"Low" Salaries Averaging $93,500 A Year

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Despite increasing between 6 and 7 percent from last school year, average faculty salaries at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University barely have budged when ranked with peer universities, a new report released today shows.

In ISU's case any kind of budge from the 6 percent average increase in faculty pay in Ames would have helped — ISU ranked last in its group last year and last again this year, despite an average salary of $87,200.

The UI climbed from 11th to eighth in its peer group, with an average of $93,500 that is 7 percent higher than last school year's, average, the Board of Regents report shows.

Boy, I tell ya, those poor poor professors at ISU and UI really need some economic stimulus! I don't know how they make it on almost 6 figures!

Why, just last year they were practically on welfare!

Back in 2004, you had doctors leaving the UI hospital because they were "only" making $214,000 a year.

And just recently you had UI Hospitals CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky, barely able to make it on $465,000 a year and an $830,000 severance package. No wonder she split for better pay in Madison. The last thing you want to do is starve to death.

One last thing.

What's with those raises? 6% to 7%? My god, what sort of sweatshop are they running? Talk about unfair!

Republicans Or Douchebags?

From 24 Hour Dorman:

So much for the party of “personal responsibility.”

Over the past few days, Republicans in the Iowa Senate have weighed in on three big issues with three big free passes.

Immigration — Republicans say Democrats are being way too mean when they push for legislation to punish contractors and executives whose firms knowingly exploit illegal immigrants. Instead, the GOP wants to help befuddled corporate captains by creating a big, expensive state employment database, compiled by whom I’m not sure. No one knows how we’d pay for it, or the 14 troopers Republicans want to hire to chase illegals.

Taxes — Republicans want a $200 million income tax cut to spur the supposedly receding Iowa economy. We’ve got to act fast. Iowa’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 4 percent, after all, and farmland value is up a mere 23 percent. And again, we have no idea what Republicans would cut from spending to bravely stimulate us.

Roads — Senate Republicans want to take $90 million from gambling taxes to pay for road projects, relieving them from the politically messy business of actually asking people who use roads to pony up a dime. It truly is high time we protect the poor owners of giant $40,000 pickups who pay $65 bucks for a license plate. I mean, how else are they going to haul a hot tub back to the cul-de-sac?

So to review, businesses who hire illegal immigrants should be helped, not fined. We should toss everyone a $200 check, whether they need it or not. And gamblers, not drivers, should pay for road repairs. Sounds pretty sweet.

You know, these sorts of moronic Republican ideas are actually an improvement compared to just a few years ago when they were in the majority in Des Moines.

Oh, it's so easy to forget these:

Remember Jeff Lameberti's stupid plan to eliminate state income taxes on people under the age of 30?

Remember Christopher Rants agreeing with Gov Tom Vilsack that the racetrack in Newton shouldn't have to pay any sales taxes for the next 10 years?

Remember when Willard Jenkins was upset that getting rid of the legalized loansharking (car-title loan) businesses might lead to job losses?

Remember when Stewart Iverson wanted to put a gambling casino in every town that wanted one? He was quoted as saying that he wasn't a big pro-gambling person, but "I guess I am not afraid of competition. Let them all have it. We have gambling in Iowa. What difference does it make?"

Remember Clarence Hoffman coming out and saying that Iowa had to keep up with all the neighboring Doyles and Sebeliuses who were amassing their own taxpayer-financed corporate welfare slush funds?

But don't forget, the Democrats are still in charge. Time to revive that dildo tax they've always wanted!

Y Nader

Ralph Nader might make another run.

Considering what's left on both sides of the aisle, I'd be inclined to not only support him, but contribute money, volunteer, and vote for him.

You Iowans just need to watch out for un-American/anti-Democracy assholes like Drake University professor Lee Jolliffe.

Jimmy Breslin: "Chuck Grassley Is A Moron"

From the New York Daily News:

An Iowa senator is blaming the Big Apple's "lifestyle" and "personality" for Rudy Giuliani's failure to win over Middle America.

And New Yorkers are responding with plenty of personality and a couple of choice words: Shtick it!

Iowa's Chuck Grassley, a dour, 74-year-old Corn Belt Republican, said Wednesday that Giuliani's spectacular flameout stemmed from "that New York personality."

"The New York lifestyle hasn't gone over [in] some places. It seemed like the more people got acquainted with him, the less they liked him," he said.

Not content to leave it there, the Big Apple-baiting butthead from Butler County said that unlike Las Vegas, "Things you do in New York don't stay in New York."

Perhaps Grassley was referring to Giuliani's operatic personal life, complete with three wives, estranged children and appearances prancing around in drag...

...Ultra-New Yorker Curtis Sliwa showed in his comments why Grassley would be wise to think twice before insulting New Yorkers again.

"I've seen Grassley before," the Guardian Angels founder said. "He wears polyester, waffle-weave, flame-retardant pants that look like they survived the high waters.

"We, the suckers in New York, pay their FEMA bills. Grassley loves New York when it comes to subsidizing FEMA.

"He wants us to come there and drink ethanol, block the hogs and promise farm subsidies and pander ... What does he know? There are more pigs than people [in Iowa]. Iowa is not a reflection of America."

Quintessential New Yorker Jimmy Breslin, a longtime newspaper columnist and author of a new book, "The Good Rat: A True Story," dismissed Grassley as "another one of those low-IQ loudmouths."

"Grassley is a moron," he growled. "I don't believe it. There's an awful lot of people here. Millions and millions. Classify them? You can't. You just live with them and shut up. Calling names? It's childish."

Grassley is not only a moron, but he's one of the biggest "fake conservatives" out there.

He blames Bush for all the pork spending, but which Senate Committee did he head up for years? Oh yeah, that's right. It was the Finance Committee. His fellow Giuliani supporter Jim Nussle headed up the House Budget Committee during the deficit years. Where did earmark spending have to filter through before it got to Bush? Give me a fucking break, Grassley.

What else does Grassley do? He wants to increase taxes for Social Security, he's basically for amnesty of criminal illegal aliens again, he wants illegals working with fake Social Security numbers, he blames "big oil" for people not buying E-85 ethanol, he's had 20 years to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) problem but has done jack shit, and his "bankruptcy reform" has been a colossal failure.

Not only that, but in my eyes he's a criminal who should be arrested for theft and fraud for the $3 million in missing Porkforest money.

What the fuck is the matter with you Republicans in Iowa? If the fiscal and social conservatives in Iowa had any balls, they would be occupying his offices in protest and getting arrested. You're all a bunch of wimpy-ass, Nelson Rockefeller wing, go along/get along, McCain-iac, "bi-partisan" RINOs. Maybe you deserve Chuck Grassley. Keep re-electing him and Harkin forever. What's the difference between the two? There really isn't much.


Related: Where's Mah Free Shit?

Related: Rudy Giuliani Doesn't Know How To Run A Winning Campaign (May 2007)

Related: Rudy Giuliani Blames Bloggers For All His Problems (April 2007)

Related: I've Seen The Future, And It Isn't A Bald-Headed Drag Queen From New York (June 2007)

Where's Mah Free Shit?

From the Des Moines Register in a story headlined "Social Security recipients want rebates, too":

Danny Campbell isn’t starving, but he could really use the $500 rebate check that's being talked about so much in Washington.

"It puts more groceries in the cupboard," said Campbell, 55, who is disabled and lives on Des Moines' south side with his wife, Cindy. "It would help for the short term."

But Campbell wouldn’t qualify for the much-ballyhooed rebates designed to perk up the sagging economy, as approved by the U.S. House on Tuesday.

That's because Social Security payments would be excluded, and all of Campbell's income comes from Social Security disability payments and Veterans Affairs payments.

In Des Moines alone, Social Security data from 2006 shows that some 65,725 people receive some kind of Social Security payments. That's roughly a third of the city's population.

The "sagging economy"?

Nevermind what newspapers said three months ago.

Unemployment in Iowa is 4%. You can get a 30 year, fixed-rate mortgage with no points in most places for under 6% if you have good credit.

My god, what would people do if unemployment was nearly 11% like it was in the US in 1982? What if fixed rate home mortgages were 16.64% like in 1981?

Still, you've got to wonder how the Des Moines Register finds greedy leeches like Danny Campbell, a guy who fails to understand who pays for his Social Security and disability payments. No wonder he's disabled, he's a retard.

How do you get picked to be one of these sad sack cases in the Des Moines Register? Did Danny Campbell call up Jane Norman and give her his song and dance on his cell phone? Or did he email her?

Meanwhile, guess what Iowa's fakest "fiscal conservative" Senator is saying:

"Let's underscore this point. The House bill leaves out 20 million low-income seniors," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., said today in advocating for a Senate version of the bill that would instead include them.

Whether to ship the rebates to the elderly, veterans and the disabled is a key point of disagreement between the House and Senate as members of Congress race to complete an economic stimulus package and send it to the president's desk.

The Senate Finance Committee began its work this afternoon on the package, and Grassley told Iowa reporters that he would support a version that he developed with Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Jesus H. Christ. Is Grassley drunk again? What is the matter with you Republicans in Iowa? You have lost your minds electing and re-electing this criminal who ought to be arrested for theft and fraud. No wonder so many of you idiots are supporting a complete ass-eater like John McCain.

There is nothing "fiscally conservative" about bribing voters with their own grandchildren's grandchildren's money to "correct" the perception of a "downturn" in the economy. And to give extra money to people already mooching off the today's workers is nothing short of vile.

They're already getting Social Security and SSI and Medicare and Medicaid and Earned Income Tax Credits and Free or Reduced Lunch and Heating Assistance and Property Tax Abatements and Food Stamps and Subsidized Rent Payments and Job Training and Free Children's Insurance and Pell Grants and..........

DEAR GOD, WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO YOU NEED???????

Another $500?

Will that do it?

You know what time it is? It is time to declare war on our government.

It's time to take it back from the RINOs and spendaholic liberals and nanny-staters and the entrenched lifers who don't know when to retire and who don't die.

Honestly, when I read shit like this, I sometimes wish United Flight 93 had made it to it's rerouted intended destination and taken out a huge portion of Congress.

We need to do the moral and legal equivalent: by voting out the bums, the lifers, and the turds.

We need to demand a Constitutional Amendment banning these assholes like Chuck Grassley from serving more than one term in Congress.

But how are you going to do that with Grassley dangling a check in front of your face?

Who Said It? Part Deux

The South Of Iowa reprints a quiz he found at The Real Sporer.

It's pretty good.

I have a version of that "Who Said It?" quiz.

Can you guess who said the following:

1) "Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father."

A. Rush Limbaugh
B. Ann Coulter
C. Michael Savage
D. None of the above

2) "I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."

A. Ralph Nader
B. Richard Nixon
C. J. Edgar Hoover
D. None of the above

3) "I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live."

A. Alfred P. Sloan, former president of General Motors
B. Tom Clancy, author, in an interview after writing Debt Of Honor
C. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, after signing Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, forcing 120,000 Japanese-Americans to be held at internment camps for the duration of World War II.
D. None of the above

4) On his 13 year old daughter: "Like every other 13-year-old in America, she's in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, who I think is an androgynous wimp. You know what he does throughout the whole movie Titanic? He smokes."

A. Howard Stern
B. Alec Baldwin
C. Billy Ray Cyrus
D. None of the above

5) "I am sure that Senator Clinton would make a good President."

A. Bill Clinton
B. Oprah Winfrey
C. Osama Bin Laden
D. None of the above

6) "Know that old Beach Boys song Bomb Iran? Bomb, bomb bomb..."

A. George W. Bush
B. Rush Limbaugh
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above

7) "Fuck you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room!"

A. Hillary Clinton
B. Bill Clinton
C. Basketball coach Bobby Knight
D. None of the above


Answers:

1) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain in 1998.
2) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain on Don Imus's show in April 2006.
3) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain to reporters in South Carolina by John McCain, February 2000.
4) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain in 1998.
5) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain on Meet The Press in 2005.
6) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain in April 2007.
7) D. None of the above. Statement made by John McCain to fellow Republican John Cornyn in 2007.

Will A Blizzard Delay The Global Warming Agitprop In Iowa City?

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Students at West High will get a lesson on global warming Thursday Jan. 31 with Focus the Nation.

Organized by the school’s environmental group, EcoCentric, the day will be spent on lessons on combating global warming, said Lena Connor, a junior and co-president of the group.

Focus the Nation will be hosted at more than 1,000 colleges and high schools, according to its Web site.

“We’re at the point where most in my generation have heard of global warming,” said Connor, 17. “We want to empower them. It’s going to be an issue in our lives.”

Teachers in each class will spend at least part of their lesson time discussing the issue from the angle of the class, Connor said. For example, an economics class would examine carbon taxes to combat global warming.

“Every teacher has a great idea,” Connor said. “Most are going above and beyond the minimum 10 minutes (for the lessons).”

Meanwhile, in another Press-Citizen story today headlined "Blizzard conditions on their way":

The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning in effect from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today. Strong winds of 25 to 40 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph will gradually combine with between one and two inches of new snow to create extended white out conditions.

Temperatures this morning were as high as they are going to be all day. It will get steadily colder throughout the day, with temperatures to drop below zero by sunset with wind chills of 10 to 30 below zero. The weather service warns that anyone caught outside will be “at risk of their life without proper protection.”

No sense of irony here. Oh, no. Not at all.

Hypocrites And Fake Conservatives

From the QC Times:

Monday was the president’s last State of the Union address, and the delegation that represents this region was nearly unanimous afterward in praising him for the outline of a $150 billion stimulus package negotiated between congressional leaders and the White House last week.

The president urged its swift passage in his speech Monday night.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called the president’s efforts “an important step to averting a deeper downturn in our nation’s economy.” U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, also saw it as an opportunity for compromise.

Blah blah blah blah.....

The best line of the night belonged to Barack Obama:

And [President Bush's] call for a new aggressiveness on cutting federal budget earmarks was targeted by presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who complained that earmarks “skyrocketed” in the first seven years of Bush’s administration.

Holy shit!

Man, that Obama is on target!!!

And the thing is? He's RIGHT!

Listen, I may not like most of Barack Obama's laundry list of things he wants to do once he moves into the White House, but I really like hearing the obvious truth. Do you hear Romney or McCain or Huckabee ragging on Bush for not whipping out his veto pen?

Hell, no!!!

But you hear a lot of fiscal conservatives complaining about it! Perhaps Romney goes on and on about vetoing stuff when he was the governator of Massa-Chew-Shits, but he's not out front on the campaign trail talking about cutting the fiscal bullshit.

And, you know, if Obama keeps this sort of stuff up I just might vote for him if he's the Democratic nominee. He's run a really marvelous campaign, which I've said numerous times lately. Heck, I paid Obama a backhanded compliment last May after Chuck Grassley got all pissy at him.

Speaking of Chuck Grassley:

The only Republican in the delegation, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, told reporters after the Bush speech that it may have been “one of his best” addresses, noting the applause for his call to rein in earmarks.

Well, what do you expect from a bunch of hypocrites and fake conservatives? They will clap loudest at the things they're most guilty of.

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

From the QC Times in a story by Sheena Dooley:

With a deadline bearing down to create a state-mandated plan for minorities, a scheduled discussion among Davenport School Board members was cut short Monday night, disappointing all six who attended.

Ouch!

Looks like Davenport has a new snark machine!

Well done, Ms Dooley!

More Whining From Abortion Lawyer Kyle Carlson

Kyle Carlson, the head of the Generation Iowa Commission, had a column in the Sunday Des Moines Register whining about how every state surrounding Iowa pays mo' money to employees and how he wants taxpayers to pay for his stupid decision to go $200,000 into debt to get his JD at Drake.

You know, I'd have a little more respect for Carlson if he just came out and said, "The only decent-paying job I could get as a lawyer in Iowa was working for the abortion industry!"

Nicholas Johnson has a rebuttal I agree with:

And how can Iowa "pay them more"?

When was the last time you heard a boss say, "I'm feeling guilty about exploiting you guys with these low wages, seeing your kids go hungry, and without health care or new shoes, so starting next Monday everybody gets a 50% wage hike." It's not likely to happen.

A single person, out of work and desperately needing a job, is not in a very strong bargaining position when confronting a potential employer in front of him -- with 700 people standing in line behind that job applicant, all equally anxious to win one of five new job positions.

That's why they invented unions and "collective bargaining." "For the union makes us strong," is the old union song lyric; at least strong enough to get something more than the minimum wage for long hours at backbreaking work in unsafe working conditions

When I read this, I'm thinking about the wages that were driven down in the meatpacking industry in Iowa.

Why do you think so many Iowa communities have gone Hispanic? Democrats and Iowa's Big Polluters want to import cheap labor, illegal slave labor, and child labor.

Iowa has a Lt Gov who accepted a $10,000 political donation from a repeat offender!

Democrats act cocksure that they'll always get what's left of the union vote (a dying constituency, but a reliable one), while talking out of the other side of their mouth about "diversity" and shamnesty that drives down wages and puts more people on various kinds of governmental welfare and exports Iowa's native children to surrounding states.

Here are some suggestions I made in April 2007. They remain ignored by the Generation Iowa commission:

• End taxpayer-financed corporate welfare. Quit subsidizing politically-connected companies and people at the expense of competition that's already here in Iowa. The State has a bad track record at doing this.
  
  
• Fix the goddamn tax code so that it's not so insane. Have any of you legislators in the statehouse ever tried to fill out the State of Iowa's income tax form if you have a business, kids, a mortgage, or you've spent part of a year working in another state? It's impossible. Two words to think about: flat tax.
  
  
• Government is way too big in Iowa. It needs to have an arm or a leg chopped off. Do we need 99 counties and all the fifedoms that go with it? No way. Maybe 125 years ago we needed a county seat that was a day's journey by horseback, but not anymore. You see, we have these things called cars now...
  
  
• Colleges and universities need to cut back on the number of kids enrolled in worthless degrees. There's enough political science, art history, English, African-American history, Feminasty, and communication types running around to last us about 30 or 40 years. Meanwhile such professions like health care, elder care, animal care, computer programming, bio-sciences, and the trade skills are desperate for qualified professionals.
  
  
• Lower the damn taxes. Somehow, Iowa was able to survive up until the early 1980s with a 3% sales tax rate. With the proliferation of gambling, almost 7% sales tax rates in some places, and property taxes going through the roof, you'd think state coffers would have enough dough to do the job.

I would also add the reunionizing the meatpacking industry in Iowa. Although that seems like a complete pipe dream.

The Stupid Economy

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Rep. Dave Loebsack said the economy is the top concern President Bush needs to address when he speaks to the nation tonight in his final State of the Union address.

“The economy is in trouble. There’s no doubt about it, we have to act quickly,” said Loebsack, D-Mount Vernon.

And:

Nancy Quellhorst, chief executive officer of the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed that Bush should talk about the economy.

“I’m interested to hear the details of an economic stimulus package,” Quellhorst said. “It’s the No. 1 concern of business.”

Quellhorst was one of those idiots who championed the Iowa Rainforest, in case you've forgotten.

And just three months ago, what were the newspapers reporting?

Business in Iowa City is healthy and poised for growth, according to a report presented to the City Council Economic Development Committee...

...According to their interviews, 67 percent of both Iowa City and Iowa City area businesses have plans to expand in the next three years. According to national data, only 59 percent of businesses nation wide plan to expand.

Also, 100 percent of the Iowa City businesses reported that their total sales are increasing, 96 percent stated they rolled out new products in the last five years and 100 percent plan to introduce new products in the next two years.

Weaknesses in the community were also addressed in the report. The most common concern expressed by businesses executives was the shortage of workers.

Bwaaa ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!

In three months everything went from perfection to sheer hell.

And why?

Does it have anything to do anti-war types like Loebsack and John Murtha going over to Iraq and declaring the surge a success?

Is the new strategy for Democrats and the Leftstream Media this: Blame something/anything on Bush so that the public hears "It's The Economy, Stupid!" yet again?

You don't hear them blaming Bush for the war anymore, do you?

Where are all those 33 anti-war protesters at the University of Iowa? Too cold for ya?

Is the general public so gullible that they'll believe this nonsense?

Yes, you are, it seems. Suckers!

One more thing. When you think about it, all that taxpayer-financed corporate welfare didn't work. Did it?

You know, a couple years ago Iowa zillionaire John Pappajohn and then-Governor Tom Vilsack said that without hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars going into a corporate welfare slush fund in Iowa every year, the state's doomed! And they were right!

Ba-dump ching!

Three Strikes With An Optional Ejection Seat

From the Quad City Times:

Davenport aldermen Ray Ambrose, Bill Lynn and Shawn Hamerlinck asked state legislators Friday to consider introducing a “three-strikes” law aimed at incarcerating career criminals for “an indeterminate” life sentence.

And the proposal submitted by the three aldermen during a meeting at the Bicentennial Building between Quad-City area state legislators and local government officials has a twist.

The indeterminate life sentence includes a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years, except that the person may become eligible for parole in one year if they elect to be voluntarily exiled from the state of Iowa, never to return upon penalty of having to serve the rest of the life sentence.

That's kind of an interesting twist on a "three strikes" law. I like it! I bet career criminals would, too.

But a word of warning, guys. If you're going to propose this in a bill you might want to have a parallel law dealing with exiled career criminals from other states who accept similar deals, move to Iowa as part of the exile agreement, and then go on with their career criminal ways. Like corporate welfare, every other state in the union will be offering these deals before too long.

Viva La Slave Labor, Child Labor

From the Des Moines Register:

House File 2026 would make business executives criminally liable if their companies knowingly hire undocumented workers. Corporate officers would face a $10,000 fine and a year of jail time. Contractors or their businesses would face fines of up to $1,500 per violation.

The bill's supporters say it would deter Iowa employers from hiring illegal immigrants at lesser pay and with fewer benefits than legal residents would receive. It also would level the playing field for Iowa businesses that are frequently underbid by contractors that use undocumented workers, proponents say.

Some of the bill's opponents favor tighter enforcement of immigration laws. But they say the proposal is really a hidden attempt to strengthen union labor by essentially redefining work status classifications for all workers. The proposal, they say, would raise the cost of doing business in Iowa...

...People like Bernard Ortiz of Altoona and a few civil rights groups say the proposal is little more than a political tactic designed by key Iowa politicians to look tough on immigration in the heat of an election year.

"What it is is bad politics," said Ortiz, a one-time illegal immigrant from Mexico who was hired at age 13 by a Tama meatpacking plant to decapitate livestock. "It simply sends a bad message about Iowa."

You know what sends a bad message about Iowa? That a Tama meatpacking plant would knowingly hire a then-13 year old ILLEGAL ALIEN CHILD to work in a meatpacking plant.

From the picture of Ortiz in the Register's story, he looks to be in his 40s, so it's likely that Ortiz was part of the wave of cheap union-busting meatpackers brought in during the rise of non-union Iowa's Big Polluter (IBP) and the consolidation of the meatpacking industry in the midwest by giant conglomerates who weakened union power, drastically cut wages, imported illegal slave and child labor, and ruined small town economies.

I've busted the balls of union thugs in the past, but there's one thing I've never wavered on: that the meatpacking industry should be unionized and strong due to past problems with management.

Is your 49 cent hamburger and $1.99 a pound ground beef really worth it?

Make no mistake about it, the slaughtering process of animals is a very dangerous and gross business. It should be a very good-paying industry that treats its employees with respect. It doesn't and hasn't for many decades.

And more from the story:

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, sponsor of the legislation, argues his idea is aimed at preserving workers' rights.

"This illegal immigration crackdown on employers is really a human rights issue," said McCarthy, a Des Moines Democrat whose wife, Maricela, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants who became U.S. citizens. "It's these employers who are abusing people. It's a tragedy all the way around."

Employers who intentionally hire undocumented workers often classify them as seasonal or temporary employees to avoid paying retirement benefits, disability insurance and the like, he said.

Those classifications can cut employers' payroll costs by as much as 30 percent, according to the New York-based National Employment Law Project.

"That's slave labor," McCarthy said. "They're not paying into workers' compensation, they're not going to be helped if they get hurt on the job. It's really allowing the abuse of some people."

Federal officials have vowed for years to better enforce federal laws that prohibit such abuses, but so far those reforms have largely failed, McCarthy said. The proposed Iowa law is one step the state can take to protect against the abuse of undocumented workers, he said.

I've given McCarthy crap in the past over his dumb statements, but on this issue he's totally right.

The Federal Government and Jorge W. Bush have dropped the ball on illegal immigration. It's time for the States to do something about it.

Fining the executives and companies who hire illegal labor is a start, although the fines really ought to be in the $100,000 range. That's my only beef with McCarthy's bill.

Criminal Athletes, Part Two

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Dominique Douglas, 19, of Detroit, was all smiles as he left the courtroom after Judge Douglas Russell granted him a deferred judgment following Douglas' guilty plea in December to credit card fraud.

"The reason for the sentence is the nature of the offense, the defendant's age and his relatively minor criminal history," Russell said.

Douglas will serve two years probation and must pay $221.53 in restitution to Hatworld. He also was charged a $625 civil penalty and other court costs.

Douglas and former teammate Anthony Bowman, also 19 and from Detroit, were charged with unauthorized use of credit card, a Class D felony, on Aug. 18 for an incident that allegedly occurred May 8. According to assistant county attorney Michael Brennan, on that day, two Hillcrest Hall residents reported their wallets missing. Somehow, Douglas and Bowman came into possession of the wallets -- specifically, a credit card and two debit cards, Bennan said.

Brennan said from noon to 6 p.m. that day, the two made or attempted to make purchases at Hatworld, Sneakerhead and C & Fashions totaling nearly $1,500. The duo only succeeded in making more than $200 in purchases at Hatworld, which came in the form of baseball hats, Brennan said.

On Dec. 4, Douglas pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of credit card fraud, an aggravated misdemeanor. He requested a deferred judgment, which the county attorney's office did not resist. On Dec. 26, Bowman reached a similar deal and was granted deferred judgment.

Because of a fifth-degree theft charge that he pleaded guilty to in November, when he was arrested for stealing DVDs from Wal-Mart, Douglas had to go before a judge...

...Dressed in an over-sized white T-shirt and dark jeans, Douglas said he took "full responsibility" for his actions and apologized for the crime.

You'll see Douglas in court again, busted for something else. What kind of loser gets nabbed for stealing DVDs at Wal-Mart? DVDs cost, what? $15? $20? You can't rent one for $4 at the local video store? Luckily this loser has moved back in Michigan.

And how about Douglas's manner of dress before the judge? Unlike the publicity photo for the football team at the top of this post, he's got to wear the typical thug outfit of an oversized white t-shirt. He can't be bothered to go find a dress shirt, suit coat, and tie. Always gots to keeps it real!

Wu-Tang!!!!



Related: Rob Howe: Give The Thug Criminals On The Hawkeye Football Team Yet Another Chance

It's The Stupid, Economy!

Side Notes:

I'm seeing a lot of press out there on the recession, and it seems to have somehow taken people by surprise.

Is it a surprise?

Is it, really?

Or is it manufactured by the media?

The news media trumpeted in unison for months all about the surge and how the surge was going to be a failure and how George W. Bush needs to listen to his generals or retired generals or at least Bill Clinton's genitals, I mean generals. And why the war was going to be the biggest boner for this coming erection, I mean election.

Today, even anti-war Democrat and warmonger Dave Loebsack has pronounced the surge a success. Even John "Abscam" Murtha thinks the surge is working! Where are the anti-war protests now?

Golly gee, we can't have the war on the table now that it's a success! Why, that might help Republicans!

Well, disregard that. No Republicans are running anymore. All you have left is the angry RINOcrat (McCain), the flip-flopping Mormon (Romney), the RINO evangelical from Hope (Huckabee), and the pot-smokin losertarian (Ron Paul).

So now the media has invented this "recession" talk.

First they primed the pump by saying Christmas was going to be a depression, which it wasn't especially if you sold Nintendo products. Then they said that the subprime mortgage biz was losing money, which is sort of like fretting about why crack addicts aren't picking up their false teeth at the pawn shop after 30 days.

Two kinds of people get subprime mortgages: 1) wannabe rich people who buy homes way too expensive for their budgets and live life on the bleeding edge of being 90 days behind on everything - and 2) poor shitheads who move into a middle class neighborhood after being evicted from every apartment complex in town for nonpayment and who quickly stop paying their mortgage and let the property go to rot and into foreclosure within 2 years.

I haven't got much sympathy for the subprime clowns or the rich trial lawyers running for president (cough Edwards cough) who gamble their portfolio from offshore accounts for promised obscene returns.

Now you've got Billary saying she'll freeze interest rates for the next 2 or 5 years or maybe forever. If there's a problem somewhere, Billary has a governmental solution that, like Nixon's price controls, will screw everybody.

In the White House, you've got Bush throwing away his 5 seconds of acting all fiscally conservative by promising to give every taxpayer $600 or $800 or whatever it costs to get everybody into a Chinese made LCD from WalMart.

Congress is all ready to rubber stamp: Democrats because now they can pronounce a Bush Recession (It's 1992 All Over Again!) or Republicans because they've been too busy smoking the conservative "base" and are declaring defeat for '08.

It's amazing how things can go from excellent to depression in just a couple of months.

The Nanny-State Fascists Won't Give Up

John Deeth: "The neo-prohibitionists won't give up."

I like how the newspapers are finally starting to use the name of the group that organized the defeat of the pro-21-after-10pm ordinance ("Student Health Initiative Taskforce").

S.H.I.T. Get it?

That still makes me laugh every time I see it.

What's even weirder is that you've got all these so-called "liberals" running Iowa City who are trying to crackdown on so-called "underage drinking" by any means necessary.

But the term "liberal" really doesn't apply here. If they were truly "liberal" in their thinking, they would look at the way the drinking age laws were set up and say "Forget that!".

Back in the mid 1980s you had sexless Republican political whore Elizabeth Dole pushing the idea that the Federal Government ought to abuse the Commerce Clause to demand that all states raise their drinking age to 21 in order to get Federal highway dollars. Naturally, Ronald "limited government" Reagan signed the bill into law.

Now if you were a real "liberal" wouldn't you say that this law is wrong? Wouldn't you say that reform is needed? Wouldn't you throw your support behind a campaign like Choose Responsibly?

No, today's "liberals" waste our time promoting bullshit issues like giving criminal illegal aliens amnesty, giving voting rights to sex offenders, and raising everybody's taxes in order to pay for corporate welfare.

Let's not take a few minutes out of our day to figure out that 18 is the age for adulthood and that if you can go to war, get married, have kids, drive a car, take out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, get divorced, adopt, declare bankruptcy, get a mortgage, and buy guns then you should be able to walk into One-Eyed Jake's and have a cold one.

As for the political leaders in Iowa City, there's not a single word that properly describes what these people stand for. "Liberal" ain't it.

They're really nothing more than "nanny-state fascists" in my opinion.

We Want Slave Labor!

From the Des Moines Register in a story ridiculously headlined "Critics assail bid to punish illegal hiring":

Legislation that would fine and criminally prosecute Iowa business executives who hire undocumented workers is provoking strong response from civil rights groups and some business or labor organizations.

The proposal, House File 2026, would make business executives criminally liable if their companies knowingly hire undocumented workers. Corporate officers face a $10,000 fine and a year of jail time. Contractors or their businesses would face fines up to $1,500 per violation...

...Opponents argue the proposal would cripple Iowa's economy by eliminating the livelihood of undocumented workers.

Tom Chapman of the Iowa Catholic Conference was among opponents who argued that the law would foster a wave of discrimination as employers become leery of hiring minority workers...

...House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Des Moines Democrat who proposed the bill, has said it would protect human rights. All employees deserve fair treatment, but undocumented workers are often deprived of unemployment, disability insurance or other benefits such as vacation pay, he has said.

This is the smartest thing the Democrats in the Iowa Legislature have introduced in a long, long time.

It also shows how morally bankrupt the Republican Party in Iowa has become. They had years to introduce this sort of legislation and drive the issue in their direction.

Even last year, Chuck Grassley was in favor of allowing illegals to work with fake Social Security numbers!

Too many employers have gotten away with hiring illegals for slave wages, but then turned around and resorted to influence peddling in order to pay off politicians who are willing to look the other way.

The only criticism I have of the McCarthy bill is that the fines are too low. Fines for knowingly hiring illegals should be at least $100,000 per human violation. It is wrong to exploit people for your company's own greed, even if those same people are criminals!

You Can't Trust Whitey

From the Des Moines Register:

On the same day that Gov. Chet Culver named members of a new state diversity council, a lawyer said five more black Iowans had stepped forward to allege hiring discrimination in state government jobs as recently as a month ago.

I find the whole thing suspect. After all, the poster girl for all this is a woman who already had a state job at Iowa Workforce Development. But then she internally applied for 56 different jobs over a 4 year period.

That's a new job every 26 days.

She must have spent most of her days looking at job postings, preparing for interviews, going to interviews, and daydreaming of lawsuits rather than working.

Wayne Ford Is FCUK-ed Up

From the Quad City Times:

A state lawmaker says some nightclubs are discriminating against blacks by barring people wearing certain name brand clothing from their establishments.

Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines, has proposed a bill that would prohibit businesses from discriminating based on the brand of clothing people are wearing. He said the measure is most applicable to hip-hop generation youngsters wearing popular brands such as Pelle Pelle and FUBU.

"You can't tell me I can't come in to a nightclub because I'm black _ that's against the law. But you can use what I wear, and that's what they've been doing," said Ford, who is black.

The bill _ approved Wednesday night by the House Human Resources Committee _ says it's an unfair or discriminatory practice for any business that charges a fee for services, facilities or goods to discriminate based on the brand of a person's apparel.

Under the measure, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission could investigate such allegations and possibly award damages.

Ford noted that the bill would not get rid of dress codes that prohibit or require certain clothing items, and would only pertain to rules based on the brand of apparel.

Just in case you're confused, here's the cultural reference for the title.

Wayne Ford is the same Democrat who would give illegal aliens a driver's license and who thinks all D-minuses and two F's is too high of a standard for athlete-students.

First Year Term Of Endearment

From the Iowa State Daily:

Elizabeth Hoffman, provost and executive vice president of Iowa State, recently finished her first year on the job.

She officially began working at Iowa State on Jan. 1, 2007. Her previous job was as president of the University of Colorado.

"I have been so happy here," Hoffman said. "This is probably the best job in my entire life."

She said her friendship with President Gregory Geoffroy and all the "exciting work to be done" at Iowa State contribute to her enthusiasm.

One aspect of this work has been making decisions regarding the new budget model, called the Resource Management Model. In this model, more responsibility is accorded to individual colleges, especially in regard to recruiting students and improving the quality of research, according to student enrollment, .

Hoffman said she has enjoyed working with Ellen Rasmussen, vice president for budget and planning, who she said deserves "huge kudos" for her work on the project, but the final decisions fall on herself as the executive vice president and provost.

"To me, [the model] is a fascinating strategic, political, financial, public relations project," she said.

Hoffman said it should ultimately help Iowa State be "a great place to learn for students, and significantly increase the research profile."

No wonder Elizabeth Hoffman is so damn happy. Imagine having all this stuff behind you:

From Wikipedia:

In 2004, University of Colorado president Elizabeth Hoffman fanned the flames of a football rape case when, during a deposition, she was asked if she thought "cunt" was a "filthy and vile" word. She replied that it was a "swear word" but had "actually heard it used as a term of endearment." A spokesperson later clarified that Hoffman meant the word had polite meanings in its original use centuries ago. In the rape case, a CU football player had allegedly called female player Katie Hnida a "fucking lovely cunt".

And from the Des Moines Register a while back:

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...

And Elizabeth Hoffman was the same person who couldn't fire "professor" Ward Churchill:


Ward Churchill

The review of Churchill's scholarship and whether or not the university has grounds to fire the tenured professor was instigated after Churchill's essay about the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks came to light. In his controversial essay, Churchill compared the victims to "little Eichmanns," referring to Nazi bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust. The professor argued that those who worked at the World Trade Centers were not innocent victims but were actively participating in an unfair American economic system that provoked the terrorist attacks.

Hoffman was getting $275,000 a year in her first year at ISU, and is one of the highest paid provosts in the Big 12.

Congratulations, Elizabeth Hoffman, for having an entire year where you're scandal-free! What an accomplishment! Give that, uhhhhhhhhhhhh, woman a raise!

Closed Chapters

Reflections on a farmer who committed suicide at The South Of Iowa.

In addition, via the Press-Citizen, the oldest Iowan has died. Interestingly enough, she was born in the twentieth century (1901). I thought there might be a few people left who were born in 1898 or 1899, at the very least.

The Hippies Of Today Are The Assholes Of Tomorrow

Nicholas Johnson:

In short, I am not advocating that the "binge drinking problem" be addressed with draconian measures, only that it is hypocritical not to consider effective regulation if one is professing to want to "do something" about the problem. (Indeed, I deliberately headed the discussion "Don't Get Tough, Get Effective.")

Let me also make very clear that I am not suggesting those criticizing my draconian list were deliberately misrepresenting my position.

Whew! I was worried about that!

You've gotta be careful with a lawyer talking about an issue. Man, he'll talk all sides of it. Exhaustively!

You know what, though? Like Professor Johnson's list, I can totally see some Carrie Nation types in charge suggesting such Draconian measures be put into motion. They're all these Baby Boomers who wanted the right to vote at 18 and the right to drink at 18, but when they got older they turned into these stunted, unfunny, sexless, corporate political types who forgot their youthful ideals.

What did Danny Ben-Israel sing in 1968? "The Hippies Of Today Are The Assholes Of Tomorrow". How true that was.

Anybody can gin up a crisis (pardon the pun). People could say that kids under the age of 25 are the leading cause of deaths and brain injuries because of car accidents. And it's true. Why, car rental companies won't even rent to a kid under the age of 25. How long before some technocrat comes along and says: Gee, maybe we shouldn't allow kids under the age of 25 to drive. They're a threat to themselves. Imagine all the lives we could save. Imagine if they got used to public transportation at an early age. Perhaps we could use that global warming bullshit to scare them into thinking not driving was noble. Besides, where are those kids going? They should be studying and getting advanced degrees rather than joyriding. Maybe we should not allow kids under the age of 25 who are enrolled at the university to own a car. Period. Screw their rights. It's our rule of law, we made it, and - dammit - if they don't like it then move somewhere else, you Earth-destroyers! You don't know what's good for ya! Perhaps the Feds can abuse the Commerce Clause yet again and say that if a state doesn't raise their driving age to 25 then no Federal highway dollars for you!

Never mind that most people under 25 can operate a motor vehicle properly and within the law except for the occasional parking or speeding ticket. We've got the Rule Of Law (as imposed by Baby Boomers and other concerned Old Farts), and it must be followed!

As for marijuana, my opinion was summed up on the matter years ago:



Meanwhile:



and:



and:



and:



and:



and finally:

Keeping It Real on Martin Luther King Jr Day

From the Daily Iowan:

Iowa City police on Monday arrested the UI Black Student Union president, who had planned a boycott of Brothers Bar & Grill in December 2007, after he was reportedly involved in a fight at the 3rd Base Sports Bar.

Vernon Jackson, 21, 838D Mayflower, was arrested around 1:45 a.m. at 111 E. College St. and charged with assault causing bodily injury.

He was taken to Johnson County Jail on Monday and released by that afternoon, jail officials said.

According to police reports, Jackson was in a physical fight with another man, who suffered an injury to his face. Jackson reportedly told police that the man "got rough" with Jackson while removing him from the bar...

...Jackson's record includes a disorderly-conduct charge for fighting/violent behavior and a trespassing charge, both simple misdemeanors stemming from a June 24, 2007, incident at Brothers. Jackson has since pleaded guilty to both charges.

In that incident, Jackson reportedly removed his shirt, refused to leave, and engaged in a shoving match with bar employees, during which one worker was thrown to the ground, according to police reports.

Now watch this:

Hoaxes

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

If a recent lost-and-found ad in the Press-Citizen seemed a bit unbelievable, it was.

In Friday's edition, under the Lost & Found section, a classified ad that stated, that a man found the original car used in the 1968 film, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," near the Coralville Reservoir. The film, staring Dick Van Dyke, and based on the Ian Fleming novel, is about an eccentric professor and his adventures in a flying car he invents.

However, the prank ad was started by Rory Emerald, who described himself as a stay-at-home dad and artist from Los Angeles. Emerald said he has done more than 40 similar hoaxes across the country in which he places a found ad in a local paper.

That's kind of lame, when you think about it. You can Google around and in about 10 seconds discover that the original car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is in England.

Iowa hasn't had a huge number of hoaxes over the years.

William Shatner tried to pull a fast one on Iowans a few years back with his Invasion Iowa scam.

There's the old "I got syphilis from eating sperm-contaminated food at Olive Garden in West Des Moines" hoax. I know you can get something from eating the sperm-contaminated food at Olive Garden, but I didn't think it was syphilis!

You've probably seen the fake video of the "incredible music machine" made out of farm equipment at the University of Iowa. Like the UI has anything to do with farms! That's ISU, kids!

One of the bigger hoaxes was the Cardiff Giant, a supposed 10 foot tall petrified man who was "found" in New York but carved out of wood in Chicago from a gypsum tree cut down near Fort Dodge. The Giant eventually caused P.T. Barnum to utter the infamous phrase "There's a sucker born every minute!"

Perhaps one of the biggest hoaxes every foisted upon Iowans had to be Chuck Grassley and David Oman's plan to spend at least $50 million in Federal taxpayer money to build a rainforest in Iowa. That so many idiots running the media around the state, as well as heads of universities and big companies in the region, gave their blessing for the project shows just how many SUCKERS are running things throughout the state.

Now Go Get Yer Shinebox!

From Radio Iowa:

University of Northern Iowa athletic director Rick Hartzell is leaving his alma mater after nearly 9 years. The school announced Hartzell's resignation this morning, effective at the end of the month. Hartzell says some issues he's been unable to resolve with school administrators led to his decision to resign.

Hartzell says he asked for the return of athletic tickets and facilities back to the athletic director, a contract extension without an salary increase, and a change so he would report to the president. Hartzell

says he was told no, compromised, was told no again, compromised and was told no, and then decided it was in his "best interest to do something else."

Hartzell says he tried to reach a compromise on the unsolved issues, and when they couldn't be worked out, he decided to step down. Hartzell says he got to the point where he felt the only thing that was important was in the reporting role and he decided that it was the best to resign and take a new direction.

Hartzell left open the possibility of staying on as U-N-I's athletic director if the issues can be resolved in the next two weeks, but he doesn't see that happening. Hartzell says UNI is the place he loves and cares about, so if there is a way to solve the problem, he would love to stay.

Two years ago, school administrators took control of tickets and facilities management away from the U-N-I athletic department, a decision Hartzell has never agreed with. He says, since then, the athletic department hasn't run as efficiently as it could. He says it's hard when people think you're responsible for tickets and facilities and you're not. He says it's hard to manage that way. Hartzell says things don't operate that way anywhere else and he says "it's been fraught with problems here, at least from the side of athletics."

Hartzell was hired in August of 1999 to replace former athletic director Chris Ritrievi. A UNI alum, Hartzell says the decision to resign was difficult. He says it was hard, but it has been in his mind for three years, and he says he's dealt with it every day and got to the point where Hartzell said he couldn't take it anymore.

You know, that's so typical of the assholes who are running things into the ground throughout Iowa.

Yet another legacy of Tom Vilsack and Michael Gartner, when you think about it.

Here in Rick Hartzell you've got a great guy who built UNI athletics into the respected powerhouse it is today. Hartzell is an alum who was proud to do the right thing.

If anything, the assholes running UNI (President Ben Allen and Vice President for administration and finance Tom Schellhardt) should be getting on their knees and kissing Harzell's feet. Hartzell didn't want anything unreasonable. Hell, he didn't even want a raise!!! Now the guy is resigning. How fucked up is that? Well, good for him. Hartzell's probably spent the last couple of years tearing his hair out by dealing with these fucking moron administrators who probably sit around jacking each other off all day long. Who needs a heart attack sweating over that nonsense?

In a just world, Tom Schellhardt would have his $167,414.58 a year ass kicked back to Kansas State (where he came from) and Ben Allen would be seriously reprimanded for being a bumbling idiot who didn't recognize excellence when it was sitting in front of his desk.

And look at Keno Davis, Tom Davis's son, and his men's basketball team at Drake University. Man, those guys are going to be ranked in the Top 25 next week! First time in 33 years. Keno Davis could have been coaching at Iowa right now! Iowa wouldn't have had all the problems of Pierre Pierce and all those decent players leaving over the past 9 years because Steve Alford was an unlikable asshole who couldn't keep the stadium filled.

And nothing against Todd Lickliter, who I like more and more every day because of his stance on team discipline. I didn't see the big victory over #6 Michigan State, but I was lucky enough to catch the Big Ten Network broadcast of the Iowa-Michigan game last night thanks to visiting somebody who has a satellite dish. What's left of the Iowa men's basketball team played their hearts out. It was the first time I've enjoyed watching an Iowa basketball game in years. With a new AD and men's basketball coach at Iowa, maybe things are turning around.

No wonder there's a "Gap" in Iowa.

Prohibition Always Works

Nicholas Johnson has another column about the alcohol "crisis" in Iowa City and the University of Iowa's efforts to deal with all the passed out legal adults (but not legal enough to drink...) who imbibe to excess.

Here are some of his thoughts on what the University ought to do:

It could encourage, and support with more city and campus police in bars, stricter enforcement of the law.

It could do more to publicize the names of students caught violating the law -- in their hometown papers as well as here.

It could at least notify parents.

It could petition to deny the liquor licenses of those bars known to be violating the law.

It could put students' violations on their transcripts, and inform potential employers.

It could use suspensions and expulsions for students' liquor violations and arrests.

Then Johnson says:

Is it likely to do any of these things? I doubt it -- based on the last decade of inaction (as distinguished from rhetoric).

If the University were interested in becoming truly effective there are plenty of things it could have been doing all along -- far more than I thought up in the couple of minutes it took me to write those above.

Whether it wants to be effective will become clearer as the spring semester evolves and the two task forces discuss their options and prepare their reports. But so far, over the years, effective efforts by the University has not seemed to have been a goal.

Ha ha ha, keep spinning your wheels!

Prohibition always works, doesn't it?

I am not amused by Johnson's off-the-cuff suggestions: basically turning downtown Iowa City into a police state with Big Brother at the University enabled to rat out every 18, 19, or 20 year old "kid" caught holding a beer can and stigmatizing him or her at school, in their hometown newspaper, or to future employers until the end of time.

That's fascism.

It is!

I'm not being provocative. It is!!!

Why do so many people think "getting tough" and becoming a Draconian nanny-state is going to solve all of society's perceived ills?

Look at the weird and arbitrary sex offender residency law in Iowa. Cops hate it. Prosecutors hate it. Compliance is down. And I bet not a single kid has been "saved" because of it because most sex crimes with children happen by somebody they know or live with! Oh, but politicians don't want to look "soft" of crime. Fooey!

Look at Iowa's old bottle deposit law. It's a throwback to the days when people needed an incentive to not litter. Nowadays just about every town in Iowa of any size has curbside recycling. You're already paying for it. And littering is now taboo. The State even has a toll-free number to report offenders (1-888-NOLITTR). Most everybody carries a cell phone these days. But no, revenue is needed, so Gov Culver wants to jack up the deposit.

People are afraid to say the obvious: underage drinking is a problem because the drinking age is set too high.

States need to band together and tell the Feds to FUCK OFF, and that they'll set their drinking age at whatever number they want, and give us our damn Federal highway dollars anyway JUST QUIT MICROMANAGING SHIT!

Seriously, did we fight a revolution with the British just so we could be told by some sexless political RINO whore like Elizabeth Dole and son-of-an-alcoholic/phony conservative Ronald Reagan that they can make states bend over to the MADD lobby? It's been over 20 years since the Feds stole more rights away from States, but we still have habitual and killer drunk drivers getting off with a slap on the wrist. Where's MADD when you need them?

And, you know, the thing about a college town is that most of the "kids" are going to be walking (or stumbling) from their dorms and apartments to where the bars are. Put the cops where they are most effective: catching the drunk drivers and jailing the fighters. Quit criminalizing perfectly reasonable behavior. If you're a legal adult, you should be able to drink!

It's as insane as the 55 mph speed limit was, which was also created by a nanny-state Republican.

Indian Givers

From the Des Moines Register:

A major source of Iowa gambling tax revenue is in jeopardy in the wake of a federal decision that permits a Nebraska-based Indian tribe to open a casino in Carter Lake, an Iowa community on the Nebraska border.

The National Indian Gaming Commission has ruled the Ponca Tribe should be permitted to establish a gambling operation on five acres of land it purchased in September 1999 to establish a health care facility. The action last month reversed a decision in October that determined the site did not meet federal requirements.

The ruling has raised alarms in Iowa's casino industry and in state government because Carter Lake borders on Omaha-Council Bluffs, which is Iowa's largest gambling market. The area's three casinos - Horseshoe, Harrah's and Ameristar - generated $111 million for Iowa last year in state, city and county gambling taxes and fees.

Competition from a tribal casino in Carter Lake could potentially slice into Iowa's tax revenue and have an impact on Council Bluffs' casinos, officials said. American Indian casinos in Iowa don't pay state, city or county gambling taxes.

Gee, the way the Register's story is slanted, you'd almost think the newspaper was acting like an Indian Giver!

That story's almost as funny as this:

Senator Grassley Blames President Bush For Pork Barrel Spending

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

At one point, Grassley criticized President Bush as "weak on fiscal issues" and lacking fiscal credentials.

In response to a question about low approval ratings for Congress, Grassley pointed to Bush for Congress' failure to curtail pork barrel spending.

You Republicans in Iowa.

Yes, you.

Aren't you totally embarrassed by this idiot Grassley?

Senator Chuck Grassley should be arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit fraud for his role in trying to get $50 million for the Earthpark rainforest project and then causing $3 million of that money to be wasted.

Then like a doddering old fool, Grassley offers up this:

Grassley said when Democrats took over the U.S. House and Senate in 2006, they vowed to cut such spending. This worked for six months, Grassley said, but then both Democrats and Republicans started introducing pork-laden legislation.

It would take the president to keep Congress in check on this, Grassley said, but Bush has lost fiscal credibility.

"He had different standards on vetoing bills when there was Republican Congress than with a Democrat Congress," Grassley said. "If he had the same standard in the six years of Republican Congress as a Democrat Congress, he'd have better credentials."

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Grassley, but the last time I looked President Bush wasn't running for re-election, so who gives a shit anymore?

Isn't Grassley happy that Bush is finally starting to grow a pair and is showing a mild form of fiscal restraint?

No, Grassley isn't happy because his pet project finally got canceled.

Grassley is one of the biggest phonies in Washington. He's not a "fiscal conservative" like he claims. Grassley is a "fauxscal conservative" - he's phony baloney!

You Republicans in Iowa ought to considering kicking Grassley's ass out of office in 2010 by running a real conservative in his place. Isn't it obvious that Grassley's been in DC too long. He's out of touch. He's talking in the kind of code words that you hear Democrats using all the time. Doesn't that alarm you?

Iowa Democrats To Returning Veterans: Drop Dead

The Real Sporer:

[The Real Sporer] recently got started on our review of the Democrats budget plans. A noticeable absence was the Veteran’s Trust Fund.

The VTF was started by the Republican General Assembly back in 2003. The program is administered by a non-partisan trust board. The fund was designed to give the state flexibility in assisting Iowa’s returning vets, particularly with problems that were common to vets but failed to fit in an existing program...

...Republicans commenced the program with a half million dollar budget back in 2004.

The program worked. Benefits got through to the actual humans that needed them with minimal overhead. The bi-partisan commission that administers the VTF recommended a permanent $4.5 million budget, and Republicans approved that amount in 2006, together with budget commitments to ensure future financial solvency.

In 2007 the Democrats cut the VTF back to $500K. Gov. Lug's latest budget allocates zero to the VTF. That’s right – nothing...

Fuck the troops, indeed!

The Biggest Lug

From the Des Moines Register:

There was a mass weigh-in at the Capitol this week. A dozen or so staff members from the governor's office stepped onto a platform-sized scale, followed by staff from other state offices. Absent was the head cheerleader of the "Lighten Up Iowa" fitness effort: the Big Lug himself.

During his Condition of the State speech Tuesday, Gov. Chet Culver urged Iowans to get healthy and pledged to lead the Culver/Judge 100-day Fitness Challenge as part of Lighten Up Iowa - but he didn't make any promises to shed pounds himself.

What do you think Culver weighs? 320 or 330 pounds? That boy is fat.

Arrest David Oman And Chuck Grassley For Fraud

Chief Rainforest con man and Senator Chuck "fauxscal conservative" Grassley campaign contributor David Oman

From WHO-TV, regarding the Earthpark rainforest application grant:

Principal Financial Group also planned to make a $2 million donation in exchange for naming rights to parts of the park. The Pella Corporation, Vermeer Manufacturing and Musco Lighting also pledged millions in in-kind services.

Earthpark had until December 1st to show it had secured nearly $50 million in private money in order to collect a $50 million federal grant. Congress later rescinded the funding.

$3 million of federal funds already spent by Earthpark will not be recouped.

Wow! David Oman had nothing!

In-kind services are not cash!

The best "con man" David Oman could do after nearly 9 years of huckstering and scamming cities was a $2 million pledge for partial naming rights from Principal Financial.

That, and a further cash pledge by project dreamer Ted Townsend.

As for the $2.9 million in deficit-financed taxpayer money already spent by David Oman under the watchful eye of Senator Chuck Grassley, I think the taxpayers ought to be suing both of them for recovery of the funds. Oman shouldn't have had access to the money until the grant application was completed.

They should both be arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud.

Who allowed that money to be spent?

Was it Senator Grassley?

If so, he should resign before being thrown in a Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison for fraud and theft.

We know Oman spent the money. He should definitely be arrested!

One more thing, also notice that the Des Moines Register hasn't had a single story about the rainforest grant application this past week. Nothing since December 22nd!

Talk about journalistic malpractice!

Willing To "Bend Over"

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Settlement negotiations between the Iowa Lottery and a Cedar Rapids amusement company over the firm’s claimed losses on TouchPlay machines took a step forward Monday when the Lottery Board voted to drop its $497,000 claim against the company.

“We are finalizing a settlement with the Camden plaintiff,” said Bob Brammer, spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.

Camden Inc. filed suit in Linn County after the Legislature voted to kill the TouchPlay program in May 2006. Seeking to boost revenues, lottery officials in 2002 had approached the state’s vending operators to provide the machines, which were to operate at least five years.

...After Camden filed its suit, the Lottery Commission filed a counterclaim for $497,963 it said Camden owed the state when the games were shut down.

Monday’s vote to drop the claim “is part of the resolution of Camden’s claim,” said Brad Brady, the company’s attorney.

Brady said Camden and the Lottery are close to an agreement.

Camden’s suit is separate from one filed in Polk County by 30 vending operators claiming TouchPlay’s early demise cost them a combined $900 million. Brammer said the state “is willing to talk” to those plaintiffs.

God, what a bunch of wimps!

I guess the State of Iowa feels they can't win any Touchplay lawsuits in court, or at least they could care less because it's the taxpayer's money being used to "settle" with all these companies.

What a disaster.

See what happens when politicians get addicted to that gambling money? They make foolish decisions, and then compound the problem for the taxpayers by putting their money on the line. Every Iowa politician who voted for Touchplay should be hung out to dry.

Highway 61 Abandoned

You remember the Flint Hills Manor eminent domain controversy in Burlington, Iowa a few years ago? Sure, you remember. Some developer from Minnesota convinced the city of Burlington to evict people from their houses and sell their properties at a loss in order to build a shopping center at the corner of Highways 61 and 34 in Burlington.

Well, guess what? After all the legal battles over eminent domain, payments to land owners, Tax Increment Financing promises, and stress to residents, the company that was going to build the shopping center pulled out!

The Flint Hills Manor project was one of the exceptions written into the Anti-Kelo eminent domain law that passed the Iowa Legislature in 2006, was vetoed by then-Governor Vilsack, and then overridden by the Iowa Legislature.

What a disgrace all around.

Anti-War Warmongering Democrats Stick Together

Do you need any more proof that Ed Fallon is going to be twisting in the wind in his bid to unseat Leonard Boswell in the 3rd Congressional District in Iowa considering Dave Loebsack's dissing of him in this John Deeth post from yesterday?

Loebsack refrained from political commentary when asked about Ed Fallon’s primary challenge to 3rd District Congressman Leonard Boswell, saying the forum was a constituency event and not a political event. He did note, “Leonard Boswell's been very good to me as a freshman, but I think I'll leave it at that for now.”

Those anti-war warmongers stick together, you know.

Notice how all the anti-war talk has disappeared now that the surge has been working thanks to Loebsack voting to keep the war funding going.

Now it's the economy, stupid!

Loebsack wants to declare war on the economy! He'll start with a preemptive strike against the rich by demanding a surge in revenue from them via tax increases. Unfortunately, the Bush tax cuts, if repealed, run deep into the middle class. Good luck winning that battle with voter approval of Congress sitting at an all-time low of about 11%.


Related: Ed Fallon Is Going To Lose

Ed Fallon Is Going To Lose

Updated below:



Via a mass email from Ed Fallon:

While Leonard Boswell is an honorable man who has served with dignity, I feel his positions on many key issues are wrong.

Boswell accepts donations from PACs and lobbyists. Of the $600,167 he raised between February and September 2007, 73% came from PACs. During my 14 years as a state representative and when I ran for governor, I refused donations from PACs and lobbyists and won’t accept them in my congressional campaign either.

In 2003, he voted for the Iraq War and has continued to support additional funding with no timetable to bring the troops home. I opposed Bush’s war from the start and believe we need a more diplomatic approach to foreign policy, not just in Iraq but throughout the Middle East.

In 2005, Boswell voted to provide $14 billion in tax breaks and incentives for oil and gas companies. He also supports greater use of coal. I have been a leader in the fight against government handouts to big business. I support a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and have helped lead efforts in Iowa to fight global warming.

Boswell voted for No Child Left Behind. I have always spoken against this unfunded, ineffective mandate, and believe NCLB should be repealed, or at a minimum severely overhauled.

Boswell supported the Patriot Act, and in August 2007, voted for a bill to increase unwarranted surveillance on the American people. Iowa’s other Democratic Congressmen, Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack, voted against it. I have a long track record of fighting for civil rights and personal liberties.

In November 2007, Boswell joined Congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham – both Republicans – to vote for a NAFTA-like trade agreement with Peru. I am a vocal opponent of NAFTA and other so-called “free” trade agreements and believe in fair trade that protects American jobs, our environment, and workers’ safety.

While I enjoyed seeing Ed Fallon stick it to The Man in the Iowa Legislature and even supported his chance at becoming governor, I have to say that if Fallon's reasons for going to DC are to outlaw coal-fired power plants, be against free trade, negotiate with terrorists, and allow terrorists to plot to kill us and blow things up without the government having the right to wiretap, well then I guess I can't support such a candidate.

I'd rather have a warmonger who wants to torture evildoers.

And as much as I don't really care for Boswell, he sure beats a Republican like Jeff LAMEberti. Yes, he does.

But that's not saying much.


Update: A reader writes in the comments:

When Fallon ran for governor, you wrote a post supporting him because you agreed on a lot of the issues. This year you just spouted a bunch of panic mongering bullet points so you could get back to being a dickwad about something else.

Yes, I remember that post. That's back when Ed Fallon was a viable candidate for a position suitable for him.

On the issues of trying to get fat PAC money out of state politics, eliminating factory farms that cause environmental problems, out of control taxpayer-financed corporate welfare and TIFs, busted budgets, and pushing addicts to treatment rather than prison, I'm totally with Fallon. He would have been an excellent governor. I bet Fallon would have vetoed more crap out of bills to the point where he would have made Mitt Romney look like the first 6 years of Bush 43. That would have been awesome.

Fallon was preaching "energy independence" for Iowa at one time, but now he wants to ban coal-fired power plants. It's bad enough the coal industry in Iowa is for all intents and purposes shut down while at least 95% of reserves sit in the ground. Let's instead pour all manner of fertilizers and chemicals on the land and till everything that you can get a blade into until it all erodes away. And why? To make inefficient hooch so that Detroit automakers get a break on the CAFE standards.

Oh well. I figured I'd get some shit from the nutroots who are targeting "Bush-dog Democrats" like Boswell. I can go on the record and say Boswell is a helluva lot better than a Republican like Lameberti but I still get no love from the cranky anti-war leftoids because they only see things a certain way. You girls have got to Move On. The surge worked! Sometimes you've got to give war a chance.

Iowa's Fat Budgets

From Sunday's Des Moines Register, but in the 8th and 9th paragraphs of the story:

State spending between the fiscal year that ended June 30 last year and the current budget year will increase by an estimated $467 million, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. The agency projects a 2.6 percent growth in revenue but about a 9.6 percent increase - another $563 million - in expenses for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

In total, state spending between July 1, 2006, and the budget cycle that begins this July will increase by more than $1 billion while revenue will increase less than half that amount, according to the agency's estimates.

In 2007, Governor Culver proposed a 5.9% increase in spending when there was only a 3.6% increase in revenue.

In 2006, Governor Vilsack wanted a 6.1% increase in spending.

In 2005, Democrats wanted an 8.5% increase in spending while the Republicans tried to compromise with 6%.

You can't keep these kinds of budgetary increases going when the revenues aren't there.

What are you going to do? Keep raising taxes and fees on people again and again and again while abating taxes for some companies and giving away taxpayer dollars for corporate welfare? Are you going to keep shifting the tax burden to the local level? Are you going to try to keep milking the Feds for more deficit-financed cash?

25 years ago, Iowa's sales tax was 3%, but today it's 7% in most places.

Gambling was limited to churches with bingo, but now Iowa has 20 casinos.

Corporate welfare was rare when the unemployment rate was 8.5%, but now it's expected at 3.9%.

Ever filled out a State of Iowa income tax form if you've had a mortgage, kids, and worked in two different states for part of a year? Good luck tearing your hair out and getting the numbers correct!

Oh, I'm just rehashing The Gap from yesterday. But I've got a point!

Pay No Attention To That Bonobo Behind The Curtain!

Chief Rainforest con man and Senator Chuck "fauxscal conservative" Grassley campaign contributor David Oman

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

The proposed Earthpark indoor rain forest project had received unconfirmed pledges totaling at least $50 million, but the majority came from its founder in its attempt to free up a $48.3 million federal grant, Department of Energy documents The Gazette obtained Friday show.

That total would have been enough to unlock the federal funds, which required Earthpark to raise an equal amount or more of money, if the Energy Department had OK'd the application. But Congress rescinded the grant last month, rendering the application moot.

The 176-page application, released just before 5 p.m., Iowa time, following a Gazette Freedom of Information Act request, shows that Des Moines philanthropist and Earthpark founder Ted Townsend was by far the project's biggest contributor. He pledged nearly $32.9 million of his own money.

Townsend could not be reached for comment last night. Oman did not immediately return a phone call after the documents were released.

Ahhhh.... Ha ha ahaha ha ha haha ha ha ha haha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, that makes me laugh!!!!

Nicholas Johnson has a post about this. He's also sporting a 10MB PDF file of the application. Good man!

Several things here:

* Notice how the Cedar Rapids Gazette filed the Freedom Of Information Act request. Not the Des Moines Register.

* David Oman didn't return a phone call. But if the Des Moines Register was writing an obsequious story about the rainforest Oman would be front and center with the quotes! Hell, he'd probably have most of the story pre-written for DMR "reporter" Perry Beeman!

* Oman couldn't raise hardly any cash in the past 10 years other than what Ted Townsend could put up. How many times over the years did Oman promise that loads of companies were going to dish out millions and millions in cash for the project? Like you couldn't smell this coming from a mile away!

The Gap

GED recipient and former $360,000-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:

Young leaders say officials need to boost Iowa's lagging wages and reduce student debt if they want to keep young professionals from leaving the state.

"All research overwhelmingly points to Iowa's large wage gap as the key problem," said the Generation Iowa Commission in a report to lawmakers Friday. Iowa wages fall 15 percent behind the national average, said the group of volunteers, who state officials charged with finding ways to better retain young workers.

Yep, that "wage gap" is an issue.

For me, leaving Iowa wasn't all about the money. Yes, I'm making a lot more and my expenses are relatively the same. Sure, the traffic's a bit a bitch here in suburban Kansas City during rush hour, but it beats the hell out of Minneapolis or Chicago.

But I was tired of seeing companies in Iowa shortchange their people. Every place I worked it seemed like the management and execs only looked out for themselves: Fuck the employees. How can we screw everybody? Let's give them no raise for a year, or maybe 1%, while jacking up health insurance costs, but the execs get huge bonuses and stock options while the business makes more and more money. You get tired of seeing that. And while surely there are companies down here in the KC area who undoubtedly do that sort of thing, I no longer work for such an enterprise. And if the company I worked for started pulling that shit tomorrow, there's many many different companies I could get a job at tomorrow in the metro area.

Here's one of suggestions by the Generation Iowa Commission:

Change Iowa's economic development incentives to require higher salaries

Require higher salaries?

What tha?

Seriously, what the fuck is that????? How do you do that in the world of free enterprise????

About the only place you can get away with it is by being a public employee.

You know, that's how a shitty football coach like Kirk Ferentz can make $4.6 million a year.

Or somebody who thinks the word "cunt" is a "term of endearment" like ISU's Elizabeth Hoffman can be one of the highest paid provosts in the US.

Or former UI Hospitals CEO Donna Katen-Bahensky got an $830,000 severance package weaseled into her employment contract.

And that's how politically-connected kooks with GEDs like Ramona Cunningham get paid $360,000 a year.

But for the rest of us? You've got to suffer with cheap ass companies offering "competitive" (read: LOW) salaries while the owners get out of having to pay their fair share of property taxes by moving their headquarters a few miles.

Or you've got asshole politicians like Tom Vilsack wanting to import 300,000 Mexican slave laborers to keep the price of fast food hamburgers down and grow dependency on government services.

Back to the story:

The commission recommends action such as new state tax credits to help reduce student debt and loan repayment assistance for students entering high-demand professions.

Another selective and unworkable idea.

Seriously, should we be encouraging young people to go into debt for higher education with the promise that tax credits will pay part of their load? That's downright insanity.

We should be encouraging parents and children to save money before enrolling into college, being realistic about a degree and career path, and then choosing a school or schools you can afford to attend - not just deciding that you're going to rack up $72,000 in debt in exchange for a $49,000 a year job.

Or $60,000 for a teaching degree.

Or $100,000 to become a social worker.

And you defintely don't want to get stuck by going into a dying industry, like journalism.

And finally:

The group also said Iowa needs to improve the state's image elsewhere in the nation, and continue to improve the quality of life in cities and towns across the state through programs like Vision Iowa.

The final solution? More government!

What do you expect from a group of politically-connected leftists?

Look who's the Chair of the Generation Iowa commission.

It's Kyle Carlson, the Planned Parenthood lawyer who is $200K in hock to the Feds for student loans.

You know, I'd have a little more respect for Carlson if he came out in the Register article and said, "The only decent-paying job I could get as a lawyer in Iowa was working for the abortion industry!"

Instead, Carlson wants the taxpayers to suck his dick because he was irresponsible enough to load up on the student loans.

Here are some suggestions I made in April 2007. They remain ignored by the Generation Iowa commission:

• End taxpayer-financed corporate welfare. Quit subsidizing politically-connected companies and people at the expense of competition that's already here in Iowa. The State has a bad track record at doing this.
  
  
• Fix the goddamn tax code so that it's not so insane. Have any of you legislators in the statehouse ever tried to fill out the State of Iowa's income tax form if you have a business, kids, a mortgage, or you've spent part of a year working in another state? It's impossible. Two words to think about: flat tax.
  
  
• Government is way too big in Iowa. It needs to have an arm or a leg chopped off. Do we need 99 counties and all the fifedoms that go with it? No way. Maybe 125 years ago we needed a county seat that was a day's journey by horseback, but not anymore. You see, we have these things called cars now...
  
  
• Colleges and universities need to cut back on the number of kids enrolled in worthless degrees. There's enough political science, art history, English, African-American history, Feminasty, and communication types running around to last us about 30 or 40 years. Meanwhile such professions like health care, elder care, animal care, computer programming, bio-sciences, and the trade skills are desperate for qualified professionals.
  
  
• Lower the damn taxes. Somehow, Iowa was able to survive up until the early 1980s with a 3% sales tax rate. With the proliferation of gambling, almost 7% sales tax rates in some places, and property taxes going through the roof, you'd think state coffers would have enough dough to do the job.
  

A Newton Casino?

From the Newton Daily News:

Could a casino be in Newton’s future?

Jasper County Economic Development Corporation director Craig Hamilton hopes so.

Hamilton has filed the not-for-profit Jasper County Gaming Development Authority with the Secretary of State in order to prepare for the possibility of a casino development within the county. According to state law, Hamilton said, a not-for-profit organization must be a gaming license holder to have a casino, then contract with an operator. Hamilton said the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, which issues casino licenses, may be granting more casino licenses this summer. Forming the Jasper County Gaming Development Authority will prepare the county for applying for one of the licenses.

You can bet that the Iowa Racing and Rubber Stamping Gaming Commission will be issuing more casino licenses. This is from the Des Moines Register:

State regulators said this week they are opening the door to a new debate on expanding Iowa’s casino industry. But there are worries among casino executives about a saturation of gambling that’s hurting profits. In addition, Gov. Chet Culver believes Ottumwa and Fort Dodge should get preference if more casino licenses are authorized, Culver aide Brad Anderson said Friday. Both towns were denied casino licenses two years ago.

It's a shame that Ottumwa was denied a casino license. Go ahead and give them one. I mean, it's not like Osceola or Altoona or Riverside are close by. If you're in Ottumwa and you've got a hankering for losing money in slot machines, you've got to get in the car and drive for at least an hour before you find one!! THAT'S JUST NOT FAIR!!!!

Oh, I can see it. A few years down the road you'll have Albia and Bloomfield and Sigourney and Keosauqua bitching about how they're "losing out" on all the manna. Go ahead and rubber stamp another casino in those communities! Then maybe 20 years down the road you'll have Eldon and Blakesburg and Eddyville and Brighton wondering why they don't have casinos.

Sweet jeezus, will it ever end? No, it won't.

Now, as far as the Newton casino is concerned. That won't happen, period. You think Polk County is going to allow that? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

Empties

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Gov. Chet Culver said today that he will ask the Legislature to double the 5-cent deposit collected on bottles and cans, using a share of the new money to fund the state's centerpiece environmental program...

...Under Culver's plan, grocery stores and other retailers who collect the 10-cent deposit would be allowed to keep a penny to cover the costs of handling returned bottles and cans, and 1 cent under the new rate would go to the environmental program.

Consumers would get back 8 cents of their 10-cent deposit, said Culver spokesman Brad Anderson. Under the current system, consumers get back their entire 5-cent deposit and beverage distributors keep any unredeemed deposits.

This isn't the 1970s anymore: a time when men had mustaches, beer cans had pull tabs, and empties were thrown into ditches. Most communities have curbside recycling at least a couple times a month and litterbugs can be easily reported.

When you think about the deposit law, it's really no longer needed.

Many drink bottles aren't included. Campbell's soup cans aren't either. Do you just draw the line at some aluminum and some plastic and some glass bottles? Or do you include every freakin' can and bottle in the grocery store?

Or do you throw up your hands and say, pfffffft, get rid of the stupid thing!!!

No, no, no, you do a Gov Culver and try to throw a penny to the stores, throw a penny to government fatcats, and if you bother to take back your empties you'll get a whoppin 80% of your money back. What an incentive!

The Legislature has been trying for some time to figure this issue out. I don't think Culver's plan is very good, politically, mostly because the grocery lobby wants the deposit law eliminated rather dealing with the mess for a penny a can.

And people are going to look at this as another way of government screwing folks: Pay a 10 cent deposit on some bottles and cans, get 8 cents in return. Good luck selling that one, fat boy.

The Permanent School Tax

From the DMR:

Polk County school leaders want Iowa lawmakers to establish a permanent state sales tax to pay for school construction and renovation, and they plan to fight for it this year.

Voters in all 99 counties have, over the past decade or so, added 1 percentage point to the sales tax to raise money for schools. The money is divided among districts based on enrollment and where students live. But the tax is set to expire soon in several counties, which has prompted school administrators to push for what they say would be a more stable source of money.

Voters twice turned down the tax before it finally passed in 1999. Polk County school districts collected about $428 million from 2000 through June 30 of last year. But officials in Des Moines and other districts have been unable to complete their building plans and now face an uncertain public vote to keep the money coming in.

An uncertain public vote?

Let's see, the tax passed by 43 votes on the third try in 1999. Former Stupidertendent Eric "The Liar" Witherspoon said no schools would be closed if the tax passed. Once he got his money, schools started closing and people were pissed that particular improvements didn't occur.

Don't forget the beatdown of Project Destiny in Polk County: more than 85% of voters chose NO to raising the sales tax for bike trails and other bullshit.

Other counties have been trying to renew their local option sales taxes, but are facing difficulties at the ballot box. In Democrat-heavy Appanoose county in southern Iowa, an extension went down to defeat by a nearly 3-to-1 margin.

And how about the problems in counties Black Hawk and Scott with regard to keeping the money flowing?

Also noteworthy at the end of the story:

Leaders of the Iowa State Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, have said that if the tax goes statewide, half the money should go to the state's general fund for things like educational programs and teacher pay.

Yeah.... it's for the children!

But mostly for the union and the politicians.

It's going to take a lot of wheeling and dealing to make this one fly. The big city school districts are losing their spigots full of cash and little districts where almost no sales tax activity occurs might be inclined to support to tax raise because "somebody else" is paying for it.

As I've said before:

You know, how did Iowa manage to educate anybody before 1983? Before 1983, the sales tax in Iowa was 3%, gambling was limited to Bingo Night, and most working people could afford a middle class home without having to pay skyrocketing property taxes in order to support every greaseball Democrat's relatives in Polk County and pay corporate welfare to all the Friends Of Mike Blouin.

I think Iowa ought to consolidate the 99 counties down to about 9 or 10 and use that savings for the schools without raising the sales tax, but who's going to listen to me?

Let's Have More Parties

John Deeth:

Beginning Jan. 2, Iowa has established a new class of minor political party called a “political organization.” The change is part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Green and Libertarian Parties. Political organizations are required to have run a statewide candidate within the last decade and to complete a petition process.

The news, and the handful of new Green and Libertarian registrations, have been buried by the caucuses and the massive waves of caucus-night party changes to the major parties, but that wasn't on the mind of Ron Kinum of Iowa City the morning of Jan. 2. “I really was hoping to be the first if it was possible, without being egocentric about it,” said Kinum. He went to the Johnson County Auditor’s office just before 8 a.m. on Jan. 2, after attending the Hamburg Inn’s Coffee Bean Caucus results announcement.

“I filled in the form and requested they enter my registration in the computer so I would be among the first registrants,” said Kinum. “I really did expect someone somewhere in the state would want to register before they went to work or something. As it turned out, the clerk said I was the very first to register!”

“I was more elated over just being able to sign up as a Green after three years of complaining to the Auditor's office and to the state ID office where I got my ID back in 2006,” Kinum said.

Kinum is still not happy about the way the process treats the Greens. “They still discriminate about us as being a ‘political organization,’” he said. Full party status still requires two percent of the vote for governor or president. The Greens had full party status from 2000 to 2002, and the Reform Party had party status from 1996 to 1998.

It's better than being classified as just a plain old Independent.

Ed Fallon To Challenge Leonard Bowell

From Radio Iowa:

A former state representative from Des Moines says he will challenge third district Congressman Leonard Boswell in the Democratic primary in June. Forty-nine-year-old Ed Fallon says he was encouraged to run after losing the Democratic primary for governor in 2006...

...Boswell is in his sixth term in Congress and will turn 74 next week. Boswell's campaign issued a statement in response to Fallon saying they will work to aggressively to remind constituents that he is fighting for affordable healthcare and modern energy policy in Washington.

Fallon will start the challenge behind in the fundraising race, as the incumbent Boswell's campaign finance records show he has more than $600,000 on hand while Fallon has just opened his campaign account, and says he will not accept money from special interest groups or political action committees.

That's pretty ballsy of Fallon. He's got a good chance to take it.

Side Notes Returns

Iowan-not Iowan-now Iowan again blogger Side Notes is back, sort of.

She had a rough end to 2007.

Manchester, So Much To Answer For

What is up with the voters of New Hampshire agreeing with the Des Moines Register's picks?

Of course, McCain was also the Manchester Union-Leader's pick.

I can't see how any Republican worth their salt would pick that corrupt, vain, illegal-loving, First Amendment-screwing, angry arrogant asshole lifer from Arizona.

If the North Vietnamese wanted to inflict torture upon America, they did so by allowing McCain to live. That's for sure.

What's amazing to me is that here's a guy who only 11 months ago was telling jokes like: "Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father." The press gives him a free pass every time because he's John McVain.

Hillary's Fake Planted Tears

Oh, come on!

Where is everybody's bullshit detector?

Does anybody for a second think that the "Hillary Crying" video wasn't a completely staged event?

The media, perhaps. The fools.

I bet that woman was "planted" with that question so that Hillary could choke up for the cameras. You just know that's true.

Chet Culver's Lie About Supporting The Death Penalty

If the murder of the Bentler family wasn't bad enough, now some "step-father" in Sioux City has killed his 8 and 10 year old daughters under the guise of some "spell gone bad" and then set a fire in the basement.

During his campaign, Governor Chet Culver came out in favor of reinstating the death penalty in Iowa. But there was no bill floating through the Iowa Legislature in the last session, and certainly no interest from the Democrats in reviving such a thing.

If any case merits frying some bastard to death, the Bentler family murders and now this sad situation involving these girls in Sioux City certainly warrants it.

Followup On Non-Viable Hillary In Iowa

John Deeth:

The Clinton campaign also famously dismissed young voters at the November Jefferson Jackson Dinner, where top strategists Mandy Grunwald and Mark Penn were quoted saying, “Our people look like caucus-goers, and (Obama's) people look like they are 18. They look like Facebook.”

Clinton was non-viable in Iowa City's two dorm-dominated precincts, 3 and 5. She was also non-viable in the entire core of downtown Iowa City, including the main student apartment precincts (11, 19 and 20) and in precinct 21, a mixed student-townie precinct so liberal that George W. Bush finished third, behind Ralph Nader, in 2000. Turnout was down from 2004 in the dorm precincts, where residence halls were closed, but was up significantly in the off-campus student precincts.

Hillary Clinton did not make an on-campus University of Iowa stop before the caucuses -- in fact, her only campus event was on July 3 with her husband former President Bill Clinton...

...Reports of Clinton non-viability also come from Grinnell Ward 1, where the Clinton group sent supporters to Joe Biden to help him reach viability and prevent Obama from padding his already big delegate margin. Biden was also viable where Clinton was not in Ames Precinct 4-4, centered on the Iowa State campus.

Ouch!


Related: "Mom, I'm Going Over There"

Iowa's Crowded Caucus Sites

From the Des Moines Register's Letters section:

To say that Barack Obama won or that Hillary Clinton and John Edwards lost in my Ames precinct would not be a fair assessment. Each was liked and respected equally, at least by us. (Some Joe Biden and Bill Richardson supporters left rather than join with the top three.)

I asked a girl standing beside me (there were only half enough chairs for those attending) what she thought of the proceedings, and she said she felt fairly sure she would never attend another Iowa caucus.

There should have been a way to mark our preference for all the candidates, maybe with a simple "X" or by listing preferences in numerical order. It might have taken longer to tally but it would have been much more representative of our preferences.

If Iowans want bigger turnouts at the next caucus, they need to establish more caucus sites; the one assigned to us was clearly overcrowded and inadequate.

Eileen Mericle, Ames

Most people I've been in contact with said pretty much the same thing, especially those who attended Democratic caucuses in heavily-Democratic areas of the state.

The caucuses need to be replaced with a party-based primary.

Caucuses disenfranchise second-shift workers, the elderly, residents on vacation, students, and people with children who cannot find child care.

Let's say that Joe Biden only gets 13% of the votes in every precinct around Iowa. That number should stand on it's own rather than him being deemed "not viable" and not getting any delegate bling. It's really a crazy system.

The last time Iowa had a primary was 1916, a one-off from previous caucuses. 25% of (male) registered voters turned out. It was deemed a failure and the caucus was brought back. There's about 2 million registered and active voters in Iowa as of January 3, 2008. Only about 340,000 registered voters attended the caucuses. By the looks of my calculator that's only 17%. And if things are crowded at 17%, imagine what they would have looked like if 25% of registered voters were hanging around?

Modernize the Iowa caucus. Make it a party-based primary. This ain't the 1800's anymore.

The Next Scandal

Nicholas Johnson has an excellent roundup and timeline on the recent University of Iowa sexual assault case, allegedly involving three yet-unnamed football players.

Those eggheads do a lousy job of self-policing. They're quite Clintonian in their secrecy and delay tactics. This is the same bunch of clowns who didn't want the campus police to have guns. Laws never seem to apply to them and they waste millions in taxpayer and tuition dollars in the process.

I hesitate to say the Watergate-ish "the coverup is worse than the crime" applies here because that would sort of belittle any sexual assault victim, but certainly the paraphrase "the coverup is more expensive than the crime" is likely more pertinent.

Bill Knapp Has Plans For Prairie Meadows

On the issue of the money-losing aspects of horse racing at the Prairie Meadows CASINO and race track near Des Moines:

Michael Galloway is among a number of Prairie Meadows board members to tackle, with new urgency, the racetrack-casino's eternal question: How much of its profits should go to horse racing and how much to governments or charity?

The debate began when the central Iowa track added slot machines in 1995.

As the new year opens, though, the discussion has become more heated than ever because Prairie Meadows recently estimated horse racing recorded a $29.2 million deficit in 2006 alone...

...Des Moines businessman Bill Knapp is seeking legislation to cut $10 million from racing to spend on other causes, with the possibility of trimming as many as 48 racing days from the season — which was 108 days in 2007.

"It's an election year and there is the possibility that some people may not want to open it up," Knapp said. "I think it's a way to get it out on the table."

Several Prairie Meadows board members say the subsidy for racing needs to be examined. At the same time, however, they are seeking horse owners' support for a bill that would end the need for racetracks to have referendums every eight years to continue offering casino gambling. In return, horse owners would get a guaranteed number of races. Supporting Knapp's proposal is not on Prairie Meadows' legislative agenda.

"The only change we're seeking for next year is to get the referendum changed," Prairie Meadows general manager Gary Palmer said.

The Iowa Legislature got rid of the need for state government-blessed casinos to be on rivers, much less fake bodies of water (Prairie Meadows was the sole exception for years, and that was because Polk County taxpayers were on the hook for $40 million in bonds for the horse racing track....).

So yeah, why not also get rid of the referendum while they're at it?

God forbid if somebody actually votes No. Don't want any opposition while the money's flowing in, now do we?

And if "losing" $29 million a year on horse racing doesn't sound good to the local political coffers, maybe they could close the track and expand the casino where the track currently stands? Maybe build some condos on the land while they're at it. Bill "Dirty" Knapp could develop them with your tax dollars.

And bring back Touchplay! Yeah, yeah!!!!!!!!! That's the ticket!

"Mom, I’m going over there"

From the National Review:

“That’s it for me,” says Krivanek. He’s leaving—he doesn’t want to be counted for any of the other candidates. “It’s Biden or nothing.” His wife doesn’t say it in so many words, but she’s standing by her man.

But their daughter Elle is another matter. “Mom, I’m going over there,” she says nervously. Her mother supports her decision, and Elle heads to the opposite corner of the room with her neighbor — the Edwards side. Cheers erupt, and the caucus is over.

Five minutes later, the final count is handed down:

Edwards: 56
Clinton: 55
Obama: 54

Hillary has picked up only three delegates from the unaligned, while Edwards has gained 13 and Obama 15. This is the same pattern that the rest of the state saw — the same pattern that each of us predicted prior to caucus night. Hillary is no one’s second choice.

Losers

From 24-Hour Dorman in the "Losers" column:

T. Vilsack — Needless to say, this has not been a great year for our former governor. He abandoned his presidential bid, signed on with Hillary and then watched her go down in flames. Just think, he could be in year two of an illustrious third term, counting the triumphs handed to him by an adoring Democratic Legislature.

Yes, he really blew his political capital. And what a legacy he left behind. Iowans will be cleaning up his messes for decades, Democrats included. Thank god he's gone. Now he can make that final move to Washington DC and finish sucking all that lobbyist cock like you know he will.

And from the John Deeth blog:

0 - Hillary Clinton delegates in Iowa City Precincts 3 and 5. Clinton was non-viable in the two University of Iowa dorm precincts. The "students shouldn't caucus" flap may not have helped. Turnout was down from in Precinct 5 from 320 in 2004 to 134 this year, but University Democrats chair Atul Nakhasi was pleased with the mid- break attendance. In Precinct 3, 208 showed up "a little less but not much" than 2004, said Nick Johnson, the law professor who's long chaired his precinct.

Wow! Hillary was "non-viable" in parts of Iowa City! That is just amazing!

Backhanded Compliments About Obama From Moby

From Moby's blog:

barack obama. first off, he has the single worst name anyone could ever have in the history of politics ever ever ever. barack(rhymes with iraq) hussein(like the guy who tried to kill gw's daddy) obama(one consonant away from bush family pal osama bin laden).

personally i see his terrible name as being kind of a plus, as it really couldn't
be worse unless his name was satan hitler babyeater.

he's the least experienced of the candidates but he's also really smart and principled and telegenic. he seems like he would be fun at a barbecue but he'd also be good if you needed help doing your taxes and he'd definitely be nice to you if your goldfish died. ironically i think he's the democrats best chance to win. ironic, as he's:

a-inexperienced
b-1/2 muslim
c-possessed of the worst name in the history of politics

but gw was a coke addict with 2 dui's and a history of running companies
into the ground(not to mention a last name that is colorfully and colloquially used to describe ladies baby making parts). so who knows? barack obama seems like the dem's best choice.

plus it would be awesome to have an african-american president. the rest of the world wouldn't be able to hate us as much, which would be nice.

This, from a vegan, pseudo-Christian techno guy named Dick who plundered public domain recordings of black people into millions of dollars by licensing every one of his "songs" to corporate advertising campaigns.

Suck On This Cracker

Don't forget how many times the DNC and various newspapers and pundits complained about Iowa's "first in the nation" status in recent years because Iowa is full of white people.

Well, DNC and various newspapers and pundits, you can all go suck on a saltine cracker because Iowa delivered a black man as the party favorite when all the polls in other states and nationwide said that Hillary has been leading since day one.

I've got to say this: How do you like them crackers?

Nyah, nyah, nyah.....


Update: Sweet!!!!!! Thanks, Instapundit!

Iowa Aftermath

Hey there, people. I was pretty close in my predictions.

On the Republican side, I'm surprised that Huckabee won, but then I'm not surprised. Somebody had to take the "Christian" vote and you just knew wasn't going to be Romney and it also wasn't going to be Thompson, McCain, or Ron Paul. Overall, I'm not particularly impressed with the Huckabee victory long-term, but you never know.

Speaking of Thompson, he did very very well (3rd place) considering all the negative and false shit dished out by the media. Giuliani didn't (6th!). John McCain will be taking his dead cat bounce in New Hampshire before falling apart.

On the Democratic side, it turned out just like I thought. I thought Edwards might do a little better and Hillary a little worse. But third place for Hillary! Ha ha ha, Vilsack and the Register couldn't deliver Ms Inevitable the state of Iowa!

And how about Obama! I'm watching his live speech right now. I don't like most of his policies, but he's good. Really good.


Update: Joe Says "...it's a dumb way to pick a president..."

Yes, I agree. Iowa ought to have a primary. Time to get out of the mid-1800's.

A Fred Thompson Supporter Writes

From a longtime reader:

State,

I wanted to send you this speech, since I think that I now realize how you feel every morning. Is it normal to feel like you live in a state full of slackjawed morons? If Mike "John Edwards with a bible" wins Iowa tonight, I'm calling in an airstrike on myself & the whole State of Iowa. It would be worth it to take out all the people who can't see through a third-rate con man who wears his religion in a shoulder holster instead of on his sleeve. It's not just "sour grapes" because my candidate may not win; I'd understand a Romney win, or even McCain or Rudy, but Huckabee? Get the Fuck out of here!

Here's the speech:

Hello, My name is ______________, and I’ve come here tonight to vote for Fred Thompson. I’d like to share a few of the reasons why I think Fred Thompson is the best candidate for President. You’ll have to bear with me here, since I’ve never given a speech as important as this one, and I’ve been fighting a wicked cold for the last week or so. I’m going to talk slower than usual to make sure my words don’t run together and make me sound like one of Charlie Brown’s teachers.

Fred Thompson came from humble beginnings. He’s the first member of his family who was able to go to college, and he managed to work his way through both college & law school while working to support his family. He worked as a US Attorney in Tennessee after law school, and was asked to serve as the Republican Counsel to the Watergate hearings by Senator Howard Baker. As the Republican Counsel, he worked to uncover the truth of the matter instead of playing partisan politics. After this experience, he held jobs as a private attorney (where he managed to win a case that resulted in the conviction of the Governor of Tennessee as part of a larger corruption scandal), a United States Senator from the State of Tennessee, and you may have noticed that he also managed to work in a part-time career as an actor. I’ve heard Fred say that his acting comes easy, because every director tells him “Just act like Fred Thompson”.

Fred Thompson has demonstrated consistent conservative principles. He was a conservative yesterday, he’s a conservative today, and, God willing, he’ll be a conservative President in the future. He has laid out more specific issue and policy stances than all the other Republican candidates combined. He’s released the most comprehensive immigration plan out there, a plan to increase our armed forces to a “million man army”, a detailed plan to save social security, and a comprehensive reform of our tax structure.

Fred Thompson was involved heavily in foreign policy during his two terms in the Senate. He chaired the committee that looked into the infusion of Chinese money into the 1996 Presidential Election, and he was also involved with other foreign policy issues as well. He believes that America deserves a strong leader who believes in the greatness of our country. He’ll look out for America’s interests, and I believe that he’s the best man to have on our side of the table facing down our enemies. And mark my words; Fred Thompson walks the walk like he talks the talk. If you watched the Des Moines Register debate, you saw that Fred Thompson was the only important person on that stage. He’s more interested in BEING a leader than looking like one. If Fred Thompson wants to run an ad criticizing an opponent, he’ll just run the ad. You won’t see him calling a press conference to announce why he’s too moral to run his own ad while showing it off to the press at the same time, and then running the ad on FOX News anyway 2 days later.

Fred Thompson also has a consistent pro-life record that reaches far back into his public and private life. He understands that a Constitutional Amendment regulating abortion looks good on paper, but he knows enough about the process to realize that there’s no way that a president from either party is going to get 66 Senators and 37 State Legislatures to support ANY Constitutional Amendment even if it’s one that says the sun will probably rise in the East tomorrow morning. Having a well meaning Constitutional Amendment that cannot be implemented by our divided government as your ONLY plan to steer America onto a pro-life course is tantamount to sitting on your hands & doing nothing on the issue; but Fred Thompson’s plan to appoint Supreme Court justices who believe in adherence to the principles of our founding fathers will return the power to regulate abortion to the states, where public opinion can still be heard over the sound of interest groups opening their checkbooks. The National Right to Life Committee and seven of their state chapters believe that Fred Thompson is the best man to lead our country, and they’ve given him their endorsement.

Fred Thompson stands for what Republicans believe in: lower taxes, limited government, the defense of the unborn, a secure border, the right to keep & bear arms, an immigration policy that respects the rule of law, and an unwavering commitment to the national security of the United States of America. At every point of his life, Fred Thompson has risen to the challenge and answered America’s call. He’s ready to answer the call to service again, and he can win in November against the Democratic nominee.

With your help, he can win tonight in Iowa. Thank you for coming out tonight to caucus, and I’ll be available to answer any questions you might have before precinct voting commences.

Thank you.

Anybody else got a speech written? Throw it in the comments or email it.

Cedar Rapids IMAX is IDEAD

From a reader tip via email, this is from the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Turns out part of the Science Station couldn't be saved after all.

The organization's board announced Wednesday it will close the McLeod/Busse IMAX Dome Theatre on Jan. 20.

The board said attendance has been declining, the theater was losing money and changes in the IMAX industry would make it even harder for the theater to succeed in the future.

"The board and staff made every effort to make the theater work, but ultimately we had to make this very difficult decision," said Dan Thies, president of the board. "The theater has not been profitable in recent years, and we can no longer afford to subsidize it at the expense of our core mission."

The announcement comes 15 months after Science Station officials threatened to close the Science Station and IMAX at 427 First St. SE because of its $1.3 million debt. Adults, children, area businesses and schools rallied and raised more than enough to keep the hands-on science facility open.

Here's a related post on this issue from October 2006 ("IMAX Theater In Cedar Rapids Creates A Lot Of IDEBT").

For a while, back in the mid-1990s, some in Iowa City wanted an IMAX theater, including the eventually proposed "Iowa Child" Rainforest project. Here's an article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette 1996:

...The board of the Iowa City Area Science Center met with experts from around the country Friday to gather information on such a project. They envision a center that would create enthusiasm for science and technology, especially among children, and IOWA CITY draw tourists from around the state...

...There was some debate about the necessity of an Imax or Omnimax theater, mostly because of the cost. However, Mike Sullivan, a consultant to cities planning such venues, said the long-range benefits outweigh the costs.

The theaters help increase attendance by attracting a more blue-collar crowd. Also, theater revenues often are used to cover other museum costs....

Whoops!

Where are you now, Mike Sullivan?

And don't forget this from the January 9, 1999 edition of the CR Gazette:

The Science Station's board is now reviewing a study of the project done by Woodburn, Kyle & Co. of Madison, Ind. The board also is exploring fund-raising options while attempting to gauge the level of community support and interest.

That board was full of incompetent clowns. They sat around while some woman later embezzled $300,000 from under their noses.

And two weeks later January 22nd there was this in the CR Gazette:

Des Moines businessman Ted Townsend wants to build a $270 million science-educational complex in Iowa and plans to make a pitch to Cedar Rapids officials after failing to get support to locate it in Des Moines.
Townsend, president of Townsend Engineering, said he has spent several million dollars researching what he calls the Iowa CHILD Project. He envisions it being modeled after a similar development in Chattanooga, Tenn.

He said it would include a laboratory school, teacher training center, aquarium, science center, rain forest and IMAX theater that would attract enough people to be self-supporting.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Townsend said he was unaware of plans by the Cedar Rapids Science Station to build an IMAX theater, but said he was glad to hear such planning was already under way.

Teel Salaun, president of the Science Station board of directors, said she has heard nothing about Townsend's project, "but we will keep an open mind about his ideas and talk to any group about projects that would promote science education and provide an attraction for Eastern Iowa."

Townsend will outline his project during a meeting Feb. 4 with the Cedar Rapids-Marion Chambers of Commerce Education and Business Forum.

Townsend said he has pledged $10 million toward the capital costs and envisions the state would invest $100 million over five years. He said the entire amount would be paid back in sales taxes from admissions over eight years.

Other capital contributions would come from private sources, local and otherwise, and foundations that he said are eager to become involved.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!

EAGER!!!!!!!!!!

Mr Townsend, you kill me! 9 years later and you've had zip!

Predictions Jack Germond

Numerous people have emailed and asked me for my predictions. I'll just say that Bob Novak and Timothy Carney probably has it pegged somewhat correctly.

Republicans:
1st Place: Mitt Romney
2nd Place: Mike Huckabee
3rd Place: Fred Thompson
4th Place: John McCain

Democrats:
1st Place: Barack Obama
2nd Place: John Edwards
3rd Place: Hillary Clinton
4th Place: Bill Richardson

Romney is going to do well, primarily because of his stance on immigration. Thompson, too. If it was a Romney/Thompson ticket I think the GOP would be unstoppable. Huckabee has blown it, and McCain will probably lose to Ron Paul.

I think Obama is going to do really well, but I think Edwards will surprise people. Many Democrats I've heard from are choosing Edwards as the pragmatic candidate for a variety of reasons: he's not a female former co-president with huge negatives, not black, and in retrospect everybody supporting Edwards in '08 thinks he could have beaten Bush in '04 rather than John Kerry. Remember this about Democrats: winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.

Replace The Iowa Caucus With A Party Primary

Here are a few reasons why the caucus sucks.

And don't forget this.

Honestly, Iowa ought to go back to the way they did things in 1916 and hold a primary based on party affiliation. Can you imagine how different things would be if 25% of registered voters showed up to vote in the primary like in 1916? Iowa wouldn't go back to a caucus, that's for sure.