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Tuesday, April 26
John Drury: Quotable Quotes for $1000, Alex
by
John Drury
on Tue 26 Apr 2005 07:09 PM CDT
 Quotable Quotes for $1000, Alex
by John Drury
The
last week of the 2005 session of the Iowa legislature is upon us and it
seems that instead of trying to get their feet out the door, some are
trying to get their feet out of their mouths.
Last week I told you about the egregious remark that Senator Iverson
made regarding the minimum wage issue. “The minimum wage really isn’t a
huge issue because I don’t know anybody working for that,” said Senator
Iverson.
Would you like to meet some, Senator?
Not to be outdone, Senator Mark Zieman, a Republican from Postville,
described government workers as “bottom feeders out there with their
hand out.” This was during senate debate on the state’s public
retirement system. It was later reported that Senator Zieman has
received more than $1 million in farm subsidies since 1995. When asked
about this, Senator Zieman replied, “I readily admit I got’ em and I
admitted at the time that I’m one of those people that’s using the
system.”
So then, are you also a bottom feeder, Senator?
In the closing week of the 2005 session, it appears as though the tax credits are flying.
There is an interesting proposal in the House that would extend a tax
credit of up to $10,000 if you donate a kidney or bone marrow. “I’m not
saying that everybody’s going to rush out and give away a kidney or
anything,” said Representative Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Garner.
I would say that’s probably a safe bet, Linda.
There’s talk of tax breaks for people who donate to private schools as
well. Representative Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City,
is in support of this saying, “We want to have those schools as a
viable alternative so people have some choice of where to send their
kids to school.”
Are you under the false impression that you have properly funded public education in this state, Senator?
Let’s not limit the wordplay to state politics, 4th District U.S.
Representative Tom Latham was in town again the other day. It’s kind of
funny, through the fall campaign you couldn’t find the man, and now it
seems like he’s everywhere. Anyway, he spoke to a government class at
NIACC yesterday, and offered up these nuggets.
On Terry Schiavo, he said that he has “real reservations about Congress
getting involved in situations like this” but that they didn’t vote on
whether or not to remove the feeding tube, but “whether the federal
court should have jurisdiction and I voted for that.”
With all due respect sir, you got involved in an unprecedented way and there’s no turning back.
On No Child Left Behind, he said that like many federal programs “the
intent is good, but the implementation is not always perfect.”
Well, at least you admit it, Tom.
That’s all I have this week. Now it is up to you to either laugh or cry.
Tuesday, April 19
John Drury: Iverson Ignores Iowa's Indigent
by
John Drury
on Tue 19 Apr 2005 03:44 PM CDT
Iverson Ignores Iowa's Indigent
by John Drury
I guess I’m going to harp on the minimum wage again. I would
have left it for next session since it’s obvious they aren’t going to
touch it this year; but I see that the legislature is considering a
bill that will raise their own wages by 17 percent over two years and I
simply can’t resist. Yes, that’s right, in spite of a looming budget
that is based on spending more than they are bringing in, an
under-funded education system, the fact that there hasn’t been an
increase in the minimum wage in years, and multiple other financial
woes, they are considering a pay raise for themselves.
Right now, the average legislator makes around $21,500, this bill would
jump that to $25,000 and leaders would go to somewhere around $37,500.
Legislators also get a daily expense account of $86 per day, and
monthly expenses of $200. This bill would jump the $86 to $105 and the
$200 goes to $300.
I have to admit, I would think the final two weeks of this session will
be more chaotic than most and it’s probably a wonderful opportunity to
slide this in somewhere.
It’s absolutely amazing to me that any legislator would even consider
such a move. In particular, the Republican “leadership” has blamed just
about everything under the Iowa sun on the rising costs of state
workers; and they have blocked attempts to even debate an increase in
the state’s minimum wage. And to be fair, the Democrats haven’t been
all that fired up about raising the minimum wage either; they offer it
up each year and then watch it die without a fight. But probably the
icing on the cake came this week when Senate Republican leader Stewart
Iverson said he didn’t see the hypocrisy in not being willing to
discuss raising the minimum wage while at the same time voting
themselves a pay increase. “The minimum wage really isn’t a huge issue
because I don’t know anybody working for that,” says Senator Iverson.
There are thousands of Iowans working for the minimum wage or just
above that would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage and it’s
a slap in the face to each and every Iowan for any senator to suggest
that there isn’t an issue because he or she doesn’t know them.
Leaders from both parties suggest that it’s hard to recruit good
candidates because the pay is so paltry. I would venture to say that if
the candidate is looking at the pay as criteria for becoming a
legislator, then perhaps that person is not a “good” candidate in the
first place.
Public service is not about making money. It’s about having the desire
to serve the public and passing meaningful legislation that will help
the citizenry of the state, and I think most potential legislators
understand this.
A raise in the minimum wage helps the least among us. To me, that is a
very important part of public service. And to have a leader in our
state government deny their very existence while at the same time
giving himself a pay raise bespeaks an arrogance that is truly mind-boggling.
Tuesday, April 12
John Drury: Random Views From A Community Activist
by
John Drury
on Tue 12 Apr 2005 03:58 PM CDT
Random Views From A Community Activist
by John Drury
I thought I would take the opportunity to comment on a few things that have been happening in politics …
Truth Bill Dead
Republican leadership in the Iowa House has given up on a truth in
campaigning bill when it comes to political campaign ads. This bill
would have fined candidates for lying about their opponents in campaign
ads.
Luckily, this bill went nowhere. However, there was at least one
interesting quote that came out of the limited discussion this idea
received.
House Majority Leader Chuck Gipp, R-Decorah, said, “The problem you
have is you always have constitutional rights and freedom of speech
issues …” Yes, Representative Gipp, that pesky Constitution gets in the
way again.
I believe in truthful campaign ads as much as the next guy but if an
incumbent claims he or she is pro-education, and their opponent finds
an instance or two where the incumbent voted against additional funding
for education, should this issue come before a judge? And I always
thought it was the Republicans who complain about lawyers and their
frivolous lawsuits.
Representative Ed Fallon Announces for Governor
While I appreciate Representative Fallon’s commitment to a clean
campaign void of any special interest money, I honestly think he’s
shooting himself in the foot. He mentioned in his announcement speech
that he saw election reform as his number one goal. That’s admirable,
but to be honest, I’m not sure that it is the people of Iowa’s number
one concern.
The people of Iowa want economic growth and I don’t think that
necessarily means more casinos. They want this growth in all parts of
Iowa and they want this growth to be something that they can celebrate.
Economic growth based on celebrating our small communities and
returning a quality of life to Iowa that has long been forgotten. Hell,
I don’t know, maybe that’s just what I want.
At this point in the game, my only advice to Representative Fallon
would be to reconsider his self-imposed limits on accepting PAC money.
I think that change can come about but I think the system has a much
better chance of being changed from within. So I would encourage him to
raise as much money as he can, forget the limits, get elected, and then
go to work. Oh, and he’ll need a good reason for supporting Nader in
2000, he will get asked that a lot.
Seed Bill Signed, Sealed and Delivered to Corporate Ag
In yet another example of an attack on Iowa’s Home Rule, the Iowa House
and Senate have both passed legislation that will pre-empt local
governments from controlling the types of agricultural seeds that are
planted in their counties and municipalities. Unfortunately, Governor
Vilsack has signed this piece of legislation. Why?
House Talks Tough on Sex Offenders
The Iowa House talked tough last week on sex offenders, passing
legislation for tougher penalties, new money for increased prison
terms, and increased monitoring of released sex offenders. All of this
sounds great, and all of it will cost additional money. Unfortunately,
money wasn’t appropriated. According to House Democratic leader Pat
Murphy, the legislation requires the Attorney General’s office and the
Department of Public Safety to find $3.6 million dollars in their
existing budgets to pay for these new laws. My guess is that these
departments aren’t delighted to have to find this extra money in their
already strapped budgets. State troopers are at a 40-year low and we’ve
laid off prison guards while increasing prison populations. In the Iowa
House, talk is cheap, literally.
Social Security and Iowa’s Tom Latham
In a piece of propaganda, I mean, literature distributed by Tom
Latham’s office on Social Security, Representative Latham says he “will
continue to fight for reforms that protect the current benefits and
needs of current retirees and those nearing retirement. This includes
absolutely opposing any plan to privatize Social Security.”
But in a town hall meeting just a few weeks ago here in north Iowa,
Representative Latham was asked directly, “Do you support private
accounts as part of Social Security?” He said that he does
support private accounts and went on to use the standard the sky is
falling scare tactic. The questioner then asked why his literature said
one thing and he said another. Representative Latham explained that
when he says he opposes any plan to privatize Social Security, he means
getting rid of it all together and privatizing the whole thing, but
that he is not opposed to privatizing parts of it.
My suggestion to avoid such confusion about what the guy says in the
future is to do what my wife did to that last slick mailer he produced.
Mark it, “RETURN TO SENDER” and put it in the corner mailbox. It may
not do any good, but it might make you feel better.
Bankruptcy Bill
It’s gone through the U.S. Senate and it’s likely to sail through the
House tomorrow. Our federal government is about to make it harder for
people to file for bankruptcy protection. The bill does a host of other
favors for the already booming credit card industry and sticks it to
the little guy plain and simple.
Is it just me or does anyone else find it ironic that our federal
government runs trillion dollar deficits and at the same time seems to
be teaching financial discipline to the masses. God Bless America.
Tuesday, April 5
John Drury: Regulating De-regulation in Iowa
by
John Drury
on Tue 05 Apr 2005 05:48 PM CDT
Regulating De-regulation in Iowa
by John Drury
First off, congratulations are in order to Linda and Blog for Iowa on
the one year anniversary. Linda has obviously put a lot of work and
dedication into this site and it really is a fantastic resource. It
truly is an honor to be a contributor and I thank her for allowing me
to be a part of the team.
The Iowa House and Senate have both recently passed legislation that will
pre-empt local governments from controlling the types of agricultural
seeds that are planted in their counties and municipalities. This piece
of legislation, known to some as the GMO bill, known to others as
legislation for no apparent reason, is on its way to Governor Vilsack
and unfortunately is expected to get his signature.
Perhaps one of the more interesting things about this legislation is
that not one of Iowa’s counties or cities has attempted to pass an
ordinance to control agricultural seeds. So here is the state
legislature stepping in pre-empting them from ever having the ability
to protect their communities from the unknown effects of genetically
engineered crops. Senator Tom Rielly, a Democrat from Oskaloosa said,
“ I think this is a good first step in the regulation of agricultural
seed in Iowa.” Huh? Don’t you mean the de-regulation of agricultural
seed, Senator?
Rep. Mark Kuhn, a Democrat from Charles City, worked tirelessly trying
to stop this bill from passage and he’s to be commended. He pointed out
in House debate and in a two-page letter to every senator before they
voted that there seems to be a “misunderstanding among legislators that
the State of Iowa already regulates genetically engineered agricultural
seeds and this bill is needed to maintain uniformity across the state.”
In fact, the State of Iowa has no regulatory control over genetically
engineered seed. Counties could not stop them from being planted even
if they wanted to so taking away local control when they didn’t have it
in the first place seems beyond pointless.
One can’t help but wonder why our state legislature would waste its
time on such non-issues as this. It seems as though the Biotech
industry is simply purchasing legislation ensuring that there will
never be any state or local regulations on genetically engineered
seeds. There is a need for a discussion on this topic and non-GMO and
organic growers need to be a part of it and so far, they have been
excluded.
This legislation will prevent any further study or discussion on the
issue. I urge Governor Vilsack to veto this legislation and allow
meaningful debate to take place.
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