Throwing a fit worthy of any 2 year old, the Iowa House of Representatives is still in session today because House Speaker Pat Murphy and the House Democrats are upset they lost the vote to force the labor union backed prevailing wage down the throats of Iowans.

The vote was 50-46 with 51 needed to pass.

HF333 would force contractors who are awarded state projects to pay the “prevailing wage” for the county where the project is constructed. Prevailing wage is an average wage for each county for laborers.

The debate was to begin Thursday morning but a surprise request for delay until 1pm was approved. 1:00 pm came and went and after supper it was decided to begin again on Friday morning. Friday morning came and went and debate began at 1220 with a decision to end debate at 5:20 pm. (These times may be a bit off as I was trying to order Cubs tickets at the time…sorry.)

The debate was more empassioned than any I have heard in quite awhile. My favorite amendment offered was by Rep. Tymeson of Madison which would have renamed the bill from “Public Improvement Quality Protection Act” to the “Price Fixing for Public Improvements Act.” I laughed for a long time when I heard this one. THIS was truth in sentencing advertising politics. Of course this was voted down but the Republicans showed the recently absent spunk that proves the reason why we will always win in the realm of ideas and sticking to our principles.

The Democrats were hammered with questions about what was actually in the bill and it seemed that they <Democrats> had NO IDEA what this bill said or meant in the terms of scope. They used terms like “inferred” or “understood” which is the same terms criminals use to defend themselves in court. Pointing out the ramifications to tax payers and small contractors in rural counties proved to be too much for the few brave democrats who voted against this costly bill.

On cue, Gov. Culver threw his fit weighed in saying “This legislation is about two things: good jobs and fair pay. And I want to be very clear; this is not over. Key members of the legislature have yet to vote, and I commend Speaker Murphy and the leadership for allowing them the opportunity to do so.”

So the House remains open with the apparent hope that those absent will be beaten or cajoled or bribed into voting with House Speaker Murphy. We can only hope that, as a good parent would do with a fit-throwing child, the Republicans stay the course and those who voted against the bill will not give in to the ease of just saying yes.

Don’t give the candy to the crying baby!

It is entirely possible that I am confused.

I am trying to keep this straight: President Obama issued an executive order that requires all federal building projects use union labor effectively increasing the cost of those projects. The Iowa Legislature is following suit by pushing the same idea for state projects increasing costs for Iowans on top of the increased costs by the Federal government. Then the federal government passed the $1 trillion dollar spending bill saddling us with higher inflation and eventually higher taxes to support the recurring costs of this bill.

In reviewing the bill, it is found that Iowa stands to gain almost $5 billion with somewhere around $350 million for road projects/infrastructure. That sounds nice since Governor Culver stated about half of the $700 million he wants to borrow would go to these very projects. This should decrease the need for this money then and the Governor should be changing the amount.

The Iowa Legislature is now deciding whether to force a gas tax on Iowans to fund the same infrastructure improvement projects. The last figure I saw was an $.08 per gallon tax increase.

Now the Iowa legislature is considering a large scale change in the Iowa tax code to increase our taxes and remove the Federal Tax deduction from Iowa tax law. (shirt stolen here)

Let me get this straight:

1. 350 million from the feds for roads/infrastructure

2. STILL borrow $700 million

3. Increase the gas tax to raise an additional $350 million

4. Raise taxes and take away deductions?!?

Tax, borrow and spend, oh, sigh!

Congressman Bruce Braley has once again shown he cannot resist acting more like a politician than an Iowan. In Saturday’s Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Mary Rae Bragg writes about Congressman Braley’s weekly press conference with reporters where he wants to make it clear…there are NO earmarks in the economic stimulus package and they are rumors “perpetuated by right-wing radio hosts.”

Technically, of course, he is correct. Earmarks are specified spending measures that typically are added on to a bill during a conference committee. Congressman and Senators will add these earmarks to send money to their district or for a cause they wish to support. After the conference, the only way to defeat an earmark is to vote against the entire bill which is why they are added onto massive bills. It would be highly unlikely for a Congressman to vote against a massive bill for one earmark.

So the massive porkulus bill did not contain any earmarks in the technical sense since they were not added as “earmarks” specifically. Instead they were part of the original legislation and only spending amounts were changed in conference committee.

Had the reporter not specified the term “earmarks” then Congressman Braley would have been forced to admit that there is much specified (payback, targeted for home Democratic districts, personal cause)spending in this porkulus bill.

Think about the more than $30 million for wetlands conservation in House Speaker Pelosi’s San Francisco Bay area district, including work she previously championed to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse. Not specifically an earmark in the technical sense, but one in the practical sense.

Congressman Braley needs to be honest with the people in his district and stop the politics of double talk and blame. The so-called Right Wing talk show hosts are telling more of the truth about the earmarks spending bill (a.k.a. Porkulus) than he is and to blame them is only an attempt to dismiss any questioning of Porkulus as from a bunch of fringe wackos. Maybe he is going to try to use this as an example when he signs on with the next censorship act “Fairness Doctrine.” Can’t wait to hear that blame game.

Sarah Palin has publically responded to what she called a political stunt and said it wouldn’t change her heartfelt views on supporting pregnant women and their unborn children.

At issue is a campaign to make donations to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin’s name.

“I have boxes of thank-you notes from people associated with Planned Parenthood thanking me for the donations,” she said during a press conference. “It’s political theater — it’s great theater, I guess, for some.”

I started laughing when I heard President Obama scold Congress about wanting to return to the failed policies of the last 8 years and that it was time for a new direction. Oh, is it?

First, you hear the “failed policy” argument about the Bush tax cuts and the call from the left to repeal them. If tax cuts are such a failed policy, then why didn’t they rescind the Bush tax cuts rather than give more tax cuts during the Porkulous bill? Obviously they understand that tax cuts do provide stimulous as around 40% of Porkulous is actually tax cuts. So this is not a distancing from the “failed policy” of tax cuts for economic stimulous, instead it is an acknowledgement that tax cuts work for economic growth. Continue tax cuts…..check.

During the past 8 years we have gone from a surplus to almost a trillion dollar deficit. I will not go into the Clinton recession and the effects of 9/11, but even with ALL of that, over 8 years President Bush helped create a nearly 1 trillion dollar deficit. President Obama has decided that he can double that in less than a month after taking office and submitted Porkulous which will add over a trillion dollars to the deficit. Let’s not continue the “failed policies” of the last 8 years? Deficit spending to the tune of $1 trillion new dollars….check.

Oh, I get which “failed policies” President Obama is talking about…keeping terrorists locked up in Gitmo.

We’ve all heard the statement “I know it when I see it” regarding pornography but I never thought it would be true for flood damage. Apparently DHS secretary Napolitano flew to Iowa to see flood damage on a television screen and what she saw out the window on her way there. She did not tour ANY flood damage. Governor Culver even attempts to justify it! If this had been a Bush Administration official……..

According to the Des Moines Register, Iowa cities, counties and schools have somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.5 billion in cash reserves or ending balances. Lawmakers and Gov. Culver are considering forcing them to spend down those reserves to help balance state budgets.

“That’s a discussion we’re having with legislators right now, whether or not there will be a requirement that some of those reserves be used before they get additional state assistance,” Culver said.

Over the past two years, Gov. Culver has submitted budgets that have recorded upwards of $1 billion dollars in new spending. Couple that with the ‘bury your head in the sand’ mentality when looking at revenue forecasts and Iowa has the budget problem it has today. Now, to make matters worse, the governor (and soon the legislature) will be looking to plug the budget hole they created by forcing locales who are being responsible with the people’s money to finance continued spending.

Even the thought of this idea shows how out of touch Gov. Culver and the Iowa Democratic leaders are with everyday Iowans. These reserves are used to cover fluctuating state payments and are often held to cover expenses that occur between the two main property tax payment months. These funds pay employees, keep police on the street and make sure there is money for salt during bad winter months when there is little property tax revenue. Some funds are being held to pay for upcoming construction projects like the $13 million water pollution control upgrade in Dubuque.

The Democrats in the state legislature in cahoots with Gov. Culver created this budget mess with the increased spending they approved in the last 2 years and they shouldn’t look to responsible local governments to provide them with a bail out.

Controversy abounds regarding Obama’s faith office. At issue is the use of public money for faith-based programs that provide social service help to the needy. Now, leftist activists want to force these organizations into opening their hiring practices to include people that conflict with an organization’s mission or doctrine. That means a Catholic organization could not disqualify job applicants who are vocal proponents of abortion, same sex marriage or pornography. If this happens, the government will expand its welfare state.

CNN Article

The budget mess, both nationally and state wide, has caused me to reflect on my own finances and balancing budgets. In our families review, we found there are a lot of items in our budget that are just services and stuff…from the water, electric, gas, sewer, car payments to cell phones, internet, magazine subscriptions, netflix, and satellite television. None of this is creating wealth for me. Well, technically the internet is since my wife attends classes online which increases her earning potential and I provide some services to other people by which I may, or may not, get paid. But none of it is bringing in INCOME so that family re-evaluation is ongoing. But this made me think about the current situation we are in as a country and in Iowa.

My grandparents were farmers, so when they purchased land, equipment, cattle, seeds and the like they MADE money from these purchases. The land not only accrued value, but paid them back.

This current mess has received the big TARP bailout which just gave money to institutions that don’t create income or wealth but instead transfer papers around that signify a monetary level. Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion investment scheme, Enron and the banking issues come to mind. It’s paper being shuffled around. The things that MAKE us money have all but vanished. Instead we have turned to a virtually entire service country and that is why this stimulus cannot and will not work. The one bailout out I agreed with on principle was the automobile industry bailout.

In Iowa we have seen cuts in the manufacturing industry with losses of over 2500 jobs including cuts from Caterpillar, John Deere, Eagle Window and Door, Pella Windows, Flexsteel and Whirlpool. The stimulus should address job losses in these areas and focus on ways to protect these industries from the unfair trade practices our country has engaged in (this will be discussed at a later date.)

The one thing President Obama has done that I have agreed with was his attempt to put a buy American clause in the stimulus bill. The waah waah cry-babies were all worried about international anger over this and, as these countries voiced their outrage, our workers were laid off. But he gave in and changed his mind and now we can’t expect our own government to purchase the needed equipment to stimulate OUR economy from OUR manufacturers. Nope, we can use our tax money to help the EU and we are told it will save us money because we can purchase cheaper supplies from other countries so the money can go farther.

Oops…then comes the executive order that ONLY UNION LABOR can be used on these projects. So that will erase all of the cost savings of buying internationally and eat up a larger portion of the overall project cost.

Finally, we see that the democratic congressional budget office has said if we do NOTHING the recession will last 18 months. WITH the stimulus it will last longer. Didn’t hear that on CNN.

The whole idea of this stimulus needs to go away until they find something that will actually work. But if they are going to do stimulus, focus on manufacturing and tax cuts…the rest will take care of itself.

Congressman King asks Robert Kennedy Jr. to clarify his statement regarding the danger of large scale hog lots. The issue was a Robert Kennedy Jr. statement that hog lots are more dangerous to America than the terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

“I just reflect back on a meeting in Clear Lake (Iowa) a few years ago and the quote that I recall…’Large scale hog producers were a greater threat to the United States and democracy than Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network,’ King said. “Is that an accurate quote?” Kennedy replied: “I don’t know if that’s an accurate quote, but I believe it and I support it.”