Boswell Vs The Real Sporer

From KCCI-TV:

A blog posting is causing fury among Iowa Democrats regarding actor Michael J. Fox and his Parkinson's disease.

The Boswell for Congress campaign called on Jeff Lamberti to demand the resignation of Polk County Republican Chairman Ted Sporer for comments on his blog, according to a news release.

"Fox did something to intensify his Parkinson symptoms in the commercials," the blog states. The blog entry also calls the actor "Teen Wolf" and "Doc Hollywood," which are names of films in which Fox had roles.

The Real Sporer responds.

I guess the Democrats aren't just running against Dave Lamberti, they're also running against bloggers.

I kind of feel slighted here. My post ("Michael J. Fox Does His Stepin Fetchit Shake For Iowa Democrats") was far more insightfully vulgar.

But Michael J. Fox is the new Stepin Fetchit for the Democrats. Fox admitted a few years ago that he quit taking his meds prior to appearing before Congress ("I had made a deliberate choice to appear before the subcommittee without medication"), so how trusting should people be of him today? Nobody should trust Michael J. Fox at all. He's a partisan little tool, doing his crack-addled wigger act in front of 1000 sweating Democrats stuck waiting at Drake University over an hour while Fox finished TV news interviews, and all to get Chet Culver into Terrace Hill.

That's not to say I don't feel sorry for his condition. Parkinson's sucks. But when you enter the arena of politics and willfully manipulate your visual condition just once in order to score political points, expect to be a target.

Bruce Braley Tells Elitist Douchebag John Kerry To Stay Home

From WHO-TV:

1st District congressional candidate Bruce Braley has canceled a campaign event scheduled later this week with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, saying that the senator's recent comments about the Iraq war were inappropriate...

...Speaking at a campaign event in California, Kerry said, "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

What the fuck? John Kerry basically called the men and women in the armed forces serving in Iraq a bunch of stupid dummies???

That's typical of an elitist douchebag. Kerry thinks he's better than everybody else, but ultimately he comes off as the biggest asshole douchebag on the planet.



You Kerry apologists, especially those attending college or university, should beware. You can't possibly try to defend this, even though Kerry attempts explain his position by calling people upset with his opinion "assorted right-wing nutjobs." Isn't that just great? And this fucker wanted to be the President, the Commander In Chief of the military.

The fact is that John Kerry has been shitting on the men and woman of the military for 35 years, and he continues to shit on them today. Kerry has no idea what kind of man or woman goes into the military in our volunteer armed forces. He clearly has no idea what sort of education they have, what kind of training they receive, and how professional they are about their thankless jobs.

Somebody needs to shove a pie into John Kerry's face. Preferably a shit pie. Throw some of it back into his face.

Jokes vs Malls

One thing I miss about Halloween in Des Moines is the yearly telling of jokes in order obtain treats. Some kids could really get creative.

Down here in suburban Kansas City everybody takes their kids to the mall. I'm not joking. The kids run from store to store, getting really lameass candy, and saying the usual trick or treat. I drove through neighborhoods and hardly anybody had an outside light on. I guess this has been the tradition here for almost as long as they've had malls.

A positive thing about the mall is that you're not running around outside in 38 degree weather, but I still miss the jokes.

That's Kind Of Gay

From the Des Moines Register:

An announcer for ESPNU has been taken off the air due to a comment he made during Saturday's telecast of the Iowa-Northern Illinois football game.

Brian Kinchen, a color commentator, will not work a game this weekend, according to Josh Krulewitz, ESPN's vice-president of public relations.

Krulewitz told The Des Moines Register Monday night that the network made its decision after an internal review.

On Saturday, Kinchen was explaining to a television audience that receivers need to make catches with their hands because they are "tender" and can "caress" the ball. He then paused and said, "that's kind of gay, but hey ..."

From the story, you can't tell if Kinchen was talking about Iowa or Northern Illinois's receivers.

I'm betting Kinchen was talking about Northern Illinois. After all, they had to use those pink locker rooms. It's likely the Northern Illinois players were put into a passive mood after being exposed to what some consider a sissy color.

I blame Jim Nussle for all this queer-bashing. Hayden Fry endorsed Jim Nussle for Governor, and it was Hayden Fry who came up with the idea of painting the opposing team's locker room pink.

Democrat Tremens

From the Joe Says So blog:

Gee, who do you think the Des Moines Register favors for Governor? Two-thirds of the front page is an unpaid campaign ad for Chet.

Click over to the post to see a scan of the front page for context.

Michael J. Fox Does His Stepin Fetchit Shake For Iowa Democrats

From the Radio Iowa blog:

With that amount of lead time, one would think the campaign could throw together a nice event. Think again.

The Culver camp chose to hold it at Drake University's Olmstead Center, which is the student union, on the second floor in a hall that should have been air conditioned, but apparently was not. There were a number of disabled people in the audience whose comfort levels were not optimum, to put it mildly. Some were forced to sit on the floor. During the more than hour-long wait for the event to start, two women in the front were trading places -- one would sit on the chair while the other sat on the floor, then they'd switch. There were over a thousand people in the room, and Drake security started turning people away at the door.

The campaign did set up risers for the t.v. cameras there to cover this momentous event, but then handed out Culver and Boswell posters to the crowd. That meant some camera shots of Fox and friends (Chet Culver, Tom Harkin, Leonard Boswell & Seldon Spencer) were obscured by waving posters. The campaign also failed to have appropriate lighting in the room, so if you see photos of the event, you will see many shadows (but kudos to WHO-TV for bringing two lights to the event to make it even worth taking a picture or shooting video, as the professional photographers I heard talking about the situation at the event said the lighting in the room was too dark just by itself).

The campaign also forgot/didn't know enough to acquire a mult-box (a device which supplies sound to multiple users from a single microphone), so you will also note in the pictures from the event that the face of Michael J. Fox is obscured by a wide array of microphones. The event started over an hour late due to the scheduling of one-on-one interviews of Fox with newspaper reporters...

...During the waiting phase, it also became clear that unexpected "dignitaries" were showing up. The stage had five chairs on it when the crowd started arriving, but one more was added about half an hour later, then another 15 minutes after that.

Once Culver, Harkin, Boswell, Spencer, Patty Judge & Mari Culver got onto the stage, Boswell started talking, and then a few moments later Fox came into the room to a huge roar from the crowd. Boswell kept speaking, took a dig at Rush Limbaugh which you will find in the Radio Iowa story, then passed off to Harkin, who passed off to Culver who then turned the microphone over to Fox. Fox spoke for about five minutes and then it was over.

Two years ago, at a campaign event in Iowa, Faith Healer, Scientist, and Surgeon John Edwards said the following:

Christopher Reeve just passed away. And America just lost a great champion for this cause. Somebody who is a powerful voice for the need to do stem cell research and change the lives of people like him, who have gone through the tragedy. Well, if we can do the work that we can do in this country -- the work we will do when John Kerry is president -- people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.

Looks like the Democrats have found their Christopher Reeve replacement.

Des Moines Register Finally Acknowledges Culver's Anti-Rainforest Ad

From David Yepsen's column today:

Chet Culver, the Democratic candidate for governor, and his running mate, Patty Judge, are airing a television commercial criticizing Republican candidate Jim Nussle's support for the rain-forest project.

The two are standing under what is supposed to be a driving rain. It's an attempt to be funny, but it backfires. Culver looks foolish and certainly not very gubernatorial...

...Culver is right about one thing. The rain forest is unpopular with a lot of people. But it represents the sort of big-picture thinking that mossback Iowa needs if we're ever going to attract more people to live and visit here. Which is why it takes real leaders willing to buck public opinion instead of pandering to the naysayers for short-term political gain.

While I've bashed Culver's ads in the past, I think the anti-Rainforest ad is pretty good. It makes the big lug at least seem like a regular Iowan.

It's been six days since KCCI-TV first mentioned the Culver/Judge anti-rainforest ad and five days since Kay Henderson at Radio Iowa did a story on it. Did it really take that long for somebody at the Des Moines Register to finally acknowledge it?

Then you get this crap by Yepsen about "mossback Iowa" that just drives me bananas. Here's the definition of "mossback":

# A person who vehemently, often fanatically opposes progress and favors return to a previous condition: die-hard, reactionary, ultraconservative. See politics.

# An old-fashioned person who is reluctant to change or innovate: fogy, fossil, fuddy-duddy. Informal stick-in-the-mud. Slang square.

We're all a bunch of fuddy-duddy old farts because we look at attendance projections of 1,500,000 a year for something in Pella and dare to question it? Because David Oman hasn't been able to raise a single dime of private money over the past several years? Because, because, because...

Listen, Yepsen, you're not fooling anybody. The Register is in bed with the Omans and Bob Ray can do no wrong. Your newspaper has rarely been objective about the rainforest scam, especially in recent years. A reporter is always around whenever David Oman has a press conference, but there's never any critical analysis by your army of opinion columnists.

I suppose there was a time when newspapers looked out for the little guy and protested corrupt back-slapping by inbred politicos that helped enable the pickpocketing of taxpayers, but those days are long gone. Instead, we get a bunch of local elitist hayseeds and imported Gannettoids who think it's more important to "dream big" and "look fancy" to their Eastern Establishment friends while screwing the mossbacks who dare to criticize yet will ultimately fund this boondoggle.

State 29's Iowa Congressional Endorsements

If the Des Moines Register Editorial Board can issue a bunch of largely-ignored political endorsements, so can I:

1st District: As much as I like the idea of James Hill being a congressman, I think if I were voting there I'd throw my support behind Mod Whalen. Why? Mod Whalen hasn't been endorsed by Communists, unlike Bruce Braley. Also, Mod Whalen isn't just another Ivy League-educated lawyer who spent the past 28 years suing the beejezus out of the health care industry. Whalen spent his time starting and running businesses where young girlies had to perform services in order to earn anything above a sub-minimum wage. And he helped feed enough people in order to buy himself a plane that could get caught in headwinds. During that time, Bruce Braley was moving out on his family and into some kid's hospital room. When you think about it that way, the choice is obvious.

2nd District: Having to choose between two Democrats is tough, but I give my endorsement to Dave Loebsack for a number of reasons. First, he's a political science professor. When was the last time a poly sci major did anything except teaching or working some shitty cube job completely unrelated to his/her major? Second, Loebsack wants to enforce the laws already on the books when it comes to illegal immigration. Third, Jim Leach has been in Congress for 30 years. It's about time he found another line of work. I hear there may be a job teaching political science opening up soon in Mount Vernon.

3rd District: This was the toughest. Leonard Boswell, at least according to the Des Moines Register, is a warmonger who favors torturing evildoers. That gets him my vote. However, Boswell also wanted to earmark $50,000 for Pat McManus's Christian Anti-Drug Rock scam called Cock Rock In Prevention, which is a big negative. How can Boswell be fiscally prudent at this juncture with bible-thumpers getting all my great-grandchildren's tax dollars? As it turned out, Jeff Lamberti, being the fauxscal conservative that he is, got McManus even more moolah from Iowa taxpayers over the years. In this case, I'll have to choose bad over worse and go with Leonard Boswell.

4th District: I don't know much about Tom Latham, but he gets my endorsement. Why? His opponent, Democrat Selden Spencer, thinks the USA needs to be "engaging" with Muslim terrorists in order to find out why we are such a big bad country. Fuck him.

5th District: While it might be interesting for a few days to see a Jew-hating pancake's aunt become a congressperson, I think it would not be a good idea, long-term. Because of that, I have to choose love-him-or-hate-him incumbent Steve King for the job again. Why? Because the Des Moines Register Editorial Board endorsed him in 2002 and 2004. I'm just keeping the tradition going.

The Future Of Politics Belongs To Those With Good De-Icing Equipment

Four years ago today was the Paul Wellstone Memorial Ultra-Liberal Masturbation Contest in Minneapolis, which Tom Harkin attended, and which caused a Senate seat to go Republican in Minnesota.

Yesterday, Tom Harkin was in Iowa City:

When Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, entered 348 IMU, he pumped his fist to the cheers and encouraging whistles of roughly 50 supporters.

In town on Oct. 27 to stump for fellow Democrat and congressional hopeful Dave Loebsack, Harkin seemed at ease in front of the liberal-friendly crowd, which included Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, and uncontested Johnson County Attorney candidate Janet Lyness.

"I've had a lot of fun in politics during my life," Harkin said. "And I think politics ought to be fun. My good friend Sen. Paul Wellstone used to say, 'The future of politics belongs to those with passion.' "

Even though Wellstone was a super-liberal, he always had good ads. No wonder the guy got elected.

Too bad about God holding Wellstone to his original campaign pledge of only staying around for two terms in the Senate, but that's the way it goes.

Why Don't We Try Chopping His Hands Off?

Today's list of drunk drivers at the Des Moines Register features a 20 year old who has either pled or was found guilty of third offense operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

If you look up Jonathon Crabtree's record at the Iowa Trial Court Search, you see speeding tickets, a 2nd degree burglary conviction coupled with a parole violation that got him a $1000 fine and community service, fugitive from justice, contempt, and driving while license revoked charges.

Who are the judges letting this menace out on the streets in recent years? Why isn't that publicized?

State 29 Agrees With Dick Doak For Once

From Dick Doak's column in the Des Moines Register:

The flap over whether Chet Culver is part of a secret plot to restore TouchPlay lottery machines reminds me of something I've been meaning to suggest:

It should be illegal for anyone who does business with the state to donate money to candidates for state office.

The same goes for businesses that are in litigation against the state or that can't operate without a license from the state, such as casinos.

While I agree with this in general, I don't think it would pass the "free speech" test in courts.

Ultimately, it would best if campaign contributions were limited to a specific amount per person and then only to registered voters within the State of Iowa. Yes, that means no PACs. That would level the playing field considerably. And that ain't ever gonna happen.

0-5 Iowa State Has Three More Chances Left To Get Into A Bowl

From the Kansas City Star:

Down 10-0 in the first quarter, Kansas State came back to beat Iowa State 31-10 on Saturday...

...Kansas State (5-4, 2-3 Big 12) broke a two-game losing streak and needs just one victory in its last three games to become bowl eligible in Ron Prince's first year as coach...

...The Cyclones (3-6, 0-5) lost their fifth straight... One more loss will keep them out of the postseason for only the second time in seven years.

Oh god, I'm laughing so hard!

The Cyclones are 0-5 in the Big 12, yet if they manage win their next three games they actually become bowl eligible!

That's about the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard!

And it's from the same university that hired that cunt Elizabeth Hoffman as provost for $275,000 a year!

You just know that Dan McCarney wouldn't be embarrassed to go to some shitty bowl if they won their final three games.

Oh well, at least ISU got a chick in the Girls Of The Big 12 issue:




Related: Iowa State Will Be In The Toilet Bowl

All Those Iowa Pornstars In Wikipedia

Somehow, I ran into this article last month in the Des Moines Register:

Just type in "Fonda, Iowa," in the Wikipedia search. After a detailed discussion of its geography and demographics, the page for the tiny town includes this under "notable citizens."

"Ron Strauss - pilot for Elvis."

"Rebecca Cummings - porn star."

...The porn star was harder to track down. People didn't want to claim they knew her.

But after a bit of searching, she was found in Waterloo at Heart Throbs Adult Entertainment. She makes her own video series and is currently the Heart Throbs entertainment director with brown hair, brown eyes and 36DDs.

"In fact, I edit her Wikipedia page," said Mike Goings, owner of Heart Throbs, which provides male and female dancers for couples and parties. "I will go back and change (entries) for her. If it's going to be on there, it needs to be accurate."

...Goings said that Cummings grew up in Fonda and that it's her real name, although people are understandably suspicious.

"It's been said she is the most famous porn star in Iowa but she really is the only porn star in Iowa. The other one died this spring in a car accident in Vegas."

That's right! It was Fort Madison-native Anna Malle who died in a car accident in Vegas earlier this year.

I have to admit that Anna Malle drives a lot of traffic to this blog, although not nearly as much these days as "Jordan Monroe" aka Emily Ranheim does. Lately, there's been a lot of hits every day. And it just keeps going up and up.

I mean, look at her. She's very beautiful. It would not surprise me at all if she's the Playmate Of The Year.

Ako May Be A Crooked Dunderhead, But He's OUR Crooked Dunderhead

From the Des Moines Register Editorial Board:

Sometimes none of the candidates in a race seems to deserve election, and that's the case this year in House District 66, in the heart of Des Moines.

But voters have to make a choice, so we will, too: We recommend Ako Abdul-Samad, a Des Moines school board member and founder and CEO of Creative Visions, a nonprofit social-services agency...

It's hard, though, to have confidence that Abdul-Samad, a Democrat, will be a watchdog for the public's interests. Abdul-Samad resigned from the board of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium this spring after a state audit exposed excessive salaries. A federal investigation is under way. Perhaps even more stunning, it was revealed that CIETC had shorted his own agency nearly $180,000, yet Abdul-Samad was unaware of it.

This is surely the stupidest endorsement the Register Editorial Board has ever given.

Yes, even weirder than the Register Editorial Board's enduring endorsements of Steve King.

Here's Culver's Anti-Rainforest Ad

It's finally up at YouTube:



I don't think this ad hurts Nussle all that much, especially since Tom Harkin and most of the rest of Congress voted for this overall package, which included Grassley's $50 million earmark.

Here is Nussle's out: He can be like Tom Vilsack and Mike Blouin and say he'd like to see the stupid Earthpork Rainforest project get built, but vow not to commit any Iowa taxpayer money to the project. That effectively kills the issue and helps to drive another nail into the project's coffin. It also gets Nussle off from being critical of that crooked weasel Chuck Grassley.

Number Of Tongue Piercings In Iowa City Going Down

From the Daily Iowan:

In the wake of new celebrity trends, tongue piercings may have become too ubiquitous, said Cooper, who works at Nemesis, 110 S. Linn St., adding he now only puts his tongue ring in for "special occasions."

But despite the dangers and possible side effects, he says five to 10 people request the piercing every month. Meanwhile, body piercer Robert Olson, who said he only pierces around four or five tongues a month at approximately $50 each, agreed that the trend is losing ground to nose and naval piercings.

"It's not as big a fad as it used to be," said Olson, who works at Crossroads Tattoo in Coralville. "It's just not as different."

The myth goes that a pierced tongue helps improve stimulation for oral sex, although I guess if that was really the truth then every young guy on the planet would be getting his palms pierced with metal studs. You don't see that happening.

Did You Mean Culver Reinforced?

Despite KCCI-TV doing a big report Wednesday on a recent Chet Culver/Patty Judge ad that dismisses the Earthpork Rainforest project as a "waste", the Des Moines Register (as of Friday) has not published a word about the ad.

Todd Dorman of the Mason City Globe Gazette and Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson both had mentions of or stories about it on Thursday.

This morning (Friday), if you search for "Culver" and "Rainforest" on the Register's web site, you'll get zero results and the question: "Did you mean Culver Reinforced?"

Meanwhile, over at Radio Iowa, phony fiscal conservative Senator Chuck Grassley is upset that Culver and Judge are dissing the project:

Grassley said plenty of Democrats, including Governor Tom Vilsack and Mike Blouin -- the director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, have lauded the EarthPark project which is now to be built near Pella. "It happens that I've had communication with Vilsack. I've had communication with Blouin (and) I believe other Democratic leaders who have felt very strongly that the rain forest was going to add to the educational stature of Iowa, to the environmental stature of Iowa and most importantly, to job creation through tourism," Grassley said. "Is Culver for economic development or isn't he?"

Honestly, Senator Bought-and-paid-for, you should hang your head in shame.

We know that one of your former "special assistants" got paid nearly $70,000 to lobby you for the $50 million earmark. We know that you changed the rules for the money once you discovered your con artist Republican buddy David Oman had spent nearly $3 million of the money and could no longer work with Coralville because he's a turned into a megalomaniac.

I don't think it's fair for Grassley to point fingers at Deacon Blouin or Tom Vilsack. At all.

Blouin and Vilsack haven't appropriated taxpayer money towards the rainforest, even though they support the project.

This shows how absolutely out of touch Chuck Grassley has become. He's a fauxscal conservative to the core. A fake. A phony. A complete charlatan. A tool for the special interests. No wonder our damn deficit is so high.

An interesting side note is that Ted Townsend gave the Chet Culver campaign $2000 in July, and shortly thereafter donated $2000 to Jim Nussle's campaign. It's pretty ballsy for the Culver campaign to come out so negative regarding a campaign contributor's pet project.

By the way, I'm wondering when that Chet Culver / Patty Judge rainforest ad is going to hit YouTube. It's not on Culver's multimedia web page, either.

USA Out Of Iran

A reader tipped me off to this video at KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids of the President's visit to Des Moines to raise money for Jeff Lamberti.

It's your typical low-IQ TV news report. It devotes as much time to Bush's visit as it does the handful of protesters. And isn't Lamberti's district completely outside of KCRG's viewing area? I can't see why Bush's visit to Des Moines would merit more than a 10 second mention in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area.

Do watch the video at least once. The woman interviewed has the title "Matchstick Artist" directly below her name. Is that her occupation? And towards the end of the report there's a video shot of one of the protest signs that says: USA Out Of Iran.

The Final Nail In The Rainforest Coffin

From Radio Iowa:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver says a 50-million dollar federal grant for the indoor rainforest that's to be built in Pella is an example of the wasteful federal spending that's occurred during Jim Nussle's tenure as chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee. The EarthPark project is also the target of a new Culver campaign ad that criticizes Nussle, Culver's Republican rival, and Culver is now talking about the issue in campaign appearances.

"I think it's important that we do not waste the taxpayers money," Culver says. "You wonder how we have $260 billion of debt. We've had a lot of pork barrel spending. Congressman Nussle has supported bridges to nowhere in Alaska, a world toilet summit in Ireland, a rainforest in Iowa."

Culver points to a group that recently labeled the EarthPark grant the worst example of pork barrel spending in Washington. After years of negotiations with over a dozen Iowa cities, the EarthPark's board of directors announced last month the facility is to be built in Pella, once they've lined up the financing. Pella has committed 25 million to the project.

Culver says he's not suggesting that the 50-million from the feds be returned, but Culver says he would never have voted to give the grant in the first place.

But fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley did.

Oh, and how did it happen? This is from a piece by Michael Judge in the Wall Street Journal from March:

Iowans are a proud and famously practical people. So when Des Moines millionaire Ted Townsend, heir to a fortune earned manufacturing meat-processing equipment (a practical endeavor), proposed creating a man-made, indoor, 4.5 acre "rain forest" in the heart of corn country (a somewhat impractical endeavor), many Iowans scoffed.

Despite an initial $10 million donation by Mr. Townsend and his Iowa Center for Health in a Loving Democracy (Child) Institute, what is now called the Environmental Project bounced around the state for years without gaining much traction, let alone financial backing. That all changed in 2003, however, when Chuck Grassley, Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a self-described "fiscal conservative," tagged a massive energy bill with a $50 million earmark to bring Mr. Townsend's dream here to Coralville, a thriving Eastern Iowa community near the University of Iowa and the Iowa 80 Truckstop (aka "The World's Largest Truckstop").

Overnight, Iowans found the "Coralville Rain Forest" and its backers the object of ridicule from pork-barrel watchdogs across the political spectrum. The "Iowa Pork Fest" made the network news. This newspaper quipped that for $50 million in federal funds "we could send the whole town on a rain forest vacation." "Build it and they will come" became the new state motto.

As time passed, the spotlight faded. But here in Iowa the struggle to parlay $50 million in federal grant money into a $150 million "world class" environmental-education complex continues. Today, it's worth examining how this particular earmark came about, and why it's failed to make substantial progress on the ground, despite the largess of Mr. Townsend, Mr. Grassley and the American taxpayer.

It's public record that the lead lobbyist for Mr. Townsend's Child Institute was John W. Conrad III, an Iowa native and former "special assistant" to Sen. Grassley, as Mr. Conrad dutifully described himself when he filed his lobby registration form. What was not included is the fact that Mr. Conrad was paid $69,500 by Mr. Townsend and the Child Institute to lobby his former boss to earmark funds for an unprecedented project described as "nonprofit education." There is, of course, nothing unlawful, or even unusual, in this. K Street is crawling with former congressional aides who are paid large sums to influence the politicians they once relied on for a relatively measly paycheck. What is unusual is the return on investment: $50 million is, by any measure, a hefty earmark, right up there with the $223 million in federal earmarks for Alaska's infamous (now abandoned) "bridge to nowhere."

Yet despite the high profile of the project and Sen. Grassley's generous boost, the Environmental Project has not raised a dime in private financial backing, at least none that has been announced publicly. Moreover, the management of the project has been widely criticized for missing numerous deadlines, switching architects in midstream and strong-arming the local government in Coralville over land-use and municipal-financing issues.

Meanwhile, the burn rate has been considerable. According to Department of Energy records, the Environmental Project has drawn down $3,735,558 in federal funds, as well as, according to Environmental Project Director David Oman (a former AT&T executive and one-time Republican gubernatorial candidate who earns a salary of $210,000), the entire $10 million donation by Mr. Townsend.

The growing perception in the state that the project was, if not a boondoggle, then a money pit, led Sen. Grassley to pull the plug on federal funds in November last year, passing legislation that froze further outlays until the Environmental Project raised $50 million in matching funds. If it fails to do so by December 2007, the grant will be withdrawn.

Mr. Oman says he welcomed Sen. Grassley's new conditions for the grant and that "putting a fuse on it" gave "everyone a sense of urgency." Beyond "urgency," Sen. Grassley's amendment, which was buried in another spending bill, also provided Mr. Oman and his team the "portability" they sought. Folded into the "matching funds" language was a clause that made the $50 million in federal funds no longer site-specific. In other words, the money ceased to be linked to Coralville, as it was in the original law. This gave a certain leverage when dealing with local officials.

So instead of a slap on the wrist, the Grassley amendment has allowed the Environmental Project to once again shop the rain forest around. "A number of people concluded that the change made sense," Mr. Oman told me over the telephone from his office in Des Moines. "This is a good thing, it allows us to have a marketplace approach, to learn about and receive some great offers of land, and also some financial offers."

Once the amendment passed, Mr. Oman and his staff surprised Coralville officials (who'd already invested $17 million to clear and prepare the site) by opening up the bidding to all Iowa cities.

Jim Nussle has enough problems being the Chairman of the House Deficit Committee as well as being unable to vote against earmarks for things like $1 million in Federal deficit funding for tourism development in Kentucky. That's a whole separate grocery-sack-on-the-head as far as I'm concerned.

That said, Culver's attempt to blame the Earthpork Rainforest scam on Nussle is a bit weak. Chuck Grassley is the phony baloney, RINO, fake fiscal conservative, and Senator Bought-And-Paid-For who handed out millions in deficit-financed pork for con artist David Oman's scam; $3 million of which has been spent; and then shoe-horned through a change in the rules when things didn't work out for his Republican buddy Oman in Coralville. Yes, yes, yes, the earmark should have been caught by Congress. Bush should have vetoed it. The blame game goes around and around.

I am pleased to see Culver and Judge trashing the Rainforest, even if they miss the correct target. It's about time somebody other than us bloggers and the opinion departments of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the Daily Iowan, and the Cedar Rapids Gazette spend time dissing an obvious mistake and future financial disaster that Iowa's taxpayers will have to clean up.

Culver and Judge and their advisors aren't dummies, even if they float goofy AFL-CIO-approved policies like wanting to "invest" up to $666 million of IPERS into Iowa-based hi-tech bankruptcies. They know this Rainforest scam isn't getting any private money. They're not stupid enough to believe that a million and a half people a year are going to visit Earthpork in Pella.

They know that projects don't get cheaper over time; they double and triple! They know that the only entity that could bail out an expensive attraction that can't cover expenses would be either the taxpayers or gamblers. You think Polk County is going to put up with Pella seating a casino at Lake Red Rock to save their bio-dome after attendance projections are off by 75% or more? Hell, no!

Nussle has to agree with Culver on the rainforest issue and put the issue to bed. This is really going to be Nussle's defining moment; much more so than dealing with an off-the-meds Michael J. Fox, something the Iowa media whores will eat up (unless you're watching 7th place-in-LA behind-a-repeat-of-Friends Katie Couric, who had Fox on tonight's Evening Snooze).

Is Jim Nussle a fiscal conservative? Or is Jim Ross Nussle a fauxscal conservative, unable to tell a good idea from a bad one for Iowa?

Can Nussle diss Grassley's scam? Can Nussle criticize a fellow Republican? When you think about it, Nussle will have to deal with Oman knocking on the door of Terrace Hill every day until he's given a wad of taxpayer-supported red ink or kicked out permanently. Does Nussle have the balls to reject the project?

What's the downside? A few people in Pella are pissed off? Who fucking cares! The Des Moines Register Editorial Board? Screw them! What's Chuck Grassley going to do about it? He'll be worm food in a few years. I'd love it if both Culver and Nussle helped drive the final nail in the Rainforest coffin.

Are You Still Beating Your Wife?

Dorman and Glover

I'm surprised at how many newspapers have reprinted variations of Todd Dorman's "Jim Nussle is skipping President Bush's visit to Des Moines" nonsense (here and here and here), which amounts to little more than free publicity for a Chet Culver cheap shot.

Mike Glover (I'm assuming it's Mike Glover since most of his articles are uncredited except to the A. Pee) piles on in this joke of a story in the Des Moines Register. Glover is the Democratic Party tool who originally ginned up the Nussle/abortion story, as well as fucked up a quote by Sam Brownback that is still all over the internet.

The event President Bush came to Des Moines for was a rally for Republican Congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti, not a rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle.

Isn't it funny how no reporters pulled this shit when Laura Bush was going around Iowa at the end of September and campaigning for various candidates? What's the matter? Didn't Jim Nussle want to be seen at Mike Whalen's rally in Davenport with Laura Bush? I demand an inquiry!

Still No Des Moines Register Article On Culver's Dissing Of The Rainforest

A day after KCCI-TV did a big story on Chet Culver and Patty Judge coming out strongly against the Earthpork Rainforest project for Pella, the Des Moines Register has yet to mention it.

Even Todd Dorman of the Mason City Globe Gazette has able to get in a few words about the matter.

This issue has to upset the whitewashers at the Register to no end, considering their love for the Culver/Judge ticket and their ongoing failure to look at the rainforest scam with a bullshit detector. Besides, the Register has a sort of conflict of interest by featuring chief rainforest con artist David Oman's wife's words.

I'm sure the Register will come out with a story on the matter. They're just trying to figure out how to spin it so that Nussle looks bad, even though he (and Tom Harkin, and most everybody else) voted for the overall package containing fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley's political payoff earmark to David Oman.

Krusty On The Touchplay Settlement PAC

Update:



Krusty has a compelling and well-researched post today showing where all the Touchplay Settlement PAC money went, and speculates on why it was distributed that way:

There, might not be a “secret plan”, but there is a whole bunch of table talk going on between Chet Culver, Pat Murphy, and Mike Gronstal. How else can you explain the large contributions to people who actually voted for the ban on TouchPlay?

I don't know how the 1-800-CHET$-OFF apologists are going to counter this. More bullshit false theories about how Jim Nussle is going expand the number of casinos in Iowa if he's elected governor? Got anything else up your sleeve, or is it up your ass?

Jim Nussle is surely right: "If you follow the money, you'll get your answer."


Update: The Touchplay issue was discussed on Mickelson's show on Monday, when Bill Salier was guest-hosting. You can listen to the archived show here. Start at just over 20 minutes for the Touchplay discussion and about 24 minutes when all the information about the Revenues For Main Street Iowa PAC Touchplay Settlement PAC discussion starts. Skip ahead to the 55 minute section for a caller's opinion on the matter.

When will somebody besides me point out the ethical problem with political candidates accepting donations from individuals or specific PACs who currently have billion-dollar lawsuits against the State of Iowa? Is that not a conflict of interest or at least the appearance of impropriety? I think it is.

Thursday News Roundup

"Michael J. Fox plans to attend D.M. rally for Culver" - He's this year's Max Cleland. How long does Fox plan to stay off his meds? Until Election Day, I bet. I don't even care about the "Pro-Life" or "Pro-Research" aspects of the matter. To me, it's nothing but a Federal money grab. That's all it really is. And a disgusting one at that. I'm surprised that David Oman hasn't brought up one of those guys from the Amazon rainforest with a CD in his mouth to try to gin up Iowa taxpayer support for the rainforest in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Dubuque, Tiffin, Grinnell, Riverside Pella.

"Biofuel subsidies cost U.S. billions" - Tax breaks for giant corporations, anyone? Or does that hit a little too close to home?

"Wal-Mart's $4 drugs reach Iowa" - Surely a dilemma for the Wal-Mart haters at the Des Moines Register, as evidenced by the way the story was written, particularly the final paragraph. It's Dickens all over again!

Flint Hills Manor residents in Burlington were grandfathered out of the recent eminent domain law. The Register writes the article like renters should have no problem finding a new place to live and they'll get money for a move. I covered this story a few weeks ago ("Highway 61 Revisited And Condemned") and found documentation that shows the City of Burlington offering renters as little as $150 for moving expenses.

Davenport wants to concentrate all their bums and criminals in one location. Is that good or bad? I don't think spreading them out all over town is such a hot idea, either.

Should Jim Nussle have crashed President Bush's fundraiser for Jeff Lamberti? Chet Culver thinks so. That sort of petty political nonsense will come back to bite you, Chet.

A junior high school teacher from Burlington was busted in Illinois as part of an internet child predator sting. It's amazing how many sickos you can catch with just a computer.

Finally, don't miss this photo in the Ottumwa Courier of a hornet's nest that was built next to a window.

Business Climate

Nicholas Johnson has a thought-provoking entry from yesterday concerning a recent Cedar Rapids Gazette editorial about taxes. Johnson's column touches on government programs, corporate welfare, government as a money-making entity, and tax simplification.

I generally agree with the column, although his final paragraph is sometimes difficult to manage in the voting booth because the Republicrats and the Demicans both try to out-do each other in the spending department.

One thing I always have a problem with is data showing Iowa 19th here or 45th there. The feeling from articles about these rankings is that Iowa should "be in the middle" when it comes to things like business climate, tax rates, and so on. It's funny how nobody thinks Iowa should "be in the middle" when it comes to things like the unemployment rate or children's test scores.

If you want to provide a favorable business climate, you won't be sitting in the middle of the road. And you shouldn't be sitting on the side of the road, handing out money to every fatcat and questionable character, which is what Iowa currently does.

Another thing I'd add to Johnson's column would be the consolidation of government services. It's been about 90 years since a trip to the county seat was a day's journey by foot or horseback. And if Grandma can't make a 60-75 minute drive to get her driver's license renewed then perhaps she shouldn't be driving. Iowa should have about 9 counties, not 99.

The only real issue I had with Johnson's column was this:

3. Program evaluation. All programs need evaluation, private as well as public. The pension program provided Enron's employees didn't work out so well.

Actually, the 401K plan that Enron offered employees was pretty good. This is from Reason Magazine in April 2002:

Enron maintained a rather typical 401(k) plan for a company of its size. It offered 20 investment options, its own stock being one. It matched 50 percent of employee contributions-up to 6 percent of a salary-with Enron stock. Workers couldn't sell shares their employer gave them until they turned 50, a common restriction for gifted stock. They were not prohibited from selling stock they purchased.

Gannett, parent company of the Des Moines Register, had even stricter rules for matching contributions and fewer overall investment options.

When it comes to Enron, critics and pundits always focus on the lockdown period, the time in which employees could not change investment options due to the plan's changing of administrators. While Enron company stock slid from $13.81 to $9.98 during the lockdown period, which was a total of 11 trading days, the stock had been falling from an $83 peak for some time.

Nobody should have expectations concerning matching funds unless you're fully vested. In Enron's case, once you became vested at age 50 with the company match then you were allowed to diversify it. Ken Lay didn't hold a gun to their heads. Besides, libraries are filled with investment books that talk about diversification. Radio has Bob Brinker and Dave Ramsey dishing out money advice. TV has Suze Orman and that loudmouth Jim Cramer. Back in 2001 we still had Louis Rukeyser (R.I.P.) with us. Yet people still put all their eggs in one basket. Hopefully that has changed.

Chet Culver Against Earthpork Rainforest

From KCCI-TV:

The Iowa indoor rainforest project called Earthpark that's slated for Pella is being called a waste of money by Democratic candidate Chet Culver in a new campaign ad.

In the ad, Culver criticizes his opponent, Republican candidate Jim Nussle, for voting to give $50 million in federal money to the rainforest.

The new Culver campaign advertisement just hit the airwaves.

Those behind the Earthpark said they are disappointed to see Culver take a stance on the project that was approved for Pella a month ago.

"It should be a non-political issue now. It's done. It's happened and I think we should move forward and help Pella out in any way that we can to make sure that project works," [Newton Mayor Chaz] Allen said.

As of tonight, the ad isn't at YouTube, although you can view part of the ad in the KCCI story.

Just seeing Patty Judge in a raincoat with water pouring over her is pretty funny.

As for Newton Mayor Chaz Allen, why doesn't he just shut up? The project has yet to come up with a single dime of private money beyond Ted Townsend's $10 million pledge from nearly 10 years ago. Does chief rainforest con artist David Oman really think that a loan is going to allow him to qualify for the matching funds in order to get Grassley's $50 million, deficit-financed, political payoff?

Culver coming out against Earthpork so blatantly is a good thing, I think. It's bound to vex his supporters at the Des Moines Register, a newspaper that has mostly allowed this project to proceed with barely a critical word despite it being completely half-baked, full of phony projections, and almost entirely taxpayer financed.

OK, Jim Nussle. What's your response?

1-800-CHET$-OFF

Even though Chet Culver has finally gone on record saying that he would not support a settlement of the Touchplay lawsuits against the State of Iowa, this photo of some protests in Iowa City is rather funny. Especially the 1-800-CHET$-OFF sign.

And while it's Bill & Kyle Krause's right to buy support political candidates in Iowa with every penny they have, I don't think it's smart for politicians to be accepting money from people who currently have a billion dollar lawsuit against the State of Iowa.

If Ed Fallon Was The Democratic Nominee, This Wouldn't Even Be An Issue.

Dear God In Heaven, Please Make This Stop

Update: I've received a number of emails about this post. All say that this $trick9 character is just making it up, isn't really a neo-con, and was featured in the Des Moines Register a few months ago. Here's a story about the guy in May from the DMJuice web site. He's a die-hard John Kerry supporter. That makes $trick9 an even bigger douchebag, even if I did believe for a while that he was some sort of weirdo neo-con Christian rapper, which demonstrates just how awful Christian Rap really is.

The original post, with modifications noted:


Some neo-conservative Christian Democrat-supporting rapper named Strick9 has been making short videos near downtown Des Moines and putting them out on YouTube. As you might expect, they're horrible.

Here's a recent one promoting purporting to support Jim Nussle:



See what I mean? Horrible.

Maybe Strick9 will go double myrrh:



But I sort of prefer what Jules said in Pulp Fiction:

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

One Billion Dollars

Updated below:



Krusty has the Must Read column of the day ("Dems take TouchPlay Special Interest Money") with information on and a breakdown of contributions from the Revenues for Main Street Iowa PAC, a crying-in-their-beer league of Iowa "small" businessmen who gambled on Touchplay machines.

Nussle brought up the "billion dollar settlement" surely for wakeup value. The price of all the lawsuits against the taxpayers of Iowa totals one billion dollars, and no lawsuit is ever settled for the amount.

The figure I'd most be concerned about would be $480 million dollars. That's the 6000 Touchplay machines in Iowa multiplied by the $8000 cost. Sure, that doesn't include fees for lawyers. I guess that's the other half billion we're talking about here with the lawsuits.

It's bad enough that gamblers suck billions out of the Iowa economy in order to give pennies to the state, fractions to non-profits, and the lion's share to out-of-state companies or the Indians. Now every non-gambler or tried-it-once-big-whoop type in Iowa is dragged into paying for Bill Krause's bet.

Now we've got everybody taking sides.

Oh, isn't Jim Nussle bad bad bad because the casino industry is supporting his campaign purely for "protection" from State-sponsored forces? Well, yes it is.

But it's not nearly as bad as Chet Culver accepting political donations from people who currently have lawsuits against the State of Iowa over something that not only offended the casino industry but practically every non-gambler or tried-it-once-big-whoop type who saw the dirtbag poor sitting in front of those slot-like Touchplay machines at the grocery store.


Update: According to this Todd Dorman story in the QC Times, Chet Culver said yesterday:

“TouchPlay is not coming back in my administration, and I am opposed to an out-of-court settlement,” he said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

That's good to know Culver has come out against any kind of settlement. I seriously doubt that the lawsuits will get past the initial round of judges, although you never know what will happen a few years down the line when it comes to appeals and the Iowa Supreme Court because you know it's going that far. Looks like Bill Krause has made another bad bet.

The South Of Iowa Blog on the Secretary Of Agriculture Race

The South of Iowa Blog on the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture race:

To be honest, it might make more sense to have the SOA appointed by the Governor and the DNR Chief selected by general election. The DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) appears to have more and more control over people's lives every year. Electing someone to that position, instead of an appointee by the Governor, might shed some more light into how the Department works and what it does.

Read the whole thing.

And don't miss that last paragraph!

If State 29 Wasn't An Idiot, He'd Learn To Read

The Political Forecast takes issue with my earlier post ("If Ed Fallon Was The Democratic Nominee, This Wouldn't Even Be An Issue"):

UPDATE: If State 29 wasn’t an idiot, he’d read my full post below and realize that I called the IDP’s tit-for-tat yesterday, and their accusations about Nussle, to be idiotic and stupid. Learn to read, pal. Don’t be like Jim Nussle and only read me or the Register once and call it enough. Oh, and telling people “I told you so’s” doesn’t change the facts. I’m glad that this wouldn’t be happening if Ed Fallon weren’t the nominee. But that’s not the issue here, the issue is Congressman Nussle’s lack of proof and the lunacy of his accusations.

I originally read this by the Political Forecast:

What is really beneficial is this post from Kay Henderson’s Radio Iowa blog where she transcribes the post-debate media scrum with Congressman Nussle. In it, he’s asked at least three or four times to provide evidence of such a secret plan but offers nothing then saying the contributions prove it. If that’s the case, then his $269k from casino owners should be enough to make those opposed to gambling wonder if Nussle is really opposed to building more casinos as well.

Emphasis added.

That sounds just like Sally Pederson's rant.

Then the Political Forecast later writes:

Except that the IDP decided it was worthwhile to have an idiotic and tounge-in-cheek press conference yesterday accusing Nussle of having a secret plan to bring more gambling and casinos to Iowa — contrary to his public statements saying he won’t support more casinos — because he’s taken money from people who own casinos.

Is that a little too schizophrenic for everybody out there? He uses a Sally Pederson-style rant to trash Nussle, then he calls Sally Pederson's rant idiotic.

And I'm the idiot who needs to learn to read?

I urge you political junkies to go to Follow The Money and take a look at where most of Bill and Kyle Krause's money has gone over the years. Not much went to Democrats. Over $19,000 went to Nussle in 2005, though.

Then the Kum & Go spigot shut off because Jim Nussle issued a moratorium on Touchplay machines and then signed a law banning them. Right? That's all Jim Nussle's fault, so blame him. The bastard!

Want to read an excellent roundup of the whole Touchplay controversy from earlier this year? Read this Tim Higgins story from the Des Moines Register. I don't see Jim Nussle's name anywhere on that page.

If Ed Fallon Was The Democratic Nominee, This Wouldn't Even Be An Issue

The Political Forecast has it all wrong. So does Dave Price.

David Yepsen is right on the money:

Culver and the Democrats may be more amenable to a fat settlement in the lawsuits the TouchPlayers have filed against the state. Culver signaled early in the campaign he was sympathetic to their plight. And during the legislative debate, Senate Democratic leader Mike Gronstal constantly - and unsuccessfully - tried to resolve the issue in a way that wouldn’t hurt small businesses, bars and restaurants. So, it’s reasonable for the TouchPlay folks to conclude they’ll get a better deal out of the Ds than the Rs here.

And where does the Political Forecast get off saying that casino operators contributing to Nussle campaign will result in more casinos? He sounds like that idiot Sally Pederson. There's no logic to it.

Nussle has come out against expanding gambling in Iowa. Data following the launch of the casino in Riverside has shown it to be little more than a cannibal of nearby casinos. The casino operators are clearly buying the influence of Nussle's opposition to more casinos, as well as ensuring that slot machines in every convenience and grocery store in Iowa never come back.

Besides, Chet Culver has already announced that he wants casino licenses for Fort Dodge and Ottumwa.

Back to Yepsen:

The TouchPlay folks contend, and perhaps with some justification, that the state got them into a business that required them to make a big upfront investment in gambling machines. Then, the state changed the rules and outlawed the devices, leaving them stuck with the gear and the tab for it.

While nobody cried big tears for the big convenience stores that lost money on the deal, it was a serious hit to smaller merchants and bar owners.

So, they sued. The next governor and the next Legislature may have to deal with paying a legal settlement. If so, $100,000 worth of campaign contributions to Culver and the Democrats is a smart investment if it nets the investors millions in payouts. Maybe there could be an out-of-court settlement.

So this isn’t about bringing back TouchPlay. That’s been settled by an overwhelming vote of members of both parties in the Legislature. But it is about how much the state is going to shell out for changing the rules.

It's all about buying influence.

Once again I say: If Ed Fallon was the Democratic nominee, this wouldn't even be an issue. Who would Bill Krause be able to pay off? Nobody.

This buying of influence and protection is a bigger issue, but it'll be buried. Neither party wants to talk about it.

Yepsenblog On Touchplay

From David Yepsen's blog, although quite frankly this piece should be in David Yepsen's column:

The flap over TouchPlay gambling machines consumed much of the 2006 session of the Iowa Legislature. Now it’s taken over the end of the 2006 campaign for governor.

You can thank last minute contributions from TouchPlay supporters to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver - and to Democratic legislative leaders - combined with a fumbling Culver statement about the issue for bringing it back.

It all started on Oct. 12 at the Black Brown Forum in which Culver didn’t directly answer a question about whether he’d bring back TouchPlay gambling. He later issued a statement saying he wouldn’t. (During the June primary, Culver had said he wouldn’t have signed a ban on TouchPlay gambling because he was worried about the loss in state revenues and what it would do to businesses that owned TouchPlay machines.)

Then when the Oct. 19 campaign finance disclosure statements came out, Iowans found Culver and the Democrats have taken tens of thousands of dollars from TouchPlay gambling interests.

So what’s going on here? Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle accused Culver of wanting to bring back the machines, a charge Culver denied. (Nussle needs to crank up Republican social conservatives without alienating mainstream voters and raising the specter of a return of TouchPlay is a perfect ploy for doing that.)

Let’s remember that people who give tens of thousands of dollars to political candidates and political parties don’t do so because they make contributions. They are making investments and they expect a return on those investments.

If Culver isn’t going to bring back TouchPlay, why do the TouchPlayers like him so much? And why all the contributions to Democratic legislative leaders?

Answer: Culver and the Democrats may be more amenable to a fat settlement in the lawsuits the TouchPlayers have filed against the state. Culver signaled early in the campaign he was sympathetic to their plight. And during the legislative debate, Senate Democratic leader Mike Gronstal constantly - and unsuccessfully - tried to resolve the issue in a way that wouldn’t hurt small businesses, bars and restaurants. So, it’s reasonable for the TouchPlay folks to conclude they’ll get a better deal out of the Ds than the Rs here.

The TouchPlay folks contend, and perhaps with some justification, that the state got them into a business that required them to make a big upfront investment in gambling machines. Then, the state changed the rules and outlawed the devices, leaving them stuck with the gear and the tab for it.

While nobody cried big tears for the big convenience stores that lost money on the deal, it was a serious hit to smaller merchants and bar owners.

So, they sued. The next governor and the next Legislature may have to deal with paying a legal settlement. If so, $100,000 worth of campaign contributions to Culver and the Democrats is a smart investment if it nets the investors millions in payouts. Maybe there could be an out-of-court settlement.

So this isn’t about bringing back TouchPlay. That’s been settled by an overwhelming vote of members of both parties in the Legislature. But it is about how much the state is going to shell out for changing the rules.

And some of this may just pure spite, too. The TouchPlayers are furious with Nussle and the Republicans for being so sanctimonious about this. For the fattest of the TouchPlay cats, some of these donations are pocket change. It just feels good to write a big check to Culver & Co merely to stick it to Nussle.

Yes, it's the entire blog entry. Well done.

Yepsen spells it all out here, except for the fact that if Ed Fallon were the Democratic nominee then we wouldn't be having this controversy.

I'm sure some Democrats hate being reminded of that, but it has to be said.

Iowa State Will Be In The Toilet Bowl

This is the funniest headline I've read in a while:

Iowa State Must End Losing Streak To Become Bowl Eligible

It's from an article at KTIV-TV:

Iowa State may be down, but they're not out.

However, the Cyclones must win at least three of their four remaining games to become eligible for a bowl.

Iowa State, which lost five of the last six games, heads to Kansas State on Saturday for a Big 12 matchup with the Wildcats...

...Iowa State, at 0-4 in the conference, and 3-5 overall

So Iowa State can be 3-5 in conference play and 6-6 overall and still get in a bowl? Talk about dumbing things down.

Rachel Corrie's Parents To Speak In Des Moines Tonight, Pancakes Not Being Served

From Radio Iowa:

A Des Moines church tonight (Tuesday) will host a presentation by the parents of Rachel Corrie, the young American peace activist killed in March 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip. Since then her mother Cindy Corrie says they've come to understand what she was doing.

At one point, Cindy went looking to see if there was something else Rachel could do, a project in India, where they had family connections, that she could work on. "I didn't understand how really deeply connected she already was to Middle East issues." The couple has strong Iowa links and both attended Drake University.

"Neither Craig nor I felt that it was our place to try to dictate to our 23-year-old," Cindy says, though they had concerns. Craig Corrie says what goes on in the Middle East affects us all. "We fund what's going on in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands.

Don't forget that Rachel Corrie's aunt is running against Steve King for Congress.

And, gee, it's got to be the ultimate Iowa Jew-hater's dilemma since Cindy Sheehan is speaking in Iowa City tonight.

Anti-Wal-Mart Kooks: "Wal-Mart Is Like Something Out Of Dickens"

From the Daily Iowan:

In response to a Wal-Mart campaign to register its 1.3 million employees to vote, critics of the corporation have launched their own initiative to counter the store's "right-wing" policies.

WakeUpWalMart.com, a grass-roots organization created to "reform" the retail mogul, started its campaign Monday in Iowa and other key states to educate workers about what the group calls Wal-Mart's anti-worker agenda. The campaign will sponsor TV ads and distribute "voter education cards" to employees of the multibillion-dollar business.

Recently, the company has been accused of pressuring its employees to vote against candidates - who are mostly Democrats - who speak out against Wal-Mart.

Chris Kofinis, a spokesman for WakeUpWalMart.com, which was created by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, said Wal-Mart actively dissuades workers from voting for Democrats who call for better wages and health care.

Not only does Wal-Mart support Republicans, Kofinis said, company policies reflect a "right-wing agenda."

"When you talk about this company, it is like something out of Dickens," he said

Working for Wal-Mart is like something out of Dickens?

I didn't realize that Wal-Mart forced children in labor.

Is Wal-Mart the "bully of humanity"? Or is it Ebenezer Scrooge?

This is political suicide for the Democrats with all this outright insanity and hate on display.

I guess Tom Vilsack, Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Patty Judge, and Chet Culver think it's OK to insult and threaten 18,000 voters in Iowa.


Related posts: Revenge Of The Wal-Mart Employees, Joe Biden: "How can you live a middle-class life on $10 an hour?", Tom Vilsack Helped Wal-Mart Take Over The World Using Your Tax Money

Sally Pederson Has A Bad Theory

From Radio Iowa:

The chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party says if you use Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle's logic, then Nussle must have a "secret plan" to aid the state's gambling casinos.

This weekend, Nussle accused rival Chet Culver, the Democratic candidate for governor, of having a secret plan to benefit the TouchPlay industry because TouchPlay backers have given Culver over $100,000. Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, held a news conference to point to the quarter of a million dollars that Nussle himself has accepted from casino owners. "If Nussle's own standard of 'secret plans' is applied to him, then he must have a secret plan to expand gambling," Pederson says.

Nussle has come out against the further expansion of gambling casinos in Iowa, something I'm sure current casino owners won't mind paying to support since the new casino in Riverside has done nothing but take away business from nearby Iowa casinos.

And nevermind the fact that Chet Culver has already come out in favor of rubber stamping casino licenses for Fort Dodge and Ottumwa. If anybody is for expanding casinos in Iowa, it's Chet Culver.

Meanwhile, "small" businessman Bill Krause has an axe to grind. The Touchplay double-dipper got his ass burned by overdoing it with the slottery machines. Naturally, he wants some of his investment back. Why not pay off Chet Culver's campaign to the tune of $25,000 in the hopes that the State of Iowa's taxpayers, under Governor Chet Culver, will throw some millions into his bulging bank account as a way of saying Sorry. What's he got to lose?

Once again I say: If Ed Fallon were the Democratic nominee, would we even be having this conversation? I say NO. Bill and Kyle Krause would have kept their $25,000 because they wouldn't have been able to buy off either Jim Nussle or Ed Fallon. That's the truth. And when the hell are the anointed political pundits in Iowa going to figure this out?

OK, I'll reuse this one again. I feel like Bluto wanting to smash Sally Pederson's guitar.

Michael J. Fox Gives Republican Candidates The Shakes

Here's an ad appearing on TV in my area with Michael J. Fox promoting Democrat Claire McCaskell over Republican and current Missouri Senator Jim Talent on the issue of embryonic stem cells.



You've got to wonder if this sort of ad will be seen by voters as effective at rallying a candidate on an issue or just a cheap shot.

Is Missouri a test market for such a campaign ploy? Will we see similar ads with Michael J. Fox against any nationwide candidate who is against Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research?

Two years ago, at a campaign event in Iowa, Faith Healer, Scientist, and Surgeon John Edwards said the following:

Christopher Reeve just passed away. And America just lost a great champion for this cause. Somebody who is a powerful voice for the need to do stem cell research and change the lives of people like him, who have gone through the tragedy. Well, if we can do the work that we can do in this country -- the work we will do when John Kerry is president -- people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.

I remember that tactic didn't work.

See You Next Tuesday

From the Des Moines Register:

Professors and activists in Colorado wonder out loud why Iowa State University hired Elizabeth Hoffman for the No. 2 job on campus after a string of controversies forced her to step down as president of the University of Colorado system.

Hoffman's supporters in Iowa say her long career in university leadership and finesse for fundraising has made her the best-qualified candidate for provost. She will be paid $275,000 a year, making her one of the highest paid provosts among Big 12 Conference institutions...

...Hoffman's administration faced its first major problem in 2001, when University of Colorado football players and recruits reportedly attended an off-campus party where several women claimed they were raped.

Those allegations snowballed into further concerns aired in 2004 that football players used sex and alcohol to lure recruits into attending the university.

Regina Cowles, president of the Boulder Chapter of National Organization for Women, was a frequent critic of Hoffman's handling of the recruitment controversy and the rape allegations...

...Women's activists also point out another moment that cemented their opposition to Hoffman.

In a June 2004 deposition in a federal lawsuit filed against the university, Hoffman was quoted as saying in a sworn statement that the C-word could be used as a term of endearment.

Her comments came in response to a question from an attorney who asked Hoffman whether she considered it harassment for a teammate to use the word toward a female kicker.

Hoffman said it's a statement she will "regret the rest of her life," saying she was "pushed to the wall by a very, very nasty, in-your-face kind of plaintiffs attorney."

Da big bad mean lawya man made me say it! Waaaaaa!!!! Waaaaaa!!!!!

Funny how this article doesn't mention anything about how Elizabeth Hoffman could not be bothered to fire Ward Churchill. Maybe the Register is saving that story for next month.

There's a comment section for this story at the Register.

Too bad Iowa can't replace ISU President Gregory Geoffroy with somebody smarter, like Dean Wormer.



Related: Iowa State University Hires A Cunt As Provost

Weekend Parade

Updated below:



"Small" businessmen Bill & Kyle Krause are betting on Chet Culver. What do they expect in return? And if Ed Fallon was running instead of Chet Culver, would they have even opened their checkbook?

From the Roth CPA Tax Update blog, perhaps the scariest quote of the year in a news story: "We can take a lot more risk with the government's help."

Also from the Tax Update Blog is news that the West Des Moines City Council has formed a circular firing squad for existing businesses.

Krusty wonders if Iowa can afford Chet Culver. I'm wondering how long after Chet Culver is elected that he'll propose a gay marriage tax credit.

The South of Iowa Blog tells readers where his crop goes.

Update: Don't miss Nicholas Johnson's latest entry ("Science Station Lessons for Pella - Part V"). Somebody needs to give this guy a regular op-ed column in every major Iowa newspaper.

Jim Nussle: "If you follow the money, you'll get your answer"

Nancy and Bill Krause

An absolute must read of an exchange with reporters and Jim Nussle at the Radio Iowa blog:

Q: "Other than the campaign contributions, what evidence do you have of this secret plan that you talked about?"

Nussle: "Well, this is very, very interesting because it was a very, very public rebuke that Bill Krause gave me which I guess, it surprised me at the time when I came out so strongly on the ban on TouchPlay. It wasn't something that was quiet. It wasn't something that he whispered to someone else. This became news at the time that he was not going to support a candidate that did not fully support TouchPlay and I think with all the, not only the fact that the machines are still in the state, the fact that this election may decide what kind of governor we're going to have as well as what kind of settlement we may have in TouchPlay, I think it's highly unusual the kinds of contributions that he's received not only from Bill Krause because of his public rebuke but so many others that have decided to support his campaign and I think also the interesting thing about it is all of a sudden today when it became a hot controversy he had to make a statement. Up until this point in time, he said he was proud to be the only one not to support the ban, number one that's what he said when it happened and then in the last couple of debates he said nothing with regard to TouchPlay, would not answer the question. I think that's what's unusual about this."

Q: "Can it just be that Bill Krause is so mad at you that he wants you to lose, so he's giving to your opponent?"

Nussle: "It's possible that Bill Krause is very mad at me, probably again after all of this and there's a good chance he may give him another check. The last check, according to the report, arrived the day he didn't answer the last question in a debate for $25,000 so I think there's a good chance that Bill Krause may be mad at me again."

Q: "This evidence you're talking about, can you provide it?"

Nussle: "I think it speaks for itself and the fact that the TouchPlay proponents at the time came out so strongly against me and said that they could never support someone who didn't support TouchPlay suggests to me that if you follow the money, you'll get your answer."

Q: "But there's no hard evidence of a secret plan?"

Nussle: "Well, I believe there probably is a plan and has been a plan and I think that Chet Culver needs to explain that. I understand today after it got too hot and after all of the evidence is coming out about the campaign contributions that now he comes out and says absolutely, positively but he refused to talk about the settlement. He only said, well, there's a ban on TouchPlay. Well, yea, there's a ban on TouchPlay. It went through the legislature. There's still a settlement looming out there that could cost the state millions, hundreds of millions of dollars and I think that's also significant here as well."

There's no way that Touchplay is coming back, and Nussle understands this even if some bloggers and certain members of the media don't, but I could certainly believe that a disgruntled Touchplay double dipper like Republican Bill Krause could think he might be able to buy a possible settlement out of Democrat Chet Culver for $25,000.

You know who would be paying Krause's bill? Not the gamblers. The taxpayers.

The thing is that all Nussle did in January was say that he was against Touchplay. He wasn't in the Iowa Legislature. He wasn't the governor. He really didn't have any influence. And all of a sudden Krause starts acting like a prom queen who got stood up.

Come on, people, follow the money! The Krauses aren't spending $25,000 on Chet Culver in order to get nothing! Money talks in Iowa!

You think Bill Krause would have given Ed Fallon $25,000 if he were the Democratic nominee? Not that Ed would have accepted that kind of money. Fallon would have certainly refunded most of that, if not all. I can't imagine that Bill Krause would have given a single dime to the Democrats if Fallon were the nominee against Jim Nussle! You know why? Bill Krause couldn't have bought Ed Fallon!

You Democrats. What is the matter with you? Nussle's theory smells right. Apply the Ed Fallon factor to this!

But go ahead and elect Chet Culver. You'll get more casinos, gay marriage, a failed attempt to remove the English-only law, more taxpayer-financed corporate welfare, and union thugs who are allowed to speculating on unprofitable hi-tech startups with $666 million of IPERS money.

Oh, and maybe a taxpayer-financed settlement towards "small" businessmen like Bill Krause.

Toga, toga, toga!!!!!

Chet Culver Wants Gay Marriage

How else do you interpret this:

Democratic candidate for governor Chet Culver said Friday that he would consider allowing some legal rights for same-sex couples in Iowa in the future...

...Iowans might warm to the idea of allowing same-sex couples some rights now afforded to heterosexual couples, Culver said during a meeting with Des Moines Register editors and reporters.

Er, what rights are you talking about? Gays in Iowa can co-habitate. They can and do adopt children. They can name each other as Power of Attorney. They can buy property together. They can have the same last name. They can leave their estates to one another. About the only things they can't do is marry, name their partner on their health insurance (although some companies allow this), and receive Social Security or pension benefits when a partner dies.

I don't know what Chet Culver is talking about here. Without the State of Iowa recognizing the marriage of a man and a man or a woman and a woman, the government won't be able to force all companies to offer health insurance benefits to partners.

Culver should come out the closet about this issue and explain things a little further.



D-Day always looked a little gay. The late Glenn Hughes of the Village People on the right.

How Many Board Members Does It Take To Screw Up A Non-Profit?

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, by way of Nicholas Johnson's blog, it takes 22 people to be on the board of the Cedar Rapids Science Station.

This is from the Cedar Rapids Gazette story reprinted on Johnson's web site, which is separate from his blog:

In a move meant to show the community it is serious about restructuring and starting fresh, the Science Station board of directors has resigned.

Dan Thies, president of the Science Station and the McLeod/Busse IMAX Dome Theatre board, asked for and received the resignations at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night. ‘‘We want to demonstrate that we as a board are willing to do whatever we need to do for the community to show that we have the best structure possible moving forward,’’ Thies said.

Not all 22 board members were at the meeting, but all have indicated their support for Thies’ request and offered their resignations.

Holy crap! 22 people on a board! Who thought that was a bright idea?

This is also from the Gazette story:

Of the 22 board members, six were new for the 2006-07 fiscal year, with many of them recruited because of their skills in business and finance.

You know what that means. They're probably the usual bunch of people who are used to working with debt situations: bankers, mortgage lenders, real estate professionals, and people who run growing businesses. These types of people are comfortable being in debt. Unfortunately they bring their "experience" to entities like the Cedar Rapids Science Station that are not generating profits, much less breaking even.

The big problem here is that previous boards didn't make it the top priority to ensure that this Science Station and IMAX Theater were paid for in advance or earn enough to pay the bills. They didn't provide oversight while some office manager stole over $300,000 over a two year period from under their noses. And they couldn't generate support following the theft.

Now who's supposed to clean up their mess? The taxpayers? Corporations?

Why doesn't the newspaper in Cedar Rapids "out" the 22 resume padders who sat around and did nothing?

Here's what the Science Station web site is showing today:

President - Dan Thies, OPN, Cedar Rapids, IA
Vice President - Louis Stark, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
Treasurer / Finance - David Parmley, Bankers Trust, Cedar Rapids, IA
Secretary - Nikki Skogman, Skogman Realty, Cedar Rapids, IA
Mario Affatigato, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
Georg Anderl, Genencor Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA
Tim Boyle, Convention & Visitors Bureau, Cedar Rapids, IA
Ted Carlson, Genencor Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA
Monica Challenger, Engineer & Community Volunteer, Cedar Rapids, IA
Charles Grado, M.D., Plastic Surgical Center, Cedar Rapids, IA
Tory Haefner, Community Volunteer, Cedar Rapids, IA
Vaughn Halyard, Media Producer/Consultant, Cedar Rapids, IA
Theresa Mulford, Alliant Energy, Cedar Rapids, IA
William Neppl, Bradley & Riley PC, Cedar Rapids, IA
Clayton Parks, Parks & Schmit Orthodontics, Cedar Rapids, IA
Dan Thies, OPN, Cedar Rapids, IA
Dick Whitehead, College Community Schools, Cedar Rapids, IA

According to the Wayback Machine, this was the board in the spring of 2005:

President-Cindy Dietz-Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, IA
President Elect-To Be Announced
Past President-Terry Bergen-The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IA
Treasurer / Finance-Dave Parmley-Bankers Trust, Cedar Rapids, IA
Louis Stark, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
Steve Knapp, McLeod, Cedar Rapids, IA
Ted Carlson, Genencor Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA
Georg Anderl, Genencor Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA
DeEtta Andersen, Center Point Comm. Schools, Center Point, IA
Kathrine Brokaw, Brokaw Vending, Cedar Rapids, IA
Tim Boyle, WMT Radio, Cedar Rapids, IA
Dr. Charles Grado, Plastic Surgical Center, Cedar Rapids, IA
Tori Haefner, Community Volunteer, Cedar Rapids, IA
Carol Lensing, Anamosa Community School District, Anamosa, IA
Theresa Mulford, Alliant Energy, Cedar Rapids, IA
William Neppl, Bradley & Riley PC, Cedar Rapids, IA
Calvin Norris, Aegon, Cedar Rapids, IA
Clayton Parks, Parks & Schmit Orthodontics, Cedar Rapids, IA
Dave Parmley, Bankers Trust, Cedar Rapids, IA
Barb Rhame, Cedar Rapids Comm. Schools, Cedar Rapids, IA
Karen Rhines, Community Volunteer, Cedar Rapids, IA
Jean Walker, Visiting Nurses Association, Cedar Rapids, IA

You can be certain that other non-profit boards in Eastern Iowa contain these same characters. They should be forced to resign from whatever other boards they are fouling up by doing nothing but rubber stamping. And I hope when other people Google these names in the future they'll see that these board members failed in their duties. They're failures! You want a failure on your Board of Directors? Pick from the above list.

If anything, groups should pay attention to who makes up their Board. Iowa, Polk County, and Des Moines taxpayers are certainly learning that lesson thanks to the CIETC scandal.

They Took The Bar, The Whole Bar

From the Associated Press:

KNOXVILLE, IA - Seven student athletes from Knoxville High School have been suspended for posting photographs of themselves drinking alcohol on Internet sites, school officials said.

Lonnie Powers, Knoxville High School's athletic director, said seven students were given short-term suspensions from football, volleyball, cheerleading and other fall sports after the online photos were discovered on sites such as MySpace.com about two months ago.

"This is a first for us," Powers said. "They made a mistake for putting it on there. It's something we may have to deal with in a future code of conduct..."

"...Your personal information does not belong on the Internet. Once it's out there, it's available to everyone," Mike Ferjak, an investigator with the Iowa attorney general's office, told about 300 middle- and high-school students Thursday at a training session over the Iowa Communications Network.

Is this the same Mike Ferjak who earned $53,779.20 last year?

The same Mike Ferjak who owns a house assessed in 2005 at $149,700?

The same Mike Ferjak who got a speeding ticket in Polk County about 6 months ago?

Well, you get my point.

Kids, just wait a couple of years until you can legally get naked and show your waxed pubes on the internet under a pseudonym the way Jordan Monroe/Emily Ranheim did. Or at least learn how to use Photoshop to blur your face.

What does this have to do with Animal House? Drinking!!!!

Friday Roundup

Krusty mentions the Krauses giving the Culver campaign $25,000, and then Culver being unable to answer a simple question concerning the possibility of reinstatement of those Touchplay Slottery machines. Krause couldn't buy off Jim Nussle, so he's plugging the Culver parking meter instead. And if Bill Krause is a "small businessman" then I can only guess that the "small" part of that phrase is in his shorts.

Mainstream Iowan talks about all the racial discrimination lawsuits that Democrats don't want mentioned right now. I'd be surprised if actual racial discrimination is happening within these state agencies. It's probably closer to it being a bunch of inbred Democrats running these organizations who are too busy getting jobs for their relatives and friends rather than promoting a bunch of serial job hoppers. They're all bottom-feeders in my book.

The Political Madman criticizes Mike Blouin's delusional thinking with regard to the Iowa Corporate Welfare Slush Fund. With Iowa having a 3.4% unemployment rate and TIF money now being used to finance luxury developments that include near-million dollar condos, I think the economy can do without a lot of this taxpayer-financed nonsense.

Nicholas Johnson has combined another story on the troubled Cedar Rapids Science Station and IMAX Theater with lessons for Pella and the Rainforest.

Roth CPA Tax Update Blog: You know you're in a small town when...

And now for the Animal House connection. You Republicans look like you need a little morale boost after recent polls showing your boys down (except Gazillionaire Businessman, Minimum-Wage Payer, and Jet-Caught-In-The-Headwinds congressional candidate Mike Whalen). Maybe you need a little motivational speech to get you fired back up. Here it is:

I Gave My Love A Chicken That Had No Bone

From now until Election Day, if I can't create a post that is somehow tied to the movie Animal House then I'm not going to bother with it.

So, there you go. No more bitching about Yepsen unless he's sitting on the staircase playing a guitar:

Vote Democrat

Patricia Sass of Waterloo, writing to the Waterloo Courier:

We all know that George Bush has a cozy relationship with his friends in the oil industry. So it should come as no surprise that Mike Whalen, the man George Bush wants you to send to Congress, was the leader of a group that opposes incentives for ethanol production. In a time of sky-high gas prices, Whalen even said that, "We don't have an energy problem."

Mike Whalen and George Bush just don't get it. We do have an energy problem in this country, and developing new sources of fuel, like ethanol, is one of the most promising ways to solve it. The Republican-controlled Congress hasn't done the hard work of solving our energy crisis. Instead, they passed George Bush's multibillion dollar tax giveaway to big oil companies. It's time for a change in Congress. Fortunately, lowans have a better choice: Bruce Braley. He supports ethanol and Iowa's farmers. Bruce will always fight for regular lowans, not for Bush and Whalen's special interest buddies. Bruce will crack down on tax giveaways to the big oil companies, and he'll make Iowa a leader in renewable energy. Bruce Braley is the change we need.

Bruce Braley will crack down on tax giveaways to the big oil companies, and instead give them to ethanol production companies! That will solve all our energy dependence problems. Right?

I wonder if Patricia Sass ever voted for Tom Harkin, whose wife Ruth used to be an executive at Conoco?

Bentler Family Funeral Today

Updated below:

From the Burlington Hawk Eye:

Friends, family and area residents will arrive at Harmony High School this morning to collectively mourn the Bentler family who were brutally gunned down over the week at their rural Bonaparte home.

Funeral services for Michael Bentler, 53, and Sandra (Mendez) Bentler, 47, and their daughters Sheena Bentler, 17, Shelby Bentler, 15, and Shayne Bentler, 14, will begin at 10 a.m. today in the high school gymnasium.

Then, the family's bodies will make the solemn trek to Bonaparte Cemetery where they will be laid to rest. School officials estimate around 1,800 will attend today's funeral services.

1800 people.

Wow.

I can understand why politicians might not want to comment on whether or not Iowa should have a death penalty for killers like Shawn Bentler. He is under arrest and will be facing trial, so you probably don't want any public comments tainting the case. You know how these defense lawyers are, even public defenders, always looking for something to get their obviously guilty client off.

And I've got respect the Political Forecast for responding on the matter of the death penalty, even if we disagree on the practice of capital punishment. I still think Chet Culver's stance on the death penalty smacks of political opportunism by cherry-picking particular murder cases rather than seeking justice. And it's unlikely that Culver would use his bully pulpit to get a death penalty bill through the Iowa Legislature, but you never know.


Update: The Des Moines Register is in a big hurry to put an anti-death penalty spin on things by quoting a priest who officiated at the funeral. It's the first thing in their story. I wonder what other criminal-appeasing spin we'll see by the Register concerning this case.

Worst Economy Since J. Edgar Hoover

Iowa's unemployment rate for September was 3.4%, down to the lowest number since Burlington was the Iowa Territory capital back in 1839, or something like that.

Golly, if it goes any lower Iowa won't need money toilets like Creative Visions or CIETC. We won't need the Iowa Corporate Welfare Values Fund. Iowa won't need to pad every rich developer's luxury project with the local taxpayer's TIF dough.

Iowa also won't need to increase the minimum wage.

Seriously, do you know anybody making $5.15 an hour? Other than meth addicts and child beaters?

Juvenile Crime Is Way Way Up In Davenport

From the Quad City Times:

In 2005, Davenport police set an all-time record of 1,176 juvenile arrests.

Through eight months of 2006, they’ve already shattered that number — arresting 1,357 kid criminals —a large portion of them repeat offenders.

That represents a 15.4 percent increase in youth crime, just through August, and the number could grow even higher.

Juvenile crime represents 25 percent to 35 percent of all crime across the city, and even larger percentages of criminal damage, stolen vehicles and gun violence...

As always, check out the comments. Some of them are pretty far out there.

We need to lift the veil of secrecy of juvenile justice system. These "kids" need to be publicly outed. People should demand the right to know who the petty criminals are in their neighborhood. And we should be aware of the judges who let these kids off the hook so they can travel through the revolving door time and time again.

It's The Homos, Stupid

The King of all Insightful Vulgarness, Iowahawk, as Howard Dean ("It's the Homos, Stupid. An Open Letter to the Conservative-American Community"):

Sadly, though, this is just the tip of the GOP gayberg. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the mincing minnie who ran the GOP's Foley coverup? A former high school "wrestling coach." California governor Arnold Schwartzenegger? A curious fondness for flexing his oiled pecs while parading around in a pair of skimpy Speedos. "Dick Armey"? You do the math.

And if their rampant homoism weren't enough, the GOP has further betrayed traditional conservatives by secretly nominating negros in races across the country. Yes, you read that correctly: actual negros. No matter how many times they try to hide the genetic truth from conservatives like you, GOP nominees like Michael Steele, Lynn Swann and Ken Blackwell are black as the ace of spades. Imagine the devastating impact on US property values if the world learns that more of those types have moved into the Congressional neighborhood.

Are these Republican negros also gay? It is too early to say definitively, but much more will be revealed in the upcoming weeks. Our research teams are busy still digging up evidence, but what we've learned already should be enough to destroy whatever shred of faith you have left in the Gay Old Party. I have, in my hand, a list of of over 200 GOP insiders suspected of sodomy, locker room towel-snapping, dancing with fat girls, and open negroism. As Christians like you, we would rather persuade them to forfeit their election campaigns peacefully, but if necessary we promise to get the charges out in time for your November 5 Sunday sermons.

Are you fed up with the GOP's miscegenation and gay bathhouse shenanigans? I know we've had our differences in the past, but maybe it's time for conservatives like you to give Democrats a fresh new look. The Republicans like to talk about having a "big tent," but we at the DNC are actually taking concrete steps to bring conservatives back in the fold. Just look at our innovative Iraq quagmire withdrawal plan, which has earned the praise and endorsement of rock-ribbed, traditional American conservatives like Pat Buchanan, Fred Phelps, and David Duke.

Ouch.

Iowa City Credit Union Offers Payday Loans

From the Daily Iowan:

Average payday lenders seem to be constantly linked to debt, which the UI Community Credit Union is aiming to avoid through a new version of quick cash.

The credit union is now offering a Payday Alternative Loan, which is a loan for as much as $500, said Steve Quigley, the senior vice president of retail sales for the facility. Although the loan could seem as though it would bury customers in debt, it is actually intended to encourage saving habits, lenders said.

When a member takes out a loan, the credit union doubles the amount, placing half into a savings account. Quigley said the feature is intended to give a person a feel for savings.

"When the loan is paid off, you now have [extra money]," he said.

The credit union's objective is to help its members, especially those living paycheck to paycheck...

...The loan has a 21 percent interest rate

I don't see how a 21% interest "loan" is going to encourage the habit of saving money.

If anything, people securing these lines of credit should be forced to take a class in the lost art of budgeting. People need to learn to pay themselves first and to discipline themselves against rampant consumerism. But why would a financial institution do a thing like that? They've been too busy lining their pockets over the years with overdraft fees and high interest rates. It's just another step down to the gutter, if you ask me.

David Yepsen Is A Cheerleader For Dictators And Islamofascists

What else can explain David Yepsen's fawning over Jim Leach's position on Iraq?

Jim Leach is one guy in the Iowa congressional delegation who has the right to say "I told you so" when it comes to Iraq.

In 2002, the Iowa City Republican was the only Iowan in Congress to vote against going to war. Since then, just about everything he predicted has happened, right down to the civil strife and the uncorking of ages-old religious passions.

He got it right. A whole bunch of other people, including this writer, got it wrong. So while Tom Harkin, Chuck Grassley, Jim Nussle, Greg Ganske, Tom Latham, Leonard Boswell — and yours truly — are left doing an "uh, ah, um" on Iraq, Leach could say he saw it all coming.

If you look at the big picture, Iraq isn't an impossible situation. We ousted a dictator who, among many other bad things, paid the families of Palestinian suicide bombers $25,000 for each successful explosion against innocent Israeli civilians. We ousted a dictator who violated some 17 different United Nations resolutions over a 12 year timeframe. We eliminated the ability for Saddam Hussein to ramp up his WMD program, harbor and fund terrorists, and put an end to the oil-for-terrorism-not-food scam he had working with France and the UN. There have been free elections in Iraq in the timeframe planned. We're in an obvious transition phase, but the remote doesn't click fast enough for some.

Oh god!!!! Some soldiers have died!!!! I can't handle it!!!! It's another Vietnam!!!! I can't handle the blood and guts of war!!!! Waaa waaaa!!!! Mommy!!!! More sanctions!!!! France hates us!!!!

Mopping things up isn't an easy job when you've got defeatists like Leach, Harkin, and now Yepsen basically cheering for the terrorists and Islamofascists.

Do columnists like Yepsen forget that when the US was occupying Germany and Japan following World War II that many US and Allied soldiers were killed by snipers and terrorists who were unwilling to give in to their own side's defeat? Should we have just given up then? Look at how much different Japan and Germany are today from the barbaric practices their countries engaged in just over 60 years ago.

You pussies. You cut and runners. You wimps. You defeatists. You cavers. You jihadi cheerleaders. You are the types who think genocide-enabler Kofi Annan is a good guy rather than a war criminal. You are the types who think dialogue with nutjobs like that North Korean midget or the Jew-hater in Tehran are good ideas. Feel free to keep cheering for the terrorists. Maybe you'll convince enough dolts to vote your way, although in Leach's district there's little difference between Leach and Loebsack. So in that instance I'd be holding my nose and voting for Loebsack because he isn't some lifelong politician at this juncture.

IMAX Theater In Cedar Rapids Creates A Lot Of IDEBT

Updated below:




Nicholas Johnson's FromDC2Iowa blog mentions the ongoing money woes with the Cedar Rapids Science Station and attempts to dovetail concerns about the Rainforest into this issue.

Johnson has reprinted a recent Cedar Rapids Gazette story concerning the Science Station's financial woes on his web site. It's a rather confusingly-written article by the Gazette.

The way I read it is that the Science Station, which has been around for 20 years, didn't start having money problems until they added an IMAX theater a few years ago. The IMAX theater was never completely paid for, despite having crooked spinner Clark McLeod's name on it along with local givers Busse Foundation. A mitigating factor was having an office manager, Nancy Listman, who allegedly stole over $300,000 from the Science Station over a two year period. The Science Station has also had leadership changes and a president hired a year ago is giving up and moving on at the end of the month.

Then I read this section:

The Science Station has asked the giving arm of Rockwell Collins for a $250,000 gift over three years to help pay off its debt. Cindy Dietz, assistant secretary for the Rockwell Collins Charitable Corp., said the group wanted more information before making such a sizable contribution.

‘‘At this point the board expresses support for the Science Station and wants to be more supportive financially. It just wants to see more details,’’ said Dietz, who also sits on the Science Station’s board.

Wait a second.

This Cindy Ditz, or Dietz, is on the board of the Science Station, but she's also an assistant secretary for the local charity they're trying to get money from, but the charity needs more financial details?????

WTF????

Wouldn't Cindy Ditzy be privy to the financial problems of the Science Station if she's a board member?

Are board members not allowed to look at the financials of the organization they're a part of? That doesn't make any sense at all. It reminds me of all the rubber stamps on the board of CIETC in Des Moines; a bunch of clueless, inbred morons.

I bet somebody could go back and look at all the hype surrounding the IMAX before it was green-lighted. I bet all the local politicians and do-gooders bragged about how it would be great for the community, keep kids from leaving to other towns that have an IMAX, and so forth.

Then, you know, they didn't have all the money to build the IMAX, so they went into debt - much the way Con Artist David Oman and "Filthy" Bob Ray want to do with the Rainforest project. It had to be built or the whole world would fail!!!!!!!!!! Then they hired an office manager who was a thief and stole money from them. All the while, the Board overseeing the organization could have given a crap about anything except padding their resumes and looking good to all the other local bigwigs. Now they've got their hands out to the local taxpayers and charitable organizations saying, "Puleeeeeze, pretty please, TRUST US ONE MORE TIME!!!!!"

If you can't pay for it, don't build it.

If you can't manage it, don't build it.

If you have to lie about attendance figures, don't build it.

If you pad the Board with local sycophants who are retarded concerning all matters financial, don't build it.

It's a good lesson you have there in Cedar Rapids with their IMAX. The People of Iowa and especially those in Pella ought to take heed because the Rainforest is on a scale at least 20-to-30 times bigger.


Update: A reader pointed me to this Des Moines Register article from three years ago concerning the now-still-relatively-new Science Center in downtown Des Moines and how they were forced to borrow $17 million after initially planning to borrow only $100,000. I couldn't find any updated info about that situation, other than a bunch of obsequious editorials by the Des Moines Register on how "revitalized" the downtown area is.

Don't forget that the $217 million Iowa Events Center (aka the Giant Carbuncle) was expected to cost local taxpayers $1 million a year, despite The Whoever charging $178 a ticket.

Then there's the money-losing Waterloo Convention Center and the money-losing Five Seasons Center in Cedar Rapids. It's an endless list, isn't it?

Which reminds me of:

In the beginning, there was the plan.

And then came the assumptions.

And the assumptions were without form.

And the plan was completely without substance.

The employees told their supervisors: "It's a crock of shit and it stinks!"

The supervisors then told the department heads: "It's a pail of dung, and none may abide by the odor."

The department heads then told the managers: "It's a container of excrement, and it is very strong such that none may smell it."

The managers then told the director: "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide by its strength."

The director then told the VP: "It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."

The VP told the Executive-VP: "It promotes growth, and it is very powerful."

The Executive-VP told the President: "It is very strong and will promote growth and efficiency of the system."

And the President reviewed the plan, and said: "This is good."

And the plan became policy.

And this is how shit happens.

John McCain Would "Commit Suicide" If The Democrats Took Over The Senate

From Radio Iowa:

Arizona Senator and probable 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain jokingly says he would "commit suicide" if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate in this November's election.

McCain is in Iowa today (Wednesday), campaigning with GOP Congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham as well as Republican congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti. McCain spoke at a mid-day news conference in Des Moines, where McCain was asked what his reaction would be to a Democratic take-over of the Senate.

"I think I'd just commit suicide," McCain said, as the Republicans standing beside him burst into laughter. "I don't want to face that eventuality because I don't think it's going to happen...I think it's going to be tough, but I think we'll do o.k." A few moments later McCain turned to Congressman Latham and joked that Latham would probably commit suicide first, as polls suggest control of the House is likely to swing to Democrats in this year's election.

Considering that John McCain spent 5 1/2 years as a tortured Vietnam prisoner of war with Bruce Willis's father's watch up his ass, I find this impossible to believe. The cancer must be eating away at McCain's brain.

If McCain blew his brains out at the thought of "Dirty" Harry Reid as the Senate Majority Leader, he'd just be further fucking up the Republicans as Janet Napolitano, the Democratic Governor of Arizona would (I'm guessing, I don't know the rules in Arizona) put a Democrat in his brain-splattered chair.

Staci Appel Cares About Families, Except Her Own

From the Des Moines Register's Letters section:

I am writing to endorse Staci Appel for District 37 of the Iowa Senate, which includes Madison and Warren Counties and parts of Dallas County. As a mother of four, Appel cares about people, especially Iowa's children.

She will strengthen families by advocating quality public education, increased health-insurance coverage and a clean, healthy environment.

As a former financial planner, Appel understands business and will work to increase Iowa business opportunities by aiding local business development and encouraging rural development through expanding alternative-energy production.

I have observed Appel working on her campaign and am impressed by her sincerity, strong work ethic and professionalism. I know she will work tirelessly to make Iowa a better place to live and raise families.

- Ann Kirkegaard, Indianola

The Appels have four children aged 7 and under, her husband purchased was just named to the Iowa Supreme Court, and she's running for the State Senate in order to "strengthen" families. What a complete joke of a letter this is.

Politics first, family second. It doesn't matter whether you're Republican (Jim Nussle) or Democrat (The Appels).


Related: State 29 Is A Misogynist and Brent Appel Named To Iowa Supreme Court

The Trees

The South Of Iowa Blog shows two very interesting aerial photos:

This is in exactly the same location as the first shot. Compare the two. Notice something missing in the second one? Trees, maybe?

The Death Penalty In Iowa

When is somebody going to ask Chet Culver if he would have been in favor of the death penalty for Shawn Bentler?

Now's a good time to talk about such things, don't you think?


Related: Chet Culver, The Death Penalty, And The Bentler Murders

John Kerry Plays It Safe In Iowa City

I don't understand why John Kerry is constantly campaigning for Chet Culver in Iowa City. Kerry's already been in the Democrat stronghold once in the past month (see photo above).

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen today:

Kerry, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts and 2004 presidential candidate, stumped for Culver's campaign Tuesday at Vito's Restaurant, 118 E. College St.

Is John Kerry is too big of a pussy to take his swift boat upstream or downstream to another town that isn't comprised of 94% Democrats, 3% Libertarians, 2% Communists, and a handful of Republicans?

Niedermeyer Scolds Flounder

Bronze Star recipient and State Senator Chuck Larson is in Jim Nussle's latest ad, responding to some Chet Culver ad that said Nussle voted to cut military pay, cut holes in their parachutes, and forced our military members to flush Korans down the toilet, or something like that:



Actually, I think it would have been funnier if Chuck Larson had said, "Chet Culver needs to drop and give me fifty!"

More Jordan Monroe Pics!

More galleries of Iowa native and Playboy's Miss October 2006 Playmate Jordan Monroe!

Go to Daily Niner for all the galleries. Not Safe For Wife or Work.

She's hot! Wouldn't that be something if she was the Playmate Of The Year?


Related: Iowa Girl Finally Makes It To Playboy's Centerfold

Start Counting

Iowa Ennui: "How many tax increases did you count in this paragraph? I counted four."

Time To Kick Out Some Judges, Let's Start With Kristin Hibbs Of Iowa City

While the Des Moines Register Editorial Board and the chief public defender for Johnson County think that all judges up for retention should be attained, I don't agree.

The Iowa State Bar puts out a PDF called the Judicial Plebiscite that's supposedly a guide of member opinion on the judges. That's sort of like foxes polling other foxes about what they think of the foxes guarding the chicken coop.

Which judges should NOT be attained? Normally I'd say "all of them" but in this post I have a good reason for kicking out a certain judge up for retention in the 2006 election cycle.

One name that stands out is Judge Kristin Hibbs in Iowa City. She's soft on drunk drivers who kill. How soft?

Although I live in Texas, as a 1960 City High graduate, Iowa City and Johnson County will always be my hometown. Thus, I was appalled to learn that the man who killed Don Westcott received a suspended sentence.

It amazes me how drunks and child molesters plague our society. They are given break after break after break. According to the newspaper clipping that I read, evidence of his blood alcohol level was lost. OK. Fine.

Nonetheless when a driver blows through a stop sign at a high rate of speed and kills and injures people in other vehicles, he should be held responsible.

For example, it is one thing to blow a tire and cause an accident. It is quite another thing, when basic laws are violated and a severe accident results. I guess Iowa's laws are lax. Dan Wilkerson caused the accident. He took a life. He receives a wrist slap. Is that justice?

Gary Carman
San Marcos, Texas

This case was an absolute disgrace to justice and Kristin Hibbs was the judge presiding.

Judge Hibbs also got a 79% retention rating on the Judicial Plebiscite, which is very low. A lot of judges get 97% or above. Even her fellow lawyers think she's a crappy judge.

Where are victim's rights advocates? Where is MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers? Why aren't they tracking these judges who let off drunk drivers who kill? Why aren't they mounting public awareness campaigns against judges who let killers and criminals off with light or no sentences?

Where are the newspapers? Where are the investigative reporters? Where are the opinion columnists? Is the Des Moines Register going to do anything more than blindly rubber stamp the retention of judges and reposting the Judicial Plebiscite data?

Unfortunately, voters can't get rid of Judge Jeffrey Larson, who sentenced sexual abuse victim and minor Tracey Dyess to 45 years in prison for setting a house fire that accidentally killed two siblings. Nor can Judge Charles Smith, the man who sentenced Dixie Shanahan Duty to 50 years in prison for killing her abusive husband, be bounced out of his robe. Maybe next time.


Dixie Shanahan (now Dixie Duty), after her husband beat her up, but before he threatened to kill her, her unborn baby, dragging her into the house by pulling her hair, and then pointing a loaded shotgun at her.

It's Official: A Democrat's Shit DOES Stink!

Bill Clinton, at the Iowa Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Des Moines this past weekend, explaining the girth of the cigar that he penetrated then-21 year old White House intern Monica Lewinsky with.... or the number of times he and Hillary have had sex in the past 20 years.

From the Radio Iowa blog:

Iowa Democrats gathered for their annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner on Saturday night. It was interesting to guage the audience reactions to each of the big-name Democrats as they were introduced to the crowd (as "We Are Family" blared over the loud speakers). Harkin received the loudest response...

When Clinton entered the room to take the stage, some people in the back of the room actually stood on their chairs to get a better glimpse. After Clinton's 50 minute speech, Democrats did their traditional begging-for-cash schtick. Harkin got Clinton to donate his tie, and long-time Democratic contributor Bill Knapp bought it for $3000.

The room was arranged so that the press riser and tables for journalists with laptops was right in front of the entrance to the restrooms. Note to Hy-Vee Hall staff: the "fumes" were pretty strong.

Bill Knapp bought Bill Clinton's tie for $3000, eh?

I wonder if the tie came with a stain?

White sauce, anyone?

Who's The Dead Democrat Sitting Next To Lt Gov Sally Pederson?

Hat tip: Corn Beltway Boys

Des Moines Register Reporter Lee Rood Does Crappy Research

How about this ginned-up Sunday Register story about a bunch of Polk County Sheriff's Department employees who purchased impounded vehicles on the cheap:

- Senior Deputy John R. Taylor appears to have helped a family member buy a 1997 Chevrolet Blazer - a sport utility vehicle that can fetch $2,700 to $5,000 on a used car lot - for $800 from R&R Towing. Records from the November 2005 sale show the person buying the car was listed as a Jamie Taylor, but that person was not formally registered at the public auction with other bidders. Instead, the records say "See Deputy Taylor" for contact information.

- The same deputy appears to have helped purchase another vehicle for another relative from a different towing company at an auction a month earlier. Workers at Peters Towing & Recovery in Altoona identified the buyer of the 2002 Honda motorcycle for $1,265 as Jake Taylor at an Altoona address, but purchasing records say simply, "John's boy."...

- Incomplete auction records from R&R fail to document who purchased vehicles at auctions this year and last. Among the vehicles unaccounted for in records kept by R&R: a 1999 Chevy Tahoe and a 1992 Jeep Cherokee, both sold for a penny at a November 2005 auction.

- In the past year, Mike Peters, the owner of Peters Towing, registered as a bidder at his company's own auction and bought a 2001 Mercury Sable, typically worth from $7,000 to $11,000, for $3,400. He also bought a 1994 flatbed trailer for $410 and a Honda four-wheeler for $1,200. Every time he bought a vehicle, his company kept the proceeds.

I'm extremely skeptical about this story. The vehicles-for-a-penny thing doesn't seem right, but who knows what kind of condition those vehicles were in?

Purchasing an impounded vehicle is a very risky business. Using something like KBB.com to determine possible value for these vehicles isn't fair. These are vehicles that usually have high miles, may have maintenance issues, or have been involved in accidents.

An impounded 1997 Blazer going for $800 at auction? Sounds valid to me. Go look at Ebay today and you'll see a 1997 Blazer in Indiana that recently sold for $650 in running condition.

A 2001 Mercury Sable for $3400? Sounds OK to me. Ebay Motors has a real creampuff 2001 Mercury Sable in suburban Chicago available for $3400 using Buy It Now.

So? Where's the scandal here?

The 15 year old Jeep Cherokee sold for a penny? How much would you pay for a 15 year old Jeep Cherokee impounded by police?

The 1999 Blazer sold for a penny? What condition was it in? Did it run? How much repair did it need? There's a load of 1999 Blazers on Ebay that ended around $2000 that didn't meet the reserve price. If this 1999 Blazer had a bad engine or body damage, repairs could easily go over $2000 very quickly.

Until Des Moines Register reporter Lee Rood can cough up more information about the two penny cars, this story appears to be bogus nonsense.

Weekend Roundup

How Is Fauxscal Conservative Chuck Grassley's Bankruptcy Reform Law Working Out? Like I expected it would.

Chet Culver Is Up Seven Pounds On Latest Tipped Scale. Right. Ask Governor Jim Ross Lightfoot, Democratic presidential nominee Howard Dean, and President John F. Kerry about that. Meanwhile, O. Kay's blog at Radio Iowa reports a preposterous spin by the Culver campaign. (Hat tip: the misogynist with a uterus)

Chet Culver, The Death Penalty, And The Bentler Murders. Would Chet Culver be for the use of the death penalty against multiple murderer Shawn Bentler? No, Chet Culver would only be for using the death penalty if Jetseta Gage were abducted, raped, and murdered again.

And Des Moines Is Run By Idiots. But you knew that already.

How Is Fauxscal Conservative Chuck Grassley's Bankruptcy Reform Law Working Out?

From the State 29 blog in February 2005:

I'm of the opinion that Chapter 7 bankruptcy is granted way too often. You can thank judges for all of this. Most people, provided they're able-bodied, can easily pay off $10,000 to $30,000 in debt over a period of a few years. It just takes some discipline and understanding. And if judges practiced some common sense and forced more people into Chapter 13 reorganization, we'd be better off because people would be responsible for their own debts, not society. No wonder there's reform legislation in Congress, although with fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley behind it I'm kind of worried about what we may get down the road.

Now this from a recent story in the Albany (NY) Times Union:

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who wrote the bankruptcy reform legislation, said last month that he thinks the law is doing what it should.

"Bankruptcy rates in the 1990s and early 2000 time frame exceeded bankruptcy rates during the Great Depression, despite the fact that the economy was going strong during much of this time," he said in a report to President Bush. "With this law, we closed some loopholes, made upper-income Americans repay more of their debts ... and enacted important consumer-protection provisions so people could be more knowledgeable about their finances."

In his mind, "bankruptcy reform seems to have been a success," Grassley said.

The survey by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys found that dire predictions of financial disaster due to the changes did not come to pass. However, lawyers said the new law is not doing exactly what backers said it would do, while hurting debtors at the same time...

...Three in five lawyers said they expect bankruptcy filings to return to the level seen before the changes by fall 2007 -- meaning they don't think the law has had much impact on preventing filings.

Fewer than one-third of lawyers said they had seen an increase in Chapter 13 filings over Chapter 7. The new law was supposed to push would-be Chapter 7 filers into Chapter 13, so creditors would have a better chance of getting repaid.

Lawyers said 97 percent of their clients were not swayed from filing after being forced to take a $55 online or phone seminar on alternatives to bankruptcy.

Nearly all debtors were forced to file due to circumstances beyond their control, the lawyers reported, including joblessness, medical expenses and an unexpected rise in the minimum monthly repayments required for credit cards.

While bankruptcy filings are lower across all the Federal District Courts in Iowa, you don't see many people being pushing into Chapter 13.

One thing I take issue with in the Albany Times Union's story is that final paragraph above:

Nearly all debtors were forced to file due to circumstances beyond their control, the lawyers reported, including joblessness, medical expenses and an unexpected rise in the minimum monthly repayments required for credit cards.

I think this is a bullshit excuse on the part of bankruptcy lawyers. These vultures, I mean lawyers, aren't exactly unbiased sources. They have a financial stake in filing paperwork for more bankruptcies. That's how they make their living. Some are even bold enough to troll the opinion pages for more business, the whores.

The Albany Times Union's lead example is some 31 year old male loser (Michael Springer of Coeymans) with three college degrees, no job, and $38,000 in debt. That's not a very good example. The unemployment rate in Albany County, where this guy lives, is 3.8% as of August 2006. He can't get a single job? He should be working two or three jobs for a couple of years, then he'll get his debt paid off.

Buried deeper in the Times Union piece is this:

[Springer] may not be the best example of a sympathetic bankruptcy case. His $38,000 debt included utility bills and student loans, but came mainly from maxed-out credit cards.

Springer admits to having a problem with overspending, and said he bought a TV, a watch, a $3,000 computer system and clothes at a time when his income was well under $1,000 a month.

Not having a job was also part of his problem. And a neurological birth defect that limits his walking and no car made it difficult to even apply for jobs in his field, Springer said.

Today, he blames his filing in part on being constantly harassed by debt collectors, who wouldn't accept the fact that he had no job. "They wouldn't stop," he said. "They just kept on bugging me."

What a moron. What a bum. Some judge needs to kick this Michael Springer idiot in the head about 38,000 times. Neurological birth defect, my ass. Might knock some sense into him.

But the Michael Springers of the world, and there are a lot of them out there, won't be changing their behavior. They won't work extra, they won't cut back on the purchases, and they certainly would never try to budget their own money to pay their bills.

Yes, some blame does go to the credit card companies, who send out billions of credit card offers every year. Ultimately, though, people should be forced by judges to pay back what they owe. I don't care if it takes three years or five years or seven years. It usually can be done. And you never get the whole "medical bills" thing quantified. Somebody may be late paying the dentist for a new crown and "medical bills" get lumped in with the trophy house, the fancy new SUVs, and the QVC addiction.

I predict that Grassley's bankruptcy reform law will soon be worthless. Bankruptcy levels will rise back to late 1990's levels by 2009 or 2010. Judges will still process most people into Chapter 7. Lawyers will be enriched by the lengthier process and bitch about the red tape while driving home in their BMWs to gated communities. Boo hoo.


Related: Bankruptcy Of The Year

Culver Up Seven Pounds On Latest Scale

The Des Moines Register Poll, done by Selzer & Company, shows Democrat Chet Culver with a 7 point lead over Republican Jim Nussle in the race for governor, 46% to 39%.

What's amazing is that there's no published breakdown of what percentage of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents polled.

According to active registered voter data, there are 584,744 Republicans (30.6%), 604,330 Democrats (31.5%) , and 727,010 Independents (37.9%), for a total of 1,919,084 voters. Who knows what percentage of registered voters by party Selzer & Company polled?

And then there's this from Nussle campaign manager Nick Ryan:

Every recent poll from Rasmussen to The Wall Street Journal/John Zogby is showing Jim Nussle and Chet Culver in a dead heat. It is important to keep in mind The Des Moines Register poll is only a snapshot in a close race for Governor and not a reliable snapshot at that. This is the same Iowa Poll that showed Jim Ross Lightfoot as Governor of Iowa, Howard Dean as the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee and John Kerry as the next President of the United States. What’s more interesting is that the current Democrat Governor had knowledge of these questionable numbers to announce before partisans at a Democrat fundraiser before they were made available to the public in print or online.

Doh! What did Vilsack know and when did he know it? And who fed it to him?

The Iowa Poll has been unreliable in the past.

And do they mean that this guy is in the lead?

Chet Culver, The Death Penalty, And The Bentler Murders

Surely in the recent aftermath of the horrible Bentler family murders in Bonaparte we'll hear some mention of the death penalty from political candidates.

Republican Jim Nussle would gladly fry any murdering bastards to a crisp, and everybody, except for a handful of wussy-ass, criminal-loving Democrats and the imported Socialist Gannettoids running the Des Moines Register, would be in favor of it.

Democrat Chet Culver is sort of for the death penalty, but only if Jetseta Gage is abducted, raped, and murdered again. In other words, Culver is a phony when it comes to being truly serious about the death penalty. And despite acquiring a rather large spare tire in recent years, I doubt the big lug would ever have the guts to sign a bill giving Iowa prosecutors the choice to abort the most heinous murderers for justice's sake.

Iowa is one of only 14 states that does not use any form of capital punishment after Democrat Harold Hughes and the Iowa Legislature abolished it in 1965. Governor Terry Branstad made the death penalty a big part of his 1990 re-election campaign, but a bill reinstating it died in the Iowa Senate, as have many others since 1970. Lucky for Governor Braindead, as his son Eric Branstad, driving recklessly in Dallas County in 1991, made an improper pass and hit another car head-on, killing two people, Charles and Jean McCullough. Eric, like most pampered children of politicians, got off with a fucking misdemeanor.

The Big Guns vs The Kos of Death

I missed this article in the Des Moines Register yesterday on President Bush coming to Des Moines in a couple of weeks to rally for Jeff Lamberti.

The Lamberti-Boswell race must be in play for Bush to show up.

Leftists want to believe and tout as conventional wisdom that Bush is a liability because of his approval ratings, but is there any real evidence to back this up? Democrats should be more concerned if actual liabilities like Ted Kennedy show up or if their candidate gets the Kos of Death endorsement.

And although a poll is showing the Leach-Loebsack congressional race is a tossup, don't expect to see Bush campaigning for Leach anytime soon considering Leach's constant interest in cutting and running.

Des Moines Is Run By Idiots

From the Des Moines Register:

A taxpayer grant awarded earlier this year to a Des Moines social service agency was restored Friday after city auditors were unable to substantiate claims that files were exaggerated or false.

The city in August suspended payments from a $75,000 grant to Creative Visions, which provides mentoring and job-training to young people and low-income families. The move came after a former employee claimed that money and services went to phantom clients...

...City Manager Rick Clark said there was no evidence of wrongdoing. "We can't say absolutely that it never happened, but there's not much we can do about that fact," he said.

Chris Johansen, director of the city's housing services, said the agency showed "noticeable improvement" in file-keeping since a review last year. A memo from Clark to City Council members Friday showed that 33 Creative Visions clients included in the audit had no telephone number or address; 21 others provided inaccurate phone numbers...

...Councilman Bob Mahaffey agreed that the money should be released. He said he will vote Nov. 6 to give the agency another $50,000 for 2007, contingent upon further periodic audits.

Mahaffey said the fact that no phone number or address was listed for 33 clients "is probably most concerning to me."

"Those didn't have a phone number or address listed - that's not completing the files," he said.

A federal report in 2004 showed that the agency failed to verify the income of the people who received benefits. The city in March 2005 instructed Creative Visions to correct the problem, but a review in February found that the agency "failed to include any form of income determination" or legal identification for some clients.

Funny how if the record-keeping improves from "Who gives a shit?" to "scattershot" Stephen "Ako Abdul-Samad" Green gets his money anyway.

It's amazing how all this was timed right before the election, specifically Ako's appearance in a debate with other District 66 candidates on the radio on Monday, October 17th. You know, the one where none of the other candidates can ask about any of Ako's scandals.

Talk about a Culture Of Corruption.

Gimme Some Money

Update:




From the Des Moines Register:

World Food Prize headquarters in Des Moines buzzed today with the news that Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1994, Yunus was given the World Food Prize for his work promoting the economic and social advancement of the poorest citizens of Bangladesh, especially women and children, through his work with the Grameen Bank.

Foundation president Kenneth Quinn said the 1994 World Food Prize was one of the first awards to recognize Yunus and Grameen Bank.

“The road to the Nobel Peace Prize began in Des Moines,” said Quinn.

Yunus and the Grameen Bank pioneered the concept of micro-credit by loaning small amounts of money — less than $100 and rarely more than $300 — to poor people.

Golly, isn't that the same sort of thing that legalized loansharker Rod Aycox and his LoanMax payday and car-title loan stores in Iowa do? Loaning small amounts of money to poor people?

Somebody should give a joint Nobel Peace Prize to both Al Sharpton and Christopher Rants!

See also The Corn Beltway Boys ("Just Postdate The Check For Me...")




Update: The Political Forecast thinks I'm joking around. Of course I'm joking around, but it's not at the expense of Yunus or the Grameen Bank, which is a good thing.

Take a look at what's going on in Iowa. We have politicians like Republican Christopher Rants on the take for Rod Aycox and his usury, legalized loansharking company LoanMax. Republican Willard Jenkins also thinks 360% interest rates on the poorest of the poor is a perfectly fine thing to have in Iowa. And you have race pimp Al Sharpton doing ads for LoanMax.

To hear some Iowa politicians talk (all Republicans, I might add), offering excessively high-interest, short-term loans to poor people on their car titles or next paychecks is perfectly fine! In fact, it should be commended and expanded! And anybody who comes along and tries to limit interest rates, like State Senator Bolkcom's plan to kill the industry by capping it at 21% APR, should be shot down.

Even Chet Culver's boneheaded idea to throw away up to $666 million of the IPERS pension fund on union-approved, unprofitable, Iowa-based, hi-tech startemups isn't too much of a stretch to include here, especially considering Iowa's track record at picking losers.

I think most people who understand irony will get what I'm going on about with regard to Rants, Jenkins, Sharpton, and Aycox. Predatory lending to the poor needs to be outlawed in Iowa, not celebrated.

And congrats to Muhammad Yunus for his work.

Brent Appel Named To Iowa Supreme Court

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Brent Appel, a Dubuque native who has been in private practice for the past 20 years, will replace Justice James Carter, who retires on Monday, Gov. Tom Vilsack announced.

"Brent has one of the keenest legal minds I have encountered," Vilsack said in statement released Friday. "He is a highly respected attorney who has gone above and beyond in his service to the people of Iowa."

It also helped that Brent Appel has given almost $100,000 to Democratic candidates in Iowa since 2000.

So if Brent's wife Staci succeeds in her quest to become a State Senator from Ackworth, who is going to stay home with their four children aged 7 and under when one or two or all of them are sick?

Wait, I shouldn't ask such questions. I am a misogynist.

What The E85 Scam Is All About

From the Detroit Free Press:

Public Citizen said in a complaint to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that Ford Tauruses and Mercury Sables from the 2003 to 2005 model years ran so poorly on 85% ethanol-blended fuel that they should not be considered flex-fuel vehicles, which earn extra credits under federal fuel economy standards.

The program assumes flex-fuel vehicles run on E85 half the time, even though many such vehicles never see a drop of E85 in their tanks. By building 228,032 flex-fuel Taruses and Sables over those three model years, Ford was able to keep its average fuel economy near the standard set by NHTSA of 27.5 m.p.g.. Without the ethanol credits, Ford's average for its cars would have fallen as low as 25.8 m.p.g., Public Citizen said.

Automakers may miss fuel economy standards for one year, but must pay fines based on vehicle sales or use credits from years when their fuel economy surpassed the standards. By Public Citizen's math, Ford would owe the government $136 million if its ethanol credits were removed...

...In addition to NHTSA, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission under truth in advertising rules, asking that Ford be barred from marketing E85 vehicles in states with few or no E85 pumps

Read the whole thing, especially the advice Ford dealers gave to corn farmers in Nebraska who bought troublesome E85 Tauruses.

The Culture Of Corruption

Funny thing how the Des Moines Register continues to devote column inch after column inch to trashing Republicans over the Mark Foley scandal (as well as allow "email" to replace "instant message"), but according to my searches the Des Moines Register hasn't said word one about Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's scandal involving his failing to disclose windfall profits he made on a sweetheart land deal that he helped coordinate and push through with a "friend" who has had past ties to political bribery and organized crime.

The Washington Post has a good roundup of the Reid scandal in today's paper, although this story has been roaming around the internet for a good week now.

We're All Paid Up, Except For Those Other Bills

David Yepsen in the Des Moines Register:

In Iowa, Vilsack said earlier this week the state's economic emergency fund can now be topped off. That, too, is due to better than expected revenues in the fiscal year that ended June 30. It means both the cash reserve fund and the emergency fund are now full — at $535 million.

That's good news because those funds had been tapped to cover excessive spending approved by the governor and Legislature in past years. Vilsack credited a healthy state economy and spending restraint by legislators this last year for helping generate the additional $37 million needed to fill the emergency fund.

But that, too, doesn't tell a complete picture. The state still owes the senior living trust fund $201.5 million. That's supposed to be used to help seniors stay in their own homes, but instead those dollars were used to pay for other things. And $160 million in property-tax-credit payments isn't accounted for properly. Also, other trust funds that were cleaned out to cover spending for other things have never been repaid. And Iowa's got about $500 million of built-in spending promises that have been made for next year. Did I mention how the state's pension systems can't pay what they owe?

I can only guess that Tom Vilsack was bullied in math class. What else explains why he would propose a 6.1% spending increase during a year in which state revenue went up 3.6%.

So what if the State owes the Senior Living Trust fund over $200 million? Vilsack can just blame Wal-Mart for employing all those 70-and-80-somethings a few hours a week so they can have gambling money, yet still qualify for Medicaid under the rules the politicians wrote.

Not to fear. Chet Culver came up with 5 or 10 ideas the other day on economic development.

Culver will get IPERS to invest in businesses like YouTube, Gateway Computers, retaining Kevin Schmidt.

And if that isn't bold enough, Chet Culver will open more casinos in places like Allerton and Fort Dodge.

You can also be sure a coffin nail tax hike will fill up them coffers.

Or Iowa can elect Jim Nussle. He has a lot of experience mismanaging budgets and spending money on things like tourism development for Kentucky like it's just come off a North Korean printing press.

To Move Along By Jerks Or As If Under A Heavy Burden

Updated below:




Krusty komments on Mari Culver's "Big Lug" ad. (Link to YouTube)

To be perfectly honest, it's a good ad. It's cute. And the kiss doesn't seem forced, a la Al and Tipper Gore. It's probably the best ad the Culver campaign has put out.

In a way, it's too good of an ad. After viewing it twice, I sort of wanted Mari Culver to be running for Governor of Iowa. She seems articulate, smart, and relatively down-to-earth, something Chet really doesn't come off as.

But what do I know? I'm a misogynist. Never mind my opinion concerning anything involving women.

The only problem is Mari calling Chet Culver a "big lug" at the end. We all know she means it in jest, which is part of the ad's appeal. But what is the actual definition of a lug?

1. A handle or projection used as a hold or support.
2. A lug nut.
3. Nautical. A lugsail.
4. A projecting part of a larger piece that helps to provide traction, as on a tire or the sole of a boot.
5. A copper or brass fitting to which electrical wires can be soldered or otherwise connected.
6. Slang. A clumsy fool; a blockhead.

So does Iowa want a clumsy fool or a blockhead as Governor?




Update: Since the Clinton campaign used Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" as their theme song in 1992, perhaps the Culver bunch could use Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love Lug:

Looking out for LUG
In the night so still
Oh I'll build you a kingdom
In that house on Terrace Hill
Looking out for LUG
Big, big LUG

You said that you love me
And that you always will
Oh you begged me to keep you
In that house on Terrace Hill
Looking out for LUG
Big, big LUG

Traces

From Radio Iowa:

A Midwestern historian is coming back to Iowa where he created his traveling exhibits about World War Two internment camps. Michael Luick-Thrams moved "Traces," his nonprofit educational organization, from Iowa to the Twin Cities about a year ago, but returns this fall with a touring exhibit to 18 stops across Iowa.

Luick-Thrams says while everyone's heard of Japanese-Americans rounded up and detained as the US entered World War Two, far fewer know that fifteen thousand German-Americans were also interned at camps and detention centers in this country. He says the German-American internees were butchers and wheat farmers from Washington State, were chemists from Milwaukee, photographers from Wichita, Kansas..."They were basically your grandparents and my people's neighbors and someone's teacher, and they got interned," he says.

He says there were sixty centers in all, one of them Fort Crook, which is now Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. He says another was the “Home of the Good Shepherd" Convent, in Omaha. And the historian explains why so many people have never heard of the U.S. internment camps. They were not released until they signed an affidavit that they would never speak about the internment. He says it wasn't just German POW's brought to Midwestern camps -- at centers including Fort Lincoln and in North Dakota, even the cooks, the guards and other administrators had to sign an affidavit that they would never speak about it either. Lesser numbers of Italian-Americans and people of other nationalities were also interned.

Luick-Thrams moved his Center for History and Culture from Iowa to Minnesota last year, and now operates two traveling "BUS-Eum" exhibits. This one's visiting towns including Osceola, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown and Dubuque from October 24 through November first. Luick-Thrams says while the traveling exhibit often disturbs people, it does not take partisan positions and does not deal with events after 1948. For more information on the exhibit, including the schedule of eighteen stops across Iowa October 24th through November first, visit the center's website at "traces.org."

You can view the schedule here.

I knew Iowa had POW camps for German, Japanese, and Italian soliders, but I didn't know that an internment camp for German-American citizens was located right next door in Omaha during the 1940s.

Of course, this was back in the days when Democrats were behaving more like modern-day conservatives, right? Right?????

Meaningless Jokes And Puns

From the Political Forecast ("Kennedy to campaign for Culver in Eastern Iowa"):

How long do you think it will take for someone on the right to make a joke about Sen. Ted Kennedy’s driving skills, his relationship with alcohol, or the fact the was Culver’s dad’s roommate in college as the reason why he’s coming out to campaign for Chet Culver and Phil Hare?

It isn’t that big of a deal — lots of nationally prominent Democrats are going to or have already come to Iowa to help elect Democrats. Kennedy is just another in a long line.

But prepare for the meaningless jokes and puns.

You know, if Ted Kennedy had been driving a VW, he might have been President.

Here's the poster boy for health care reform:




Or is this the poster boy for health care reform?




Look! Dennis Hastert drove Mark Foley's page into the river!




And is this woman (Mary Jo Kopechne) a meaningless joke and pun?



Oh, wait. I forgot. I'm the misogynist. Never mind my opinion. What do I know? I didn't kill anybody, nor did I spend hours sleeping it off until I notified authorities and then held a press conference wearing a phony neck brace.

Culver needs fat-assed drunkard and killer Ted Kennedy to campaign for him? Sounds to me like the Culver campaign is taking on water and is sinking quicker than the Oldsmobile that drove off Dike Bridge and into Poucha Pond back in the summer of '69.

Tom Harkin Finally Talks About North Korea

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

From the Des Moines Register:

Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa said today that the Bush administration ignored potential threats posed by North Korea while pursuing the war in Iraq, and that Republicans “shut down” diplomatic ties encouraged by the Clinton administration.

“To me, it’s just another total failure of the Bush foreign policy, total, absolute failure, and it’s put us in a very bad situation,” said Harkin, a Democrat, in an interview with The Des Moines Register.

North Korea “was treated as not important, or at least not important enough to get engaged seriously diplomatically,” Harkin said...

...Harkin said North Korea is a “rogue state” and ultimately should be held responsible for its own actions. “But again I still believe the best way to deal with nations like that is to work with them, get them to open up and talk with them, and give them things like nuclear reactors,” he said.

OK, I made that last part up.

Funny how Jane Norman can't be bothered to mention that Jimmy Carter brokered a deal with North Korea in 1994 that would essentially let the Clinton Administration and the United States taxpayers give those Commies a couple of nuclear reactors. And if some of you don't believe me, just go and read Jimmy Carter's own words on the matter. Ah, but it's all President Bush's fault because he accused North Korea in 2002 of cheating and trying to make weapons-grade uranium!

Oh God, Jimmy Carter. Worst. Fucking. President. Ever.

Money Down The Hatch

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen via the University of Iowa Health News Service:

A three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, will help University of Iowa researchers study how increased primary care services might help curb underage drinking in rural Iowa.

The grant, which was effective Oct. 1, was awarded to the Adolescent Medicine Program in the Department of Pediatrics in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. Youths ages 10 to 18 will play an important role in the study effort.

An 18 year old is a youth? I thought an 18 year old was an adult.

18, 19, and 20 year olds in Iowa can join the military, enter into contracts, get married, buy a house, have an abortion, buy cigarettes, become a Playboy Playmate, file bankruptcy, and get divorced. But they can't walk into a bar and have a cold one.

I still think the best way to curb underage drinking is to lower the drinking age back to 18, despite what the nanny-state types on both sides of the aisle say.

I also noticed this in the press release:

"The overall concept is for youths to be able to have anonymous online access to a series of clips in which doctors address topics of concern: alcohol, drugs, sex and other risky behaviors. The youths will be given age-appropriate feedback and have the choice of receiving information from a male or female doctor, Spanish-speaking doctors or African-American physicians," Hall said.

I can understand the language thing, but why does the race of the doctor matter?

Davenport Diocese Files For Bankruptcy

Don't miss this story in the Quad City Times on the Catholic Diocese of Davenport filing for bankruptcy because of sex abuse lawsuits and settlements.

Even better are the Comments on this story.

Last year, the Davenport Diocese hired back a priest who had been busted for downloading child pornography on a diocese-owned laptop, so they bring this on themselves.

And the Vatican couldn't be bothered with defrocking a bunch of old scumbag priests from the Davenport Diocese who messed around with children. Sick.


Related: Purpling

State 43

Updated below:


From the Tax Update Blog:

Iowa retains its firm hold as one of the states with the 10 worst business climates, according to a new report by the Tax Foundation.

The Foundation's State Business Tax Climate Index rated Iowa's business tax climate 43rd out of 50 states this year. We are a hair ahead of Nebraska, but a mile behind #2-rated South Dakota.

Read the whole thing, check out the graphic, and look at the PDF.

No wonder Ted Waitt's Gateway Computers fled Iowa for South Dakota.

Although if you talked to most members of the Iowa Legislature, Deacon Blouin, or Governor Vilsack, their only thoughts would be on how much taxpayer-financed corporate welfare they could try to bribe companies to keep from leaving. That's their only answer, and it sucks.


Update: Don't miss the Tax Update Blog's followup post: I asked Chris Atkins of the Tax Foundation to comment specifically on Iowa's tax climate, which the Foundation ranks as one of the ten worst in the nation. His reply:

Iowa’s corporate and individual income tax systems drag down its overall ranking. On these two component areas, Iowa respectively ranks 46th and 45th.

Iowa’s corporate tax system scores poorly because it features a top rate of 12 percent on income earned in excess of $250,000—the highest top corporate income tax rate of any state. Iowa also scores poorly because it narrows its tax base by offering tax credits for investment, job creation, and research and development. Iowa also gets a low score because it is one of only 8 states with a corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) and it fails to index its tax brackets for inflation.

For individuals, Iowa scores poorly because it has 9 different tax brackets, ranging from .36 percent to 8.98 percent on income earned in excess of $57,106. Only one other state (Missouri) has more individual income tax brackets, and only two other states (Hawaii and Ohio) have 9 brackets. Not helping matters is the fact that Iowa allows the double taxation of interest, dividends, and capital gains, fails to index its standard deductions, exemptions, and its tax brackets for inflation, and levies an AMT on individual filers.

There's more, so make sure you read it.

Filling out an Iowa income tax form, especially if you have a family or a small business, is an utter nightmare.

Some people think that showing a valid picture ID before casting a vote is egregious and unacceptable. These are the same people who should be forced to fill out the average family or small business owner's State of Iowa tax return. You want to talk about torture...



Second update: Kevin Schmidt is leaving Iowa for a new job. That's becoming quite a trend, isn't it? I wonder if Blouin or Vilsack will be trying to bribe him to stay? Heh.

Also, Schmidt has started yet another political blog. This is a group blog called the Corn Beltway Boys.

Let The Cannibalization Of Iowa Continue

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette's newsfeed:

Riverside's new casino appears to have cut into the business of its two closest competitors, state gaming numbers show, and other Eastern Iowa casinos are upgrading facilities to deal with the increased competition. Isle of Capri-Bettendorf earned nearly $1.1 million less -- down 12.7 percent -- in September 2006 compared with September 2005, Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission figures released this week show. Its attendance was 27,608 lower last month than in September 2005.

It's gone beyond the whole tourism baloney when you're approving casinos in places like Riverside and Osceola.

Just remember to Vote For Chet Culver, he wants more casinos.

The Rev. Val J. Peter On The Tracey Dyess Case

The Rev. Val J. Peter, in an opinion piece in this morning's Des Moines Register:

I challenge your Sept. 27 editorial, "Resist Call to Intervene in Tracey Dyess Case," which recommended that Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack take no action to lessen Dyess' 45-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.

Dyess was the 17-year-old Griswold girl, sexually abused since age 4, who set fire to her house, resulting in the deaths of her younger brother and sister. She "couldn't take it anymore" and was trying to stop the abuse, she told a social worker.

First, my credentials. For 20 years from 1985 to 2005, I was executive director and now am emeritus executive director of Girls and Boys Town in Omaha, coming to the aid of young people like Dyess who are the road kill of molesters and abusers...

...Consider the mission of Father Edward Flanagan, founder of Boys Town... Flanagan was successful in Billy Meagher's case, a 15-year-old Denver boy charged with the slaying of his father. Pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, Meagher was paroled to Boys Town on March 6, 1937. Billy had seen his mother's back broken as a result of one of many savage beatings administered by his father.

Flanagan stood before the judge and said: "You and I, your honor, with our many years of experience behind us would have known how to answer that problem had we been confronted with it as Billy was. We would have known the proper sources of law to appeal to. But Billy is only a boy. He took what seemed the only answer to the staggering problem confronting him."

That sounds like the plight of Tracey Dyess.

When you see the governor, tell him the petition for clemency is coming and solicit his support. I am just pleading for, as Father Flanagan did, a young person who deserves a chance at a normal life, which she has never had.

Dyess's sentence is a travesty. This girl should have been allowed an insanity defense. What else can you call her mental condition after years of this kind of abuse? Tracey Dyess probably should have been institutionalized rather than thrown in prison. It's a wonder that this girl hasn't been found hanging from a bedsheet.

Although the Dixie Shanahan Duty case is different in nature, that case, along with the Dyess case, shows that women in Iowa who have been horrifically abused and who eventually cause the deaths of others get disproportionate sentences compared to a rich doctor's wife who stabs him in the heart after he announces plans for a divorce.


Dixie Shanahan, after one of the many times her first husband beat her up

Oh, wait. I forgot. I'm a misogynist. Never mind my opinion. What do I know?

Tom Harkin Still Silent On The North Korea Thing

Updated below:



GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

Up until this afternoon there hasn't been anything in the Iowa media or Tom Harkin's Senate web site concerning the North Korea thing.

Meanwhile, enjoy this YouTube video produced by David Zucker:




Update:

Once that's done, then watch this:

FedSpending.org

Via Instapundit, here's FedSpending.org, a massive database of Federal government spending broken down like you can't even begin to believe.

Let's go into Steve King's district for FY2004. It's mostly business loans, Pell Grants, rural rental assistance payments, Social Security, crop insurance, flood insurance, and stuff like that. The list is so damn long that your eyes will boggle.

Make Free International Phone Calls From Iowa

Updated below:




Somebody call Chet Culver. I think I've found the first Iowa-related company that the IPERS pension fund can "invest" in.

It's Futurephone!

Although Futurephone is based out of a PO Box in Rancho Santa Fe, California, their single international access number is located in Sioux City (the memorable 712-858-8883).

I can't figure out how Futurephone makes money since the international call is free. But that's really beside the point. Iowa must invest in the ground floor! This will put Iowa on the international map! Iowa could be the Sillycone Valley Of The Midwest. What if Google wants to buy them? IPERS already blew a half billion dollars in profit by not investing in YouTube.

But wait, there's more!

I've also learned of a web site: CallChinaForFree.com. Their access numbers (1-641-297-8888, 1-712-429-8888, and 1-641-696-3188) are also based out of Iowa. Their office is in downtown Carson City, Nevada.

Why all these Iowa-based numbers? Is somebody messing with grandma's phone?

Rural Health Occupations

State 29 on September 7th:

You want Iowa kids to attend school here and stay in Iowa? Get them into degrees that will keep them in Iowa: nursing, teaching, computer programming, agriculture, business, health care, engineering

This is from the Ottumwa Courier yesterday:

Indian Hills Community College educators didn’t want a new building. They needed it.

The new $4 million Rural Health Occupations building, started in March, will allow those study programs to grow by about 350 students from the college’s current capacity of 750...

...there is a need for more students —more physical therapists, more X-ray technologists and more nurses.

Lindenmayer said the school is there to serve the community, and can quickly adapt to what the community needs. In fact, he said, community colleges are, in a sense, more responsive to the needs of the community than to the students themselves.

“Our first [priority] is the needs of our community’s work force,” he said. “We survey [employers] to see what’s needed.”

In that way, the programs really do benefit the students by training them in vocations that are actually out there and hiring.

And health-care facilities are hiring.

Aulwes said she follows the employment research, both by talking to hospital directors and by reading.

“All of the national information says we’re in a crisis in health occupations,” she said, citing one study predicting “one million unfilled jobs in nursing” in less than 15 years.

This is a good move, although it would be better if Iowa health care companies could do something about nursing pay. Iowa ranks dead last amongst the 50 states.

The John Kerry Beer Bong Nuclear Reactor

Yesterday at Radio Iowa:

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, just wrapping up a campaign swing through Iowa, says North Korea's boast that they have tested a nuclear bomb shows "the incompetence" of President Bush's foreign policy.

"First of all it represents a threat to the region and the potential for an arms race that involved Japan and South Korea and it is destabilizing, and it is dangerous," Kerry says. "But the second thing and perhaps equally important -- is that it represents a gigantic failure, a complete lapse of focus and of effort by this administration."

What the hell is John Kerry talking about? Would somebody please shove that beer bong up his ass? It might free up some of his brain matter.

It's not like President Bush gave North Korea a nuclear reactor.

Oh, wait, that was Bill Clinton, thanks in part to Nobel "Peace Prize" winner Jimmy Carter's deal back in 1994.

Funny how Tom Harkin hasn't weighed in on the matter, although I'm sure he will shortly.

Google Buys YouTube, IPERS Loses A Half Billion Dollars

From the New York Slimes via the Seattle Post-Intelligenitals:

A profitless Web site started by two 20-somethings after a late-night dinner party is sold for more than a billion, instantly turning dozens of its employees into paper millionaires. It sounds like a tale from the late 1990s dot-com bubble, but it happened Monday.

Google, the online search company, agreed Monday to pay $1.65 billion in stock for the Web site that came out of that party -- YouTube...

Because of Sequoia Capital's alleged 30% ownership of YouTube, the venture capital firm would reap nearly a half billion dollars. Not bad for investing in a company that never made a dime and relied on a significant amount of pirated and naughty video as part of their draw.

And just remember, Chet Culver wants to invest some of the IPERS pension fund into unprofitable high-tech startups like YouTube. Well, at least the unprofitable ones that Google would never buy.

At least we can be assured that we'll be able to watch the 2004 VEISHEA riot videos every day:




Or the Northwest Iowa Nutball Competition:




And my favorite video, People = Shit by Slipknot

Deer Hate Motorcycles

From the Des Moines Register:

A 53-year-old Woodburn man was killed Monday night when the motorcycle he was riding struck a deer near Osceola.

He was eastbound on a Harley Davidson motorcycle about 7:15 p.m., when the deer appeared in front of him a mile east of Osceola on U.S. Highway 34.

This is at least the second motorcycle-deer death in Iowa in the past week.

Until the deer population in Iowa is reduced by a good 80% to 90% (to around 55,000, 1980-era numbers), it's not a smart idea to be riding a motorcycle near sundown or during the night in rural areas, especially during the rut.

Number One Way To Stop Global Warming: Get Out Of Iraq

Did somebody open the doors to the insane asylum lately?

Charles F. Schafer of Pella, writing to the Des Moines Register:

It's happening much faster than we thought. Our planet is hotter than it has been in the last 12,000 years. It's going to be a long time before all our vehicles are fueled by non-fossil fuels. Is there anything we can do in the meantime?

1. Get out of Iraq.

2. Reduce the nationwide speed limit to 50 mph.

3. Do not mow; let the grass grow...

4. Ease up on our use of air conditioners. The hotter it gets the more we use them, and the more we use them the hotter it gets.

We need to desist from all this so we can continue to exist on our favorite planet - Earth.

It's one thing to hold an opinion about a theory, it's another to thing to be a complete idiot.

When the Earth had "global warming" in the past, did the dinosaurs get out of Iraq, reduce the speed limit to 50 mph, and give up air conditioning?

Chet Culver Wants To Expand 58,000 Kids

From Todd Dorman's column at the Mason City Globe Gazette:

Watching Democrat Chet Culver wax eloquent during last week’s gubernatorial debate about fields of “corns” and his plan for “expanding 58,000 kids,” a question crossed my mind.

What must Gov. Tom Vilsack be thinking right about now?

It’s not because I think Vilsack is smoother or more articulate than Culver, although that would be obvious to my 4-year-old daughter. It is because — whether Vilsack likes it or not — his political future is hitched to Culver’s big ambling galoot of a gubernatorial campaign.

Somebody needs to edit these bits and put them on YouTube, like the below:

Excessive Drinking Problems At The University Of Iowa

Updated below:




From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Strategies for combating underage and excessive drinking will be presented today at a press conference hosted by University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and University Hospitals director and CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky.

Ferentz and Katen-Bahensky were part of a task force of community leaders that spent about a year assessing the situation.

Related opinion on the subject of alcohol consumption over at Nicholas Johnson's blog.


Update: From the Press-Citizen:

Enacting and enforcing an ordinance that would keep those under 21 out of local bars was the top strategy presented today by a task force charged with examining underage and excessive drinking in Iowa City and Coralville.

The 10-person panel of community leaders, lead by University Hospitals CEO and director Donna Katen-Bahensky and Iowa Hawkeye football coach Kirk Ferentz, presented their findings during a press conference today at the Center for Disabilities and Development on the UI campus.

I still think the only way to eliminate underage drinking is to lower the drinking age.

If you can get married, divorced, have babies, get an abortion, enter into contracts, join our country's military, drive a car, fly a plane, start a business, and declare bankruptcy, you should be able to walk into a bar and have a cold one.

And this is one problem that is truly the fault of those hypocrite Republicans who go on about personal responsibility, smaller government, local control, and so forth.

However, those self-described Libertarian Democrats aren't anywhere around to challenge the issue. Instead, you've got State politicians like Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City wanting to jack up the fines on underage drinking. Oh, the irony.

Purpling

Update: The lawsuit was dismissed with regard to Regina High School's liability.




From the Des Moines Register:

Leaders of Regina Catholic High School are preparing to file for bankruptcy if they lose a lawsuit alleging a former principal molested a student in the mid-1960s, school officials announced this morning.

Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy would allow the school, which has about 1,000 students in preschool through 12th grade, to protect its assets from being seized as part of three pending lawsuits regarding Lawrence Soens, who was principal at Regina from 1958 to 1967...

...Regina has been named in three lawsuit involving 15 plaintiffs. The first suit, filed in April 2005 by Michael Gould, now of Florida, is scheduled for a jury trial on Oct. 23 in Scott County District Court. The trial is expected to last five days after jury selection, said Lee Iben, school board chairman...

...Students said Soens took pleasure in cornering them in hallways of offices and twisting their nipples, a bruising action they called “purpling.”

Gould alleges Soens would call him into the principal’s office on the pretext of discussing a disciplinary matter and then fondle his nipples and penis over his clothing, according to a sworn statement.

And from Shirley Ragsdale's story in the Register on September 8th:

In another part of his deposition, Soens appears to admit that he was involved in "purpling" male students. When the lawyer asked whether Soens had engaged in such actions, he responded, "It would seem I have."

"Are you admitting you did that?" the lawyer asked.

Soens responded: "I think I probably did."

The Davenport Diocese, which Regina High School is part of, has always been an arrogant bunch. Last year they re-hired a child porn-downloading priest who had been busted.

Much more on this case at BishopAccountability.org.

You Are Karl Rove's Worst Nightmare

John Kerry, speaking to 250 Democrats in Emmetsburg yesterday who paid $5 to hear him (along with Chet Culver and Tom Harkin and others) go on about how much he hates Republicans:

"The Republicans may have more money. And they may have fear on their side. But looking out at you right now, I can tell you: You are Karl Rove's worst nightmare..."

"...Next time you knock on someone's door, and they say 'well, I don't trust the Republicans anymore, but the Democrats don't have any ideas.' You tell them that if by ideas they mean running the debt up to nine trillion dollars, losing America's manufacturing base, denying children after-school programs, cutting kids from Medicaid, and privatizing Social Security -- if by ideas they mean violating the law, ignoring international treaties and forgetting diplomacy -- if by ideas they mean filling the trough of the special interests' pig pen giving the money changers their bankruptcy bill, giving the oil industry their energy bill, and giving the big pharmaceutical companies their prescription drug bill -- then they're right. Those are bad ideas being shoved down the throats of the American people by a Washington of bankrupt values and I'm proud we stood up and said no to them every step of the way."

Er, and what's your plan, Senator?

Bruce Braley Is A Really Dedicated Mentor

Ed Tibbetts has a really weird story about Democrat Bruce Braley in the Quad City Times:

DeUndre Crawley remembers the day Bruce Braley walked into his life.

“He looked like an FBI agent,” the 24-year-old Waterloo man says.

That was about 15 years ago.

Braley was a young lawyer with a family, Crawley a fourth-grader at an inner-city school.

They met because Braley, now the Democratic congressional candidate in Iowa’s 1st District, decided to get involved in a mentoring program.

Together, they worked on reading and math. They played basketball. Hung out.

Two years later, Crawley, then all of 12 years old, got cancer...

With Crawley facing long bouts with chemotherapy at University Hospitals in Iowa City (and a family with a lot of responsibilities at home in Waterloo), Braley made the decision to step away from his law practice and be with the youth as he went through it.

“I went to my partners and told them I was not going to be around for a while,” he says. “I ended up packing most of my stuff, including my computer, my research, some files and drove off to Iowa City and moved into his hospital room — literally.”

It took weeks.

Crawley recalls Braley sleeping in his room, talking to him, staying positive.

Typing on his computer and drinking coffee.

Sneaking food to him once in a while.

“He was there every day almost,” he says. “It meant a lot to me.”

Braley remembers it, too.

“When he started to have reactions to the chemotherapy and would throw up on himself, I was the one who’d clean him up and tell him that I loved him,” Braley says.

Good for Bruce Braley and all, but doesn't this story seem a little weird? Braley was just the kid's mentor at one time. Then a couple years later when the kid gets cancer, Braley takes a leave from his job at a law firm, abandons his family, and moves into the kid's hospital room in Iowa City to help clean up vomit.

Doesn't that seem to be a little..... too much?

I can understand visiting the kid every day, but taking a leave from your job, taking a sabbatical from your family, and moving in to the kid's hospital room?


Next week: Ed Tibbetts reports on the time Mike Whalen performed the Heimlich maneuver on some old fella choking on his chicken, and then, when the guy's wife gets cancer, Whalen leaves the Machine Shed restaurant for a few weeks and moves into the customer's wife's hospital room in order to clean up vomit following her chemo.

Love Shack, Baby, Love Shack

This story in the Register about Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie's hillbilly summer shack on Pine Island in Minnesota is hilarious, especially the picture.

Talk about slumming it!

Minneapolis CityPages had a brief mention of Cownie's dump in the summer of 2005.

¿Cómo venga el Register no publica en español?

The Des Moines Register goes completely overboard this morning on the subject of Iowa's "English-only" law. (here and here and here and here and here).

I'm with Ed Fallon on this issue: "Let sleeping dogs lie"

And when is the Des Moines Register going to publish their newspaper in a Spanish-language edition? They don't even offer Babelfish on their web site.

The Des Moines Register Loves Steve King

Krusty has a long post with good points on the Des Moines Register's Love/Hate relationship with Steve King.

And while the Des Moines Register endorsed Steve King for Congress in 2004, something they almost immediately regretted after the election, they also endorsed him in 2002:

King made a name for himself by championing causes such as English as the official language and opposing Gov. Tom Vilsack's executive order to prohibit discrimination against gays in state employment. The Register has strongly disagreed with King on such issues. Nevertheless, with six years of legislative experience, he has shown himself to be a lawmaker who knows how to get what he wants, and he has some sound ideas about how a congressman could assist economic growth in western Iowa.

King has indicated his top priority would be economic development, not his questionable social agenda. He should be given a chance to show what he can do on behalf of Iowa.

And if you think that's funny, go read what they said about Jim Nussle and Jim Leach in 2002. Nussle was endorsed. Leach was not.

Backhanded Compliments

In July, the Johnson County Republicans called the State 29 blog "insightfully vulgar"

Now, at Iowa Ennui:

State 29 is right -- despite his rabid misogynistic tendencies when it comes to slash & burn blogging on the pampered, self-indulgent behavior of ‘important’ people...

Well, the compliment was about the promotion of the South Of Iowa Blog, which is great.

I am what I am.

I'd rather be occasionally obnoxious than, you know, toe a party line or excuse really ridiculous behavior on the part of public officials or people who want to be public officials.

Highway 61 Revisited And Condemned

From the Burlington Hawk Eye:

State Democratic Rep. Ed Fallon lives in a poor area of Des Moines, where he and his wife, Kristin, bought a house for $11,000 years ago.

"When I heard about the situation here [in Burlington, IA], I thought I'd like to try to help," Fallon said Saturday at an informal meeting in Cottonwood Park with Flint Hills Manor residents. "I'm not sure what I can do."

Fallon is referring to the city of Burlington's Manor Revisted Project, announced last month. The city plans to acquire 23 acres in the northwest corner of the Flint Hills Manor, through eminent domain if necessary, and sell it to a Minnesota firm that plans to develop 200,000 square feet of retail space.

The affected portion of the Manor, which was built in the 1940s as temporary housing for workers at the Iowa Ordnance Plant in Middletown, is bordered by Agency Street on the north, Market Street on the south, Columbus Drive on the east and Roosevelt Avenue on the west. It has about 400 tenants in 171 residential units. The city would like to see all tenants moved by sometime in April.

"I've never heard of quite this situation where 400 residents will be moved for economic development," Fallon told the 50 Manor residents at the park.

Here's all the data on the City of Burlington's plans.

You can see why the City of Burlington would want to redevelop the area. It's basically at the corners of Highways 61 and 34. Who wants "temporary" housing built in the 1940's at such a prime location?

The trouble is that the City of Burlington is threatening owners with eminent domain in order to buy the land and turn it over to an out of state company for redevelopment. Good luck getting that one through the courts following the override of Vilsack's veto of anti-Kelo legislation concerning use of eminent domain in Iowa.

Renters get a whopping $150 for moving expenses. Gee, how generous!

The South Of Iowa Update

If you're not regularly visiting The South Of Iowa blog, what's the matter with ya?

Don't miss this recent post commenting on Chet Culver and weight. It's not what you might think.

And everybody should read the post Things That Are Important, especially people who run newspapers and local television stations.

Iowa Native Ashton Kutcher: "Bill Clinton Was Hitting On My Wife!"

From the Miami Herald:

Former President Bill Clinton tried to ''hit on'' actress Demi Moore, said her husband Ashton Kutcher.

The Punk'd star told Jay Leno that Clinton made eyes at his superstar wife during a recent function, reports NineMSN.com.

Kutcher said that although the three were sitting at a table next to each other he felt like ''the invisible man.'' He said Clinton didn't say one word to him the whole evening as he was so engrossed with Ghost star Moore.

''I met Bill Clinton once, but he didn't really talk -- he was hitting on my wife,'' Kutcher told Leno.

The 28-year-old Butterfly Effect actor -- who celebrated his first wedding anniversary with Moore, 43, on Sunday -- said Clinton completely ignored him as he chatted to Demi.

''I don't think he looked at me the whole time,'' Kutcher said. ``I was like the guy that wasn't there.''

You know, Ashton, if you want male politicians to hit on you, perhaps you should try Instant Messaging to some Republicans instead.


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Ouch! Did I say that? Whatta zinger!

Everyone Wants To Be A Blogger

I was reading this story in Editor and Publisher:

[Washington Post Editor Len] Downie said that when it first became apparent that the Internet would change the news business, executives and editors worried that its influence would erode the quality of journalism, increase competition, and become a distraction for the reporters and editors working on the print edition of the paper. But he said instead that the increased focus on the Web has "improved journalism a lot, way more than we could have expected."

He said that the 24/7 news cycle has changed his newsroom for the better, with reporters always tuned in to what's happening and constantly trying to find stories to report for the Web site -- and that reporters could add more detail because the Web had "unlimited newshole."

"I was known for writing long as a reporter, I edit long, and now there's a place to put it all," he said.

Reporters love newsroom blogs, said Downie, because they put writers in better touch with their readers: "Everyone in our newsroom wants to be a blogger."

And the blogs that pick apart every article that the Post produces are a good thing, said Downie, because they "keep the paper honest" and, even if their commentary isn't positive, bring people to the site.

"Blogs are not competitors and not problems," he said. "Instead we have a very interesting symbiotic relationship. Our largest driver of traffic is Matt Drudge."

Why, it wasn't that long ago when newspapers regarded bloggers as being "humorless, thin-skinned and have a grandiose sense of their own importance."

In fact, some newspaper columnists explained blogging to the masses in this way: "Perhaps you have not heard of blogs. The name derives from a combination of 'blather' and 'logorrhea.'"

Then came the warning from one newspaper reporter about how the public should "Know that if the information is coming from the mainstream media - the accredited reporters, broadcasters and photojournalists - they are following strict professional guidelines that the looser outlets don't require. The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed." and to ignore blogs.

My how times change.

The Des Moines Register responded by creating their own blogs. They weren't any good then, and they aren't any good now.

The Register has also given blogs to most of their columnists and editorial writers. How have they fared?

Andie Dominick hasn't published anything since August 10th. Rekha Basu since August 9th. Erin Crawford's was July 30th. Dick Doak hasn't had anything since July 12th. And Rox Laird's last blog entry was July 5th.

To fill the void, the Register recently gave a blog to former Congressman Dave Nagle.

One of Nagle's latest posts is nothing more than a swipe against the entire Republican Party over the Foley scandal, and a poorly-written one at that. Does this sound any different than Iowa True Blue, Gordon Fissure's blog?

I don't see Nagle's blog lasting much longer than the first week or two in November. I could be wrong, but that's my guess.

The Right To Choose To Kill Their Unborn Babies

I'm not surprised that the Des Moines Register would hype this Ms Magazine thing where a bunch of wombyn get up and proudly declare that they have their unborn children killed.

As a pro-legal-abortion-in-the-first-trimester type like myself, I find the In Your Face-ness of the Feminasties to be repulsive.

Sure, they have every right to say, "Look, everybody, I had an abortion!" But I also have the right to say, "Don't brag about it!"

And Democrats wonder where their voting base has gone. It was sucked down a plastic tube.

Killer Deer

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

A Manchester man was killed last night after the motorcycle he was riding struck a deer near Backbone State Park.

Thomas Besler, 35, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Des Moines Register had a story a few days ago saying there would be fewer deer to hunt in 2006. That wouldn't be a bad thing, considering there were at least 600,000 deer in Iowa in 2004. 2005's hunting season reduced the numbers by over 200,000, but does usually have multiple fawns, so the population always goes up.

In the early 1950s, when deer hunting was allowed again by the State of Iowa, there were only about 12,000 deer. As late as 1980, there were only an estimated 55,000. Iowa DNR mismanagement of the population in order to attract hunters, licenses, tags, and "tourism" have contributed to the over-population, as well as deaths like Mr Besler's.

Luckily, communities are having good success with bow-hunting seasons. Ottumwa will soon have a record number of kills.

Until Iowa gets deer numbers down to pre-1980 levels, it will continue to see more road deaths. Most deer-related crashes involving deaths are usually motorcyclists, but there are still more than 7000 automobile accidents every year.

Be careful driving out there, especially at dusk. Rut season has begun.

More Jordan Monroe Pictures!

More of those Jordan Monroe pics at Daily Niner. (Not Safe For Wife Or Work)

She's the first Iowa girl to be a Playboy Playmate!


Related: Iowa Girl Finally Makes It To Playboy's Centerfold

Daniel Gross On Wal-Mart In Slate

You know how I've been covering the "Democrats And Union Thugs Hate Wal-Mart" tours that have been going around Iowa lately? Well, Daniel Gross has a very dumb article on Wal-Mart in Slate Magazine that does quite a job playing loose with facts and figures. Here are some examples:

As the Center for Responsive Politics noted, Wal-Mart has given more than $1 million in federal campaign donations in this cycle, with 71 percent going to Republicans. And Wal-Mart itself is a lot like the contemporary Republican Party—strong in the South, Midwest, Sunbelt, and Great Plains, weak in the cities and coastal areas, and steadfastly hostile to organized labor.

I'm thinking of that old Tip O'Neill quote about how all politics is local. If Wal-Mart has a presence in communities, counties, and states that swing Republican, why wouldn't most of their campaign money go in that direction? Does Daniel Gross want some sort of Fairness Doctrine when it comes to corporate support of political candiates? What a whining little crybaby. When was the last time AFSCME put 29% of their money on Republicans?

The company has also been less than subtle in letting employees know what it thinks about certain politicians. As the Financial Times noted, "In August, Wal-Mart distributed a letter to its employees in Iowa and three other states, highlighting what it said were inaccuracies in criticism by Gov. Tom Vilsack, as well as Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Joseph Biden of Delaware and New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson." (Democrats, all.) Wal-Mart also promised employees it would "keep you informed about what these political candidates are saying about your company while on the campaign trail."

Isn't that a good thing?

Governor Tom Vilsack loved Wal-Mart when he was the Mayor of Mount Pleasant and a State Senator from that part of Iowa. It might have had something to do with the distribution center located in Mount Pleasant and the 1200 employees who work there. Vilsack also helped get the Avenue Of The Saints 4-lane highway from St Louis to St Paul green-lighted on behalf of Wal-Mart. Nowadays, because Wal-Mart employs so many retired workers on a very part-time basis, and these employees earn just enough to keep themselves perfectly qualified for Medicaid, Democrats hate them. Nobody wants to point out that all these stupid politicians wrote the Medicaid eligibility rules, or the fact that Wal-Mart is being nice to employ 80-somethings as door greeters for walkin' around money. Instead, Vilsack, Richardson, Bayh, and perennial dumbass Joe Biden are going around trashing Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart's diversity data shows that the company's workforce, and in particular its vast army of sales associates, looks an awful lot like the Democratic base.

It is disproportionately African-American. African-Americans are about 11 percent of the American population and vote overwhelmingly for Democrats...

...Wal-Mart's workforce is disproportionately composed of lower-income workers. Barbara Ehrenreich says Wal-Mart's mean wage is $9.68 an hour, which comes out to about $20,000 a year on a full-time basis. In 2004, again according to CNN, those with incomes under $15,000 voted for John Kerry by a 63-36 margin, and those with incomes in the $15,000-$30,000 range voted for Kerry by a 57-42 margin. More lower-income Americans, many of whom are women and African-American, voting would benefit Democratic candidates.

When a Wal-Mart opened in (just over the border) suburban Chicago, 25,000 people applied for 400 positions. Today isn't exactly the Depression. And isn't diversity great?

Blacks can get a job at Wal-Mart and earn the US median income. Median household income in the US is in the low $40,000 range. Wal-Mart's average full-time wage is $10.30 an hour, or almost $43,000 a year for a two-income family working there.

Senator Joe Biden asked how a family could live on Wal-Mart wages. I answered the question by pointing out to Senator Hairplug that they can live pretty damn average to above-average in Iowa, but rather poorly in expensive Delaware, the state he represents.

Another possibility is that by encouraging employees to vote and making it clear which party it generally supports, Wal-Mart is unduly pressuring its employees to vote for Republicans. But unless Wal-Mart goons accompany associates into the ballot box, it's hard to see how that would work. Wal-Mart employees may not have been successful in organizing unions, but they don't simply take whatever the company dishes out without resisting. Lots of them show the ultimate form of resistance to pressure from their employer: Every year, about 40 percent of them quit.

What is Target's attrition rate? What is Kmart's? And like any business in a hot economy, they're going to churn help, especially part-timers, many of which are young. 40% isn't a bad number. Go to a car dealer or a telemarketing company and ask what the churn rate is.

It is sad to see the Democrats trashing Wal-Mart, but they'll hate anybody who doesn't follow in lockstep on unions, socialized medicine, or paying this bogus "living wage" nonsense. I think it will eventually come back to bite them in the form of Revenge Of The Wal-Mart Employees!

Optiva and Veridian

Looks like the University of Iowa Community Credit Union members (198 out of 44,000, at least) voted to change the name of the institution to Optiva, whatever the hell that is. Nays were 192:

"It conveys optimism, opportunity," credit union president and CEO Jeff Disterhoft said about the new name. "There is no literal meaning, like Kinko's or Pepsi. These brands develop over the course of time."

You've got to be pretty stupid to buy this sort of crap. Now they're going to waste millions renaming a perfectly good business that is what it was: a credit union for the community based around the University of Iowa.

John Deere Credit Union renamed itself Veridian on January 1, 2006. I don't know what the hell a Veridian is, either. It's not in the dictionary. I know who John Deere was. These credit unions must have money to burn.

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