Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore Pledge To Cause Recruiting Violations At The University Of Iowa

Philandering, homoerotic ex-model, and Iowa native Ashton Kutcher and his "wife" Demi Moore are smack dab in the middle of NCAA recruiting violations for the lousy Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team, so says the Des Moines Register.

My favorite part of the article:

Attempts to reach Kutcher for comment were unsuccessful.

Really? Have you tried a direct message via his Twitter account?

How about asking Mrs Kutcher at Twitter? Oh wait, she's not been around her "husband" lately.

You know, those Des Moines Register reporters and editors are so smart. They probably went to the Beverly Hills phone book or called 411 to get his home phone number.

The Kutchers are two pretty stupid people. Here's their creepy pledge to Obama:

What Does Jason Clayworth Know About Business Anyway?

I don't think there's been a better post about Iowa's tax and business climate than Joe Kristan's latest piece at the Tax Update Blog ("Yes, Jason, Iowa Does Have A Poor Business Climate").

Joe's written about this stuff so many times over the years that I'm sure it rolls right off his fingers. Indeed, this column soberly points out the problems and what ought to change.

It's a response to Des Moines Register "business" "reporter" Jason Clayworth's blog post, which focuses on a paper by the "progressive" Economic Policy Institute that criticizes the way the Tax Foundation sees things.

Since I am unable to write a sober column about the inanities of the Iowa tax system, I will focus on the credentials of Mr Clayworth. I'll leave my profanity-laced tirade about having to file two state income tax forms, particularly Iowa's nightmare of a form and how it abuses partial-year residents, until next spring when I have bitten my fingernails bloody and kicked holes in the drywall while attempting to figure out just what in the hell the tax collectors in Iowa want, other than all my money.

Now when you think of a "business" reporter for a newspaper, one would naturally think of an older person, perhaps deeply rooted in a community, likely somebody who "owns the store" as the late Bill Reichart used to say in his TV ads, or maybe even the present owner of a business. But since this is the Des Moines Register, whose Editorial Board is made up of all sorts of diverse people who have degrees in wide-ranging studies such as communications, journalism, and creative writing, it's not surprising to learn that Mr Clayworth also has a bachelor's in journalism and a minor in English from Drake University and has worked in the dying newspaper industry for the past decade or so. Clearly, Mr Clayworth knows a lot more of about this "stuff" than, say, some schlub sitting around in his pajamas with a blog whose day job seems to consist of listening to jazz in the skywalks and going on vacation. You know, honestly, Iowa taxes can't be too complicated if all that is allowed.

This blog has had complaints about Clayworth in the past. He won the Academy Award for "Best Spin" in 2008. Clayworth also did some major spinning of economic numbers earlier this year.

He also had a hangup about describing Republicans as "pro-war", which is funny because last I looked Congress was controlled by Democrats and the President Obama is a Democrat, and they were all supposedly "anti-war" yet they continue on with these military conflicts. Although let's be honest, the only reason the Democrats kept the wars going was to ship Republicans overseas and then disenfranchise them at the ballot box.

Finally, this blog has also accused Mr Clayworth of "smoking crack" in the past, a pejorative term for sure since the Register makes you pee in a cup before securing employment.

Iowa's Preschool Cost: $7000 Per "Student"

Anybody who has ever had a 4 or 5 year old in pre-school knows that not much serious learning is happening. Kids play, sing, do crafts, nap, have a story read to them, and screw around for a couple of hours every other day before mom picks them up in a minivan to take them back home.

With that in mind, here's part of an interview with Chet Culver in the Ames Tribune:

TRIBUNE: How do you differ with your opponent on preschool education?

Culver: Ninety percent of Iowans can’t afford private preschool. I ran in 2006 on a promise that we’d provide 10 hours of preschool. We want to do it in all 359 school districts. We started the program because the existing public preschools had limited slots available and private preschools were too expensive.

Terry Branstad says we can’t afford the $90 million that public preschool puts in the budget.

The Culver campaign has put out some completely false numbers:

The [State] program provides a minimum of 10 hours per week of instruction. The average cost for private preschool is $550 per month per child

Culver's full of crap. If you look around, most private pre-schools for 4 year olds that run a half day schedule and 3 days a week will cost between $125 and $150 a month for a child.

Last year, there were just over 13,000 4-year olds enrolled state-wide in public pre-school. If the budget for this is $90 million, that comes out to around $7000 per child. Even if you take 2010's number for enrollment, which is estimated at around 22,000 children, that's nearly $4100 per child.

What's a better deal? $125 a month for a 9 month school year, or somewhere between $4100 and $7000 for the same time period?

Don't forget that this expensive failure is based on a report from The Perry Project, a study of 123 poor black children in Ypsilanti, Michigan, 58 of whom were put through a state-run pre-school back in 1962! The study failed to show much difference between the kids put in a state-run pre-school vs those who didn't attend.

Terry Branstad would be right to completely kill state-funded pre-school in Iowa. I doubt he'll actually get it done. I can imagine all the BS the defenders of this pork project for government employees will say. Have any of them been around 4 year olds lately?

Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission Has 86% Democrats and 7% Republicans

From the Des Moines Register:

The board that chooses finalists for Iowa's appellate courts is one of the few government commissions that are not required to have a membership that is balanced between Democrats and Republicans.

The 15-member Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission must be balanced by geography and gender, by lawyer and lay person. The political affiliation of members is not taken into consideration.

Most of the state's other 160 boards and commissions appointed by the governor are balanced by political affiliation.

The current Judicial Nominating Commission includes 12 Democrats, one Republican and one member whose party affiliation is unknown.

That breaks down to 86% Democrat, 7% Republican, and 7% unknown.

Where have we seen numbers like this before?

Oh yes, a few years ago when it was discovered that 8% of University of Iowa faculty were registered Republicans and the UI Law School had 1 registered Republican out of 50 people.

And they wonder why some Republicans are complaining about the Iowa Supreme Court's creation of new law concerning same-sex marriage when the Legislature was heavily Democrat and the Governor's seat was held by a Democrat and it could have technically been passed into law legislatively?

Yes, the Democrats used the back door of the judiciary to make new law by stacking the deck with party faithful on the commission and nominating liberal hacks like Brent Appel.

University Of Iowa: Don't Blame Us Because Our Professors Like A 4 Day Work Week

How about this story from the Iowa City Press-Citizen on Wednesday about how despite the worst efforts of the University of Iowa to schedule more classes on Friday so that under-21 students don't go out partying on Thursday, the actual number of classes on Friday has declined since 2007.

I can tell you what this is all about: Lazy-assed professors wanting to work 4 days a week. And then those days they are around they're lucky to be there half the time.

Is it any surprise that the University of Iowa only has 8% registered Republicans as professors there? The rest of them appear to be a bunch of Democrat slackers. Bums. Sponges.

No wonder it takes 6 or 7 years for many undergrads to finish their bachelor's degree. No wonder kids leave our state's major universities with $20K to $30K in debt.

The objective of this story is to tie it in with the recent efforts by the City Council in Iowa City to stop those under-21s from being in certain bars after 10pm. It's really amazing to see how the Marxist Central Planners at the Press-Citizen think that having more Friday classes will cut down on "underage" drinking.

There should be more Friday classes, but only because too many university professors are a bunch of underworked and overpaid losers.

Corpse Boswell Never Wanted To Lower Your Taxes In The First Place

Congressman Leonard Boswell

From last night's debate between "Tan" Republican Brad Zaun and Democrat Leonard "The Corpse" Boswell in the race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional District:

Regarding soon-to-expire Bush-era federal tax cuts, Zaun said Congress can't afford not to keep the tax cuts in place. If the tax cuts aren't retained, they would represent a huge tax increase, he said.

Boswell said he didn't support the tax cuts in the first place, and he said the expiration was designed by Republicans. He said some people have told him they will take the tax cuts "but they don't really need it" and would prefer to see the money spent on education and other programs to help the country.

The Tax Foundation had an excellent report out a few weeks ago that demonstrated how expiration of the Bush-era tax rates would hurt poor and moderate income working families. Here's an example:

A family of four with $40,000 in income will see its after-tax income rise between 6.8 percent and 9.8 percent if tax cuts are extended, depending on which version becomes law. A single-parent family of three with $20,000 in income would see similar gains: between 4.4 percent and 9.7 percent gains in after-tax income.

What do those numbers mean?

If the Bush tax cuts expire and the Congressional Democrats' plan is adopted for 2011, a family of four earning $40,000 a year will see their taxes go up by $3026.

Yes, that's right. Their taxes will go up an additional $3026 next year.

That's Corpse Boswell in a nutshell for you. Higher taxes. Additional burdens on families.

As far as health care is concerned:

On health care reform, Zaun defended a campaign commercial in which he said it was wrong for Boswell to cut $500 billion from Medicare.

"That is just not true; I hope you know that," Boswell responded. "It's a redirection; it's not a cut. And something that's long overdue."

It's a redirection, not a cut!

It's theft, not a cut!

It's been a long time since I've heard an Indian Giver defense.

So what happens to everybody who paid into Medicare and expected to get health care under that plan? I guess they waltz over to the Medicaid line. It's long overdue, you dummies. We have illegal aliens to cover.

Iowa City To Become A "Sanctuary City" For Criminal Illegal Aliens?

Deep within this Iowa City Press-Citizen story on how the libs there want to scatter all the criminals welfare addicts from Chicago in public housing all over Iowa City is this tidbit:

The council agreed to hold a conversation at a future work session about whether or not Iowa City should become "sanctuary city."

The Rev. Rudy Juarez, a pastor at St. Patrick's Church and a member of the Sanctuary City Committee, has requested that the council consider the idea of offering protections for illegal immigrants.

Council member Terry Dickens said he has spoken with Juarez and Police Chief Sam Hargadine, among others, about the possibility. Dickens said he had his reservations at first, he said, but now he supports the idea.

That's Rudy Juarez, the slumlord from Davenport.

Here's the page on Terry Dickens, the pro-illegal alien Council Member in Iowa City who ought to be bothered about this for the next 3 years and 2 months he's in office.

You know what needs to be done? Investigate the council members and other politicians around Iowa who think our communities should be "sanctuary cities" for criminal illegal aliens. Out them. Publish their contact emails, phone numbers, and addresses. They shouldn't be able to hide from such outrageous anti-American opinions. They need to be politically destroyed and removed from public office.

Coralville Courier on Miller-Meeks

I've been catching up on my Iowa blogs and stuff as of late and one dude who is still plowing away is Mike Thayer at the Coralville Courier. I've only got one previous mention of the Coralville Courier from 2 1/2 years ago ("Fake Republicans"), but he is always interesting to read since he's a true conservative living in the People's Republic Of Johnson County.

What caught my eye recently was his dissection of alleged Republican Marianette Miller-Meeks, who is making her second attempt for Congress against Bearded Marxist Dave Loebsack, the wretched PAC whore and Pelosi clone who probably has a personally autographed set of kneepads from Barack Hussein Obama.

I've seen some of the Miller-Meeks ads and, to be honest, they're terrible. This woman opens her mouth and already I'm deeply suspect of her. I don't know why. Maybe it's the low voice, the Susan Estrich-sized mandible. Oh, don't get me wrong, she's probably a million times better than Loebsackofshit. Maybe she will read the bills she votes on, unlike Loebsack, but she seems totally unable to kick Dave Loebsack in the ass. Aren't there a handful of really big issues that Loebsack voted on (Obamacare, Cap & Trade, massive budget deficits, continuing the wars) that she could nail him on? Oh, there are hints and bits in her ads and literature, but no big follow through. If ever there's a year to get that done, it should be 2010. Same thing with Ben Lange against that sweaty, creepy-looking Bruce Braley. Or tan Brad Zaun running against the corpse, Leonard Boswell.

Once again, and it never fails, the Republican Party of Iowa continues to field absolutely shit candidates against semi-retarded Democrats in a year in which goddamn Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Minnesota are turning massively Republican.

It is interesting to go back 2 years ago and see how the Des Moines Register totally ignored Miller-Meeks at the time.

Pork Train To Iowa City Gets Approved

Naturally the spendaholic libs are gaga over the Feds approving $230 million so Iowa can have passenger trains between Iowa City, Moline, Geneseo, and Chicago at a total cost of $310 million.

Nothing says "progressive" like 1880-era vehicles for passenger travel.

The media outlets continue to repeat the same lies about this project: that the trains will travel "up to" 79 mph. Like that's a big deal. I can go "up to" 79 mph in my car on I-80 and I'm not forced to stop in Moline and Geneseo.

The trip to Chicago will take "less than 5 hours". Really? If you travel via the MegaBus you can get to Chicago from Iowa City in 3 hours and 50 minutes with some fares as little as $5 one-way. Greyhound is a little more expensive, but can make the trip in less than 4 hours.

First year ridership is expected to be 246,800. Is that on the entire line (Chicago-Geneseo-Moline-Iowa City) or is that to Iowa City?

If you remember back in April, some consultant said that 120,000 people a year will take the train between Iowa City and Chicago for $42. That's an average of 329 people a day. Considering there are only 2 trains a day with a maximum capacity of 230 people per train, those are some rosy projections! I bet you'll be lucky to see 20% of that estimate come true, if that. Yes, I'm predicting that less than 25,000 people a year will ride the train between Chicago to Iowa City. Why would you do that for $42 when you can ride on the MegaBus for as little as $5, and get to your destination quicker?

You should really read the bullshit that the Press-Citizen pumped out from the offices of Tom Harkin and Dick Durbin. The notion that this will create almost 600 jobs and that some day we might have trains capable of up to 110 mph is laughable.

Where Were We?

Sorry for the delay. It's been a rough few months.

I did not lose my job before I left, although I was in danger of losing it. We could see the writing on the wall. It was one of those situations where you better start looking for something else just in case. And, while you're at it, put the house on the market at the worst possible time.

Short version is that we sold the house rather quickly considering the market. Didn't lose much. We weren't upside down like all the people who financed with nothing down, 3% down, hell, even 10% down. Found a job back in Iowa, thanks to relatives and connections so now I get to vote in the fall 2010 elections. It is worthy of mentioning that buying a house in a down market is one of the most fun things I've ever done in my life. Talk about the pick of the litter.

Speaking of the pick of the litter, do these candidates for office suck, or what? They suck everywhere, but considering the history I have with Iowa and seeing Terry Branstad's name on the ballot for Governor in 2010 is a little bizarre. It's like hopping in the DeLorean, getting it up to 88 mph, and producing 1.21 gigawatts of energy in the Flux Capacitor in order to go back to the days of porn star moustaches, raising taxes, and taking away the rights of legal adults to drink. The only difference is that Walter Mondale isn't the President.

Even weirder is seeing the feminazis and the alpha male at the Des Moines Register endorse Chuck Grassley over Roxanne "Rapist Enabler" Conlin.

That's so... unexpected!

I'm surprised the Register didn't endorse Steve King, especially since they did in 2004 and 2002.

Politics aside, I'm sure there have been many scandals to dig into during my time away. I've kept up with the Tax Update Blog to an extent, who has been doing yeoman's work with the film office scandals.

Surely the next scandal to break is the eventual mothballing and lawsuits related to the electric car assembly plant in Webster City, especially in light of discovery of the lead engineer's criminal past, including an 18 month stint in a Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison for bank fraud.

And how is that EnVision Motor Company doing? 115 people like them on Facebook. They have 73 followers on Twitter. That's kick ass. I can't wait to see if they are really going to be employing 300 people in 2011 like WHO Radio proclaimed this past summer.

I'm sure as time goes on I'll get my blog mojo back.

Welcome home, State 29. Just in time for winter. We had winter in Overland Park, KS, just not as much you get in Iowa.