Lowering The Flag For Heart Attack Victims

From KCCI:

Flags across Iowa are to be flown at half staff in honor of a Reinbeck soldier who died last week in Afghanistan.

Gov. Chet Culver ordered all flags in Iowa to be lowered on Saturday from 8 a.m. until sunset in honor of 53-year-old Command Sgt. Maj. John Laborde. Military officials say Laborde died April 22 of injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident. Laborde's funeral is scheduled for Saturday

What was the actual cause of death? This is from the DMR:

A Reinbeck soldier who died in Afghanistan last week suffered a heart attack, his family said today.

I'm sorry the guy died, but why is Chet Culver continuing this crazy policy of lower the flag to half staff for Iowa soldiers who are killed on active duty? And by active duty it doesn't necessarily mean by enemy fire, but any old reason is good enough to lower the flag.

Back in the day, Chet and the Democrats enacted this new policy as a swipe against this country's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was nothing but using the flag for political purposes. Now because some guy's ticker expired the government is forcing everybody in the state to remember where the flag should be on a Saturday.

It's a nutty policy, and I mean that with no disrespect to the military, but I'm afraid you Iowans are stuck with it long after the Big Lard Of Lug has left Terrace Hill.

She Is Just Another Ramona Cunningham

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

Gotta love the story of former Iowa Association of School Boards head Maxine Kilcrease, who jacked her salary up to $367,000 a year and then couldn't explain to lawmakers what the hell she did to earn it.

As always, the truth is in the comments:

Well I saw the clips on the news last night. When they asked her what her job duties were and she said she didn't have the documents in front of her or access to them I about died laughing. Then the guy asked her to just generalize what she did and she said she couldn't answer that question. What? You make half a million dollars and you can't answer what the heck your job duties were suppose to be? You give your self a raise? Yet you don't know what you did all day? Man ISAB needs to get tax credit for hiring the handicapped.

She is just another Ramona Cunningham.

Throw her in jail, an orange jumpsuit will be perfect for her.

She makes me want to puke.

Her arrogance is incredibile!

Quit wasting time, file charges and make an arrest. Once she's in a position to make plea bargain in return for information, I'm sure we'll learn this is only the tip iceberg when it comes to corruption in the ISAB.

There needs to be an investigation of her time with AEA 11. She ruled like a Queen Bee, over-spent by over $1,000,000 and created a palace for her office. Staff there resigned left and right just to get away from her. The board there passed her on to avoid public scandal. Now that she is out of public power and unable to retaliate, I’m guessing there are a few (hundred?) former servants willing to give statements.

The best defense is a good offense. Her attitude seems to be one of entitlement. Unmitigated gall.

Remember these folks are all Democrats!! The modern-day Democrat party has become one big criminal enterprise. This is not my grandfather's political party.

It's true, they're all Democrats.

And they're all funded with money dished out by Senator Tom Harkin.

What is it about Senator Tom Harkin and scandal, waste, fraud, and abuse?

Harkin belongs in prison, not the Senate.

Obama Lies About Cutting Taxes In Ottumwa

Kathie Obamadovich, the hack columnist for the Des Moines Register, had a column yesterday ("President Strives To Deflate His Critics") about Obama's campaign appearance amongst a selected crowd of gay clapping seals in Ottumwa and said this:

He also brought something a bit sharper. He directly worked to deflate the criticism that has been floating his way - criticism from the tea party over high taxes, for example.

"We passed 25 different tax cuts last year to help people make ends meet," Obama said. "So when you hear people hollerin' about tax cuts, we've cut taxes."

So what about those alleged 25 different tax cuts last year?

These are the "tax cuts" in the "fake stimulus" bill that Obama signed on February 17, 2009:

1. "Making Work Pay" Tax Credit (Sec. 1001, Page 195). In tax years 2009 and 2010, the Making Work Pay provision will provide a refundable tax credit of 6.2 percent of earned income up to $400 for individuals and up to $800 for married taxpayers filing joint returns.

That seems legit enough, although that comes out to $2.19 a day for a married couple, and it was passed during a year in which America had a nearly $2 trillion deficit.

2. Increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (Sec. 1002, Page 198). Go to the stimulus bill for all the details, but it essentially expands this benefit for the working poor.

EITC isn't a tax cut. It's welfare.

3. Increased Eligibility for the Refundable Portion of Child Credit (Sec. 1003, Page 199). In 2009 and 2010, families who don’t earn enough to pay income tax would be eligible to claim the $1,000 child credit.

Child tax credits aren't a tax cut. It's welfare.

4. "American Opportunity" Education Tax Credit (Sec. 1004, Page 199). Increases the Hope Scholarship Credit to $2,500.

You've got to be enrolled in college and meet certain income guidelines.

5. Refundable First-time Home Buyer Credit. (Sec. 1006, Page 202). This extended and increased the first-time home buyer tax credit from $7,500 to $8,000.

You have to be a first-time home buyer, and then home sales aren't exactly setting the world on fire. Then what happens to the market once it expires?

6. Temporary Suspension of Taxation of Unemployment Benefits (Sec. 1007, Page 203). This exempts from taxable gross income the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits.

Doesn't help working people, and complicates things for unemployed people.

7. Tax Credits for Energy-Efficient Improvements to Existing Homes (Sec. 1121, Page 208). This provides up to a $1,500 tax credit for qualified energy efficiency improvements.

You have to spend a huge amount of money to qualify for this tax credit, which is really little more than a government-sponsored rebate.

8. Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases (Sec. 1008, Page 203). This allows people to write off state and local sales taxes related to the purchase of a new vehicle costing up to $49,500.

Again, you have to spend a huge amount of money to qualify for this rebate.

9. Premium Credits for COBRA Continuation Coverage for Unemployed Workers (Sec. 6432, Page 348)

COBRA ain't cheap, as anybody who has been unemployed would know.

10. Economic Recovery Credits to Recipients of Social Security, SSI, Railroad Retirement and Veterans Disability Compensation Benefits (Sec. 2201, Page 336). This was a $250 payment for senior citizens, disabled veterans and disabled people living on Social Security benefits.

An extra 68 cents a day for non-workers!

11. Computers as Qualified Education Expenses in 529 Education Plans (Sec. 1005, Page 202). This allows college students to write off the expense of computers and software, provided it's for educational purpose and not for games.

How much money do you think this saved low-income, debt-ridden college students? And do you write off the purchase of a $500 computer for the child's or the parents' tax rate? What does it matter?

12. Plug-in Electric Drive Vehicle Credit (Sec. 1141, Page 212). Allows purchasers of plug-in electric vehicles to write off up to $5,000 of their purchase (depending on the power of the battery).

I love this one. It gave a huge boost to the luxury golf cart market last year.

13. Tax Parity for Transit Benefits (sec. 1151, Page 219). This relates to an increased exclusion amount for commuter transit benefits and transit passes.

What?

14. Health Coverage Tax Credit Expansion (Sec. 1899, Page 309).

More complex stuff.

Here are the Small Business Tax Cuts:

1. Extension of Enhanced Small Business Expensing (Sec. 1202, Page 221). This is a temporary increase in limitations on expensing some depreciable business assets.

2. 5-Year Carryback of Net Operating Losses for Small Businesses (Sec. 1211, Page 221).

3. Extension of Bonus Depreciation (Sec. 1201, Page 220). This extends by a year election to accelerate the AMT and Research Credits in lieu of bonus depreciation.

4. Exclusion of 75% of Small Business Capital Gains from Taxes (Sec. 1241, Page 228).

5. Temporary Small Business Estimated Tax Payment Relief (Sec. 1212, Page 222).

6. Temporary Reduction of S Corporation Built-In Gains Holding Period from 10 Years to 7 Years (Sec. 1251, Page 228).

I don't understand any of that.

Finally, Other Business Tax Cuts:

1. Advanced Energy Investment Credit (Sec. 1302, Page 231). This relates to properties designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as those that produce energy from the sun, wind, geothermal deposits, fuel cells, microturbines, or an energy storage system for use with electric or hybrid-electric vehicles.

2. Tax Credits for Alternative Refueling Property (Sec. 1123, Page 211). This is a temporary increase for alternative fuel vehicle refueling businesses.

3. Work Opportunity Tax Credits for Hiring Unemployed Veterans and Disconnected Youth (Sec. 1221, Page 223). This is a tax credit to provide incentive to businesses to hire unemployed veterans and "disconnected youth." That latter term is defined, in part, as young adults "not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of basic skills."

4. Delayed Recognition of Certain Cancellation of Debt Income (Sec. 1231, Page 224).

5. Election to Accelerate Recognition of Historic AMT/R&D Credits (Sec. 1201, Page 220).

And I don't understand any of that, either.

There you have it. The 25 tax "cuts" according to President Obama and what Katie Obamadavich at the Des Moines Register did not tell you in full.

What is the matter with those angry, racist, spitting, and violent teabagging Republicans? Those Nazis! Those Klansmen! Those ungrateful jerks living in Aztlan!

Listen up, the Great Obama has given you tax cuts. Be grateful and obedient to The Won, or else we'll call out the S.W.A.T. team!

Illegals Out Wandering Around

The Des Moines Register's White Editorial Board has always been pro-illegal and pro-exploitation of migrant workers, so it's not surprising that they offer up an editorial that indicates they want "immigration reform" passed this year.

What exactly does the Editorial Board mean by this?

It's the usual stuff: work with the Mexican government, have high numbers of immigration quotas so Mexicans and others can come here and work despite many areas having unemployment in excess of 10%, give illegals who are here amnesty, don't build a wall, and let the criminals to the front of the line.

The Register also spends half the editorial chastising Arizona and their recently-passed and popular law which enables local and state cops to enforce existing Federal laws on the books. The horror!!! After all, what the hell does Arizona know about this subject? Those stupid unenlightened racists and bigots. Don't they know Iowans need their meth and cheap pork?

I'm sure the White People on the Register's Editorial Board haven't a clue what the Mexican government will do to you if you show up illegally in their country.

Maybe they ought to read this:

I'm planning to travel to Mexico. Do I need a passport?

Entry to Mexico: As of March 1, 2010, all U.S. citizens – including children -- must present a valid passport, book or card, for travel beyond the “border zone” into the interior of Mexico. Entry by any means, for example by plane or car, is included in this requirement. The “border zone” is generally defined as an area between 20 to 30 kilometers of the border with the U.S., depending on the location. Stays of less than 12 hours within the border zone do not require a visa or tourist card.

U.S. citizens traveling as tourists beyond the border zone or entering Mexico by air must pay a fee to obtain a tourist card, also known as an FM-T, available from Mexican border crossing points, Mexican tourism offices, airports within the border zone and most airlines serving Mexico.

Upon arrival in Mexico, business travelers must complete and submit a form (Form FM-N 30 days) authorizing the conduct of business, but not employment, for a 30-day period. Travelers entering Mexico for purposes other than tourism or business or for stays of longer than 180 days require a visa and must carry a valid U.S. passport. U.S. citizens planning to work or live in Mexico should apply for the appropriate Mexican visa at the Embassy Of Mexico

at
1911 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
telephone (202)736-1000

or any Mexican consulate in the United States

Entry to the US by land or sea: Regardless of your final destination in Mexico, all U.S. citizens age 16 or over must present either a U.S. passport book or card to re-enter the U.S. by land or sea. Minors under the age of 16 may enter the U.S. via the land border with a certified birth certificate, consular report of birth abroad, citizenship certificate, or naturalization certificate.

Entry to the US by air: All citizens, regardless of age, entering the U.S. by air must present a U.S. passport book. A passport card is not acceptable for entry to the US by air.

U.S. legal permanent residents in possession of their I-551 Permanent Resident card may enter the United States from Mexico by land, air, or sea.

American citizens do not need to apply for a tourist visa before leaving. On entering the country as a tourist, you will be given a blue tourist card that serves as your visa. This visa will indicate the length of time you are allowed to stay in Mexico—usually 90 days.

Americans who travel to Mexico for other purposes (such as work, study, business, religious activities or permanent residence) will need a Mexican visa. You can review visa requirements on the web page of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Wait a minute!

You can't just walk into Mexico, start working, and expect to be fast-tracked towards Mexican citizenship and government benefits by merely showing up??? You mean you'll be arrested, jailed, likely beaten up and robbed by local government officials, and deported?

Duh! Who knew that?

How Government Saves Money

Just yesterday we saw a story in the Iowa City Press-Citizen where a reporter could only manage to present figures rather than actually running the numbers and comparing costs of an expensive train against current modes of transportation ("Gravy Train").

Today, the Press-Citizen does it again with a story ("Swapping The Lights, Brimming With Savings") about how the City of Iowa City is going to save a boatload of money by swapping out light bulbs and fixtures in their parking ramps for new, expensive LEDs.

The only problem is, the local government is going to spend $1,250,000 in order to save about $60,000 a year.

Payback time? At least 21 years!

What's the warranty on most commercial LED light bulbs and fixtures? Maybe 5 to 10 years?

And considering that LED light bulbs and fixtures cost a mint right now, I wonder if thieves will target the parking ramps in order to steal them?

Over a million dollars would buy a heck of a lot of building integrated photovoltaics from Iowa Thin Film out of Ames. Couldn't you mount some solar panels on top of each parking ramp? And if you're going to waste money, why not spend it on an Iowa-based company?

Clapping Like A Gay Seal In Ottumwa

Click over to RealClearPolitics and watch the video of the Kenny Rogers look-a-like on the left side of the screen, clapping like a gay seal after everything Obama says. This video was shot during Obama's appearance in Ottumwa today.

Gravy Train

A story in the Iowa City Press-Citizen today about how locals there keep waiting for the Federal gravy train to deliver $256 million so that sort-of high-speed rail (up to 79 mph) can be developed between Iowa City, the Quad Cities, and Chicago.

Involved with this guaranteed money-burning scam is former Rainforest apologist Nancy Quellhorst, who will believe any massively-inflated attendance figures shoved under her eyelids as long as the taxpayer is getting fleeced.

Some consultant was paid to lie and suggest that 120,000 people a year will take the route between Iowa City and Chicago for $42. That's 329 people a day. That projection seems ridiculously high for a route that can be driven in less time for about $30 with a normal car. If you have passengers then the driving costs go even further down.

And they want the Feds to spend $256 million in order to maybe/possibly get $5 million in revenue per year? (120,000 x $42). That sounds like a complete disaster.

In the comments was a link to a Press-Citizen story from last month about a bus service called MegaBus between Iowa City and Chicago that starts at $1 per person.

I ran some schedules at MegaBus.com and found that somebody in Iowa City could get a trip to Chicago depending on time of day for anywhere between $5 and $12 one-way, and a return trip between $8 and $15. Des Moines to Chicago prices were the same. That includes free WiFi and electrical outlets for laptops in each row.

Why aren't newspapers deriding this idea as a complete waste of money and lampooning idiots like Nancy Quellhorst? Most everybody already is in the comments. You do the math and it totally does not make any sense to waste a quarter of a billion dollars on 130-year old transportation methods. What's next? Get the Feds to bring back the covered wagon? The Mormon pushcart?

Rapist-Enabler Roxanne Conlin Gets A Register Puff Piece

It's not surprising, is it?

The wombyn who are running the Des Moines Register into the ground continue on with the orgasmafest over rapist-enabler Roxanne Conlin's quest for the Democratic nomination to challenge Chuck "Rainforest" Grassley.

Today the Register had a puff piece by pro-illegal alien advocate Jennifer Jacobs with the offensive headline "Conlin keeps up theme of fighting injustice."

You've got to wonder what the female athlete who was sexually assaulted by University of Iowa Basketball Player/Rapist Pierre Pierce back in 2002 thought of Roxanne Conlin "mediating" Pierce out of a Class C felony and possible placement on the Iowa Sex Offender list.

Where's the justice for rape victims, Roxanne?

Where's the justice for rape victims, Jennifer Jacobs?

Where's the justice for rape victims, Des Moines Register?

As always, the real pulse is in the comments:

The idea that fat cat Conlins are fighting injustice is a joke.

This is the BEST the Dems can do???

theme of injustice..... WOW..... talk about the pot calling the kettle black.......

oh boy great another trial lawyer who wants to be a senator

Yes, Roxanne and hubby legally owed no Iowa income taxes in 1982, but what did she do to fight this injustice?

Another candidate that is more of the same. For every "poor" person she has "helped" how many has she hurt?

So CONVICTED DRUNK DRIVER CONLIN was "FOOLED" by John Edwards - CAN WE AFFORD TO HAVE SOMEONE IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE WHO CAN BE SO EASILY FOOLED???!!!???!!!???

Nice puff piece DMR. The warrior for social justice who's husband routinely puts people on the street while taking low income housing tax credits. The social justice warrior who sued for 255 million dollars so the little guy could get a 10 dollar rebate. I am sure glad she fights for the little guy like her friend John Edwards. Grassley is no prize, but if you think Roxanne is going to fight to do anything other than exactly what the party or admin wants your probably still waiting for your check from Microsoft.

she also needs to stop BLAMING her alcoholism on her DEAD FATHER, who is not around to defend himself.

Yeah, just what we need...another drunk wealthy trial lawyer who loves to pass the blame onto other people in office! My lord, do all these democrats actually believe the garbage that comes out of their mouths????

On a cold November night, Roxy stands before her two dozen followers and delivers her concession speech; "Well, I guess Iowa was just not ready to elect a self aggrandizing, myopic, trial lawyer WOMAN to the Senate... It is a pity that we live in such a backward state, one that does not appreciate a one dimensional candidate such as myself. I have decided therefore to pack up my meager possessions and move to Boca Raton, Florida. There I will bask with my fellow has-beens who have been put out to pasture.... Now, who's got the scotch???"

How's this for injustice: A guy starts from scratch and builds a computer software company that becomes one of the great American corporations of all time, only to be sued by a money-grubbing trial lawyer, claiming that the company overcharged for a product by $30 or $40 dollars. And then the lawyer and her firm collect $50 million or $75 million in legal fees that must be paid by the American corporation. Now, THAT'S INJUSTICE.

Conlin sued Microsoft in Iowa, MN, and Wisonsin...tell me she is not in it for the money.

Yea lets send another lawyer to Washington. Thats like asking a fox to guard the hen house.

Wow! The Uber-biased Des Moines Register does it again. They provide us more proof that they are nothing more than a propaganda machine. The register is NOT a NEWSpaper.

Todd Dorman Gets Asked About The State 29 Blog At Tea Party Rally

I've always liked Todd Dorman, the snarky-but-professional reporter and columnist who used to cover the Statehouse for the Quad City Times until wisely jumping to the Cedar Rapids Gazette a few years back. In recent years, especially after moving out of state, I lost touch with Dorman's columns, but am now following them again. He's a good writer and a good person, unlike me.

A few days back I got an email from a Tea Party dude in Cedar Rapids who mentioned Dorman. I said something like Mumble To Him About How State 29 Says Hi. I didn't say that, but that's how it ended up in Dorman's column about the Tea Party rally there yesterday. As an extra bonus I got sent the above photo, featuring Dorman (left) and the Tea Party Dude (right).

For all the vitriol I give the Gannettoids, and I've been dishing it out by the backhoe-full to them lately, I think I should point out what's right with newspapers and the media and give credit when credit is due.

Dorman's column ("Nearby Tea Party Draws Local Columnist") walks across the street, talks to people, quotes them, doesn't gin up or regurgitate any bogus lefty meme, and gives people the right to privacy if they decline to answer who they are or where they work. You've got to totally respect that. We don't see enough of that by reporters or columnists these days. I do believe that quality reporting and commentary like that will be what makes local news survive and thrive in future years while the jaded, axe-to-grind types flail towards bankruptcy and jobs in government or academia as more-professional spinners.

Now, I don't go to Tea Parties. There have been a whole bunch down here. People lining the streets last year and having gatherings this year. It's just not my sort of thing. Yes, I think Barack Obama has been a lousy President and Pelosi sucks and Reid sucks, and the Democrats are going to lose a huge number of seats in November. But I also think that President McCain would have been a lousy President. And do you Republicans really trust politicians like Chuck Grassley or Steve King? We've seen Chuck Grassley with power - he couldn't bother to do jack about the growing menace called the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for all the years he chaired the Senate Whatever Committee. His "bankruptcy reform" law was a joke. And he whittled away his time funding fraudulent earmarks like the Rainforest scam. Can you imagine Steve King with absolute power like the Democrats currently have in Congress? Instead of doing the right thing, King's first order of business would be pushing nonsense like this.

I read where in Iowa City they had Republican political candidates showing up to the Tea Party event and talking. That would turn me off. Don't you politicians have a parade to foul up? Can't you organize your own events? Why do you have to piggyback on something like a Tea Party gathering? And in super liberal Iowa City? Why bother speaking in Iowa City? There's like 40 Republicans in all of Johnson County. Quit wasting your time!

Yes, I got off the beaten path there, but I wanted to let you all know where I stand. Not that it matters. Only November matters.

Good job, Dorman. We love you out here in flyover and combover country.

Now if you could just explain to me how Cedar Rapids could go from an old, sleepy lefty (Kay Halloran, Kay Chapman back-in-the day when she was in the Statehouse) as Mayor - to Republican Ron Putain De Corbett, the former Speaker Of The House in the Iowa Legislature, in one election cycle. I realize that everybody in that city's government was vulnerable following the major flood a couple years ago, but going from Halloran to Corbett was a sea change I didn't think was possible.

Rapist-Enabler Roxanne Conlin Has Money In The Bank

Jennifer Jacobs, a radical Leftist operative and a pro-illegal immigration cheerleader masquerading as a "reporter" for the Des Moines Register, mentioned yesterday ("Roxanne Conlin has raised $1.5 million so far") that rapist-enabler Roxanne Conlin has raised a bunch of money in her futile run for the Senate seat currently held by Chuck "Rainforest" Grassley.

Also dutifully rewritten from the same press release was this: "She [Rapist-enabler Roxanne Conlin] has not accepted one penny from Washington lobbyists or PACs."

Yes, rapist-enabler Roxanne Conlin accepted her money the old fashioned way: she shook down companies like Microsoft by dragging them into court and suggesting that they overcharged customers of Microsoft Office anywhere from $10.50 to $57.

So that copy of Office you bought recently? That has greedy, rapist-enabling lawyers like Roxanne Conlin charges built-in to the price now.

Looking at another story about rapist-enabler Conlin in today's Des Moines Register by Thomas Beaumont, the real story is in the comments. Something about rapist-enabler Conlin getting busted for drunk driving in the mid 1990s. That had escaped my radar. Krusty Konservative at the Iowa Republican has a little more on this, including the mug shot, which I've added below:



I also got a big chuckle discovering this post by Emily Geiger at the Iowa Republican which links to this blog and references rapist-enabler Conlin as a "Rapist Enabler".

You know I hate Chuck Grassley, but rapist-enabler Roxanne Conlin would be far, far worse for Iowa and the country.

Sure, Roxanne has admitted she's a drunk. Goody for her. She also was supporting John Edwards when Edwards had already knocked up and made sex tapes with Rielle Hunter while his cancer-stricken wife was receiving treatments. And you know she'd be nothing but an Obama rubber stamp.

Pay No Attention To That Unemployed Man Behind The Curtain

Despite the unemployment rate in Iowa continuing to rise, "reporter/puppet" Donnelle Eller at the Des Moines Register actually spun the State-released job figures in a way that made it look like things were improving.

Eller even quoted some unnamed "state leader" as saying that the "state’s economy is on the mend", even though tax receipts fell all through 2009 and are being spun positive as of March although "the numbers may be skewed".

It's Sarah Palin's Fault, You Know

In a story involving a high speed chase down Fleur Drive that eventually led to the arrest of a drug dealing piece of shit from Colorado wanted by law enforcement on a couple of fugitive warrants, this is what asshole "reporter" Daniel Finney at the Des Moines Regiter wrote as his lead paragraph and some editor signed off on:

It looked like a high-speed VIP procession coming from the Des Moines airport — except for the lead vehicle, a worn green minivan with a McCain-Palin bumper sticker.

Ha ha ha, ho ho ho, isn't that funny? A REPUBLICAN bumper sticker on the minivan containing that criminal? Gee, and the people involved are all black! I bet the snooty white liberals in the newsroom had huge belly laughs when discovering that bit of ironic non-news which was entirely irrelevant to the story.

And who knows what the story is about the minivan, much less how the bumpersticker got on there? We'll never know.

Anything to demonstrate Palin Derangement Syndrome.

Daniel Finney, you're just another leftist asshole punk at the Des Moines Register, riding that newspaper's history down into the ditch.

You didn't need to write the story that way. But feel free to keep yourself on the path to the unemployment line and Gannett's financial future headed towards bankruptcy, douchebag.

Finney, you got to score your political brownie points against Republicans and got to use black criminals as a way to do it. Where did you learn that from? Your days at the St Louis Post-Dispatch? I bet you did, you jerk.

Todd Thomas Really Means That The Des Moines Register Has Made His Father's Murderer Look Like A Victim

Mark Becker, the convicted murderer of beloved Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas, was sentenced today and the Thomas family gave victim impact statements.

Noteworthy is Parker's son, Todd Thomas, and his statement. This first caught my eye from the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Todd Thomas looked at Becker and told him everyone has tried to blame everybody else for what happened except him. “The only person to blame is you.” The media has done a good job at making Becker look like a victim but nobody forced him to take drugs and nobody forced him to pull the trigger that day, he said.

What "media" is Todd Thomas referring to here?

Here is Todd Thomas's statement in the Des Moines Register:

The media has done a good job of trying to make you the victim of this whole thing. The media has done a good job of getting people to become very sympathetic towards you, and some people actually believe that you are a victim. My father is the only true victim of this crime.

And which media might Todd Thomas be referring to here?

Might it be the crass Des Moines Register, who published psychiatrist Dr Tim Olson's rant in the Register yesterday? The one where Olson blamed the "1980's political climate" on convicting murderers instead of letting them off with being declared insane for a while?

You know what Olson means by "1980's political climate". Register editorial page editor Linda Lantor Fandel couldn't resist publishing a piece by some Reagan-hater in order to exploit maximum partisan political flames at a difficult time for the Thomas family and others. It's sickening, really, but that's the Des Moines Register for you. That's how low they sink.

There have been other pieces written and letters by the usual "open the prisons" anarchists and Radical Far Leftists. I've read them in the Register over the past few months, especially during the trial. They're all a bunch of sickos who think every murderer is "crazy" and can be rehabilitated eventually or get the "treatment" they need, or something. I don't have time to go back and link or quote to all that noise, nor do I really want to. Trust me. They are there.

Nothing would please these lunatics more than to have a judge give Becker a new trial so that the family, students, friends, and community can suffer again - with the ultimate goal of having a liberal activist judge getting Becker committed to a mental health facility so that some day in 20 or 30 years he can walk out a free man. Then the Register can write more stupid editorials lauding the decision. Puke.

The Tolerant Left

Reid Forgrave has a big piece in the Sunday Des Moines Register on the area's Tea Party movement. These sorts of things have to be explained to the dwindling leftist audience the newspaper caters to these days. Radical Leftist political science professors at ISU get to speculate openly about the motives of the Tea Party types, and quotes are cherry-picked from particular protesters.

Yawn.

What's interesting is what the Des Moines Register allows in the comments. Apparently, using the slur "tea bag" or "teabagger" is perfectly OK by pro-Obama statist types.

Here's the definition of Teabagging at the Urban Dictionary:

the insertion of one man's sack into another person's mouth. Used a practical joke or prank, when performed on someone who is asleep, or as a sexual act.

In fact, the first time this blog has heard of the term "tea bagging" was in this State 29 post from 2005:

Police say that on more than several occasions, six upperclassmen forcibly restrained freshmen wrestlers in the locker room and allowed others to rub their genitalia on the younger students' faces and heads.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said sexual assault charges were not filed because the wrestlers' genitalia did not touch the younger students' lips.

When the "tolerant left" throws out the word "teabagger" or any variety to slur dissenters who believe government has gotten too big, people are taxed and regulated too much, and that the country is on the wrong course, they're basically calling the Tea Party activists a bunch of sexual assault types.

With that in mind, here is a sampling of some of the comments left in the online edition of the Register's article, and allowed by the Register's editors:

NORML515 wrote: Are "Green Tea bags" acceptable protest gear?

Scottie wrote: ...The Tea Bags are right wingers...

Runfree wrote: The tea party hate mongers are anti President Obama! They are driven by hate an bigotry--not fairness or justice for all Americans. They are no different that the Taliban or the Nazi's--disgruntled, loser, misfits.

DeadMoan wrote: I notice there are never black or hispanic folks in the tea party. Hmmm... White racism?

RonnieLDobbs wrote: It's too bad the Tea-Baggers have been infiltrated by racists and Bible Thumpers. They say they want less government intrusion, yet they want to shove religion down everybody's throats.

Fizzypop wrote: I am just waiting for the tea baggers to break out into different factions. I wonder if it will be the Green tea baggers verses the Black tea baggers. Perhaps an Independent sect known as the earl grey baggers?

blackbag wrote: The baggers have allot of great points, you have to admit. Government is corrupt and they are calling them out. Someone has to...

IowaDoc wrote: It seems clear that they are being inflamed and manipulated by the Right-Wing media, especially Faux News. And many of them have their facts mixed up and seem to be angry about things that aren't even accurate or true. They say they are upset with Bush (and they should be if they really care about spending), but let's face it, they are Repbublicans to the core and the end result will be to drive the GOP further to the right.

CarrotCakeMan wrote: Psychologists call this projection. Most Americans see right through this. We know the tea party is just a GOP concoction. Same people, same insults, same bad ideas... ...We do worry about more violence from these tea people...

Durnit wrote: All these tea baggers have one thing in common: WHITE PASTY FACES................. ............makes you wonder what their true motivation/fear is.

JibJab wrote: So who's the real tea-baggers?

Yes, it is very interesting what the Justices At The Des Moines Register will allow.

Alfredo Parrish Has A Thing For Black Male Rapist-Athletes

Alfredo Parrish is THE defense lawyer for any guilty rapist criminal who is black and/or rich enough and who happens to be in Iowa, and he won a big victory today in Iowa City for former Hawkeye football player/rapist Abeberell Satterfield.

According to the DMR, Parrish got Satterfield's second and third degree sexual assault charges (better known as "rape") reduced to an aggravated misdemeanor in exchange for testimony against one of the other rapists.

This entire fiasco of a story broke while State 29 was on hiatus, but I remember reading about it. UI Dean of Students Phil Jones and Veep for Legal Affairs Marcus Mills were fired in the aftermath of the rape case. Football coach Kirk Ferentz, AD Gary Barta, and Associate AD Fred Mims were all involved with railroading the victim, her parents, and causing evidence to be intentionally destroyed. More at Black Heart Gold Pants about this.

Alfredo Parrish was also Pierre Pierce's lawyer during both his 2001 sexual assault case and the 2005 assault to commit sexual abuse and other charges.



Let's also not forget that "Rapist Enabler" Roxanne Conlin (pictured above), one of the Democrat primary candidates likely to run against Senator Chuck Grassley in November, helped keep Pierre Pierce out of prison during his first sexual assault charge.

I just love that when you Google the name "Roxanne Conlin", a State 29 blog post ("Rapist-Enabling Democrat Roxanne Conlin Gets 10 People To Show Up To Hear Her In Algona") is showing on the second page of results.

The Justices At The Des Moines Register

Just a reminder of who sits on the Des Moines Register's Editorial Board:

Laura Hollingsworth is the Register's President and Publisher. She has a bachelor's degree in communication and is a Gannettoid lifer.

Carolyn Washburn is the Register's Editor and Vice-President. She has a degree in something from Indiana University and has been in the newspaper industry since 1984.

Linda Lantor Fandel is the Editorial page editor for the Register. She has a political science degree with honors, and also studied Russian in graduate school.

Rox Laird is an Editorial writer and beta male for the Register. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from ISU.

Andie Dominick is an Editorial writer for the Register. She has a bachelor's in English and a master's in creative writing from ISU.

So it was rather amusing to read the Register's Editorial today concerning the 18 (and counting) states that have filed lawsuits against the Federal government over the Constitutionality of the individual mandate to purchase health insurance in the recent health scare reform bill, and other issues that will surely bankrupt states.

It's funny how they brush it off so easily:

These lawsuits are as much about politics as anything. Almost all were filed by Republicans.

Oh yes, Republicans. Those evil, mean, racist, spitting, teabagging, Faux News-watching, capitalist pig Republicans!

And then the Register's Justices wrote in their opinion:

But politics aside, the constitutional questions about such a mandate have long been the subject of debate - many years before Congress started talking about this. The courts should finally settle the matter.

Yes, they should.

Bring it on!

Because if the courts hold that Congress can require Americans to purchase something, under threat of fine by the IRS and possible imprisonment, that means that Congress can require you to purchase anything.

Anything.

Do you really want that door left open so far, Register Justices?

Then the Justices hedge their bets with:

Is the mandate unconstitutional? We'll see. Is it necessary? No.

Yes, is the mandate unconstitutional? How the hell should Laura, Carolyn, Linda, Rox, or Andie know with their creative writing and political science degrees? They certainly wouldn't know the answer to that.

I wonder when the last time any of these dimwits read the Constitution?

Gee, that would be a good question for some troublemaker blogger to ask them some time.

To them, I'm sure, they regard the Constitution as a "living, breathing document" that they need to beat the hell out of to see what's in it: "Maybe if we hit it harder with a baseball bat, Socialized medicine will ooze out of it, free for everybody!"

Actually, they don't care if the individual mandate gets thrown. Why, Obamacare has all sorts of other lovely things in it designed to destroy the private insurance industry in a few years while bankrupting the country.

Right, Justices?

I'm sure all of you Register Justices read the Obamacare bill after Congress passed it and Obama signed it. Correct?

Oh, you didn't?

And you haven't read the Constitution either?

Do you Register Justices read anything?

Maybe we the people should stop reading your monopoly, corporate newspaper, the same way you people have stopped reading the Constitution, the bills going through Congress, and complete scams of legislation that get passed by the Iowa Legislature.

The Real Hippies Of Iowa City

This blog has been following the contentious school redistricting plans going on in Iowa City, mostly because of the amusingly stupid nature of the radical Socialists attempting to screw up the lives of families there by wanting to bus kids all over town under the guise of socio-economic fairness.

Today I noticed an op-ed in the Iowa City Press-Citizen ("The Missing Element In Redistricting") that was nothing but pure hippie Acapulco gold. Read along while I deconstruct the semiotics of the piece.

For starters, it was written by two people, Tim Barrett and Jodie Plumert. Described at the end as "parents" by the newspaper, I could guess that if they weren't married then they were likely cohabiting life partners. Along with that would be at least a single child of similar shared genetic makeup or perhaps an adopted child with one or the other's last names, or maybe even a hyphenated hybrid.

As it turns out, both Barrett and Plumert live under the same roof. Timothy is a gray, bearded research scientist at the University of Iowa whose "current research is focused on the non-destructive analysis of European paper made between the 14th and the 19th centuries-- a study made possible by funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services." In other words, a beta-male.

Dr Jodie Plumert is a professor in the Psychology department at the University of Iowa. I'll bet nobody can ever address her a second time without being reminded that "doctor" is her first name. Just sayin'.

Not surprisingly, Barrett and Doc Plumert both give money to political causes. Tim gave $1164 to Obama in 2008. Doc Plumert did the same thing, but more: $2050. "Jodi" was such an early supporter of our B+ President, that she got namechecked in a 2007 CNN article about Oprah's support.

Additional hippie cred: both are Friends. No, not the TV show. They're Quakers.

With all that disclosure, now we can get to the meat of the op-ed.

They start off with:

The most significant goal of the current redistricting effort is to equalize the distribution of all socioeconomic groups in our schools, from the elementary school level to the high school level. By doing so, the challenges for teachers and staff would be more fairly distributed, and the educational experience of all students would be improved.

What is that supposed to mean? Oh yes, spread the misery.

Iowa City, like many Democrat-run cities in Eastern Iowa, has a rather active recruitment agenda for poor black ghetto youth from cities like Chicago. The hippies there call it "affordable housing", but it's mostly the use of your tax dollars to let some 23 year old fat ho-bag with numerous children give her crack-dealing, blunt-smoking "boyfriend" or "fiance" a chance to lay low while on the run from Illinois law enforcement.

Reading earlier data on the goals of redistricting in Iowa City, it seems that most parents in that liberal utopia rated socio-economic redistribution of their children as extremely low. And I haven't seen any "poor" parents writing letters to or op-eds in the Press-Citizen about letting their child attend a "wealthy" elementary school.

Back to Tim Barrett and Doc Plumert's piece. They talk about how the educational experience of all students would be improved if school boundaries are cut based on socio-economic levels, which is always factored by the number of free or reduced priced lunch recipients.

Have there been any districts that have tried to redistribute kids based on socio-economic status?

Why yes, there has been at least one with a failed 10 year record of this.

In Wake County, North Carolina (Raleigh), the district started busing kids around based on socio-economic status in 2000.

Since that time, education has not improved for the children.

And, just a couple of weeks ago, the school board there decided to declare the experiment as failed and to return to neighborhood schools.

This leads to op-eds by stupid liberals like Marion Wright Edelman, who is sounding the siren call that schools are drifting back to the day of segregation by having neighborhood schools.

I'm sure The Real Hippies Of Iowa City have not studied the issue in Wake County over the years. They just blindly support whatever idiotic Socialist trendy thing that comes down the road while scratching their hirsute selves and declaring anybody against their ideas as racist.

Now, Tim Barrett and Dr Jodie Plumert don't overtly call you a racist if you're against their opinions. It's subtler. It sounds something like this (emphasis added by State 29):

While we realize there would be serious practical issues for some parents in some of the proposed scenarios, we feel that much of the underlying resistance comes from a fear of others who are not like us. This fear underlies a long history of unfair and uninformed comments made about elementaries with a high percentage of free- and reduced-lunch students...

...Is fear of others not like us what we want to teach our children? Or do we instead want to take this opportunity to stand for diversity, and make changes that help our children get to know peers from as many backgrounds as possible? If we make a commitment to this together, we stand a good chance of our children coming away with the notion there is one human community, not a collection of "others."...

...Although hindsight is 20/20, it is now clear there was no "buy-in" from the community about increasing socioeconomic diversity in our schools prior to discussions about redrawing lines. Without a shared commitment to increasing diversity, what ensued is not surprising. We believe the community needs to initiate open and honest discussions about whether we actually want socioeconomic diversity in our public schools...

...We're optimistic Iowa City is capable of embracing diversity in our schools, and we hope everyone will join together in working hard to find a way forward.

Or else you're a fear-mongering racist!

Even though it wasn't initially the #1 preference of parents to have their kids moved around to whatever school some Obama-bootlicking beta-male and his "doctor" wife approved of because there are "poor" kids around, that should be the main goal now according to The Real Hippies Of Iowa City.

Get it?

Yes, hippies are funny people, aren't they?

They claim to always represent the "poor" and the "minorities". Frankly, that's patronizing and insulting if you're poor and black.

You know what else is wrong about this op-ed? Even though they send their children to an elementary school with poor black kids attending, they seem to want every school to have this.

Wait a second! Are there enough poor black kids in Iowa City to bus around?

If Tim and Doc get their way, will each elementary school have the correct number? Or will rich white people have to import more black kids from failed Chicago schools and broken homes?

Really, this sort of logic is sick, but it's what these hippies want.

And if poor black kids are such a good thing for the elementary school where your kids attend, wouldn't the number of these children decrease if they were moved around to other schools in the district? What's going to happen to your children without so many poor black kids to hang around with? You're jeopardizing your children's relationship with diversity!

This has been another installment of The Real Hippies Of Iowa City.

Hello Scapegoat

Lee Rude has an interview in the Des Moines Register with Tim Wheeler, the now-fired-and-indicted former manager of the Iowa Film Office, with Wheeler's lawyer sitting right there.

Like a post from a few days ago ("What Did The Iowa Media Say When The Film Tax Credit Scam Was Passed By The Iowa Legislature?"), my observation remains the same: Who Cares?

It's clear that Gov Culver and AG Tom Miller want a scapegoat. This guy was just doing his job poorly. It's not like he inflated his salary to $367,000 a year or took kickbacks from filmmakers. If he did, fry him, but there's no evidence of that. I'm sure it's not the first time that State taxpayer money was wasted.

What's interesting to me are the comments in the DMR story online:

The people responsible are voters, such as yourself, who ignored this program until it became a daily staple of the people.

Yes, it seems to me the law was loosely written, and the executive branch failed to figure out a way to administer it. For example, if it involves tax credits, why not assign that part of the program to the Revenue Department where they've presumably got accountants who are familiar with tax credits and expenses. The whole thing was a seat-of-the-pants operation destined for disaster and this poor guy is the designated fall guy. He takes the rap while the legislators, governor and others busily go about the most important job to them---covering their behinds.

Find a scapegoat and hang him while we push ourselves away from this. Typical political BS that continues to happen everywhere. The person who should be held accountable is the person who only gave them $118,000 to oversee a program that gives out credits worth $230 million and expect to go through every itemized receipt that is submitted. Funny how legislators have become used to their positions -- throw them in a non-public corporate world and they would get fired for implementing ideas and then walking away as a "hero" while not providing the resources to correctly do the job. I say fire them all and let's start over with new politicians who care enough about the programs they start to see them through rather than start it and blame everybody else.

See how nobody blames the Iowa media for letting this turd of a bill get passed in the Iowa Legislature?

The Des Moines Register did nothing but repeat talking points issued by former State Representative Mark Davitt, Wheeler himself, and State Senator Bill Ditzler when this bill was being debated.

The Iowa media, the ones who say "The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed." had zero information about what these tax credits could possibly do. They just rubber stamped it all. They didn't listen to any of those busy capitalist pig / tax blogger guys who expressed warnings.

You know why? Because they don't care, the reporters and editors.

And they're too stupid to care.

They don't know which questions to ask, despite being smarter-than-you.

All they care about is airing the dirty laundry afterwards and making money off of the scandal with feigned outrage and pious editorials rattling on about 'reform' and 'oversight' and 'transparency'. You just watch. They're coming eventually.

Steve King Town Halls Moved To Monday, April 19th

In the email today:

Congressman Steve King today announced that the two town hall meetings he was planning to host on Wednesday have been rescheduled for Monday, April 19. The town hall meetings will be in Council Bluffs and Sioux City, with times and meeting locations to be determined later this week. Both meetings on April 19 will be open to the public and the media. Constituents with questions can call 712-224-4692.

What do you think Republican Steve "Repeal Obamacare" King's town halls look like? If anybody has video from this after it happens, I would love to see it. Put it on YouTube and send me a link.

All the Democrats are refusing to have Town Hall meetings, or they do them in tiny rooms with hand-picked friends and paid union thugs. They're little cowards, afraid of the public, and scared. Why? Because they know they screwed up and the American public hates them.

We'll have video and audio all spring, summer, and autumn long of The People being angry at those who voted for Obamacare, the Stimulus, all the pork, and everything else that Obama supports. I'll look at that, too, but I want to know what an anti-Obamacare Town Hall looks and sounds like.

What Did The Iowa Media Say When The Film Tax Credit Scam Was Passed By The Iowa Legislature?

Lee Rood has a story in the Des Moines Register on Sunday about how there's likely more criminal scandals expected involving the taxpayer-backed tax credits scam passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2007.

To be perfectly blunt: who cares?

What I want to know is: what did the Iowa media say when this turkey was being trumpeted in the media in 2006 and 2007, and then eventually passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2007 on a vote in the House of 95-1 and in the Senate of 48-2?

Where were the gatekeepers keeping our government in check? You know, all that stuff super-sized Register reporterette Nancy Clark said that the mainstream media does in 2005 that bloggers don't do. And I quote: "The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed."

Let's go to the wayback machine and find out!

Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 30, 2007, editorial:

Passing a tax incentive for film production isn't a necessary function of state government. Children won't go hungry if the Legislature waits a year or two. Schools won't shut down if bills quietly die before they reach the floor, as they have in the past. And even if passed, the legislation won't clean our air and water, it won't expand quality health care coverage, nor will it directly shore up the state's highway infrastructure.

The legislation will make it easier, however, for those wishing to make a film about Iowa to actually use the state's landscapes and interior scenes in the production. When those production crews are willing to spend more than $100,000 in the state, the legislation would make it more likely that the money paid on all levels -- from the cameras to the catering -- will find its way into the coffers of Iowa businesses. And, whether or not an actual Iowan is in the director's chair, these productions would provide work for our homegrown filmmakers and actors.

Those material benefits alone are enough to support a film incentive bill that Rep. Mark Davitt of Indianola will be introducing to the Legislature this week.

Oh yes, Democrat Mark Davitt of Indianola, who lost in 2008 by less than 200 votes to Republican Kent Sorenson. By the way, Sorenson is going to take on Socialist kook Staci Appel for her Senate seat in November and beat her. Hopefully Davitt won't be running for his old seat again. If he does try, I hope any opponent hammers the creator of the Film Tax Credit Scandal repeatedly about this issue.

Now where were we?

The Senate bill also includes the sales tax exemption, but went further to offer a 25 percent tax credit for qualified in-state purchases, a 180-day vehicle registration fee waiver for vehicles used in the production of the film and a 10 percent tax credit to anyone investing in the film.

And what does that mean?

Here's blogger and tax guy Joe Kristan at the Tax Update Blog to tell you a little more on April 11, 2007:

Like rubes rushing the patent medicine wagon, the Iowa House almost unanimously voted for a rich special interest giveaway for the film industry yesterday. By a 95-1 margin the House approved HF 892 to provide a 50% subsidy to film projects, and then some:

- A 25% tranferable tax credit for expenditures on a film project;
- A 25% credit for investors in film projects; and
- a tax exemption for sales of goods and services to film projects.

Because the credits are transferable, the filmmakers can sell them to finance their projects. This feature makes this tax credit a subsidy, rather than just a tax break.

If it weren't tax season, I would spend more time pointing out just how absurd this thing is. Why is this one industry - an itinerant one that leaves nothing behind but empty fast food wrappers - somehow worthy of being subsidized by every other business? The standard line about how much the filmmakers bring to the economy can be said about any business - more so, in fact, about the ones that stay here and provide permanent jobs, and who end up paying for this subsidy.

Emphasis added by State 29.

And what did the Des Moines Register's Reporterette Jennifer Jacobs rubber-stamp back on April 11, 2007?:

Various tax credits would reduce state revenue by about $201,000 in the coming fiscal year, then $536,000 the year after and $786,000 by 2010, according to Iowa's Fiscal Services Division.

But the tax losses would be outweighed by the film companies' spending, said Rep. Mark Davitt, a Democrat from Indianola who has worked on the legislation for four years.

How did that work out in the end?

OH! It didn't work out! Instead it's costing Iowa taxpayers many tens of millions of dollars!

What else did Jennifer Jacobs and the Des Moines Register take for granted?

Incentives for projects

- Film producers would be allowed a state tax credit equal to 25 percent of the cost of items they purchase or rent in Iowa, such as rental cars, equipment for the movie set and the wages of people hired as extras.

- Iowa-based businesses - such as firms providing camera or sound equipment - would be able to exclude the income they're paid for goods, materials or services for a film project from their income tax reporting.

- Any investors who sink cash into the project would be eligible for an income tax credit equal to 25 percent of what's spent in Iowa.

Gee, I don't see the word transferable in that Jennifer Jacobs/Des Moines Register article.

Looks like the busy capitalist pig/tax blogger guy knew more about what was going on than the smarter-than-you Democrat bootlicker Jennifer Jacobs.

And what was the Register printing after the bill passed? Here's equally clueless "reporter" Jonathan Roos on April 19, 2007:

The tax incentive plan, which received final legislative approval Wednesday, created a lot of buzz at an international film commissioners trade show in California this month, said Tom Wheeler, manager of the Iowa Film Office...

...The Senate, on a 48-2 vote on Wednesday, approved the tax incentives contained in House File 892. They would give producers a state tax credit equal to 25 percent of the cost of items they purchase or rent in Iowa, such as cars, equipment for the movie set and the wages of people hired as extras.

Other tax incentives would be offered to investors, as well as Iowa businesses that provide goods and services, such as camera or sound equipment, for a film project.

The incentives are designed to make Iowa competitive with states such as Louisiana and Illinois that have had lured movie producers to locations away from Hollywood.

"It's going to put Iowa on the map once more," Sen. Bill Dotzler, a Waterloo Democrat, said.

Isn't it obvious that Jonathan Roos didn't know what he was reporting on here? He just reprinted whatever now-indicted Iowa Film Office head Tom Wheeler and State Senator Democrat Bill Dotzler told him.

Hey, Dotzler, ya big dummy, that film tax credit thing you championed put Iowa on the map, all right. Just look at what happens when you Google the words iowa film tax credit. You're a real winner, there Dotzler. You idiot. They should throw you in prison, too, for theft of the People's money, along with the rest of the drunks and morons in the Iowa Legislature that vote for these bills they clearly haven't read and don't understand.

So it looks like the lamestream media in Iowa just went along with the game. They just repeated what they were told. They didn't bother to research the tax credits, think about what implications the credits might have had, speculate on what sort of influence filmmakers might put on the Iowa Film Office, or any of that. No, no, no, no. They just rubber stamped whatever Mark Davitt, Tom Wheeler, and Bill Dotzler yammered on about. Don't call any tax people, especially in early April, to get their opinion on the matter.

And if you were a blogger at the time, the geniuses at the Des Moines Register didn't want to hear anything you had to say. As far as Ken Fuson and Nancy Clark and their editors were concerned "The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed."

That's why I say "Who cares?" when it comes to Lee Rood's ongoing stories in the Des Moines Register about this scandal. The Register didn't care to research the bill to any extent, and now they get to act like they're performing a public service by rifling through all these government documents in the aftermath. "Look at us, we're reporters! We're soooo pious!" What a load of stinking crap.

What Is It About Senator Tom Harkin and Scandal, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse?

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

What is it about Senator Tom Harkin securing grants and funding for State organizations that are later awash in scandal, fraud, waste, abuse, and extremely high salaries?

It's bad enough that Harkin was involved so connected to the CIETC scandal a few years back. Despite Harkin's name being all over that mess, he got re-elected as Senator in 2008.

Now we've got Harkin's fingerprints all over the Iowa Association of School Boards scandal.

Just yesterday, the DMR had a story about the ongoing scandal and how people at the top milked funding for "vacations" and to increase their salary to $367,000 a year.

But you can go back into Harkin's list of "accomplishments" and see how Harkin's earmarks got $3.55 million for the IASB in July of 2009:

to continue to provide administrators, teachers, students and parents in schools and school districts with the tools they need as well as guidance and expertise, to put essential standards and accountability in place to realize the goals of the No Child Left Behind.

Was that money really used for that purpose?

No, it probably wasn't.

Or how about June of 2008, when Harkin got the IASB:

$3.5 million for continuation and expansion of the Skills Iowa program which provides web-based learning tools to students and teachers. IASB is an organization of elected school board members who work to help school boards achieve their educational excellence goals.

But can you see how the media is framing this so that Harkin gets cover? Look at KCCI's report from a week ago:

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin has sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan asking Duncan to see if any money Harkin requested for a program called Skills Iowa was redirected.

Harkin said he's received good reports about the program, which is run by the school board group. Harkin says demand for funding for the program is high.

The program offers students online learning and assessment tools.

Harkin's request comes as the Iowa Legislature's Government Oversight Committee began its second week of investigating allegations the school board group wasted tax payer money on lavish salaries and exotic trips.

That was probably fed to the reporterette at KCCI. Likely even pre-written.

Even worse is this, from a couple weeks ago:

Rep. Vicki Lensing, D-Iowa City, co-chairwoman of the oversight committee, said she found it ironic that the association was set up to help train and educate Iowa school boards on a variety of issues including finances, governance and oversight.

"I'm still incredulous that this association is in charge of teaching others," she said.

[IASB lawyer Nolden] Gentry said that after [fired IASB executive director Maxine] Kilcrease took over in July, employees kept the organization's board of directors in the dark about finances and the concerns of outside auditors.

"The board was not aware of what was going on between management and the auditors," he said. "The board was being told that (the audit) was in process, or that the auditors were slow or that they were incompetent. So the board was being told a different story and, you know, the board is entitled, at least for a while, to rely on what their top administrators tell them."

Lensing said a similar explanation was used by the board of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, where top administrators collected $300,000 salaries without the board's knowledge. It later turned out that CIETC board members had never asked what the executive director was paid and in later years had never given her a performance evaluation.

Yes, and the circle completes.

Ignore the IASB scandal for a second.

Who funded CIETC?

Who was in charge of CIETC?

Who was on the Board of CIETC?

Why, yes, at CIETC it was Senator Tom Harkin's Federal earmarks funding these criminals, and they had a bunch of lower-level inbred Democrat hacks milking the place dry while ignoring everything that was going on.

Can you dumbasses in the media pull your thumbs out of your, well, wherever your thumbs are in your body, and try to connect the dots?

Or is connecting the dots too difficult for you?

Gee, we need more oversight.

More regulation.

More transparency.

The State is probing.

The Feds will need to probe.

Very soon it will be time for Chet Culver or maybe Arne Duncan to bring in Democrat hack lawyer Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson to question Democrat hack lawyer Nolden Gentry for another $210 an hour in yet another whitewash job and then bill taxpayers another $1193 for writing a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register. What do you want to bet?

Maybe our money would be better spent probing that liar and crook, Senator Tom Harkin.

And no, I don't mean asking him questions. I mean "probing" him. Preferably when he's in prison, which is where he belongs.