JCR Blog

We are asking for volunteers at Headquarters! It is important to get every Republican to the polls this year.

We have some GREAT local candidates and they need your votes to win. McCain/Palin have a different kind of battle with all of the ACORN shenanigans.

As a side note there are two other important, to Johnson County, issues on the ballot.
One is an independent candidate for Auditor she would be a huge improvement to our Auditors office. Tom Slocket needs to be replaced and Hanna Gugliuzza is the one to do it.
The other one is flip the ballot and vote No on the 20Million Dollar Bond Issue. This a bad idea for Johnson County. Check out the web site against it for some very eye opening facts. FLIPNO.com

Also don't forget to check out the post below about our Fall Beef Bar-B-Q!

Saturday, October 25, 2008
Jo Co Fall Beef Bar-B-Q

Hello Republican Friends,

We are coming to the end of the 2008 election season. Currently our loyal and faithful volunteere are phoning, College Republicans are door knocking and yard signs are "sprouting" on our streets!

We will celebrate these efforts, and kick off the final push for Election Day on Sunday, November 2 with our Fall Barbeque, at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, Building "C" serving from 11:00am To 2:00pm. The cost will be $20 per person, and $50for a family of 4. Please call headquarters at (319) 339-8381 to RSVP: you can pay at the door.

This will be a great time to meet our candidates if you haven't yet and hear what they have to say, ask questions of them.

By: Republican US Senate Candidate Steve Rathje

For months now the United States Senate has been gridlocked over judicial nominations. People can blow a lot of hot air blaming one side of the isle or the other. The fact is, however, that in the end it is not one political party that loses. It is the American public who lose.

There are currently 46 judicial vacancies throughout the United States. That is 46 courtrooms sitting empty with lights off and doors closed. It is nearly impossible to count the number of litigants whose cases are being delayed because there is no judge to hear them. Those litigants are people just like you and me. They are US citizens who, under the constitution, have been guaranteed the right to a fair and speedy trial.

The Judicial Conference is a non-partisan and impartial panel that oversees judicial appointments. That conference has labeled 17 of these 46 vacancies as "judicial emergencies." A judicial emergency is a seat on the bench that has been empty for more than 18 months or where the number of pending cases is excessive and, therefore, in need of immediate attention.

It is time to put politics aside in the Senate. It is time to come together and do what is best for the people of this country. There are people out there, families out there who are waiting for justice. Right now our system is failing them.

I believe the United States Senate needs to take a hard look at the rules that govern judicial appointments. They need to amend their rules to require that nominees be given a fair hearing and an up or down vote within weeks, not months or years, of being nominated.

Partisan politics are out of control in Washington, D.C. They are causing a systematic breakdown of our government's ability to be responsive to this and many other issues. The American people deserve better.

Steve Rathje is a businessman and entrepreneur from Cedar Rapids. He is running for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the June 3rd primary election.

Statement from Caleb Hunter – Executive Director, Republican Party of Iowa.

“Today the Governor vetoed one of the worst bills to come out of the Iowa Legislature in decades. Despite organized labor’s contribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars to Legislative Democrats and their candidates, the people of Iowa spoke in a voice louder than the sum total of those contributions. I applaud the Governor for listening to the will of the people of Iowa. This November organized labor and their accomplices in the Iowa legislature will hear Iowans voice their will at the ballot box.”

DES MOINES -- Former Republican Representative George Eichhorn is officially kicking off his bid for the United States Senate today by releasing a list of top Republican leaders from across Iowa who have endorsed his candidacy.

Eichhorn, an attorney and accomplished legislator who grew up in Davenport, owned a law firm in Des Moines and now lives in rural Hamilton County, said he was ready to take on the failings of Tom Harkin.

"I am running to change Washington, not become changed by Washington like Harkin," Eichhorn said. "In 2007 Tom Harkin was rated the 11th most liberal member of the United States Senate; I have a proven, consistent record of common sense conservatism."

Eichhorn's initial endorsement list of Republican leadership follows.

"I am the only Republican running who has a record on the issues that matter most to Iowans and I am gratified by the overwhelming support I am receiving from the Republican leadership and primary voting Republicans throughout Iowa," he added.

Eichhorn has also launched a website to reach voters across Iowa. The site is located at: http://www.iowansforeichhorn.org/. "I expect that when voters visit my website they will see a very different kind of Senator for Iowa than Tom Harkin. I will work with Senator Chuck Grassley, not oppose him on issue after issue," Eichhorn said.

George Eichhorn (PRONOUNCED EYE-CORN) has a biography, issues and other information on the site. To obtain a photo, go to: http://www.iowansforeichhorn.org/medialogin.htm

Eichhorn has been traveling the state meeting with Republican County Committees and organizations He expects to commence an announcement tour soon.

Initial List of Republican Leaders from Across Iowa Endorsing George Eichhorn for the United States Senate:

Senate Republican Leader, Senator Ron Wieck, Woodbury County

Former Senate President Jeff Lamberti, Polk County

Former Chairman, Iowa Republican Party, Mike Mahaffey, Poweshiek County

Former Iowa Republican National Committeewoman, Gwen Boeke, Howard County

Senate Assistant Republican Leader, Senator David Johnson, Osceola County

Senate Assistant Republican Leader, Senator Larry McKibben, Marshall County

House Assistant Republican Leader, Representative Jeff Kaufmann, Cedar County

House Assistant Republican Leader, Representative Linda Upmeyer, Hancock County

Former House Republican Leader, Representative Chuck Gipp, Winneshiek County

Former Assistant Senate Republican Leader, Senator Thurman Gaskill, Hancock County

Former House Republican Whip, Representative Libby Jacobs, Polk County

Senator James Seymore, Harrison County,*

Senator Paul McKinley, Lucas County

Senator Jerry Behn, Boone County

Representative Royd Chambers, O'Brien County

Representative Jamie VanFossen, Scott County

Representative Betty DeBoef, Keokuk County

Representative Dave Tjepkes, Webster County

Representative Clel Baudler, Adair County,*

Representative Ralph Watts, Dallas County

Representative Henry Rayhons, Hancock County

Representative Jim Van Engelenhoven, Marion County

Representative Dan Huseman, Cherokee County

Representative Bill Schickel, Cerro Gordo County

Representative Clarence Hoffman, Crawford County

Representative Jack Drake, Pottawattamie County

Former Assistant Senate Republican Leader & Senator, Maggie Tinsman, Scott County

Former Senator Bob Brunkhorst, Bremer County

Former Representative, House Speaker ProTempore, Danny Carroll, Poweshiek County

Former Representative Kent Kramer, Polk County

Former Representative Teresa Garman, Story County

Former Representative Ervin Dennis, Black Hawk County

Eichhorn for Senate Campaign Treasurer; former Chief of Staff to Republican Senate Leader Stewart Iverson, counsel to House Majority Leader Chuck Gipp, Marc Elcock

*(if noted) Possibly mentioned by others as supporting other candidates, each has provided a written endorsement supporting George Eichhorn's bid for the U.S. Senate.

The primary election is a little less than 6 weeks away.

Beginning today you can request a 'vote-by-mail' ballot, so if you believe there is a chance you may not make it to the polls on June 3rd, get a vote-by-mail ballot.

Even if you just like the convenience of voting early by mail, you can request a ballot by clicking here.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, with jurisdiction over international trade, made the following comment in response to today’s announcement that South Korea will reopen its market to all imports of U.S. beef products.

“I’m pleased that South Korea has agreed to reopen its market to U.S. beef. This is long overdue, and I appreciate the priority that President Lee placed on making it happen. The next step is to get the beef trade flowing. I’ll be closely monitoring the implementation of today’s agreement. We need to see U.S. beef again enter the South Korean market in commercial quantities. It used to be our third-largest export market, and the potential is significant for our beef producers. The resumption of normal trade in beef should open up additional opportunities to further enhance our bilateral trade relationship.”

MOUNT VERNON -- Republican Emma Nemecek has announced that she will seek election to the Iowa House of Representatives’ District 29, which includes eastern and southern Linn County, and rural Johnson County. Democrat Ro Foege, the currect representative for District 29, announced last month that he will not be seeking re-election.

Nemecek, who also ran for the seat in 2006, is looking forward to hearing from area residents.

“I thank Ro for his service, and I look forward to carrying on his bipartisan work,” said Nemecek. “There are a lot of things I hope to accomplish for the area, where job creation will be my top priority.”

Nemecek, who resides in Mt. Vernon with her husband, Terry, says a renewed focus should be made on education.

“We need rigorous standards and higher accountability in our classrooms,” said Nemecek. “No longer are we competing with other states. Instead, we are competing with the entire world in a global economy. We must ensure our children are learning at their greatest potential.”

Nemecek also says the state is spending too much money, with few people seeing better services as a result.

“Too often, politicians forget that it’s our money first,” said Nemecek. “Families are struggling with rising health care costs and soaring fuel costs. The last thing we need is to take even more money from the pockets of Iowans.”

Nemecek says she will oppose any new tax increases, and will instead focus on efforts to lower them, knowing that there are places in the budget that can be cut without disrupting vital services.

“At a time when families are cautious to not waste their own money, I believe government should take the same steps,” said Nemecek.

Nemecek says she knocked on nearly every door in the district during her first run, which has given her a unique insight into the needs of the area. She plans to continue meeting with every voter possible, listening to the needs and suggestions on how to make state government better.

The election will be held this November.

Newspapers across the state blared the above headline Thursday morning, as taxes will again be raised in Iowa. That’s right – over $400 million in total tax increases, and counting, so far.

The latest measure would eliminate the local option sales tax for schools, and replace it with a statewide penny sales tax that, for now, is devoted to schools.

Two aspects of this bill are troubling. As we have seen time and time and time again, all too often when the governor and Legislature get their hands on funding, it gets “scooped” for other pet projects, especially in times of economic slowdown.

Second, this tax increase now raises the state’s use tax as well. The use tax is applied when businesses purchase goods from out of the state to use here in Iowa. Businesses often do not pay the sales tax in that state, and instead pay the Iowa use tax, which was exempt from local option sales taxes.

That is, until this bill went on its way.

Republicans offered two amendments that would have protected your tax dollars.

The first amendment would have provided constitutional protection to prevent the sales tax revenue from being scooped, or shifted, for other uses. It also provided that this bill would only take effect upon the ratification of an amendment to the Iowa Constitution to protect all revenues received from the state sales and use tax.

The second amendment would have helped to offset any future property tax increases by stating that if the state’s estimate of general fund revenues exceeds original estimates, the excess revenue would go to the Property Tax Equity and Relief Fund.

Remember – the sole intent of the original local option sales tax was for local residents to approve it themselves, and to only last 10 years.

Now, however, this is a permanent tax on the people of Iowa and a $32 million tax increase on Iowa businesses.

Employ illegal workers? You’re now entitled to free money.

Democrats on Monday voted against taking up an amendment that would have protected Iowa workers by removing taxpayer incentives to employ illegal aliens.

The amendment, H-8383 to SF-2325, states that employers who do not participate in the United States Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify Program are not eligible for taxpayer-funded state developmental assistance.

Developmental assistance is any form of public assistance, including tax expenditures, made for the purpose of stimulating economic development.

The Democrats decided to cast a blind eye toward our illegal immigration problem. Those employers who follow the law should be rewarded accordingly, but to Democrats, it just doesn’t matter.

E-Verify is a free and simple-to-use Web-based system that electronically verifies the employment eligibility of newly-hired employees. The program is a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services oversees the program.

E-Verify works by allowing participating employers to electronically compare employee information taken from the Form I-9 (the paper based employee eligibility verification form used for all new hires) against more than 425 million records in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database and more than 60 million records in DHS immigration databases. Results are returned within seconds.

The primary goals of the program are to protect jobs, not lose jobs, for authorized U.S. workers and to ensure a legal workforce in the United States. This is a simple tool that would allow Iowa employers to follow the law. Taxpayer assistance should not be granted to employees who violate our laws by employing those who are here illegally.

Democrats say “free money!” regardless of who is working at an organization, and that’s just wrong.

More than 19,000 employers are enrolled in E-Verify nationally and have successfully matched 92 percent of new hires to DHS and SSA database information. Of the remaining 8 percent that were not matched, less than one percent of those employees contested the result.

Stewart Iverson is Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Stewart Iverson today praised the Republican National Committee’s rules committee for passing what’s called the “Ohio Plan,” which would keep Iowa first in the presidential nominating process.

The plan, passed this morning in Albuquerque at a meeting of the Republican Rules Committee, would retain the lead-off roles for Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, and rotate remaining states on a quadrennial basis.

Iverson says this is the first significant step for Iowa’s effort to keep its first-in-the-nation role in the presidential nominating process.

“This is a great day for the state of Iowa,” said Iverson. “I am pleased that the rules committee was able to work together and find a practical compromise. Iowans take their role in the nominating process very seriously. We invest the time to get to know the candidates and their positions on the issues, and understand the extremely significant role we have in selecting the next president.”

The RNC will have another rules committee meeting this summer, where this plan may be discussed, and it may ultimately be voted on at the Republican National Convention this September in Minneapolis.

By U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

As a greater share of take-home pay gets spent on fuel and food, more families are wondering what’s yet in store at the pump and the grocery store. How will household budgets withstand the forces driving up consumer costs and gobbling up a bigger slice of disposable income? The declining value of the dollar and increased global demand for limited resources continues to put upward pressure on prices paid for living essentials. Rising energy costs drive up prices even more due to higher transportation expenses it takes to get products to market.

Will some predictions ring true in Iowa where milk and gas could reach as high as $4 a gallon by summer? As commodity prices nose up, more consumers are beginning to ratchet down spending on other goods and services.

The anxiety on Main Street is fed by the national downturn in the housing, mortgage and credit markets. And the upheaval occurring on Wall Street adds to a sense of unease. The concerns shared by Iowans during my visits in 35 counties in March reinforced my commitment to ensure the taxpaying public doesn’t get shortchanged by the taxpayer-backed rescue of the failing Bear Stearns investment firm.

As ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, I launched a bipartisan review of the $29 billion stake that taxpayers now have on the buy-out. The involvement of the Federal Reserve as a lender-of-last-resort to a giant investment bank may set an unwanted precedent. I’m also wary if top executives come out smelling like a rose at the expense of rank-and-file workers and loyal shareholders.

During the aftermath of the Enron collapse and other corporate meltdowns earlier in the decade, we learned hubris at the helm can be a recipe for disaster. As then-chairman of the tax-writing policy committee in the U.S. Senate, I led the charge to strengthen corporate governance and accountability, including reforms that would protect employees’ pensions from being raided by greedy executives; close abusive tax shelters that cheat the taxpaying public; and, prevent executives from enriching themselves with sweetheart compensation packages that leave the workforce, investors and creditors high-and-dry when a company goes bankrupt.

Lessons learned from my oversight and legislative work earlier in the decade to crack down on corporate mismanagement and improve transparency for workers, investors and taxpayers will come into play as Congress investigates the negotiations that put billions of tax dollars at risk.

Congress created the Federal Reserve nearly a century ago to avert panics and bank runs during times of financial crisis. It is charged with setting monetary policy and providing a steady hand to protect our financial and credit systems from collapse.

As an elected representative in the people’s branch of the federal government, I will aggressively exercise my Constitutional oversight responsibilities to better understand the details of this unprecedented taxpayer-backed bail-out on Wall Street. We need to figure out potentially damaging long-term consequences before it’s too late.

Taking risks is the linchpin of our entrepreneurial, capitalist society. The allure of America ’s free market system appeals to the masses because it holds the promise of economic opportunity, individual prosperity and a better life for those willing to work hard. The American Dream resides in the notion of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. The Fed was created to rein in risky practices that would jeopardize market stability. But large-scale taxpayer-backed bail-outs can wrongfully influence the risks and rewards of the free marketplace and introduce a boot in the gut of our system of making and lending money. Government bail-outs ought to be a limited option of last resort.

Before an overhaul of the financial system becomes an election-year rallying cry, policymakers should not make knee-jerk decisions that would change the regulatory regime of the financial system. First, Congress needs to get all the facts out in the open about the Bear Stearns buy-out to make thoroughly digested decisions. Did the Fed’s decision to put billions of taxpayer dollars on the hook create a moral hazard that opens the backdoor to future taxpayer-backed bail-outs? Does it give the big guys the green light to go ahead and make bad loans because the Fed won’t let them fail?

From my ranking position on the Senate Finance Committee, I’m digging into the details of the Bear Stearns bail-out to make sure the same mistakes aren’t repeated. As the financial system recovers from this episode, I want a lesson made crystal clear as we move forward. Investment goliaths can’t be let off the hook each time the going gets rough so that taxpayers hang from it.

From my leadership position in Washington , I’ll do what I can to steer the U.S. economy towards sunnier skies. And that means advancing public policies that help working families to get ahead, including making college more affordable and enacting permanent, pro-growth tax relief that fosters wealth creation and allows small businesses to create good-paying jobs up and down Main Street .

Remember the number "6" during this campaign season and spread the word: "Six" meaning the potential US Supreme Court Justices who may be replaced in the next Presidential term..... WE NEED TO GET THE VOTE OUT, AND GET EVERYONE ON BOARD!

The Johnson County Republican Central Committee hosted its fifth annual spaghetti dinner at the Johnson County Fairgrounds, featuring an array of speakers.

An estimated crowd of about 150 people enthusiastically listened to a large number of political candidates for office and party officials, giving the who, what, where, when, and how of campaigns and party issues. According to many in attendance, the talent pool of candidates vying for state and federal office is the most they’ve seen in quite some time.

The highlight of the evening and taking the crowd through a range of emotions, from laughter, to tears, and back to laughter, Keynote Speaker Bob Vander Plaats gave a very memorable motivational speech. A former high school principal, coach, human services organization director, and business consultant from Sioux City, Iowa, Bob Vander Plaats was the GOP Lt. Governor candidate in the 2006 gubernatorial election.

Receiving a standing ovation from an invigorated crowd, Vander Plaats left the stage for a meet and greet session as the event came to a close.

The Johnson County Republican Central Committee will be hosting and participating in a number of events through the election season, keep an eye on this publication for announcements.

Cedar Rapids businessman Steve Rathje filed papers with the Iowa Secretary of State's office last week to be an official candidate for the United States Senate.

"This is really just a formality," said Rathje. "I have been campaigning for two years now. I have crossed the state meeting voters and talking to them about how to move Iowa and America forward."


The support Steve has earned on the campaign trail is evidenced by the fact that he had four times more signatures on his nominating petitions than are required by law.


"When I am out talking to voters they are clearly very excited about my campaign and about what we can do together to make a difference," Steve said. "I am extremely pleased that so many of them were willing to sign on the dotted line and publically support me by adding their name to my petition."


Rathje's campaign is moving on full steam ahead in the coming days with a stop Friday in Dallas County, Saturday in Black Hawk, Polk, and Linn Counties , and a Monday night visit to Allamakee County.


To find out more about Steve Rathje please visit www.steverathje.com

The list of locations for the 2008 Republican Caucuses on January 3, 2008 is now available here.

On behalf of all of us at Americans for FairTaxation, I want to invite all of you to come to the Dare To Be Fair Bus Tour event that will be held in nearby Marengo on Tuesday, Aug 7th, from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The Marengo event will be held on the square in Downtown Marengo. Free lunch from Phat Daddy's restaurant in Marengo will be provided for guests.

The FairTax Bus Tour is meant to start to educate Iowans about the need for national tax reform. Our current income tax system has grown to over 60,000 pages in length. It punishes success and hard work.

The FairTax proposal is the most popular tax reform in Congress today, with over 63 co-sponsors, including our own Rep. Steve King from Iowa.

I want to encourage everyone on Tuesday to come over and learn more about our organization and enjoy some great food from a local restaurant.

If you have further questions, please visit our website at www.fairtax.org

A woman in Seattle, Washington has made a very eloquent point to prove that relaxation of voter registration laws can lead to potential abuse and fraud.

Jane Balogh, who owns an Australian shepard-terrier mix she has named "Duncan M. McDonald"..decided that she was going to make a statement about how easy it was for non-citizens to vote in Washington due to the relaxation of voter registration laws.

In Washington, a person's telephone bill may be used as "identification" to register to vote...so, Ms. Balogh put the telephone bill in her dog's name..used the bill to register the dog to vote, and in 3 elections submitted voided ballots in his name.

The tipoff for authorities--one of the ballot envelopes was signed with a picture of a paw print!

Elections authorities were none too happy with Ms. Balogh..and prosecuted her.... Ms. Balgoh agreed to plea to a misdemeanor offense of making a false statement to a public official..

Ms. Balogh admits to breaking the law..but she states that she did it to prove a larger point--that the system is far too easy for someone to commit fraud.

Iowa's voter registration laws are now very similar to what Washington's are....could the same thing happen here?

Vote protest puts woman in doghouse.

Once again, the freshman Congressman from Iowa's 2nd District has managed to find a way to avoid keeping the campaign promises that he made to voters in the 2nd District.

Yesterday, on a vote of 219-189, Democrats in the House voted to table a resolution that would have reprimanded Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa) for violating House ethics rules.

The privilege resolution was introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. Rogers, accuses Murtha of violating the House ethics rules passed in January that require each member who wants to slip into any bill a spending project for their district to identify himself or herself.

Rogers, a former FBI agent, claims he tried to cut $23 million in funding for the National Drug Intelligence Center because the program is redundant and wasteful. But the center is located in Murtha's Pennsylvania district, which Rogers says he didn't realize because Murtha, the seventh-ranking lawmaker in the House in terms of seniority, slipped the funding into the intelligence authorization bill without identifying himself.

The resolution says Murtha then personally threatened Rogers with never allowing another spending project by Rodgers to come up for a vote in the House.

It recounted the conversation in the House chamber on May 17.

"I hope you don't have any earmarks in the defense appropriation bill because they are gone and you will not get any earmarks now and forever," the resolution claims Murtha said in so many words.

House rules also prohibit members from limiting other's projects solely based on voting record.

Murtha has not denied making the threat to Rodgers, nor has he apologized to Rep. Rodgers for it.

Newly elected Rep. Dave Loebsack voted with his party to table the resolution, effectively killing the reprimand.

This is a quote from Rep. Loebsack's campaign website about "Where Dave Stands--Good Government"

"I am committed to genuine reforms that protect our rights and ensure that elected officials act appropriately. So long as Washington continues with politics as usual, few of the changes we as a nation need to move us forward are likely to occur."

Hmm..Guess that commitment doesn't hold true if a fellow Democrat is the one who is ethically challenged. Those little ethics rule changes that you made in January..no big deal, right Rep. Loebsack?

Unfortunately, this is just another example of Rep. Loebsack's attitude of "Do As I Do, Not As I Say" to the voters of the 2nd District of Iowa.

Former Governor Tom Vilsack is "reaping" the reward of endorsing his previous opponent for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton.

Clinton's campaign has agreed to pay off over $400,000 in campaign debt accumulated by Tom Vilsack in his embarassingly short presidential campaign.

A Clinton spokesman says that suggestions of a quid pro quo is "ridiculous". Or is it?

Last week, Vilsack sent an email out to his former supporters, begging them to help retire his debt his campaign incurred...

On Monday, Vilsack sent out an email to Clinton supporters telling them he now planned to help Clinton win the Iowa caucuses. Clinton also named Vilsack her national campaign co-chair as well.

The help for Vilsack comes on the heels of one Clinton's top supporters in New Hampshire is having to dispute reports that he was promised an ambassadorship in exchange for an endorsement. Bill Shaheen, in an interview with the AP..said such reports of any promises were "wrong"...

Now, I don't know about you, but let's be honest here. Tactics like this are not below Team Clinton to pull off. Its been widely rumored in Iowa that Vilsack's run for President was merely as a way to position himself to be a vice-presidential candidate or for a plum Cabinet position if a Democrat was elected President in 2008.

Or perhaps Sen. Clinton has discovered a new business opportunity in the banking industry. Remember the incredible luck she had in the cattle futures market? Turning $1000 into over $100,000 in less than 10 months...nothing like getting a 100% return on your investment!

Johnson County Republicans hosted their Fourth Annual Spring Spaghetti Dinner last night with special guest, Congressman Tom Tancredo. You can see the Press-Citizen's report here.

As I'm sure you all saw..former VP Al Gore's "documentary" An Inconvenient Truth won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature on Sunday.

However, as with most things related to Al Gore, the truth behind the facade is well, inconvenient for the former VP.

Gore has been one of the more vocal leaders of the global warming lobby..touting his movie as an educational tool to teach students about the "dangers" supposedly posed by "global warming".

However, an independent group out of Gore's home state of Tennesee called the Tennesee Center for Policy Research has publicized some very interesting information about Gore's practices when it comes to energy conservation. In his movie, Gore calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electrical consumption at home.

In 2006 alone, Gore's mansion (20 room, eight bathrooms) used more than 20 times the national average of electrical consumption in a year for a typical home.

Since the release of his film, energy consumption at Gore's home has actually gone UP.

Gore's energy use also extends to his natural gas bill which averaged nearly $1000 a month.

So..we have the leader of the global warming crusade telling people like us to reduce our electrical consumption in our homes to save the world, but he won't follow his own mantras?

More "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" by the liberal establishment.

Tenneseee Center for Policy Research

If you missed it, check out the Press-Citizen's profile of our newly elected Johnson County Republican Party Chairman, Bill Keettel.

The newly elected Representative from the 2nd District, Dave Loebsack managed to earn a unique distinction amongst his fellow freshman representatives in Congress: Between Election Day and his swearing in, Loebsack took in over $67,000 in political action committee (PAC) donations.

These donations come on the heels of Loebsack's calls during his campaign to unseat former Rep. Jim Leach to reform the lobbying culture in Washington D.C.. However, it would appear that these calls were a mere smokescreen, as Loebsack has taken thousands of dollars from many of the well known members of the D.C. lobby.

For example, according to online FEC records, Loebsack took in a $5,000 donation from the American Bankers Association on Dec 18th, but also took in $5,000 donation from a rival PAC, the National Realtors Association on the same day!

This is a quote from Loebsack's campaign website:

“The most recent Republican ethics scandal involving Jack Abramoff only underscores the need to reform our political system to ensure that elected officials maintain the people’s trust in their government." “So long as Washington continues with politics as usual, few of the changes we as a nation need to move us forward are likely to occur.”

Wait a second..where's the reform? Where's the leading by example? It would appear that so far, Rep. Loebsack has jumped into the DC culture with both feet.

The Press-Citizen covered the issue of Loebsack's PAC money in an article on Saturday. The Johnson County Democrats argue that its okay for Loebsack to take PAC money because Jim Leach was a "multimillionaire".

Once again, the JC Democrats are flat wrong. Jim Leach's campaigns were funded by a vast margin by individual donations. The FEC stats don't lie. Here is the amount of individual donations made to the Leach campaign going back to 1999.

1999-2000 cycle--$387,471
2001-2002 cycle--$576,539
2003-2004 cycle--$528,832
2005-2006 cycle--$487,505

The JC Dems first vice president says about the PAC money, "I guarantee you they're not making any promises to anyone because Dave will do what Dave thinks is best"

I don't know what planet they're on, but the reality is that PAC's make donations to politicians to help influence their vote on legislation to benefit their group. PAC's don't make donations to politicians out of the kindness of their hearts.

Is this the change that was promised by Rep. Loebsack? A return to the DC politics-as-usual behavior? Does the 2nd District deserve to represented by someone who's willing to be an independent, well reasoned decision maker or by someone who is quickly becoming a part of the DC "inside the Beltway" culture?

Dave Loebsack has chosen the way of being a part of the D.C. political machine, and the citizens of the 2nd District are the losers for it.

Freshman In Money Chase--The Hill

Federal Elections Comission

Well our friends on the left have once again shown their true colors. New Speaker Nanci Pelosi has decided to can ethics and exempt a company based in her district from having to comply with the proposed increase in the minimum wage.

StarKist Tuna owned by DelMonte Corporation has a tuna factory based on the U.S. territory of American Samoa, which employs about 500 workers many of whom are paid at minimum wage. So...what's so special about DelMonte??

DelMonte is based in Pelosi's district in San Francisco.

(Update 1/15--New information reveals that Speaker Pelosi's husband currently owns about $17 million in DelMonte stock!)--What was that about "most ethical Congress in history, Madame Speaker?

I guess if you're a Democrat that has a district with a company that might have the ability to funnel large sums of contributions to your campaign someday or help your family's stock fortunes..and you need to exert a little influence on legislation for them--that's OK...

If you're a Republican...you automatically are part of the "Culture of Corruption" because..no Democrat could possibly ever be corrupt....

Ron Paul, GOP congressman from Texas, filed his papers Thursday. It's not his first try for the White House; he ran as the Libertarian Candidate in 1988 before joining the Republican Party:

Kent Snyder, the chairman of Paul's exploratory committee and a former staffer on Paul's Libertarian campaign, said the congressman knows he's a long shot.

"There's no question that it's an uphill battle, and that Dr. Paul is an underdog," Snyder said. "But we think it's well worth doing, and we'll let the voters decide."

Paul, of Lake Jackson, acknowledges that the national GOP has never fully embraced him despite his nine terms in office under its banner. He gets little money from the GOP's large traditional donors but benefits from individual conservative and Libertarian donors outside Texas. He bills himself as "the taxpayers' best friend" and is routinely ranked either first or second in the U.S. House by the National Taxpayers Union, a group advocating low taxes and limited government.

If I may be allowed to coin a new Caucus Coolerism, could Paul be a CFCA (Credible Fiscally Conservative Alternative)? He's certainly a credible fiscal conservative, but I'd be shocked if he could rally the money and organization needed to compete with the big guns (or even the medium guns). I know there is a small core of Libertarian activists (I was once one of them) who Paul could rely on in Ames and Iowa City if he made a stand here in Iowa. My guess is that Paul will enter the Cooler Line somewhere between Duncan Hunter and Chuck Hagel, say 250-1.

Krusty and his kommenters demonstrate some McCain-Romney-(Huckabee?) conspiracy theories in one of today's threads. Well actually in more than one thread. I guess that's what blogs are for anyway, eh? Whatever way you swing, it makes for some fun reading.

State29 has a great post about our outgoing governor's record:

• Appointing Michael Gartner to state boards.
• Corporate welfare (Vision Iowa).
• Touchplay
  
• Ongoing polluting of Iowa's rivers and streams by factory farmers.
• An out of control deer population that is killing people and ruining livelihoods.
• The draining of the Senior Living Trust.
• Allowing the fraudulent spending of the tobacco shakedown money.
  

There are a bunch more and State's taking submissions for other "highlights." You won't hear any of that in his "presidential" stump speeches.

I think this is the most interesting question:

HOTLINE: How much danger is there that the Iowa GOP is becoming a regional party within the state?

Time's Joe Klein awards Jim Leach a Teddy award (in honor of president Roosevelt). Here's what he has to say:

Congressman Jim Leach, the Iowa Republican, was a terrific public servant for 30 years. He was always independent, always scrupulously honest. He lost this year, and the manner of his losing is instructive. He refused to allow the Republican National Committee to distribute a negative mailing about his opponent. He called Ken Mehlman, then the r.n.c. chair, and threatened to caucus with the Democrats if such negative mailings didn't stop. They stopped, but the Congressman lost narrowly to an academic named Dave Loebsack, who had similarly refused to attack him. A former foreign service officer, Leach would make a terrific U.S. ambassador to the U.N., but I doubt that Bush would appoint an anti–Iraq-war multilateralist.

I don't think Leach actually threatened to switch parties. Does anyone have authoritative information on this?

I realize we've been spending a lot of time on the long goodbye here, but having a congressman like Jim Leach is a once in a lifetime experience, and that's if you're lucky.

The Washington Post has an interesting piece that spends some good space dissecting Leach's loss and its broader implications for Congress -- particularly the loss of so many centrist Republicans.

Just a few more quick links to stories on Leach's transition out of Congress.

Yesterday, the Press-Citizen reported on Friday's reception hosted by the University of Iowa. The story includes some comments from Dan Gable, who was brought into politics by Leach:

Dan Gable, who won 15 national wrestling titles when he coached the
Hawkeyes, said in his speech that Leach encouraged him to participate in
politics.

"Jim Leach, we do have wrestling in common," said Gable, who is now
an assistant to coach Tom Brands.

Gable, who pondered a gubernatorial run several years ago, said Leach "actually turned my ear to politics."

"It kind of gave me the chance to broaden my horizon. And it actually helped me in a lot of areas of my life," he said.

Could Gable be thinking about getting a little more active now?

The Register also has a report out of DC on Leach's transition, with some sad pictures of Leach packing up.

Jim Leach will be on IPTV's Iowa Press, tonight at 7:30 p.m. at on Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. The AP has a story up including some quotes from today's taping.

Let's hope that the good Congressman does not continue the "brain drain" by taking one of the "many offers" he's received to teach out East and decides to remain here in Iowa. The University would be lucky to have him, in any capacity.

UPDATE: Here's full transcript of Leach's interview on Iowa Press.

You'll want to check out David Broder's column in the Washington Post this morning, which gives our outgoing Congressman Jim Leach some going-away love.

I'm really not sure that I buy the argument that the internet gambling bill had anything to do with his loss -- it sounds to me like a special interest group trying to take advantage of a coincidence for their own gain -- I think it's much more likely that it's the fact that Leach sat in one of the bluest Republican-held congressional district in the entire nation.

Still, it's a decent read and some interesting nuggets, including Leach's praise of Mitt Romney. Though I know this is no suprise to Jeff Fuller, I'm not sure that's a pairing I would have predicted.

According to The Hill, Congressman Steve King has been making the rounds in an effort to be considered for the position of Chair of the influential House Republican Study Committee, a group of 100 or so conservative Republicans. The current Chair, Mike Pence (R-IN) just lost his bid for Minority Leader, while the past chair, John Shadegg (R-AZ), lost his bid for Minority Whip but had been a previous member of leadership.

Maybe I missed it, but I hadn't heard any noise about this in the Iowa press. It will be interesting to see how this develops and how King's star will continue to rise in the House. It would suggest to me that he might be more interested in sticking around there, rather than jumping right into a Senate campaign.

From the latest Civic Skinny column: "Senate Democrats are already irked at Governor-elect Chet Culver, who told them — they say — that he’d appear at their first caucus. They waited and waited. No Culver. They’re pissed."

A trend? See the update here by our own Corny for more on Culver's inability to make it somewhere on time.

Also:

The same Skinny column claims DC sources are indicating Jim Leach will be appointed ambassador to India...

Looks like the University of Iowa is holding a reception for Jim Leach on December 1, from 4-6 pm at the Old Capitol. Here's the invitation. Anyone have any more details?

The Des Moines Register has several pieces of interest this morning: a survey piece of the state of play on both sides of aisle in presidential caucus campaigns, and indepth look at Senator Barack Obama's potential team within the state, and an announcement from the Republican Party of Iowa:

Mark your calendars, the 2007 Republican Straw Poll will be Saturday, August 11, 2007 in Hilton Coliseum. I know it may take holding your nose for some folks to step foot in ISU's basketball venue, but I remember this being one of the coolest political events I've ever attended eight years ago. There was something about a gathering that was a fun party -- mixing food, music, and politics and drawing families, many of whom I would have never expected to go to a political function -- that just felt like the way politics is supposed to be.

I hope that our state party pulls together another excellent event this summer -- though I do find it strange that there's still no mention about it, not even a press release, on the party website or "blog." UPDATE: Guess we just had to wait 24 hours for the official word.

Another one of the underrated benefits of losing an election is the chance that it offers our party to self-reflect. There'll be lots of discussion about the appropriate strategy and tactics over the next few months, but sometimes lost in all that inside baseball is a discussion about our ideas.

Some Republican leaders are already starting to speak about their visions for the future. The recently re-elected Republican Whip in the U.S. House, Congressman Roy Blunt, gave a good speech on this topic last week. (You can see the video or read the text).

I'll try to post other speeches or articles as I see them. If we take advantage of this opportunity to open dialogue and reenergize our ideas, in two years the country will be longing for a return to some common sense.

One of the few joys from the results of Election Night has been the opportunity to watch Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi attempt to lead the disparate factions of her party to try to govern. I have not doubt that she will continue to provide much amusement over the coming months -- if you can forget that the Democrats are playing with the future of our country.

After the Caucus slapped down Pelosi's pick to help lead the most ethical Congress in history, her choice to be Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel has once again begun pushing for a return of the draft:

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, the incoming chairman of the House of
Representatives' tax-writing committee, said he would introduce legislation
to reinstate the draft as soon as the new, Democratic-controlled Congress
convenes in January.

Asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" if he was still serious about the proposal
for a universal draft he raised a couple of years ago, he said, "You bet your
life. Underscore serious."

More on Rangel's comments here and here. Hold on to your hats, it's going to be a wild ride. And just wait till our Big Lug gets back from his "How to be a Governor" retreat in West Virginia .

UPDATE: By the way, speaking of Chet's training weekend, why do you suppose he missed out on the official group photograph? I'm just speculating, but given his history -- showing up late for just about every event I've seen in Iowa City, and his first post-election press conference, maybe he learned the rest of the world doesn't always live on Chet-time.

Jeff Kaufmann, who represents part of rural Johnson County, was elected to be a part of the Republican leadership team in the Iowa House. He will serve as one of the party's assistant leaders. Congratulations Jeff!

Our brothers and sisters out in Woodbury County are having quite the row if we are to believe the Souix City Journal's Bret Hayworth:

Brown contended the people Salem described trying “to hijack the Republican Party of Iowa” did what Salem said — “if you don’t agree with them 100 percent on every issue, they not only refuse to support you, they take active steps to destroy you, including the use of innuendo and outright lies.” Salem said fear of that approach means good candidates won’t come forward, which played into why the party fared poorly in Tuesday’s election. Brown said “the problem with bombs is that they can destroy everything with their fallout, as was done in this campaign.”

Our state chairman seems to think everything is OK, though.

Asked twice about it for my story, Ray Hoffmann, a Sioux Cityan who heads the Republican Party of Iowa, said he wasn’t aware of any schism in the Woodbury County party.

It's this kind of thing that makes me think it may not be so bad being outnumbered here in Johnson County. When you've got no one to argue with, you argue with yourself.

Nuts.

if you haved VOTED.

Johnson County Polling Locations (or search your address).

We'll be busy getting out the votes, so don't expect any posts today, unless there's something agregious ... after the polls have closed, I may try to post tidbits that I'm seeing around the country -- we'll just see. During the day, you can check out Johnson County Turnout here.

If you're looking for results, here's the Johnson County Returns.

I'll try to update tonight if I discover which online sites are calling the congressional races around the country the quickest.

I wonder what advisor thought that Chet Culver could keep around the crowd who came to see Barack Obama. The Des Moines Register report on the rally downtown includes the following nuggets:

Following Obama's speech, much of the crowd dispersed while Culver still
spoke. While some said they were attracted by Obama, people seemed to split as
to whether he was the only candidate drawing a crowd.

"If he wasn't here, it'd still be 75 percent of the crowd," said Iowa City
resident Daniel Loptka.

However, for University of Iowa students Adam Katz and Ethan Gill, and
others who were filing out, most of the supporters were there for Obama."A good
majority" of the crowd, said Katz, came for the Illinois senator, "because he
could be the future president."

I suspect the latter. I know of more than a few Republicans that were curious about seeing Obama and were considering holding their nose at being in the same place as Culver,Harkin, Loebsack, et. al.

Back to work ... we're over halfway through our 72-hour efforts. It's been an amazing weekend. See you at the victory party!

Update: The Women, Food and Agriculture problem was with the newspaper. The intentional animal cruelty issue is still O'Brien's.

It sounds like O'Brien's litany of desperate excuses has at least one major flaw. O'Brien claimed she was not even on the farm at the time her cattle were left to starve to death due to her activity with the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network. However, that organization was not even founded until 1994, seven years later. What gives?

Do you think Northey's slogan for the next 3 days will run something like this: "You can't trust Denise O'Brien to tend livestock, you can't trust her to tell the truth, and you can't trust her with Iowa's agriculture."

More at South of Iowa and State 29 (Standard disclaimer: State 29 has interesting commentary coupled with vulgarity of all stripes. Avoid if you're easily offended).

Ro Foege is up to his old tricks again of misleading the consituents he claims to represent in House District 29.

Foege's campaign sent out a mailer to residents of District 29 with following claims:

"Ro led the fight to pass legislation to make it harder for government to condemn private property rights"
"Ro's legislation now makes the government, and not the landowner, prove it has a good reason to take your property"

What's wrong with these statements? Neither one of them are TRUE.

The eminent domain legislation, HF 2351, was submitted by the House Judiciary Committee, of which Ro Foege is a member of. This legislation was in no way, shape or form created by Rep. Foege himself as he claims.

Ro Foege didn't "lead" any efforts to advance this important legislation through the Iowa Legislature as well.

Here's the real story..It was our own Rep. Jeff Kauffman who lead the fight for these important reforms as the floor manager of the legislation in the Iowa House.

Ro Foege himself even admitted in a Guest Opinion piece in the Iowa City Press-Citizen from July 13, 2006 that he was merely a co-sponsor of the legislation only. The opinion piece was written AFTER the veto of the legislation was overriden by the Iowa Legislature.

The only other mention Foege makes about the legislation is an entry on his website stating he voted for it.

That's a far cry from leading any efforts to pass the legislation as Foege claims he did. A Google search of Foege's involvement with the eminent domain legislation shows little in the way of action taken by Foege advocating the bill.

Don't be mislead by exaggerated claims of leadership by someone who doesn't have the record to back it up with. The real story with Ro Foege and the eminent domain reforms is simple--Foege was a backbench supporter, with no real involvement in passing of the legislation.

Its time for a change in District 29. That change is to elect Emma Nemecek on November 7th!

So, Johnson County has a plethora of "satellite voting" locations in the weeks leading up to the election. This is a phenomenon I had never heard of until moving here -- the Auditor sets up at "convenient" (ie: heavily democratic) locations around the county where individuals can register and vote at these locations on the spot, using an absentee ballot. I am not a fan of the practice -- particularly as administered with such variance across the state.

Nevertheless, that's the way it is here in Johnson County. Now, one statistic from the early voting statistics made me laugh, and I just felt like sharing. You see, I've been a member of the New Pioneer Co-op since I first moved to town. And I've always felt a little lonely, driving up with my Nussle-Vander Plaats bumper sticker, and making my way through the organics, wine, and non-dairy products. Turns out it wasn't just paranoia. The satellite voting station held at the Co-op one day has the distinction of taking in the lowest number of Republican votes of any station. How many Republicans dared to not only shop but vote at the Co-op? TWO.

It seems that the Crunchy Con movement still has some growth to do here in the People's Republic of Johnson County.

Election Day is just around the corner and we're hard at work at the Johnson County HQ. The importance of our efforts to the Nussle-Vander Plaats campaign is evidenced by all the attention we've received in the final week. Jim and Karen Nussle and Bob and Darla Vander Plaats stopped by together Sunday evening after an afternoon of phonebanking.

Jim and Karen Nussle were back again today on the 99-county bus tour, visiting every corner of the state. You can see the Press-Citizen coverage here.


And tomorrow morning, we will be joined by Bob Vander Plaats again, bringing along special guest, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Most of the people reading this blog are already going to vote for Bill Northey, the Republican candidate for Secretary of Agriculture. There has been a development that all Iowans need to know about, especially those who don't pay a whole lot of attention to the down-ballot races. Tell your family and friends, this is important:

State Representative Clel Baudler, member of the Iowa House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, called on Denise O'Brien to explain the [intentional] animal cruelty charges filed by the Cass County Sheriff in 1987 before voters go to the polls next Tuesday.

Denise O'Brien, the Democrat nominee for Ag Secretary, has successfully kept the intentional cruelty charges off the radar during this campaign. However, she must explain why Iowans should entrust the highest agricultural office in the state to someone who's family farm was cite for intentional cruelty to animals.

I have to say, if the shoe was on the other foot and some hypothetical GOP SOA nominee had inflicted intentional cruelty on his/her livestock, I wouldn't be able to vote for him/her. Even with all of O'Brien's promises of tofu and organic rutabaga, I would hope Democrats would backbone up and at the very least not vote in this race. Any chance?

Update: More at State 29. (As always, be warned: State 29 isn't entirely work/family friendly.)

The race for House District 29 took an interesting turn this past week with the financial disclosures filed by the candidates running for office in this District.

The 10 year incumbent, Ro Foege, Democrat, Mount Vernon, reported taking a very hefty sum of $41,000 in donations for the period from July 19th to October 19th.

However, a deeper look at the numbers reveal a very disturbing picture.

Of the $41,000 dollars, nearly 53% or $24,000 came from PACs. An additional 32% or $11,000 of his donations came from OUTSIDE of Linn and Johnson counties. Only 15% of Foege's donations came from within Linn and Johnson Counties. A grand total of 43 PAC donations were made to Foege's campaign.

So what does this say about the current Representative from District 29? Answer: His allegiances are bought and paid for by the Democrat special interest lobby.

Ro Foege has bragged for years about how well he represents the people of District 29.
The facts however, tell a far different story.

The votes that Ro Foege has cast prove that he is merely a tool of the special interests. For example, Foege voted AGAINST allowing small businesses and associations to pool together to gain lowered health insurance costs.

Foege also voted to have taxpayers repay every dime that was wasted in the CIETC scandal by fraudulent and criminal mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.

Foege also voted against the so called "People's Amendment" which would have required a majority vote of the people of Iowa before any tax increase would be enacted.

So, you ask what is the solution to the problem that is representative Ro Foege? Simple...Elect Emma Nemecek to House District 29 on November 7th.

Emma is the hardest working candidate for Iowa House in the entire state, having door-knocked on over 15,000 doors in House District 29. Homes across the district are sprouting a wave of blue Nemecek for House yard signs.

Its time for a change in House District 29. Its time for a leader who's not beset by the special interests. That leader is Emma Nemecek.

If you're looking for a more reasoned endorsement today, Johnson County citizens need only look up the road to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, which today endorsed Jim Nussle for Governor.

Jim Nussle can be a great leader of Iowa. He has the right philosophy about limited government and the right experience in the trenches of budget-making and government reform. The Manchester Republican has proven his ability to work in moderate and bipartisan fashion, a fact most apparent from his eight successful congressional elections out of an Eastern Iowa district with Democratic leanings.

The Gazette was not alone in reflecting the mainstream values of Iowans better than a certain paper in Des Moines. Nussle has now gained endorsements from the daily newspapers in Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Estherville.

UPDATE: You can also add the newspapers of Ames, and Marshalltown.

I am generally skeptical of claims of a liberal media bias -- yes the media has a number of biases including toward conflict, simple story-lines, and others, but I normally hold out that it's predominantly not ideological. And yes, I know that editorial endorsements are the one time when the media are supposed to take a political stand -- but I had no idea (or at least had deluded myself into forgetting) how out of touch the Register editorial board truly is.

Not only did they endorse Iowa's need for a "big lug" (yes, that's what they called him), bu they endorsed every Democrat congressional candidate except for our own Congressman Jim Leach. Leach certainly deserves their endorsement (and our votes on Nov. 7), but I couldn't help but feel like the only reason they chose not to toe the entire party line was to give themselves at least the appearance of objectivity.

Endorsing neophyte Selden Spencer over one of our most experienced and hardworking Representatives, Tom Latham? And they're really tilting at windmills to suggest with any seriousness that voters should defeat Steve King. I expected their usual defense of Boswell and support of Braley -- but what really sold them on Braley was his "respect for the U.S. Constitution"???? That's about as good as using support of apple pie, the Fourth of July and ethanol a basis of support. The Constitution is an amazing document, and I love it too, but Republicans are the ones who support Judges who actually follow it.

And then back to "the big lug".... wow, you couldn't ask for a better Extreme Makeover than the Register gave him. You can honestly disagree with either of the candidates on the issues, and I fully expected the Register Editorial Board to disagree with Nussle on several, but to suggest that Culver is more diligent, prepared, and well-thought-out that Nussle is unbelievable. They must not have watched the debates I saw -- or else they're just bitter that Nussle only stomachs reading their paper once a day.

I might have to reconsider even that.

UPDATE: Here's Krusty's take on the Register's endorsements.

The Press-Citizen endorsed Congressman Jim Leach for re-election this morning:

Given the polarized nature of contemporary political debate, the last
message we want to send to our political leaders in Washington is that they will
be punished electorally for failing to toe the party line. This is especially
true for a congressman who has served his constituents well for 30 years. Thus,
we endorse Republican Rep. Jim Leach for re-election to the U.S. Congress.

. . .

[T]rue moderates like Leach are a desperately endangered species that we as
a nation cannot allow to become extinct. We need statesmen who can translate and
can negotiate between their more ideological colleagues. Leach is proof positive
that representatives of the same political party as the president need not be
rubber stamps for that president's desires.

We need to send Jim Leach back to Washington, and we need to encourage him
to be a more assertive moderate.

If you haven't been following, they also endorsed Republicans, State Senator David Miller and State Rep. Jeff Kauffman.

About a dozen local Republicans of all ages took time out of their day to welcome Chet Culver to Iowa City today. Though we were able to visit with many students and motorists, and the few Democrats heading into hear Culver speak, Culver himself seems to have caught word of our welcome committee and snuck inside out of our sight -- once again ducking the public cries about his support from touch play special interests.

UPDATE: Here's coverage of our protest (and Culver's visit) in the Press-Citizen.

$25,000 is all it takes to get Chet Culver in your pocket. While Jim Nussle led the charge to get Touchplay slot machines out of Iowa's gas stations, grocery stores, and restraunts, Chet was silent. Bill Krause, Kum & Go kingpin and one of the predatory purveyors of Touchplay machines who are suing Iowa's taxpayers, was once a Nussle supporter. Krause swapped sides when he realized that Jim Nussle would not sell out our state. It seems Krause has found a willing partner in Chet Culver. Culver's charging $25,000 for his new found interest in returning slot machines on every street corner. Pretty cheap price for your principles, Chet.

Also: Krause's behavior should cause Iowans to think twice before filling our tanks at Kum & Go.

According to the Washington Post, if Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker of the House she would appoint Alcee Hastings as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Hastings "was impeached and removed from his federal judgeship in 1989 for conspiring to take a $150,000 bribe and give light sentences to two convicted swindlers."

I can't believe it's even being considered....

It would appear that Chet Culver has once again contracted foot in mouth disease.

During Monday night's debate against Jim Nussle, Culver made the claim that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had ranked Iowa as having the fifth best business climate in the country.

Only one problem with that: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn't compile business climate rankings.

In fact, a spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that he doesn't know what Culver is talking about.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce magazine did do an article earlier this year about rankings done by another group, the Tax Foundation. The Tax Foundations most recent report on business-tax climate, released just last week, ranked Iowa 43rd best in the country.

Culver's campaign team has said that Culver had merely "misspoke" during the debate, and that Iowa still has a "strong business climate"

Now I don't know about you all, but there's a big difference between being 43rd best..and 5th best..and there's a bigger difference between 43rd best and a made up statistic.

This wasn't a case of being "misspoken"..this is a case of Chet Culver saying and doing anything he can to get elected Governor. Facts...who needs facts? Just throw some numbers out there, make it sound all impressive and you'll look like a leader out there, right Chet?

Bill Dix blogging for the Des Moines Register.

Following last night's debate, it seems Ed Fallon was overheard making a less than supportive comment about the Democrat's "big lug," Chet Culver.

Ed Fallon was overheard just outside the IPTV studios saying: "That guy makes it hard for me to go out and say vote Chet Culver." I don't know if that means Jim Nussle makes it hard or if Chet Culver makes it hard - either way, even Ed Fallon knows Jim Nussle waxed Culver in last nights debate.

David Yepsen gives Jim Nussle the edge in tonight's debate.

Missed it? You can check it out here.

I don't know that Culver could have pulled a more tacky move than trying to bring the Foley debacle into the debate. Nussle handled it masterfully.

Krusty's got some great analysis.

The Associated Press is reporting that our neighboring state Minnesota will be hosting the 2008 Republican Convention. I've been hoping the RNC would pick the Twin Cities, and I think it's a great choice -- and it will be awfully convenient to have all the action going on just up the road.

UPDATE: Here's the Star-Tribune's take.

UPDATE2: Here's the RNC Announcement.

Good pick folks!

Via.

HINT: Compare the number of ideas Chet claims with the number of fingers he uses to illustrate the statement.

Iowa Ennui has a characteristically good analysis of the recent deluge of polls in the governor's race. Bottom line:

[I]f this race doesn’t break for either candidate, it’s going to hinge on turnout, and if a turnout advantage fails, then we can all look forward to Chet’s SOS team counting ballots on the Friday after the election.

Tell your friends why Nussle/VanderPlaats make the best team to energize Iowa's future, let them know about the ways Chet Culver has failed Iowa as Secretary of State, and get them to vote.

We already knew that we were receiving generous financial support for our headquarters from the Nussle-Vander Plaats campaign and Governor Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC. Today, the two campaigns announced that their contributions were part of a joint effort to open five GOP County HQs around the state. In addition to Johnson County, HQs are being supported in Dubuque, Linn, Pottawattamie, and Woodbury Counties.

Hotline On Call also picked up the story.

We are grateful for the support -- and it's good to see both organizations putting resources into these important grassroots efforts.

Republicans from around the state gathered before the Iowa-Iowa State game to show their support for Jim Nussle, Bob Vander Plaats and our other Republican candidates, while cheering on the Hawkeyes or Cyclones.

The Nussle team even had special limited-edition stickers! (They had some made in Cardinal and Gold, but I hear they weren't nearly as popular -- and you wouldn't expect me to post those colors on a Johnson County website, would you?)

Great food and drinks, pleasant weather, a fabulous location just behind the Press Box, and 100,000 of your closest friends from the state provided a good time for all.

UPDATE: Here's the Daily Iowan's coverage of the tailgate.

PHOTO BELOW: Bob Vander Plaats visits with local Republican, John Nesbitt, while Jim Nussle samples some of the delicious food behind him.

Jim Nussle shares a laugh with Dorree Eckhoff, his Johnson County campaign co-chair.


Bob Vander Plaats introduces Republican Secretary of Agriculture Candidate Bill Northey to three of his sons, Hans, Josh, and Logan, who are (of course) decked out the proper team's attire.

The Johnson County Republican Headquarters is officially open! A great crowd turned out for our grand opening, visiting with our Republican candidates, touring the space, and getting started at the hard work of grassroots politics.

Our next governor, Jim Nussle, and future first lady, Karen Nussle, came to join in the celebration and show his support for the all local candidates and volunteers who will be working to ensure a Republican victory in November. Congressman Nussle also underlined his support by presenting a $2000 check to the County Party to help fund the HQ operation.

We were also joined by other candidates (shown R to L below, while Nussle performs the honors of cutting the ribbon), County Supervisor Candidates Alan Curry and Rich Benn, Todd Versteegh, Johnson County Chair, Jim Nussle, Karen Nussle, State House Candidate Emma Nemecek, State Representative Sandy Greiner, and '08 Senate candidate Steve Rathje. State Representative Jeff Kaufman was also in attendance earlier in the evening.

A number of media representatives were also in attendance, including KCJJ 1630AM, who broadcast live from the event for two hours. I'll update links below if any other stories become available online. Photo below is Jim Nussle talking to KCJJ.

UPDATE: Here's the Daily Iowan's report, and the story for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The Press-Citizen, on the other hand, didn't feel it was worthy to send a reporter. KCRG also showed a short clip of footage on their 10 pm news.

People thought that perhaps John Kerry had decided to accept the fact that he lost to President Bush in 2004. Well, guess not. Kerry is sending an fundraising email for Ohio Democratic Party Governor candidate Ted Strickland to 100,000 Democratic donors alleging election impropriety by Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell-(R) as the reason why he lost in 2004.

Kerry states "He used the power of his state office to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote" Huh? Proof anyone? *sound of crickets*

A recount requested by minor party candidates showed that Bush won Ohio by well over 118,000 votes. Other groups allege that Ohio's election system discriminates against minority voters.

Fact: Over 1 million more Ohioans voted in 2004 than 2000
Fact: A record turnout by black voters was recorded in 2004 in Ohio

Now, does that sound like voter suppression? Or the delusional rantings of a failed presidential candidate who obviously couldn't accept the fact that he lost in the first place?

The news out today is that Chet Culver has rejected five of the eight invitations from the media to join Jim Nussle in a debates, including one debate proposed to be hosted by KWWL here in Iowa City. Jim Nussle accepted this invitation to debate here (as well as the other seven), because as he says:

The debate process is meant to benefit the public and should be designed to
include as many Iowans as possible from across the state. Iowans deserve
to hear directly from the candidates running for Governor about their vision for
the state’s future.

Jim Nussle wants to take his campaign to all parts of the state, including here in Johnson County. In fact, he'll be here this week, helping us open our new County Headquarters.

It sure tells you how scared Chet is to let the public see him side-by-side with Jim Nussle, when he's not even willing to debate in one of the most Democrat-friendly counties in the state. Maybe there's something to the fact that I continue to run into Democrats and Independents around town who know that Jim is right leader for our state, regardless of his party. After all, Chet did come in 3rd place here in Johnson County, geting only 26% of the vote in June.

Thursday the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it was cutting its ad buy for one of the least effective congressmen in DC, Leonard Boswell. The Dems tried to spin this as a vote of confidence in Boswell, but the facts tell a completely different story. Take it away Krusty:

What really happened is the DCCC clearly overbought. If you look at this article from The Hill can see that the DCCC made a $51 million dollar ad buy, but they only had $32 million on hand at the end of June. According to the Hotline, the DCCC only raised $4.2 million in August and had $35 million on hand. Any way you slice it, the DCCC overbought, especially when you consider that TV buys aren’t their only expense. They were forced to cut down their buy because they don’t have the resources.

A little digging would have revealed this to any reporter interested in the truth. That's obviously not these guys. It is delusional to see this as anything but a positive for Lamberti and continued GOP control of the House.

Yepsen has his first look at the race for Senate against Tom Harkin in '08. In a nutshell, he doesn't think Congressmen King or Latham will run, and he's feeling bad enough for us that he went so far as to make his own suggestion, WH Pol. Dir Sara Taylor. Johnson County even got a mention (so when we get Steve King here for an event, we gotta be sure we send David an invite):

King is a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. He knows he can sit in
the U.S. House for as long as he wants. While his conservative base in western
Iowa is a good one, he would face a harder sell with more moderate and liberal
voters in vote-rich eastern Iowa. (Please reserve me a seat for any King
campaign appearances in Johnson County.)

Interestingly, not even a mention of the one person publicly considering the race, Johnson County resident Steve Rathje.

UPDATE: State 29 takes on the issue.

UPDATE2: And of course Krusty and his commenters have joined in.

You know he's stepped in it big time when the Daily Iowan comes out swinging aginst the (special-interest-and-out-of-state-funded) Democratic nominee.

A recent issue of contention is Democratic candidate for governor Chet Culver's investment proposal for the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System - and, as Republican candidate Jim Nussle points out, his plan is a bad move to make.

See also: Krusty.

Ed Fallon, darling of the left during the Democrat primary, and supposed paragon of political virtue seems to be leaving that side of his personality behind as the general election nears. His support for Ako Abdul-Samad's quest for the statehouse has raised more than a few eyebrows. A certain godblogger of the Iowa blog scene (who sported a "Vote Fallon" ad on his/her site) had this to say about the situation:

I must say that I'm very disappointed that Ed Fallon is continuing to support Ako Abdul-Samad's bid to become a State Representative after all that's come out about missing paperwork at Creative Visions and Ako's own "rubber stamp" behavior on the board of CIETC.

Mainstream Iowan has more on the situation.

Former Cyclone receiver Jack Whitiver is opposing Abdul-Samad. Don't hold the Cyclone bit against him.

I first became aware of this situation at the University of Iowa Hospitals on the KGAN 6pm news last night, and the Press-Citizen now has an article up about it.

I'll direct you to the article for details, but the facts will sound quite familiar. Woman in coma. Mother and Father want to do everything possible to keep her alive. Husband says he won't consent (in this case, to a blood transfusion, because he's a Jehovah's Witness and its against his religion). Parties argue about what the woman would want.

Johnson County District Court Judge Marsha M. Beckelman issued a four-page ruling that gave guardianship to the woman's father, rather than her husband. As summarized in the article, and what I recall from the television news, the judge looks at all the evidence, trying to determine whether the woman, Tawnya Nissen, subscribes to the Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs or not. I'm looking for a copy of the ruling, which if I track down, I'll post, but from the sound of it, she decided that it was impossible to know, and thus the court needed to error on the side of protecting life.

Kind of makes you proud that an Iowa judge gets it right. Hopefully the husband will let the issue rest now, but we'll be watching to see if this continues through the court system.

UPDATE: Here's some more background from KWQC in Davenport, including video. There's also an online poll expressing your opinion about the Judge's decision.

UPDATE 2: The Des Moines Register picked up the story this morning with the most exhaustive treatment yet. At least one other blog has also picked it up and is trying to push the story nationally.

As you recall, Johnson County Republicans joined the Nussle and Leach campaigns in handing out FREE cold bottles of water the morning of the RAGBRAI ride into Coralville.

I was skeptical of the reports we heard from one or two riders jokingly that the Democrats were selling water earlier on the route. But it WAS TRUE! Democrats WERE using the opportunity to raise money instead of generating good will. They were set up a couple miles before us, as shown in this e-mail notice:

LOCATION: The RAGBRAI/Blue State Lemonade stand will be located at 1186 Black Diamond Rd. SW, the farm home of Stan & Noreen Yoder . . .

FRIDAY, 9AM, 11AM, 1PM: We need volunteers!!! Can you spare a few
hours to help the Dems make some money? Take a few hours of that vacation
time you’re about to lose and join us. It will be hot, but it will be fun,
and the heavy lifting will be done by 9am. When you RSVP to me about
volunteering, please include your mobile number or day time number, so I can
call you if we are all sold out before you arrive.

Guess I can't fault them for their enterprise, making money is the american way after all. Still a bit ironic isn't it -- we Republicans being the generous ones while the Dems are the misers.

Independent Candidate Jay Christensen-Szalanski has officially qualified to be on the ballot against Democrat State Senator Jay Bolkcom.

This blog has discussed Christensen-Szalanski before, as well as some of Bolkcom's defects. We'll be looking forward to watching this campaign progress.

Fellow Johnson County blogger, Mike Thayer at Sick of Spin, has been doing a series of posts looking at the Press-Citizen and its biases in editing stories, selecting stories, and editorializing.

Not that any of our readers probably need help realizing that the daily rag in the people's republic of johnson county is a bit more than left-of-center, he still makes some well-researched points that I had not realized. Check them out -- and good work, Mike!

O. Kay Henderson is up with a post stating the State Central Committee selected Mary Ann Hanusa as our candidate for Secretary of State. Mary Ann is going to need a lot of help, but I think this is winnable, even with a shortened campaign. It'll be tough to establish name recognition in less than three months, but the Democrats have a flawed candidate in Mauro. He won't be able to escape the corruption he has helped breed in Polk County.

UPDATE: The DMR has an article online now.

Not much original news here, but to save you some time and energy, here's a quick round-up of the situation with the Republican Secretary of State Nomination. According to state central committee member and blogger extraordinaire, Ted Sporer, the state central committee will be meeting (by conference call, if I heard correctly elsewhere) to pick a nominee on Monday evening.

On his blog, Sporer is seeking input from the grassroots, as to who the committee should pick. If you are really impassioned, you might also consider contacting our district reps on the state central committee.

According to Sporer, and as discussed on other blogs, the following folks are being considered/seeking the nomination (in alphabetical order):

Steve Curchill
Mary Ann Hanusa
Mike Hartwig
Jeff Heil

More details on each are below:

Steve Churchill is a former state representative from Johnston, Iowa. Yepsen has a brief profile, but I can't find any other good synposis of his background online.

Mary Ann Hanusa currently works in the West Wing of the White House as the director of Presidential Correspondence. Prior to that, she worked on the district staff of Senator Grassley, and was apparently active in the 2000 Presidential campaign in western Iowa. She was mentioned a couple times in this Register Profile of WH Staff. Here's another story about her campaign for the nomination.

Mike Hartwig was the nominee in 2004. He is currently vice president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, and apparently executive director of Marriage Matters of Iowa.

Jeff Heil was Marshall County Auditor for seven years. He currently works as an analyst for Ruan Securities Corporation, where you can find his current bio. He's also got an MBA, and rumor is that he may be willing to commit some significant financial resources.

In my opinion, we should pick someone who can do the job well. In reality, the winner of this election is going to be driven by who wins the Governor's Race . . . I just can't imagine people voting for Jim Nussle and then dropping down and voting for Mauro, so the key is to have who is capable, credible, and able to commit some time to helping excite people about the race and doesn't provide any reasons for someone not to continue down the party line.

But at the end of the day -- we just have to have someone on the ballot, and when Nussle wins, he'll be bringing a few new members of the executive council along with him.

Hopefully, as soon as a decision is made, we'll have more info out.

Not quite sure what message to take from primary election results around the country tonight. As nearly everyone has probably heard by now, Senator Joe Lieberman was beat by liberal-blogosphere-backed millionaire Ned Lamont. In addition, however, moderate freshman Republican Congressman Joe Schwarz of Michigan also lost to a more conservative candidate Tim Walberg and far-out Democrat Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney lost in a runoff election to Hank Johnson.

While it's possible that commentators will look back and point to tonight as a sign of an anti-incumbent tide, I don't think that'll be the case and here's why. While that sentiment may have played a bit of a role, each of the races was a unique situation -- particular the two House Members, and these defeats were not as unusual or unexpected as an incumbent going down normally would be.

Schwarz was only a freshman Republican, elected with a plurality in a hard-fought multi-candidate primary in 2004. Though he surprised me with his relatively party-line voting in the house, he is much more moderate than this reliably-conservative, Republican district in Michigan, and he only won the primary two years ago because the conservative vote split between half a dozen candidates. Walberg, who won, was one of the candidates from the primary campaign two years ago. He never really stopped campaigning, had significant support from the Club for Growth, etc., and unified the grassroots around his candidacy. Honestly, it would have been more shocking had Schwarz pulled it off.

McKinney needs no introduction, and her district has already booted her out once as an embarrassment. Punching capitol police and continuing her no-holds-barred opinions did not endear her to her district any further. Her opponent had broad support, including from Republicans, and again, this election was a correction of the anomaly of her election in the first place.

This isn't the making of an anti-incumbent groundwell, or much of a national message at all.

The Des Moines Register this morning has an interesting article that sheds some light on the corrupt Polk County Democrat political machine.

Polk County Record Tim Brien, who lost his bid to be re-elected in the Democrat Primary, accuses Democrat Secretary of State Candidate Michael Mauro of conspiring to oust him. Furthermore, he explains that he chose not to challenge the close election, because he knew Mauro wouldn't have conducted the process fairly.

If a Democrat doesn't trust Mauro to administer the duties of his office fairly and impartially, how in the world can Iowans of all political stripes trust him to do so as Secretary of State?
As Iowans learn more about the Mauro Machine the answer will become clear -- we can't.

Now, Republicans just need to find a new candidate to run against him.

Republicans participated this morning in Swisher Fun Days. In the photo above, you can see the banner being carried by (L to R) Scott James and his son, Jacob, of Iowa City, and Bob Anderson, of Swisher. They are followed by other Republicans including county supervisor candidates Rich Benn (in the yellow car), Alan Curry (walking with his sign), and Emma Nemecek (and her golf cart).

Swisher gave a warm welcome to all those converging on the charming community, and we had fun, despite the sprinkles of rain during the first part of the parade.

For those of you not familiar with it -- Swisher is Johnson County's northern outpost, just miles from the Linn County border. Signs of growth and young families were everywhere, in this town conveniently located between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

It was also a treat to be in the heart of a growing RED PRECINCT in Johnson County. Jefferson-West, in which Swisher is located, gave President Bush 54% of the vote in 2004!

Finally, though I hate to give a Democrat free publicity on these pages, I can't help myself. Emma Nemecek's opponent for House District 29, Ro Foege, has one of the most absolutely bizarre campaign techniques that I have encountered during my time in politics. For the past several parades, apparently in a somewhat clever play on his name, he has been represented by a number people wearing boats.

So, in honor of the boats, and in repayment for this free publicity, I am encouraging a little creative song-writing in the comments. Come up with some new lyrics to the classic children's song, starting off with the first verse:

Ro, Ro, row your boat . . .

About a month ago, I posted about how blatantly Loebsack stands with Pelosi and Dean -- copying their materials for his website.

It seems that he may be reading our blog, because the pages I referred to are no longer linked on his webpage -- Where Dave Stands. The box on the right side of the screen which lists "additional issues," used to include the offending pages, and now includes new, very personalized issue pages. Problem is, he hasn't removed the pages entirely from his website. He still stands with Pelosi and Dean, he's just trying to hide it a bit better by removing the links. You can still pull them up and see them here, here, and here . . . at least for now.

Also, seems Loebsack is taking a page from from another Dave, David "I'm going to canoe across the state" Osterberg, who ran a bizarre campaign against Senator Charles Grassley in 1998. Loebsacks apparently going to drum up support by walking nearly 500 miles across his district. Gee, it worked so great for Osterberg... got him all of 30% of the vote!

And if you're reading Dave, I hate to break it to you. But no matter how far you walk, you're not going to out-work our Congressman. I've been amazed so far this year at the parades and other events in Johnson County Leach has been showing up at -- he's working determined, quietly, and successfully, not taking anything for granted.

Do you ever wonder what those CIETC executives did with their excessive salaries and bonuses? According to State 29 (and the Institute on Money in State Politics) a chunk of Ramona Cunningham's $360,000 went to Chet Culver's campaign.

Jim Nussle's call for an honest and transparent payscale for government employees couldn't come at a better time. While Tom Vilsack is doling out $59,000 "retention" bonuses to his failed pick for governor, Mike Blouin, and Chet Culver is cashing checks from the leader of the CIETC scandal, Jim Nussle is providing leadership and new ideas for Iowa.

One shouldn't be suprised to find Polk Co. Democrat Machine boss Micheal Mauro on the receiving end of what looks to be a donation from Charles Brooks, CIETC employee and brother of, you guessed it, Archie Brooks. Tom Vlassis, one of Archie Brooks' DM city council colleagues who has admitted he was "Rubber Stamp" on the CIETC board of directors, donated to Mauro's campaign. Mauro also appears to have received money from Vic Scaglione, one of his former employees in the Polk Co. Courthouse and a recent CIETC alumnus. Funny how that works out, eh?

Also, Chet had this to say to the Charles City Press:

‘‘One of the things we learned with CIETC is there were many conflicts of interest, there were cases of nepotism,’’ Culver said.

Does anyone else have trouble stifling themselves after reading that statement? As one whose DC-based father has raised most of his campaign money via out of state lobbyists and one who has accepted money tainted by the biggest corruption scandal ever to hit Iowa, Culver has no room to speak of nepotism or conflicts of interest. Shame on him.

From the new blog:

Straight Talk Iowa Style is "the place" on the web where Senator John McCain supporters, Iowans in particular, can gather to network, debate and discuss how we can help him become the next President of the United States. And it all starts right here in Iowa! Straight Talk Iowa Style intends to be there every step of the way.

I'm not sure who is running the show over there. Any tips?

About a dozen Johnson County Republicans gathered at the home of Dorree Eckhoff to participate in Jim Nussle's statewide night of 99 ideas. We had some delicious treats and enjoyed conversation before opening things up with the welcome DVD. Then we joined in the statewide conference call with Jim and Karen Nussle and Bob and Darla Vander Plaats -- each at a different location around the state.

After the call, we spent about an hour going around the room to share our ideas. We had some interesting thought-provoking conversations. Some of the ideas shared included:

* Put Health Savings Accounts better into practice within the state
* Reduce the number of counties in the state
* Improve the educational curriculum to focus on "getting back to the basics"
* Help smaller cities (10-20k) revitalize with new businesses
* Develop better mass-transit within the state, including rail service from Omaha to Chicago and better air transportation, especially in eastern Iowa airports
* Reduce regulation and legal expenses for doctors so that they can practice medicine with the interests of the patient, instead of fear in mind
* Focus on selling family-friendly attractions instead of Casinos

We were also visited by a reporter from the Cedar Rapids Gazette (where was the local Press Citizen?) -- so stay tuned for any press coverage.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the Gazette Story.

If you don't want to listen to it, you can read more about the conference call on Krusty. Thanks to everyone who came out, and if you missed out, be sure to submit your ideas online.

Last night, the Johnson County Fair wrapped up for another year. Four days of great fun and hard work. Thanks to all of the volunteers and candidates who helped work the booth or stopped by. The photo above shows State Rep. Sandy Greiner (L) and Iowa City resident Betty Kirchner (R), signing up petition signatures one evening at the booth. (Sandy spent much of the week with us at the fair and we appreciate all her time!)

The fair was a great success -- we spread the word about our candidates to hundreds of visitors each day and we recruited dozens of new volunteers to help out with our efforts this fall. Now, with the summer almost over, the campaign season will be kicking into high gear. 

RAGBRAI rolled into Johnson County this morning, and volunteers for Jim Nussle's campaign for governor and Jim Leach's congressional campaign were there to meet them. The Nussle campaign organized a water station, giving away free bottles of ice-cold water to the riders passing by. (PHOTO ABOVE: Leah Adams hands a water bottle to a cow riding past)

It was a gorgeous (though hot and muggy) day, and it was great fun to greet riders from across the state. We got lots of cheers, made some new friends, and showed some good Republican hospitality. The riders have come to look forward to seeing the green signs across the state -- the campaign has been organizing water stops every day of RAGBRAI. Today, we were set up shortly after one of the steepest hills of the entire route.

(PHOTO RIGHT: Larry Ihde, field representative for Jim Leach hands water to a RAGBRAI rider)

Several riders remembered seeing Jim and Karen Nussle, who rode the first day's route. Tomorrow, Bob and Darla Vander Plaats will be riding the final day of the route -- so keep an eye out for their appearance in Coralville!

Thanks to everyone else who showed up to help too, including Dorree Eckhoff, Carol Ann Christiansen, Chuck Seberg, Sam Langholz, and Paul Behrend -- many of whom are pictured below, as well as Brian DiDonato with the Nussle Campaign. Also a special thanks to Chuck Klein for letting us camp out in front of his home and to his grandaughter who helped hand out water.

Here's a few more photos -- you can click on each picture to view it larger:

Rumors were percolating over on Krusty's Comments about Republican Secretary State Candidate Chuck Allison ending his campaign. This morning, the Des Moines Register confirmed that Allison will be announcing the end of his race, citing personal issues.

I hear that one item on the agenda of the upcoming state central committee is "nominating conventions." Expect that we will be reconvening the state delegates to choose a new nominee. Bob Dopf anyone? Then again, with a convention, anything is possible.

That's what I get for trying to jot off a quick message before heading off to work without checking my facts. My understanding is that the state party has until August 18 to select a new candidate and still get the name on all the ballots, and the State Central Committee will be the entity making the selection.

Gazette reports the following names considering a bid: Paul Pate, former Secretary of State and former Cedar Rapids Mayor; Bill Dix, former state representative and congressional candidate; Gentry Collins, former RPI Executive Director. Except for Krusty, doesn't appear that Bob Dopf is getting much traction.

If I get a chance, I'll post a bit more about Paul Pate, for those of us, who's memories have trouble going back eight years to when he was last in statewide office.

Well, the Press-Citizen appears to be only a couple days late in sharing the news, but Democrat Senator Bob Dvorsky finally pled guilty to his Drunk Driving conviction on July 20. He received a deferred judgment -- as long as he doesn't have another run-in with the law in the next year, the charge will be cleared from his record.

According to the Court Records (search for Dvorsky in Polk County here), it looks like he was gearing up for a fight, filing a motion to supress the evidence just earlier this month.

So . . . did you miss seeing one of our local candidates at a recent parade? Need to put a face with the names you've been reading about or hearing from your friends?

Never say this this commenator doesn't listen to the back-seat bloggers. I've dug back through the photo archives of our marathon of parades and am posting a few never-before-seen images that didn't make it on the first-time around. As directors are fond of saying on deleted-scenes DVD audio commentaries, "these were some of my favorite shots -- it was sad to see them end up on the cutting room floor, and I'm glad that they're now getting this chance to see the light of day. . . "

State House Candidate Emma Nemecek (left), along with her Campaign Manager Tim DeMuth (center) and Linn County GOP Chair Dan Abolins (right) getting ready for the Oxford Parade on July 4th.


County Supervisor Candidate Rich Benn in his always-snazzy car, along the parade route in Tiffin on July 1st.


County Supervisor Candidate Alan Curry, and his son, walking in the Tiffin Parade.

Don't currently have any parade photos for our othe Republican legislators -- gonna have to stay tuned for coming attractions.

After several hours of hard work by over a dozen volunteers who showed up to help set up the booth Sunday afternoon (see the "before" picture to the left, taken part of the way through the afternoon, after the panels had been hung), the Johnson County Fair kicked off on Monday.

Leah Adams and Dorree Eckhoff (far left and far right in the photo above), the Fair Booth Committee Co-Chairs, have done a fabulous job so far decorating, organizing volunteers, and keeping everything going smoothly.

The fair will be continuing until this Thursday, July 27, so come and visit us. Pick up yard signs, literature, bumper stickers, enter for our door prizes, including a state-wide drawing for tickets to the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game, here in Iowa City this year!

We are also displaying a patriotic tribute to our troops, shown below:

Today marked the Sixth Parade of the summer season for the Johnson County Republicans, when they joined Solon to celebrate the 35th annual Solon Beef Days. (As an aside, Beef Days is a fabulous small-town festival -- you can learn more than you ever wanted to know at their website).

We had a great crowd of volunteers showing their support for all the Republican candidates, including Congressman Jim Leach who was present and walking in the parade.

PHOTO RIGHT: Congressman Leach visiting with Johnson County Republican Leah Adams.

We are also surprised by the appearance of a 2008 Presidential hopeful, Illinois Businessman John Cox. He was joined by three staff members. Cox walked the parade, introducing himself while his staff passed out literature. By the end of the route I think I could have stood in for him: "I'm John Cox. I'm running for President. There are too many career politicians in Washington." He can stay on message.

He seemed like a nice enough guy -- as a former county chair, he was very interested in helping this year with grassroots party-building and as a former executive with a potato chip company, I learned that there's nothing better than a fresh potato chip right after its been fried. Gotta love living in Iowa.

PHOTO RIGHT: Cox beginning the parade and visiting with a Solon resident.

PHOTO BELOW: Cox visiting after the parade Leach volunteer/ Cedar Rapids City Councilwoman Sarah Henderson.

While campaigning in Ohio last week, Hillary Clinton said some strange things that her good friend Chet Culver should find disturbing. It seems she doesn't think Secretaries of State should be allowed to run for higher office.

Here's one AP Story:

Without naming him, Clinton suggested on the last day of ACORN's national convention that Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has a conflict of interest in running the bellwether state's next election because he is running for governor.

"That should not permitted," Clinton said, to screams and cheers from the crowd.
The New York senator urged ACORN members "don't let anyone pull anything over your eyes again."

and some more from another:

"I know that year was a problem here in Ohio and I hope, everybody
from Ohio, you watch this election like a hawk," Clinton told the gathering.
"Don't let them pull anything over your eyes again. I mean, I find it
amazing that one of the people running for high office is actually running the elections. That should not be permitted."

Either somebody forgot to tell the good Senator that several Democrat Secretaries of State, including our own Chet Culver, are running for Governor this year, or else she's trying to tell us something. The irony is, as the article points out, Ohio's elections are primarily administered by local bipartisan county boards anyway, and none of the Democrats claims of irregularties in 2004 have been found to have any merit.

Then again, given that Chet Culver has already shown that he's willing to put partisan interests above his official responsibilities, when he refused to release the election results on 2004, in an attempt to gain partisan advantage, perhaps Senator Clinton has a point. Perhaps we should be watching like a hawk with Chet and his cronies, Mike Mauro in Polk County and Tom Slockett here in Johnson County and the other machine Democrats in charge of our elections.

UPDATE: So, apparently, I'm a little slow on the trigger, and this all actually happened last week ... I could have sworn that I read something this Monday that made it sound like it had just occured. Radio Iowa got Culver to comment, and Iowa Ennui has some good posts. Also, check out National Review Online.

Many Republicans have moments when they flip through their morning papers and think to themselves, "What is this writer trying to pull?" This was probably the case if you were looking at the DMR last Thursday when the editorial board came up with this gem:

"Recall that the last time the Democrats controlled Congress, they produced healthy budget surpluses that put the country on a path toward paying down the national debt."

Surely a misprint, right? As you will recall, the balanced budgets around the turn of the century were a product of the ground work of Newt Gingrich and the Gang of Seven (which included a young Congressman Jim Nussle) leading up to and including the Republican Revolution of 1994. Well a number of letter writers called the Register on this error. The sometimes insightful, always vulgar State 29 caught it. Chet Culver's own Chris Woods even realized there was an error.

But does the Register admit its mistake? From today's paper:

We’ll stand by our assertion.

It’s true that Republicans happened to hold majorities in Congress in the late 1990s, when a budget surplus was finally achieved, but they weren’t responsible for it.

Pretty outrageous stuff, eh?

In tomorrow's Register, read about how Johnson went to China, reviving trade and diplomatic relations and how Jimmy Carter won the Cold War.

Hat tip to the insightfully vulgar State 29.

I have been derelict in my duty in not posting this sooner, but as many may not take the time to read the Daily Iowan, I thought it was still worth while to be sure you heard about this.

First, I have to say that for the past year, I have actually been quite impressed with the Daily Iowan. They seemed to be genuinely interested in putting together objective pieces and covered a number of our Republican events quite well. As I've been reading the paper this summer though, it really seems like they've taken a downturn -- the reports of dem visits read glowingly, while they devoted the reports of republican visits to attacks by college democrats. And their opinion page has been particularly bad -- I've almost given up making my way through it, because I always feeling like I might as well be reading Democrat talking points.

Thing is, turns out I was reading Democrat talking points. The paper announced this week that one of their columns was actually "largely plagiarized from a report released June 29 by the Democratic Policy Committee." To their credit, they promptly fired the columnist, John Heineman, who also had an apology printed in the paper.

Not to diminish the plagiarism itself, I think the truly sad thing is that the Democrat talking points didn't look out of place -- it's what we've come to expect from the liberal media.

Though the Iowa blogosphere has been strangely silent, the rest of the world, including Fox News has been quite a buzz, check out some of the other takes on this affair including: Brit Hume, NewsBusters, Army Post Road, Regret the Error,

When I took the time to add the RPI Blog to the iowa blog roll, I also added two other new conservative iowa blogs, that I have enjoyed reading recently. If you have not yet checked them out, do so -- I hope they both keep up:

Caucus Cooler - focused on providing an "insider's perspective" to the 2008 Republican Caucuses. It's only been online for a week, but so far an interesting read.

The Real Sporer - written by the Polk County GOP Chair and state central committee member Ted Sporer, the posts have been a bit sporadic so far, but I hear that he's a busy guy, and we're particularly excited to have another county gop-focused blog. The most current post as I write, includes the interesting news that Polk County will be holding a special nominating convention to nominate candidates for several house seats, county treasurer and county recorder (in which the democrat was recently ousted in the primary). What a great sign of a vibrant party!

The Republican Party of Iowa announced the launch of an official party blog. From the site:

This blog will give a from the field view of happenings in Iowa Politics.
Including what's going on with our 2006 races, 2008 candidates as we approach
the Iowa Caucuses, and the hot issues on the campaign trail with postings from
Chairman Ray Hoffmann, staff and candidates.

They must have seen how much fun we were having here in Johnson County in the blogosphere. It'll be interesting to see how it develops. I wonder if Ray Hoffmann will be as actively involved as his colleague, MI GOP Chair Saul Anuzis, who sets the bar high with his insightful and prolific writing on one of the best party blogs.

Congressman Jim Leach, who only last week was completing a marathon of parades around Johnson County and the rest of the district, has wasted no time hitting the ground running in DC, now that Congress is back in session.

Today, the House passed his bill, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, by a broad bipartisan margin, 317-93. We've noted before the attention he's been geting about his efforts, and there's another story in the Washington Post about passage.

If securing passage of his bill to protect our families and our homeland wasn't enough for one day, he also sent off a letter to President Bush asking for reconsideration of the government's decision not to provide FEMA assistance to Iowa City. I particularly like his last paragraph:

Iowa City has responded as prudentially and forthrightly as any
community could. The request of the state may still seem only minimally above
the necessary disaster triggering level but this is because Iowans are maximally
conservative on cost estimates. Katrina-like scandals will not emerge in Iowa
City.

I for one, and proud to have Congressman Leach, hard at work for us in Washington.

This week, state legislators will be meeting in a Special Session in Des Moines to attempt a historic override of Governor Vilsack's veto of eminent domain reform legislation.

When Governor Vilsack vetoed this legislation a couple of months ago, he vetoed a bill that had the support of over 80 members of the Iowa House and over 40 members of the Senate. The bill had major bipartisan support from our legislators. That is except, for the Johnson County Democratic Party legislators.

that's right, all of the Johnson County Democrat legislators (except for Vicki Lensing, who failed to vote on the bill at all), voted AGAINST the protection of the private property rights of Iowa citizens.

What is extremely interesting to note however, is that these legislators are voting against principles that the Johnson County Democratic Party and Iowa Democratic Party platforms both call for. So, not only are these legislators and the Governor standing against Iowans, they're standing against their own political party!

Our own Rep. Jeff Kauffman will be floor managing the eminent domain legislative override effort in the Iowa House on July 14th. Jeff has asked all of us here in Johnson County who support protecting private property rights to contact these legislators here in Johnson County to tell them to stand up and support this all important legislation.

An override of Governor's veto has not occurred in Iowa since 1963. More importantly, this will send a clear message to the Governor that Iowan's private property rights MUST be protected.

This is an issue that transcends political parties and/or liberal/conservative differences. Protecting private property rights are something that all citizens should stand up for.

However, we say this to those who chose to stand against the override legislation this week: They do so at their own elective peril. Iowans are watching this issue VERY closely and will not hesitate to vote out any legislator who chooses to stand with the Governor on this issue.

So again, we ask all citizens in Johnson County and elsewhere in the state to contact their state legislator and tell them to support the override legislation!