Obviously, this isn't serious business but we know Rod knows his legislation, and takes care of business -- and part of the job of being a lawmaker is mixing in some matters like this.
That considered, later today, I found it unbelievable and incredibly sophomoric that the State GOP would seek to make political hay out of a Muscatine Democrat's effort to honor the channel catfish.
Is this important? No. Should we be focusing with super intensity on economic matters? Of course.
But one thing has nothing to do with another ... So the following press release is just poor. It's the kind of attack that someone with no political experience might orchestrate in a college election or something along those lines.
Here it is:
(DES MOINES) – At a time of great economic uncertainty for Iowa families and small businesses, Rep. Nathan Reichert (D-Muscatine) is aggressively lobbying his fellow legislators to solve what he thinks is a very important dilemma - Iowa has no state fish.
Reichert filed House Joint Resolution 2 on January 22nd. The legislation would make ictalurus punctatus, more commonly known as the channel catfish, the State Fish of Iowa. The law also directs multiple agencies to obtain pictures and representations of the fish, enshrine it at the state historical museum, and publish promotional materials.
“It is bad enough that Rep. Reichert has been helping Governor Culver spend the state into a $700 million hole, but now he’s prioritizing his time, as well as directing state staff and resources, towards a frivolous pursuit that doesn’t create a single job or help one family,” said Nathan Treloar, spokesman for the Republican Party of Iowa.
“Serious times call for serious leadership and it is now time for Rep. Reichert and Governor Culver to channel their efforts into safeguarding Iowa’s future, not a fish.”
The Republican Party better get more serious because the nation needs it to bounce back strong from the 2008 elections and offer some alternatives.
3 comments:
Nope - you're wrong on this one. Resolutions are harmless, are meaningless and take no time. On this issue, it does take time, it's really stupid and this lawmaker should know better. Instead of working on eco development legislation, he does this. Good for the GOP calling him out for wasting precious time and resources.
Legislators need to be the ones taking their jobs more seriously. They go to Des Moines, collect a paycheck and a generous per diem, and spend their time working on legilsation like this? Not with my tax dollars footing the bill! At least the state Republican's are paid with private donations.
Say what you want, but having worked at the capitol before, I know this release sent the D's spinning. Any opportunity that exists to tie the governor or democrat legislators to poor leadership, mismanagement, etc should not be passed up.
Post a Comment