The Left Coast of Iowa

Rep. Steve King's dedication to distractions

2009-10-21T16:33:00.003-05:00

Denklau Campaign: Second letter writing campaign shows Rep. Steve King's dedication to distractions
10/21/2009

Council Bluffs, IA - October 20, 2009 - Rep. King remains focused on partisan distractions instead of the issues that impact the day-to-day lives of Iowans. First it was the letter writing campaign in favor of South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson. Now Rep. King has squandered nearly two weeks talking about Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary of education for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.

In the two weeks Steve King has focused on a letter writing campaign concerning a low ranking official in Washington, D.C., Iowa's official unemployment rate has continued to close in on 7% and the state has announced a 10% budget cut that will result in the layoff of thousands of public employees, likely including the loss of 100 law enforcement officers and thousands of education jobs.

In these two weeks of yet more distractions by Steve King, thousands of Iowans living in the 5th District either have no access to affordable healthcare or are experiencing the high costs of the current inefficient healthcare system that Steve King supports.

In these two weeks of yet more distractions by Steve King, thousands of businesses in the 5th District have experienced difficulty in obtaining financing for new business ventures because of Steve King's consistent failure to support sound market practices.

As he stated in his announcement remarks last week, Congressional candidate Mike Denklau is running to provide leadership focused on the economic needs of Iowans and creating opportunities in the 5th District. Recognizing the need for new and better jobs in the 5th District, Denklau strongly supports revitalizing our farming communities through the passage of legislation to expand wind energy production. Expanding wind energy to 20% of our nation's electricity generation would bring nearly 60,000 construction jobs to Iowa and create over 9,000 long-term operational jobs that pay upwards of $20 per hour.

Denklau believes it's time to move beyond the partisanship that plagues our political system. Western Iowa and America deserve effective leadership focused on the issues that really matter to our communities and our businesses.

2009-08-24T16:18:00.004-05:00

Press Release Issued by the Iowa Democratic Party

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 24, 2009

Des Moines, August 24 -- Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan today called on GOP candidate for Governor Christian Fong to halt the airing of "materially false and misleading" radio advertisements.

“We are calling on Fong to take down this ad on his own before any other action is taken,” Kiernan said.

Despite the fact that the Culver/Judge administration has a strong fiscal record, balanced the budget every year and raised the state’s bond rating to the highest possible AAA rating, Fong has released a 60-second radio spot that asserts "we have a state government that has borrowed nearly a billion dollars to pay its bills."

“To suggest money borrowed for the I-JOBS initiative means the budget is out of balance is false,” Kiernan said. “It’s like telling Iowans who have home mortgages that their personal finances won’t be balanced for 30 years. It makes no sense.”

“Facts are facts,” Kiernan said. “We have balanced the budget every year, and at the same time we are making smart and needed investments in the future.”

“Because I am confident someone with Mr. Fong’s experience has a very solid understanding of the state’s finances, I can only assume someone on his team made a factual error and the ad will be taken down promptly,” Kiernan said.

The Chairman noted the Iowa Democratic Party just last week successfully used the legal process to halt the airing of a false and misleading attack ad that had been airing on television in support of the Republican candidate for Iowa House in the upcoming District 90 special election in Jefferson County.

Kiernan said the claim in the Fong ad is patently false and shows a radical misunderstanding of the state budget. I-JOBS is Culver's $830 million bonding plan that is creating jobs, stimulating the economy and repairing Iowa's aging road and bridge infrastructure. "The fact is, Iowa's bills are paid," Kiernan said Monday. "We had a balanced budget for the fiscal year just ended and will have one for the coming year."

Iowa is uniquely positioned to weather the national economic crisis, Kiernan said. "We were recently named the 8th fastest growing economy in the United States, and we have the 4th best business climate," Kiernan said. "That's not the picture of a state that had to borrow to pay its bills."

Kiernan cited as an example the state of California, which had a $26 billion budget deficit for this year and put out $470 million in IOUs before making major cuts to state programs and services in an effort to balance the state budget. "To lump Iowa in with states like California is fundamentally incorrect, misleading and false," Kiernan said. "Fong is being dishonest."

# # #

Fear Not

2009-02-09T10:53:00.001-06:00

Recently our Congressman, Steve King wrote an op-ed piece where he tried to make voters afraid of the Stimulus package currently before the Senate by comparing Obama's strategies to those of FDR. King wants to blame the Great Depression.

"The short-term result of FDR's spending was minimal. Food shortages remained, millions of Americans still lacked jobs and true recovery did not occur. In the long run, FDR's stimulus led to higher tax rates and greater government involvement in Americans' lives. "

But tale a glance at this graph from the depression era and the correlation between New Deal policies and prosperity are pretty plain. You don't have to be an economist to see it. Once again, Republicans are pandering in fear and paralysis rather than practical, pragmatic action meant to bring about progress.
Stop listening to the fear-mongering. We need some good old fashioned Relief, Recovery and Reform. King and the national Republicans want to make us scared because they're scared because they were the ones who benefited most from dismantling all the New Deal reforms that Reagan and both Bushes managed to do over the last few decades. Lobbyists, special interest money and the whole culture of corruption were designed to take advantage of the working middle class.

The best thing for our economy would be if President Obama WERE more like FDR. Tell King to go back to school and take a few History and Economics classes.

2009-01-21T09:10:00.000-06:00

The 800 Pound Gorilla in the room

2008-11-05T13:57:00.001-06:00

I posted 'Dear Republican friends, neighbors,' a paraphrase of Lincoln's inaugural address, which Barack Obama quoted last night in his speech, on Facebook. Now, honest to God, I meant it in a genuinely conciliatory spirit. I truly believe that to heal our nation, Republicans and Democrats need to work together and try to find common ground on whatever issues we can. Well, someone must have felt like I was being condescending or gloating or something because the next thing I know people are posting comments on my note back and forth getting in a big heated argument over abortion (which I never mentioned, I deliberately go out of my way never to mention it if I can ever help it). Holy guacamole!

Look, I'm not in favor or abortion on demand, but I'm also not prepared to deny abortions to victims rape or incest. Clinton and Obama have had the same position, "safe, legal, and RARE." To assume that Obama is going to force everyone to support abortion is just as irrational as to assume he's going to take away all our guns and raise all our taxes and make us all godless socialists or punish us all for segregation and slavery.

Please, if you're staunchly Pro-Life, don't let yourself be gripped by fear and hatred of everyone on the left. As a matter of fact, you may discover that we value life too. My personal problem is that it has sometimes seemed like, at least the Bush administration claimed to want to protect the rights of the unborn, but totally disregarded the rights of anyone who's already been born.

Some statistics have suggested that the number of abortions in the United States dropped during the Clinton administration. I know it's hard to accept, but what many Democrats and Christians on the left want to do is discover the conditions that lead women to consider abortion as an option and reduce the number of abortions by addressing those possible "causes."

I don't know how to be careful about this next thing I have to say, but I want you to know that I really mean it, I'm not trying to just be flippant or glib- Maybe abortion activists need to rethink their alliance with the Republican Party. There was a time when George W. Bush and the Neo-conservative movement controlled all three branches of government and yet they didn't overturn Roe v. Wade, pass sweeping legislation or executive orders prohibiting abortion or amend the constitution. Instead, the tapped phones, conducted torture, politicized the Justice Department, and unilaterally and preemptively started a war in a small country that had nothing to do with 9/11. Is it possible, perhaps, that the Republican Party, or at least the Bush Administration only used your passionate belief about abortion to take advantage of your political leverage?

I don't know a lot. I know my children are miracles and blessings from God that I would never trade. I believe that like a Grandpa, God loves babies. I know that using abortion callously as a convenient alternative to birth control is vile. But I don't know when life begins, is it before conception? At conception? When there are brain waves? When the baby is viable outside the womb? I'm not prepared to declare definitively for everyone because I am not God. I don't even know if Roe v. Wade should be overturned. It seems to me that Republicans used to be the party of States' Rights and the original argument against Roe was that whether abortion should be legal should be left up to the individual state. But I also know that far fewer women have died in back alleys from having wire coat hangers shoved up them since abortion has been a professionally supervised medical procedure nation wide and I know that I for one don't want to go back to those days.

Am I wrong? Plenty of you may think so.

Does that mean that we can't work together to dig our way out of the mess our country is in after the last eight years of mismanagement? Does it mean that you can't be friendly or neighborly to me? Does it mean that you can't bring yourself to pray for our new duly elected President because you can't see him as anything but some kind of vicious baby killer?

Wow, what a shame if it does.

I'm not trying to be pious or holier-than-though when I beg you to remember the words of our Lord: "Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you."

If you think that I'm under the Devil's control, or you seriously fear for our nation because Obama just got elected. Please, lean on love not hate, on mercy not anger, on Gospel rather than Law- If you think I'm wrong, don't judge me, pray for me. Don't curse the new administration, pray for them. Leave it in God's hands.

"Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you."

Now, when do you want to argue about gay marriage?

Failure of Supply-Side Economics

2008-10-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, quick economics lesson:
Demand-Side Economics, you raise wages, that increases the spending and saving ability of the middle class- heck it even grow the middle class. That demand, drives a need for greater supply. It works like a perpetual motion machine, the demand drives the supply, the supply feeds demand. That sustains the economy (although, admittedly, it may not grow the economy beyond what is reasonable).

Worked pretty dang good from 1932-1980, it even provided tax revenue to provide for things like the providing for the common defense, securing domestic security, promoting the general welfare, and especially securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity (the "American Dream," where each generation had it a teensy bit better than the last one.

Supply-Side Economics (aka Reaganomics, aka Bushonomics) on the other hand is SUPPOSED to work so that if you drastically cut the taxes of the wealthy and corporations, they'll (theoretically) reinvest in research, production, and infrastructure (see the cartoon above on the current bail-out) which (in theory) would provide more jobs to the middle and lower classes and make up the revenue short-fall with payroll taxes. The idea was that "a rising tide lifts all boats."

IN PRACTICE, human nature being what it is, greed plays a roll. CEOs pay themselves 400x as much in salary as their employees make, executives put their own interests ahead of both their share holders and the common good- and certainly their share holders still come before the common good of the community, state, or nation. Investors use their tax cuts (and looser regulations) to gamble on bigger and bigger and quicker and quicker returns.

Was it Aesop or the Grimm brothers who told us about the goose that laid the golden eggs? Feeding, caring for, and nurturing the goose gets you years of golden eggs. Butchering the goose to get what eggs are in it's belly only gets you that one or two eggs. Greed vs. sustainability. Bubbles of rapid growth, or perpetual but gradual climb? Which is better for America in the long run?

As someone with a college degree in History, I'm here to tell you friends that 1980-2008 looks a lot like 1909-1929. A "gilded age" of conspicuous consumption , unregulated corruption, and unbridled ambition. PLEASE think about this when you vote on Tuesday. PLEASE.

This is not the difference between "Socialism" and "Pro-American," this is the difference between moral (good steward, civic-responsible) capitalism and amoral (malignant, cancerous) capitalism. PLEASE put America back on the right track.

"Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men." ~ From FDR's first inaugural address, 1932

We REALLY Can Beat Steve King

2008-10-18T10:25:00.002-05:00

This poll really makes me smile. It was taken by SurveyUSA on October 8 & 9 of voters in Iowa. Of course, we know that Obama is projected to beat McCain in Iowa by a large margin, but here's the happy part: the poll breaks out western Iowa.

Northwest Iowa: Obama 49% McCain 45%

Southwest Iowa: Obama 51% McCain 42%

You will remember that the 5th District is the western side of Iowa, and that means a SOLID win for Obama in the 5th District. Now consider the voters who will vote for Barack Obama -- how many of them do you suppose will vote for Steve King? And how many McCain voters in the 5th are disgusted enough by Steve King to vote for our Democrat, Rob Hubler?

Rob Hubler has run an aggressive and smart campaign, raising well over $200,000 - that is light-years better than we have done in the last decade. And he happens to be a great guy who will make us proud.

Here's a link to Hubler's new mailer that is going out this week: http://www.hublercongress.com/images/voters_guide.pdf

And, of course, here's information on our incumbent, the inimitable Steve King: www.kingwatch.org

None of this matters if WE don't make it happen. We have the power in our hands and feet to knock the doors, walk the neighborhoods, make the calls and do all the things we know how to do to win an election.

If you don't show up THIS WEEK and help Rob Hubler, then just when are you going to? Don't just sit back and feel sorry that we are stuck with Steve King for another term. Make this happen: we can do it.

This is our campaign. This is our election. Now get busy.

What to tell your Republican friends

2008-10-14T08:06:00.001-05:00

I got another one of those emails this morning that claim that Obama is not just a Muslim, but also the Antichrist. This time I think my response is a little less vitriolic, tying to "speak the truth in love," and as usual, hit "reply all." This time someone send me back another email saying "I don't need to be preached to." Ever hearing and never listening, whatchyagonna do? But God says that His Word will not return to Him empty. People will believe what they want to believe. God help us.

But please feel free to copy and paste this post and use it as a reply to the same kinds of emails when YOU get them. Maybe we can spread God's TRUE word around a little instead of fear, hate, and lies. Aren't you tired of right-wingers hijacking Christianity? Join me in this crusade against crusaders.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..."
~1 John 4:18

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me." ~Jesus (John 14:1)

You want to vote against someone because of their stance on taxes, abortion, or the war, by all means, it is you duty to vote your conscience, but please, don't let your vote be decided by desperate last minute rumors and lies driven by fear or anger.

An anti-Christ is anyone who takes attention away from the true Christ.

Check out 1 John 4:1-3 (the same John who wrote Revelation)

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

Obama publicly acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and savior.

Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." ~1 Cor 12:3

Please, prayerfully consider what emails you send, and what you believe and who (and in what spirit) they sent it to you. Or at least please take me off of your list of people you forward these things to.

I for one am praying that God will heal our country from the huge rifts being caused by how polarizing this year's election has become.

"But I tell you:Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" ~Matthew 5:44

Seems to me that whether your perceived enemy are Liberals, Democrats, Obama, or Muslims or Muslim extremists, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces and the way to take captive hearts and thoughts is not by traditional dirty politics or letters to the editor or angry emails, but by prayer and by turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving them the cloack off our back (Matt 5:38-48)

In Jesus' hands and with His love and peace (Philippians 4:7)
Your brother in Christ and fellow American who respectfully disagrees with you.

When will the truth finally set us free?

2008-10-03T15:19:00.002-05:00

Recently someone forwarded an email to me warning that Barack Obama is the Antichrist because the book of Revelation says that his reign will be 42 months, the same as a U.S. Presidential term. Big mistake. I hit the "reply" button and preached that brother a sermon. Here's what I wrote:

It's not possible for the book of Revelation to claim the anti-christ is of Islamic decent, 1) Islam wasn't invented yet when it was written, 2) it's a religion not an ethnicity so you can't be of Islamic decent.

An anti-Christ is anyone who takes attention away from the true Christ.

I suggest you read the 1 John 4:1-3

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

Obama publicly acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and savior.

While you're at it, you need to bone up on your both your theology and your eschatology a little bit. Many fundamentalist strains of Christianity believe in a false doctrine called dispensationalism that is not truly found in Scripture, but rather was developed in 19th century America.

You're trying to frighten Christian voters into being afraid of Barak Obama, a devout Christian himself- not a Muslim or the anti-christ. This is NOT a Christ-like behavior.

1 John 4:18 tells us that "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Besides, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 and Luke 6 to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

What you're doing is "the ends-justifies-the-means." You're so afraid of Obama yourself, that you're willing to spread lies and propaganda about him to insure that McCain/Palin win. That's not Jesus- that's Machiavelli.

Dispensationalists pretend to be friends of Israel because they think that Jerusalem will be some kind of celestial star-gate for Jesus' second coming, when in reality they are anti-semitic, hating Jews and blaming them for killing Jesus. They can't wait for them to be "Left-Behind" and sent to Hell. Whereas, granted, Jesus may be the only way, truth and life (John 14:6) BUT- God does not WANT ANYONE to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

It's so unfortunate that politics makes such strange bedfellows because Catholics that are so adamantly opposed to abortion find quick and fervent allies among fundamentalist and evangelicals in the religious-right movement, yet many of these allies suspect the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church itself of being the Antichrist and/or the Beast!

How do we know that Jerusalem won't be a cosmic star gate for his arrival to usher in some millennial reign? Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:22-24 that His true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth, not in physical, geographical or political locations.

As for predictions and prophecies and televangelists who think that the market crash is a sign of the end times or Sarah Palin's prediction that Christians will find refuge from the tribulation in Alaska- Jesus tells us that he will return like a thief in the night in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and in Matthew 24:36 He assures us that "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." We need to love and trust Him and not worry about signs or trying to help arrange things for Him politically. He doesn't need any help.
I know you mean well and I'm sure you truly love God and America, I'm sure you're a good person. But be careful not to be corrupted by politics and political messages, whether they're from the right OR the left. Don't be motivated by fear or anger. Be motivated by love and a desire to reconcile everyone to Jesus.

As God tells us in 2 Peter-
" 3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."
Thank God, He's granted us liberty and privilege to elect our own leaders in the United States. If you want to vote solely on social issues that are important to you so be it. This is your right. But please, don't be frightened into any choice based on shoddy theological assertions of people who seek to use religion as a means to assert their political agendas.

Remember Galatians 3:28- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Guess what- there is neither Republican nor Democrat, Independent nor Libertarian, Black nor White, Asian nor Hispanic, Urban nor Suburban, Metropolitan nor Rural, either. Believe it or not, there ARE Liberal Democrats who LOVE Jesus and America and want what's best for everyone. I'll even bet that when we get to Heaven, we might just find a few Socialists, Communists, and even Anarchists there!

When will we ever live up to our motto? "E Pluribus Unum"- From many, one.

Soon, I pray.

Please forgive me if I've come off as angry or condescending in either of these emails. I happen to love Jesus and to love America and I have been wounded and persecuted and attacked and alienated and ostracized and doubted, slandered and shunned because I disagree with other Christians who watch Fox News more than they read their own Bibles and I feel like I have to either take a stand like Luther or gradually be pushed away from my Savior by His own "sheep."

Please forgive me, but please, please, don't fall prey to fear, lies, or political propaganda, let alone to false prophecies, false doctrines, and foolish heresies. Read the Bible, not political email forwards. Share God's love and His good news of forgiveness, not fear and racism.

Remember

2008-09-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

8:46:26 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 11 impacts the north side of the North Tower (1 World Trade Center) of the WTC between the 94th and 98^th floors. American Airlines Flight 11 was flying at a speed of 490 miles per hour (MPH).

When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower, "it set up vibrations which were transmitted through the building, through its foundation, and into the ground," says Lerner-Lam. Those vibrations, as indicated by seismographs at Lamont-Doherty and other locations, were the equivalent of a magnitude 0.9 earthquake, one too small to be felt.

Where were you by Alan Jackson
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry

Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below

Did you burst out in pride
For the red white and blue
The heroes who died just doing what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself to what really matters

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her
Did you dust off that bible at home
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Speak with some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

The greatest is love
The greatest is love (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

What Sarah Palin Doesn't want You to know about Wasilla, Alaska

2008-09-09T12:27:00.003-05:00

Pete Hauschka is a principal of a school in Alaska, where he and his wife Bonnie also teach. The following letter, written by Pete, is shared here with his permission.
---------------------
August 29, 2008, 11:58 p.m.

Good evening,

Lots of friends and relatives have been asking me (as an Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for McCain as a VP candidate.

Here it goes:

This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is a nice person. I've met her, I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference a couple of years ago. She has lots going for her superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother; she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is quite beautiful; athletic, and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a 'real life' and done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like dipnettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and havin' 5 kids.

Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad. As governor she has repeatedly shown us that she is unable to grasp the demands of leadership. She is very prone to cronyism of the worst kind. Every cabinet level political appointment she has made she has over-ridden suggestions of our state advisory boards, and instead promoted those who had granted her direct political favors. Not that other politicians don't do this, they do, but most of them are able to balance their appointments to ensure that at least a few people with real skill and experience are running big state agencies.

She also has been unable to pay attention to her Alaskan constituency. Personally, I've written several of our previous gov's and been asked to comment publicly on education policy. All the previous gov's have always acknowledged that contribution, criticism or comment; sometimes by direct reply, or at least by that of a staff member. Palin's office has been a zone of silence. Not I, nor one person I know commenting has ever gotten any sort of reply. Her claim of running an open or transparent government is totally false; the public simply has no role in her administration.

Her previous claim to fame was being mayor of Wasilla, a growing town about 40 minutes from Anchorage of about 15,000 people. Wasilla is a hellhole, even by Alaskan standards, where there are plenty of hellhole towns and villages. Wasilla is an ugly place that shows a complete absence of planning, design, or sense of public vision. Gov't agencies and services are completely overrun in this town; things are so bad that they can't even track their population or build schools in the right place, because most parts of the town don't require building permits, so the only clue about where people are settling are utility receipts. Imagine trying to be an emergency responder in this kind of place: Houses don't just catch on fire in Wasilla, they burn to the ground, because by the time the fire department has figured out which road to take (no signs) or whose house it is (no directory), the place is done for. Palin was mayor this town for at least 2 terms before being elected gov. a year and a half ago.

Her moral sense is simplistic and not inclusive. She is the sort of person who is used to using their 'faith' to divide and isolate minority groups of human beings instead of uniting them. To her credit as Gov. she has kept out of this arena pretty well, but when in comfortable company (i.e the Matanuska Valley Republican Women's Club), she lets her moral cat out of the bag.

I will do what I can to ensure her defeat and that of her running mate as well. :) Please share this information with those who can use it well.

Cheers, Pete Hauschka

Add forgery to the list of high crimes and misdemeanors

2008-08-09T09:06:00.001-05:00

From http://www.impeachbush.org (Aug 7, 2008)

Another smoking gun is not needed to proceed with the impeachment of George W. Bush.

But new evidence of criminal wrongdoing provided by Pulitzer-winning journalist Ron Suskind, is so explosive, that if true, impeachment and the criminal indictment of President Bush and other senior officials is required by U.S. and international law.

This story has become big news with major stories in the Washington Post, major television networks and elsewhere.

Suskind, in his new book: The Way of the World, asserts that the Bush White House ordered the CIA to forge a letter from Saddam Hussein’s Chief of Intelligence, Tahir Jalil Habbush, stating that alleged September 11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta, had received his training in Iraq.

The Bush White House and the CIA were getting secret, direct reports from Saddam’s Chief of Intelligence in January 2003 that stated that Iraq had no nuclear weapons program since 1991. When the U.S. invasion started in March 2003, the Bush administration “resettled” the Iraqi Intelligence Chief in Jordan and paid him $5 million dollars in what could be considered “hush money.”

After the Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame expose in July 2003, that proved that Bush and Cheney were trying to destroy those who were uncovering their lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and so-called links to the September 11 attacks, a new plot was hatched to cover-up Bush’s bold-faced lies.

Suskind explains the plot:

"In the fall of 2003, after the world learned there were no WMD — as Habbush had foretold — the White House ordered the CIA to carry out a deception. The mission: create a handwritten letter, dated July, 2001, from Habbush to Saddam saying that Atta trained in Iraq before the attacks and the Saddam was buying yellow cake for Niger with help from a “small team from the al Qaeda organization.”

"The mission was carried out, the letter was created, popped up in Baghdad, and roiled the global newcycles in December, 2003 (conning even venerable journalists with Tom Brokaw). The mission is a statutory violation of the charter of CIA, and amendments added in 1991, prohibiting CIA from conducting disinformation campaigns on U.S. soil."

John W. Dean, who served as Richard Nixon’s White House Counsel, drew the connection on MSNBC between the new allegations and those that brought down Richard Nixon in 1974 just weeks after the House Judiciary Committee voted in favor of Articles of Impeachment.

John W. Dean being interviewed by Keith Olberman stated:

"I don‘t think people are looking at it too narrowly or Suskind is when I read his book. What happens when you tie that with a criminal conspiracy statute, 18 USC 371, which nailed countless people in Watergate for misusing the agencies and departments of government—that‘s where they‘ve got a problem.

"That‘s where Nixon had a problem for telling the CIA to block the FBI for part of the Watergate investigation. Yes, it was obstruction but it was also defrauding the government. This is their real problem with that statute. ... "

What's King so afraid of?

2008-08-08T22:46:00.001-05:00

In less than three months voters will go to the polls and make important decisions about how they are represented in government.

Recently Congressman Steve King declined an invitation to the debate Rob Hubler October 9 at Sioux City North High School, sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Sioux City Journal. King complained that in a June 29 article, the Journal let Monona County Democratic Party chairman Ken Mertes say that some things King has said seem racist.

What kind of racist comments?

Like when he announced that he was running for re-election and said that terrorists will dance in the streets if America elects Barack Obama president.

Or when he compared Mexicans to cattle while promoting a $3,000,000 per mile wall along the border that people around the world, including the Vatican and former Soviet leaders have compared to the Berlin Wall. And by the way, he offered to have his family construction business do much of the work. (No doubt with no-bid contracts just like we gave to Haliburton and Balckwater in Iraq).

It is a little odd that he voted Against Renewing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

I suspect that King doesn’t just feel persecuted by the press. The Sioux City Journal is a FAR cry from the Greenwich Village Voice or the Mother Earth News, we’re not talking about some kind of Liberal media conspiracy here. I think that King is afraid to face an intelligent, reasonable, rational opponent.

Who is his opponent this time? Rob Hubler is a retired Presbyterian minister, a Vietnam veteran, and a teacher for severely disabled children.

Hubler received a Good Conduct Medal for his time in the Navy, and when he got home, he worked for peace. He served as a legislative assistant for transportation and military issues in Des Moines. In 1989 he entered the University of Dubuqe's Theological Seminary to become a pastor.
Hubler lives his faith, instead of just using it to sell an agenda or to scare people with wedge issues. He’s shepherded Presbyterian churches in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska
and been a teacher for severely disabled children.

He believes that Iowa's 5th District deserves a Congressman who is informed, educated, thoughtful, and who will be a positive voice toward creating a more perfect union.

King on the other hand, shamelessly defends the dishonesty of the Bush administration and has lined his pockets with special-interest group and lobbyist money. Like Bush and Cheney, and other "chickenhawks," he never served in the military himself.

He wants to deport the widows and orphans of legal immigrants and is a chief proponent of building an actual wall along the US-Mexican border, of course offering contracts to build it to his son's construction company.

King voted Against Children's Health Insurance, even though most Republicans including Senator Grassley supported it.

King said the events of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse "amounts to hazing."
Last month he disrupted House Judiciary committee meetings on torture and the politicization of the Justice Department.

He's even voted AGAINST Strengthening Flood Levees in Iowa's flooded towns.

King refused to sign a letter asking Congress' Armed Services Committees that the head of the National Guard Bureau become part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. King is the only Iowa lawmaker in Washington whose name is not on the request.

When Scott McClellan, Bush’s former spokesman, testified before Congress about Bush lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and about there being some kind of link between Iraq and 9/11, Steve King asked McClellen, “Couldn’t you have taken this to the grave with you and done this country a favor?”

King once told the Sioux City Journal that ‘red scare’ Senator Joseph McCarthy as "a great American hero." Joe McCarthy, the demagogue who inspired black lists and witch hunts, who the Army, President Eisenhower, and the Republican party all denounced, who was finally censured by the Senate and drank himself to death? That Joe McCarthy?

He’s one of Steve King’s heroes? “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

King decrees widows penalized

2008-07-22T10:05:00.001-05:00

by: Douglas Burns | The Iowa Independent
Jul 21, 2008 at 14:05 PM

Congressman Steve King is now using a preposterous hypothetical that characterizes our servicemen as booze-hounds prone to one-night stands and black-out drunk marriages.

King, a Kiron Republican who is not even subtle with his beliefs that America should be populated by native-born whites, is a strong supporter of the so-called "widow penalty." More than 150 foreign-born widows and widowers face deportation because their spouses died less than two years after the marriages and before citizenship paperwork could be processed.

Congress is working to end the tragedy but King doesn't want to cut the widows a break, in large part because he questions the legitimacy of mixed-race families, believing them a product of white men wilding on foreign soils with exotic women. Read his own words:

"A soldier, man or woman, could get drunk in Bangkok, wake up in the morning and be married, as will happen sometimes in places like Las Vegas or Bangkok, be killed the next day, and the spouse who was a product of the evening's celebration would have then a right to claim access to come to the United States on a green card," King said during debate on the widow penalty, according to The Des Moines Register.

Read King's own words:

Ted's Take:

"I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts." (emphasis mine)
- Malachi 3:5

That's from this book I read once. Forget what they call it, "Bibliosomething,?" Sounds like Babel. Anyway, King probably wouldn't like it, it wasn't written by a white American. Although I thought it was a big hit with the "family values" crowd for a while a few years back.

McCain earmark opposition assailed

2008-06-22T18:59:00.001-05:00

By JANE NORMAN • jnorman@dmreg.com • June 20, 2008
Des Moines Register

Washington, D.C. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain opposed legislation last year that included money for flood control in Des Moines, which shows he is wrong to push for reforms to the congressional earmark system, a Democratic lawmaker charged Thursday.

State Sen. Jack Hatch of Des Moines said the earmarked money was needed to relieve water problems on the city's north side, which were magnified over the weekend when a levee break forced an evacuation of the Birdland area and ruined several dozen homes and businesses.

McCain aides said the Arizona senator opposed the $23 billion bill because it was bloated with pork and did not set priorities. The aides said McCain does not oppose particular projects, such as the Des Moines improvements, but rather the inside-player process through which the money is doled out.

Hatch chose the wrong time to attack McCain, spokesman Jeff Sadosky added.

"We do not need to play politics with flooding that has brought so much harm and pain throughout the region," he said.

Outdated north-side levees were identified as a weak spot in the city's flood-control system as far back as 1993. The Army Corps of Engineers was granted approval to replace them, but Congress has not set aside the money needed for the project.

Hatch said members of Iowa's congressional delegation pushed to include the earmark in the massive Water Resources Development Act of 2007. It included $6.9 million for work along the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers.

"That's why you have 435 members of Congress, so they can be closer to these projects, so they know what really, really matters," Hatch said.

Sadosky pointed out that the water bill only authorized federal money. Spending is a separate process in Congress.

President Bush eventually vetoed the bill, which authorized more than 900 navigation, flood-control and environmental projects across the country. A report on the bill said the Des Moines metropolitan area suffered more than $152 million in flood damage in 1993.

"The Birdland Park and Central Place levees on the Des Moines River failed during the 1993 flood event and do not provide reliable flood protection, placing nearly 200 homes and businesses at risk," the report said.

Every member of the Iowa congressional delegation voted to override Bush's veto, the first override of his presidency.

McCain strongly backed Bush.

"This legislation is fundamentally flawed, authorizing nearly 1,000 new projects without any method for prioritizing the needs of our national water infrastructure," he told the Senate. He added that the bill was "full of pork projects and unchecked government spending."

McCain and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., had pushed for a system to set priorities for Corps projects. "Of course, that amendment was not adopted because this Congress values pet projects over national priorities," McCain said.

Design work for reconstruction of the Des Moines levees is under way; earlier design work was inadequate, Hatch said Thursday. Temporary repairs to plug the breach were made this week.

"We have to push that design immediately," Hatch said. "One of the highest priorities of our congressional delegation has to be to shore up these weak levees in the Des Moines River basin."

Talking Points Memo | McCain Breaking the Law in Plain Sight

2008-06-22T18:58:00.000-05:00

Talking Points Memo | McCain Breaking the Law in Plain Sight: "The most generous interpretation of what happened is that McCain's lawyer came up with an ingenious legal two step that allowed him to double dip in the campaign finance system, eat his cake and spend it too. But even if you buy that line, successful gaming of the system doesn't really count as strict adherence. And the point is irrelevant since the head of the FEC -- a Republican -- says McCain cannot do this on his own."

Culver aides: McCain ignored request to cancel Iowa visit

2008-06-22T18:55:00.000-05:00

Culver aides: McCain ignored governor's request to cancel Iowa visit

MIKE GLOVER
AP News

Jun 19, 2008 22:43 EST

An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.

<br/>

McCain toured flood-damaged sites in Iowa on Thursday, including the town of Columbus Junction in the southeast.

Patrick Dillon, Culver's chief of staff, said the governor was concerned that McCain's trip would divert local law enforcement from the flood recovery effort to provide security for McCain.

David Roederer, who chairs McCain's campaign in Iowa, said McCain's trip didn't hamper Iowa's recovery operation. He said McCain proceeded with the visit because the campaign was providing much of its own security.

"There was really no state resources diverted," Roederer said.

The mayor of Columbus Junction, Dan Wilson, agreed.

"Certainly, Mr. McCain's visit today in no way hindered any relief efforts or any of our efforts on recovery or security or whatever we were working on," Wilson said. He said McCain's staff called him Wednesday night and Thursday to be sure the visit would not cause a problem.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama canceled a scheduled visit to eastern Iowa last week at the request of state officials.

"As a courtesy — and as we did for Senator Obama — we privately made an effort to make sure that Senator McCain knew that state and local resources were still being deployed to support the flood fight and that now may not be the best time for a campaign trip," Dillon said in a statement.

Dillon's comments came as President Bush toured the state, and hundreds of law enforcement officers were diverted from flood recovery to provide security for him.

Culver, who endorsed Obama well before the primary campaign with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton was settled, is expected to be one of Obama's biggest supporters in Iowa during the general election.

Dillon said the issue was not about the election but about recovering from flooding.

"At the end of the day, it's not about politics but about what's best for Iowa," he said. "We hope any attention brought to the state — from Senator McCain or any other leader — will help bring assistance and enduring commitments to support Iowa's recovery."

Iowa Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley also have teamed for a tour of their own to see the flood damage.

While these high-profile politicians bring attention to the disaster, they cause headaches for hard-pressed law enforcement. Bush and McCain are protected by the Secret Service, and call in scores of local law enforcement to provide security during local appearances.

Source: AP News

Go Kucinich Go

2008-06-10T08:58:00.000-05:00

a resolution, articles of impeachment of george bush, president of the united states. resolved that president george w. bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanor and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the united states senate. articles of impeachment exhibited by the house of representatives of the united states of america in the name of itself and of the people of the united states of america in maintenance and support of its impeachment against george w. bush for high crimes and misdemeanor. it is conduct while president of the united states, george w. bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faith fully execute the office of the office of president of the united states and best of his ability, preserve protect and defend the constitution of the united states and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be safely executed has committed the following abuses of power. article i, creating a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false case for war against iraq. in his conduct while president of the united states, george w. bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faith fully execute the office of president of the united states and to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states and in violation of its constitutional duty to take care that the laws be safely executed, has both personally and acting through his agents and subordinates, together with the vice president, illegally spent public dollars on a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against iraq. the department of defense has engaged in a years long secret domestic propaganda campaign

The answer to Bear's question

2008-06-08T18:33:00.002-05:00

Bear asked: How do voters take their district back...? Good question. Even better is that the answer lies right within the question; you'll find it nestled inside the third word -- vote.

But that's the easy part. In the case of House District 55, however, they first needed someone for whom to vote, and that requires involvement and a commitment to candidate recruitment. That in turn at least gives Democrats a fighting chance, which is the first step in taking back our districts.

So how do we convey that message?

Well, if I had an extra $2,136.96, I'd send sympathy cards to the 5,088 registered Democrats in HD-55. It seems quite appropriate, especially since they've basically just lost something very near and dear: representation. Even better would be an additional $2,670.36 for another 6,358 cards for the registered No Party voters. After all, it's their loss, too.

Iowans for Tax Relief may boast record-winning elections for their young republican puppets (see Bret Hayworth's ITR counts primary scalps), but in spite of their teetering stacks of gold coins, there's simply no substitute for a solid vote, and the numbers are doable with a little work.

HD-55 has 6,051 registered republicans. Let's say we earned (and yes, votes are earned) 60% of the NP vote. That's about 3815 votes. The 8903 combined Democratic and NP votes would be enough to topple ITR's gold tower. Sure, not all Dems and NP voters will show up to cast ballots, but neither will the republicans or their 40% share of NPs. But, as Henry Fonda once said in the film Shenandoah, "We've got to try. Because if we don't try, we don't do. And if we don't do, then why are we here?"

Therein, my friend, lies our answers. Representation doesn't just happen. We as Democrats have to make it happen.

So, how's about those sympathy cards? If someone wants to pony up the $4,807.32 for postage, I'll lick all the envelopes. I'll seal them with a kick.

Jason Scultz wins Iowa Primary.

2008-06-05T17:57:00.002-05:00

Democrats failed to recruit a candidate for House District 55 - leaving the door open for another bought and paid for candidate like Matt Windschitl in HD56.

Jason Schultz won the Republican Primary for HD55.
Jason is supported by special interests from SE Iowa.

How do voters take their district back, getting the representation they deserve?

Words that will be written in history books

2008-06-04T11:08:00.002-05:00

"What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize."
~Sen. Barack Obama

This has been a dramatic difference between Republicans and Democrats since the days of Joseph Mccarthy in the 1950s. Religion should be a tie that binds, not a tool for political leverage. And TRUE patriotism is standing up for the principals embodied in the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights- not just the flag or the pledge or some comfortable, capitalist, WASP way of life. It's not a lapel pin.

It's time for Hillary supporters to join ranks behind Obama to defeat McCain because the stakes are too high. Please, we need you. We honor you, stop the division. Don't act like Republicans.

Choose hope over fear? Yes we can.

Sad for representative government in Iowa

2008-06-04T11:02:00.005-05:00

What a shame. Schultz won the Republican primary for Clarence Hoffman's HD55 seat, and won big.

Schultz had the money- thanks to a lobbying group- to out advertise Friedrichsen big time. How tragic for Hoffman, that the voters in our district would choose idealogical extremism rather than honest and reasonable public servant-hood.

As a Christian, I want Christian voters to wake up and realize that the far right brand of religiosity that King and Schultz represent is one of pure legalism like the Pharisees, not the grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and compassion of Jesus Himself.

Right-wing religion isn't about Jesus and His teachings, it's about fear, anger, and the desire to control society- not about helping others or first changing yourself. Stop abortions, stop gay marriage, stop immigration- We know what you hate, but what are you for?

Want to go back to the days of coat-hanger abortions? Especially the girls who are victims of rape and incest?

Rather have the gay folks in freaky night clubs and airport bathrooms instead of mundane, monogamous domesticity?

Prefer those immigrants to be bringing all kinds of diseases, involved in crime, uneducated and wallowing in decrepit ghettos instead of working withing the system and contributing to, even though they're culturally different than you and me?

Okay then, make sure you put all of your energy into preventing anything you don't like from happening. Keep trying to make sure those you distrust are driven underground.

As a fiscal conservative, someone who opposes deficit spending and seeks accountability and reform in government- I wish that conservative voters would wake up and see that being beholden to ANY PAC, lobby, or interest group means that you have THEIR interests at heart, not your constituents. No matter how just and righteous their positions seem.

Iowans for Tax Relief? No one likes paying taxes, but we all like decent roads, safe bridges, and competitive schools. Tax Relief is a red herring for Republicans to swindle voters out of paying attention to real issues and it always has been. ITR was an easy way to get some bucks for campaign. Lets say we want to deport all the illegal immigrants, prevent all the abortions, and deny all the homos spousal benefits- we have to have some revenue to pay to enforce all those socially conservative laws. What the Hell, let's go out on a limb and say that we are going to stay in Iraq for another hundred years. How ya gonna pay for it? Taxes are a necessary evil, my friend.

The keys are how you structure the tax burden and what you spend the revenue on. Republicans want to tax the working class the most and millionaires, billionaires and corporations the most and they want to spend the money on no-bid military contracts to corporations they hold stock in. Democrats prefer a progressive tax structure where the more you can afford, the more you're asked bare. And we want to spend it on silly, frivolous things like infrastructure, education, law enforcement, scientific research, and who knows, maybe even health care.

Even more sad than Schultz winning Hoffman's seat in the Iowa House is that the Democrats of Dist. 55 don't have their act together enough to even field a candidate to oppose Schultz this Fall. Come on team, wake up and get it together by 2010!!!

What Price War?

2008-05-03T17:20:00.006-05:00

Reminders are everywhere.

They show up in faces. They show up in roadside signs. They show up in numbers, whether tallying the hundreds of billions of dollars spent or the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives lost (yes, this includes a vast number of innocent Iraqis, and yes, they're human lives, too) and the reminders keep on growing and expanding to populate every aspect of all our lives.

Today I attended Iowa's 5th Congressional District Democratic Central Committee meeting, and as we drove into Denison, Iowa, the signs were there, too ... community placards still waving in the wind from Wednesday's welcome home ceremonies for Denison's Company D, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry division troops. Before returning to Crawford County April 30, the 120+ National Guardsmen had spent five days at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, being debriefed.

During today's meeting, one committee member rose to provide other numbers: the cost of the Iraqi War thus far to Iowa's 5th District -- $738,000,000 (seven hundred thirty-eight million dollars).

Iowa's 5th District has 32 counties. We're a rural district, with more counties than any of Iowa's five congressional districts. Our unemployment rates are high here. Yet, if divided equally, each county in our district now has a 23+ million dollar ($23,062,500, to be exact) investment in ... what? Better roads? Schools? Health care for Iowans? Our kids? More jobs?

Don't we wish.

Upon arriving home, I check my e-mail and the news, and another reminder surfaces. On just One Man. His name is Merlin German. He's not even from Iowa. But, his story, I know by now, already must have unleashed more than 738 million tears -- including mine -- and the Iraqi War and all its costs suddenly comes into sharper focus once again.

This is man who, after surviving a roadside bomb in Iraq in February 2005 with burns to 97% of his body, endured 150 operations, became an inspiration to other wounded soldiers and a beloved figure at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, established the Merlin's Miracles charity to help burned children, and then died at the young age of 22 after yet another operation.

The questions keep coming. Why? Why? Why?

Why are Americans so blindly willing to accept a war with a potential economic impact of a staggering $4 trillion or more? Why, when our alleged initial "motives" were to oust Saddam Hussein, does America continue to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into a war long after Hussein is dead? Rebuilding Iraq, yes? Stabilizing Iraq, yes? But why aren't those dollars invested in badly needed programs to stabilize a faltering U.S. economy instead? And why can American soldiers like Merlin German -- who proudly serve and represent their country despite pain and war scars -- recognize so easily the needs here in the Homeland and accomplish more in three short years than an entire administration can accomplish in five?

Marine Sgt. Merlin German is the epitome of an American Hero. In all ways. He fought the good fight. Not just for a war most of us still can't comprehend, but for millions he didn't even know. He waged his own war for all the right reasons, and many children will grow and thrive and live better lives because of his efforts. In the end, to have something to show for one's efforts is man's greatest legacy.

Hail to the Chief amongst soldiers: U.S. Marine Sgt. Merlin German.

In behalf of Iowa's 5th Congressional Democrats, we offer our condolences to the family and friends of this great man.

Bush Budget Proposal Slashes Iowa Law Enforcement and Victim Service Programs

2008-02-08T22:48:00.001-06:00

He's doing it again.

Perhaps he doesn't think crime takes place in Iowa. Or, perhaps he doesn't think Iowans care about the crime taking place within our state. Then again, perhaps he doesn't think crime affects Iowans' lives.

He's wrong. It does. We do. And, yes, it does.

Thank God, our U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) realizes all the above.

Once again, Sen. Harkin is fighting for Iowans and leading the effort to restore critical funds to this year's budget in response to Bush's latest proposal to slash another 63% from state and local law enforcement programs. This, while Iowans are still recovering from last year's 67% cut to the Byrne funded drug task forces across the state.

Harkin and his Senate colleagues announced on Jan. 30 that they seek to increase funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program to $660 million. This would increase Iowa’s estimated share of 2008 funding from $1.5 million to $6.1 million. Harkin -- in his announcement -- was joined by police officers and local sheriffs, including Marshall County Sheriff Ted Kamatchus and Iowa’s Drug Czar Gary Kendall.

"Iowa is already reeling from funding cuts to law enforcement programs, which I am currently fighting to restore in the current year’s budget," Harkin said in response to Bush's latest proposed cuts. "I will continue my work to ensure Iowans do not have to face these devastating cuts.”

Federal assistance allows local law enforcement to better coordinate drug fighting efforts, hire officers and purchase equipment, stop domestic violence and effectively deal with drug dealers. Unless funding is added to the budget, these important programs will be cut.

The Bush Budget Impact on Iowa

· The Bush budget would slash or eliminate many programs aimed at bolstering local law enforcement, including the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which helps local police departments put more officers out on Iowa’s streets. In Iowa, law enforcement agencies would have to absorb a loss of $6.5 million dollars if this was enacted.

· The President’s budget will eliminate Byrne Grants that fund many drug fighting programs across the state. Due to the President’s veto threats, last year’s appropriations bill underfunded the Byrne Grant program. Senator Harkin is already working to restore this money this fiscal year which would restore $3.5 million to Iowa so law enforcement will not need to cut staff and program resources. He will vigorously oppose any attempts to eliminate this program in next year's budget.

· The President’s budget also proposes to eliminate all Department of Justice grant programs for victims of domestic violence including legal assistance, grants for safe havens for children and victims of domestic violence with disabilities. Due to this loss of funding, most, if not all of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Programs around the state would have to close.

Fellow Iowans, is this acceptable to you?

Bush never got the privilege of meeting Dad Earl. Perhaps the death of Earl Thelander meant nothing to Bush, nor the deaths of many more like Dad Earl whose fates were sealed by Iowa law enforcement entities doing the best they could in the face of numerous budget cuts under an administration whose mantra is and has been Shoot-First-and-Ask-Questions-Later.

But, the People are quick studies. Iowans are quick studies. And, we're watching you, Mr. Bush, just like you've been watching us.

Thank you, Sen. Harkin, for keeping watch on issues that matter not just to Iowans, but to all Americans.

King's Political Future

2007-07-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

As Congressman Steve King of Iowa’s 5th District contemplates whether to seek the U.S. Senate Seat held by Tom Harkin or go for a fourth term as Congressman then perhaps run for Governor in 2010, some interesting thoughts developed.
1. Could King sell the State of Iowa on his concept of representing only those people who share his values and still get elected? I’m still one of those people that have not figured out why anyone would vote for him in the first place.
2. Maybe Washington D.C. is becoming a safer place to live. In June 2006, Rep King stated, "My wife lives here with me, and I can tell you… she’s at far greater risk being a civilian in Washington, D.C., than an average civilian in Iraq."
3. King’ latest perspective on higher fuel costs are environmental regulations. King stated, “every day we are held hostage by environmental regulations that lead to high gas prices.” Maybe as Governor, he could set an environmental standard the whole world could follow.

I find it scary King is on the House Subcommittee of Constitution Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.