any synergized ideas.”

And, finally, the classic irate reader response was delivered by Jerry L. of North Carolina---“Don Kaul’s article calling all Republicans ‘dumb’ in Friday’s paper was the LAST straw. We have decided not to renew our subscription to your newspaper when the time comes.”

There were others, some obscene, some merely vulgar. Don’t feel sorry for me; I can take it. (In my defense, I wanted to provide some synergized ideas, but my synergizer was at the cleaners.) Besides, not all of the mail was abusive. Some of it was intelligent. One gentleman, a William M., wrote: “Your…article was spot-on and brutally honest!!! I have thought and felt the same as your own musings for some time, but Sarah pushed the dumbing down of the party over the top!”

And Lee S., who confesses to being a college professor, provided me this quotation from the great 19th Century English philosopher John Stuart Mill: “Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people…it is true that most stupid people are conservative.” Mill, by the way, is considered the last man to know everything.

The responses do, however, demonstrate two traits common to hard-core Republicans: 1) Their inability to accept constructive criticism and 2) their reluctance to look in the mirror and see themselves as others do. The Republican Party, after all, is the party of vituperation. It is the safe harbor of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter (The Ugh Girl). And they call my rhetoric corrosive? Compared to the venom spewed by that trio of rancid right-wingers, my “attack” on the GOP is a love poem.

And these Republicans take no responsibility for George Bush, who has made incompetence into an art form. He leaves office with the economy in a nose-dive, our international reputation in ruins and virtually nothing done about the problems we face in education, energy independence, the environment or the onrushing crisis in unfunded obligations, of which Medicare is merely the most critical.

They hardly mention Mr. Bush, their gift to us. They prefer to rail against Barack Obama and the dark pit of socialism into which he’ll throw us. They ignore the fact that Bush is still the president and it is he who is bringing the bounties of socialism to us in a desperate attempt to rescue an economy, which has foundered on his watch.

Already you can see signs that the Republican Party is getting ready to blame Obama for the economic hell that it left for him to conquer.

You want to talk dumb? When Obama named Hillary Clinton his Secretary of State-designate, the Republican National Committee put out a list of campaign statements Senator Clinton made during her primary fight with Obama. It asked whether the senator “still carries those same, real concerns about President-elect Obama and his stances on critical issues confronting the nation.”

The country is coming apart at the seams and the Republican Party is still trying to undermine public confidence in the man charged with saving us.

Now that’s what I call dumb.

I rest my case.

(This column is distributed by Minuteman Media)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Promoting the movie business in Iowa

Iowa Motion Picture Association Business Planning Event -

With the passage of the Iowa film, television, and video production tax incentives program by the Iowa Legislature in 2007, film and video production is a targeted industry in Iowa. The incentives are working – three projects qualified for the incentives in 2007; two features were produced in spring 2008, and another is in progress now.

The Iowa Motion Picture Association (IMPA) is working to raise awareness of the industry, train additional industry workers, and strengthen the state-wide business network in ongoing education and training as well as finding locations, crew, and equipment for specific productions.

The IMPA wants to provide opportunities for more Iowans to enter this high-paying, healthy, exciting, and continually evolving field of work, and improve the project response network we need to bring additional locations to urban and rural communities.

IMPA has received a grant from the Innovation and Commercialization Division of the Iowa Department of Economic Development to hold a Central Iowa production business planning and networking event in Des Moines at the Hotel Renaissance Savery, 4th and Locust, Des Moines, on Thursday, December 18, 2008.

The facilitated planning process will take place from noon – 5:00 pm (registration required; lunch provided; $25 fee) followed by a networking reception and celebration of the incentives from 5:00 – 8:00 pm (free and open to the public).

Native Iowan and now California producer Joel Sadilek will deliver the keynote address at the reception- “The Business of Film, Television, and Video Production: How Iowa can Build it so They Will Come.”

Who should attend? Representatives of cities, counties, chambers of commerce, economic development individuals and organizations, civic groups, community foundations, production companies, production vendors and suppliers, freelance production workers, and those interested in working in the industry.

Please plan to attend to learn more about this exciting industry and the growing opportunities for Iowa communities, businesses, and individuals.

To attend the production business planning process please RSVP and register by December 16 -

To attend the networking reception and keynote address please RSVP by December 16 - via email to:impa@assocserv.com

See the schedule of events below:

Central Iowa Production Planning Meeting

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Note – registration limited to 40 participants – please RSVP by 12.16.08 - $25 fee

Schedule:

Noon Registration and networking lunch at Renaissance Savery Hotel; overview of the afternoon

1:00 Brief summary of Iowa Film and Video Tax Incentives initiative; potential to bring more film, video, and computer graphics production to Iowa, Tom Wheeler

1:15 Examples of recent feature film projects; summary of economic benefits to communities, Becky Gruening, Kent Newman

1:30 Facilitated discussion: Identify existing and available assets and resources (strengths)

2:00 Define challenges and barriers (weaknesses)

2:30 Break

2:45 Develop strategies to build on assets / resources (opportunities) and address challenges / barriers (threats)

3:45 Prioritize action strategies, timelines, and strategic partnerships; evaluation measures

4:45 Process feedback and evaluation (stakeholder review of planning process; suggestions for other priority actions)

5:00 Adjourn

Networking reception open to additional industry attendees and the public

Friday, December 12, 2008

The U.S. Department of Food?



Whether or not you agree with him, Nicholas Kristof has a compelling read in The New York Times today about what he believes should be a major transformation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He thinks it should be called "The Department of Food," and go with a mission that isn't led by large corporate farm interests.

Here is Kristof:

A Department of Agriculture made sense 100 years ago when 35 percent of Americans engaged in farming. But today, fewer than 2 percent are farmers. In contrast, 100 percent of Americans eat.

Renaming the department would signal that Mr. Obama seeks to move away from a bankrupt structure of factory farming that squanders energy, exacerbates climate change and makes Americans unhealthy — all while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

Harkin proposes $10,000 rebates for American cars

From Harkin's office:

Harkin, DURBIN push MEASURE That Would Spur Demand for American Cars


Legislation would provide buyers with a trade-in a $10,000 credit towards purchase of a new car

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced a bill today that would help American automakers sell their cars to individuals and families with lower incomes and take older, less fuel-efficient cars off the road. The Sell Fuel Efficient Cars Act would provide a rebate of $10,000 to buyers who trade in a car more than ten years old for a new American car.

“A critical component is missing from the bridge loans for the Big Three automakers – reasons for Americans to buy American cars. This bill is designed to create demand for cars, help preserve jobs, and create profits for the car companies,” said Harkin. “It will also jump-start the nationwide transition to more fuel efficient vehicles and take polluting older cars off the road. If we can help the auto companies put their future back on track, we can certainly also help regular folks buy a more fuel efficient vehicle. ”

"Anyone who filled up their tank when gas prices were hovering around $4 a barrel knows that we must make the transition to more fuel efficient vehicles," said Durbin. "This bill helps consumers by offering them a good deal on an American-made car, it helps the American automakers by creating a demand for their products and we all benefit from having more fuel efficient cars on the road."

Eligibility for the rebate would be limited to families with an adjusted gross income below $40,000 on their prior year’s income tax return, or individuals with an adjusted gross income below $25,000. There would be a one car limit per individual or family and the program would expire in 2009.

Those who are eligible would be required to trade in a car that is over 10 years old and still operational. The rebate must be used to purchase a new, fuel-efficient GM, Ford or Chrysler car assembled in the United States.

The car must have an average fuel economy above 25 miles per gallon measured under the stricter five cycle EPA standard, and more than five miles per gallon better than the trade-in.

Nearly 17 percent of automobiles made by the Big Three would qualify for this standard. But, that percentage could significantly rise if smaller engines were chosen for some models and people chose more fuel efficient vehicles.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Palin ranks #1 on Google searches outside of the U.S.



Now comes news, via The Vancouver Sun, that former GOP presidential candidate Sarah Palin draws more interest from foreigners than she does here. In fact, according to Google, she tops searches outside the states.

With Bobby Jindal saying he's looking at another run for governor in Louisiana in 2011, the question is out there: Who else but Palin?

Here is The Vancouver Sun:

Google just released its list of top-10 most popular search names for the year. Outside the U.S., Palin, a feisty and photogentic Pentecostal hockey mom, was number one. Within the U.S., she was only number eight on Google's fastest-rising list.

In the United States, "Obama" was number one on the Google list. But the U.S. Democratic president-elect came in only fifth on the international Google search list.

King votes against auto indusry bailout

The U.S. House approved a $14 billion rescue plan for Detroit but U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, was not on board supporting the effort.

Here is The Omaha World-Herald:


King, who represents western Iowa, said labor unions have not made the necessary concessions to make the auto companies viable.

"The House voted to pick up the tab for overpriced labor and managerial mistakes without meaningful concessions from either," King said.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Gay Marriage Debate

The Des Moines Register has strong coverage today of the Iowa Supreme Court Case on gay marriage.

Meanwhile, in Carroll, we had one of the more thoughtful letters to the editor in some time on the subject -- from Adam Lange. I'll post that here soon.

Additionally, I asked Sen. Tom Harkin several questions about this issue on his conference call earlier this afternoon and will post on that once I clear some other Daily Times Herald responsibilities.

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky should get the Illinois Senate seat



Here at Iowa Political Alert we aren't above giving our neighbors unsolicited advice.

One candidate well-suited to fill the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois vacated by Barack Obama is U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky -- who has a remarkable background as a community organizer and citizens rights activist.

As the political writer for the Daily Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., I covered her first run for the statehouse back in 1990. She's been in Congress, representing Illinois' Ninth Congressional District since 1998.

She has long been a consumer advocate, and in 1969 led the fight that put freshness dates on products sold in the supermarket.

Other qualified candidates are mentioned but she has the resume to be in the mix.

What a scandal in Illinois

There always seemed to be something slithery about Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois.

Here is The New York Times:

CHICAGO — Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities on Tuesday morning on corruption charges, including an allegation that he conspired to effectively sell President-elect Barack Obama’s seat in the United States Senate to the highest bidder.

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, called his sole authority to name Mr. Obama’s successor “golden,” and he sought to parlay it into a job as an ambassador or secretary of Health and Human Services, or a high-paying position at a nonprofit or an organization connected to labor unions, prosecutors said.

He also suggested, they said, that in exchange for the Senate appointment, his wife could be placed on corporate boards where she might earn as much as $150,000 a year, and he tried to gain promises of money for his campaign fund.

If Mr. Blagojevich could not secure a deal to his liking, prosecutors said, he was willing to appoint himself.

“If I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself,” the governor said in recorded conversation, prosecutors said.

A 76-page affidavit from the United States Attorney’s office in the Northern District of Illinois says Mr. Blagojevic

Monday, December 08, 2008

Print Your Own Money Legally (As a community that is)



Over at the Boomtown USA blog, small-town economic development expert Jack Schultz has a fasinating post about what communities can do to keep people shopping local:

Several towns have developed their own currency, something that was common in the Wild West of yesteryear and made a comeback during the Great Depression, as a way to encourage local purchases. It is perfectly legal to do, as long as you don’t make it look like the real thing and you do the project as a not for profit organization.


Communities can print up their own currency, with serial numbers, anti-counterfeiting details and even pictures of local landmarks or famous (or not so famous) local citizens. The local residents benefit through an advantageous exchange system, say for example a hundred traditional dollars that can be converted into 150 or 200 local dollars.


Ithaca, NY has been doing it since 1991. That’s their currency on the right. Berkshire County, MA started theirs in 2006 and has had about $2 million exchanged for BerkShares.

New VA Clinic In Decorah

Washington, D.C.—Iowa Congressman Tom Latham has announced that the United States Veterans Administration (VA) has approved a new outpatient clinic in Decorah, Iowa. Congressman Latham has been working with Secretary of the VA James B. Peake on this issue since the early part of 2008.

"Our nation's veterans were made a promise, and I've been working to ensure the federal government keeps that promise. Secretary Peake and I have made sure that the veterans of Decorah will have access to quality health care through this new outpatient clinic, rather than having to travel to distant VA clinics at a cost of great time and money."

The new outpatient clinic will address the health care needs of veterans in northeast Iowa, with specific services and a location to be detailed as planning for the facility continues. Starting in February of this year, Congressman Latham began communications with the Veterans Administration requesting the creation of this facility. In early September, Latham and Secretary Peake sat down and discussed the facility face-to-face.

The Congressman expects the clinic to be open as early as fall of 2009.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Palin getting more exposure in Georgia



It won't be long before we are seeing more of Sarah Palin in Iowa. She' now in Georgia campaigning in that state's Senate run-off.

This from the Journal-Constitution:

Augusta — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin roared back onto the campaign trail Monday, calling on Georgians to re-elect incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in his hotly contested runoff with Democrat Jim Martin.

“The eyes of the nation are on you,” Palin told several thousand people at the James Brown Arena for her 8:55 a.m. speech, the first of four appearances in the state. “We all have Georgia on our mind.”