Posts tagged with ‘Terry Branstad’

Iowa GOP Embraces Karl Rove and Failed Bush-Era Policies

Friday, August 20th, 2010

DES MOINES – Tonight the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) will welcome Karl Rove, the mastermind of Bush-era deficit spending and jobs killing measures. Rove will headline a private fundraiser for the RPI tonight at the State Fair that is closed to the public and press.

“The support of failed Bush-era policies by Iowa Republicans couldn’t be more clear. Not only do Republican candidates openly advocate returning us to the very policies that put our nation into an economic crisis, they are welcoming the man responsible,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky. “It’s clear Iowa Republicans support Bush’s deficit spending, tax cuts for the rich and an unregulated Wall Street allowed to run our economy into the ground.”

“Rove’s visit confirms that Iowa Republicans like Terry Branstad and Chuck Grassley want nothing more than a return to failed Bush-era economic and social policies,” added Dvorsky.

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GOP’s False Attacks Continue Despite Proven I-JOBS Success

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Management today announced that Governor Culver’s I-JOBS program was responsible for employing 7,079 Iowans in June, creating or retaining jobs in every county while strengthening the state’s infrastructure and economy. Despite this success, Republicans continue to level false attacks on the I-JOBS program.

“Terry Branstad is deliberately misleading Iowans,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sue Dvorsky. “It’s time for Republicans to stop using false rhetoric to attack a program that is creating jobs and building our infrastructure without raising taxes or adding a burden to future generations. Iowans deserve real, honest leadership and that’s what they have in Chet Culver.”

Ignoring his own record yet again Terry Branstad, backed by the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI), was quick to mislead voters about I-JOBS:

Rhetoric: I-JOBS has not created any jobs.
Reality: Even Branstad’s own administration argued in 1983 that infrastructure investments would create jobs, saying “as a rule of thumb, one construction job is created for every $25,000, expended on such projects…that will in turn create 70 jobs on the secondary area…” (Spencer Daily Reporter, 1/24/83). When adjusted for inflation, Branstad’s own math shows that I-JOBS should create almost 16,000 jobs.

Rhetoric: I-JOBS has not created any long-term jobs
Reality: Since its obvious I-JOBS is already creating jobs, Branstad is backtracking and claiming I-JOBS hasn’t created any long-term jobs.This too is false. Many of these projects haven’t created any long-term jobs yet because they are still under construction. I-JOBS will create long-term jobs in two ways. First: Some projects, such as fire stations, will require additional staffing once they are complete. Second and more importantly, infrastructure investments are one of the things private sector companies look at when examining potential locations to expand or move to. Private sector employers want their job sites to be protected from flooding, be served by rapid fire, police and EMS response, to be served by good road, rail and air links, and to have quality of life attractions for their employees.

Rhetoric: Future generations will have to pay for I-JOBS
Reality: The bonding for the entire I-JOBS program is funded by existing gaming revenue, without adding any debt to the budget.

Rhetoric: The total cost of I-JOBS is $1.7 billion
Reality: Iowa’s strong economy and triple-A bond rating saved taxpayers hundreds of millions to bring the total cost of the program to around $1.1 billion. As Governor, Terry Branstad bonded a total of $4.815 billion, mostly in short-term bonds just to fill gaps in his budget. I-JOBS was bonded responsibly to ensure continued economic growth.

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Can You Find the 80 Percent?

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

How many people support eliminating the department of agriculture, eliminating medicare and social security, and allowing guns in schools? Surprisingly, enough people to allow those planks to be included in the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2010 Platform.

The interesting part about the RPI platform, aside from these pretty extreme positions, is that it requires nominated candidates to agree with 80 percent of the planks before they will receive the RPI’s backing. It’s hard to avoid the questions surrounding this, especially when many of the planks directly contradict many high profile GOP candidates.

I’m almost certain Senator Grassley wouldn’t be in favor of eliminating farm subsidies, the program that has given him $263,635 and more than $600k to his son. And neither Grassley or Terry Branstad would likely support the plank limiting public officials to serving no more than 12 years in office.

If that’s what they would obviously be against, it brings up a discussion of what they would support to meet their 80 percent.

Some other planks of the 2010 platform they could potentially throw their support behind include:

  • Eliminating all minimum wage laws
  • Allowing anyone to carry a gun into a public school if they’re licensed to carry a concealed weapon, because not allowing guns “endangers our children”
  • Eliminating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  • Prohibiting gay marriage, civil unions, and adoption by gay parents
  • Eliminating state and federal departments of education
  • Candidates must accept that health care “is a privilege and not a right”
  • Eliminate Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare

The list could go on, but this overview leaves many questions to be answered by Iowa Republicans about which 80 percent they agree with. Does Terry Branstad believe guns should be allowed in the classroom? Is Chuck Grassley working on a bill to eliminate the Department of Education? It’s unfortunately worth asking.

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BRANSTAD/REYNOLDS FAIL TO UNITE PARTY

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

Delegates at the Republican Party of Iowa state convention nominated former gubernatorial candidates Bob Vander Plaats and Rod Roberts, hoping to knock State Senator Kim Reynolds off the ballot. A three-way race for Lt. Governor proves Branstad is far from unifying the party.

“We knew the Branstad/Reynolds ticket would never close the fissure in the Republican party but, after today’s events, it’s pretty clear that fissure is wider and deeper than we could ever have guessed,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sue Dvorsky.

Branstad announced Thursday that Reynolds, an unknown Senator from Osceola and Branstad crony, would join him on the ticket. Even members of their own party said Reynolds would add nothing to the Branstad ticket and it’s clear that’s exactly what almost half the convention delegates believed, as well.

Steve King nominated Reynolds for Lt. Governor at the convention. Reynolds won the nomination over Vander Plaats 749 to 579 after ballots were re-cast and re-counted. Roberts declined the nomination.

“To have three nominations for Lt. Governor at a convention is a pretty good sign things are not going well within the party.” continued Dvorsky.

Reynolds will stay on the ballot in November but it’s clear it will be an uphill battle just to rally the base. Both Branstad and Reynolds have been unable to receive votes from nearly half the Republican party.

“This just shows how disorganized, dishonest and disturbed the Republican Party is in this state. The thought of being part of such an unhappy and unhealthy organization is scary and it should be scary to them. This will be a very interesting race, indeed.”

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Daily Clips: Terry vs Terry roundup

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Iowa Democratic chairman blasts Branstad’s record
From the Mason City Globe Gazette

State Democrats counter Branstad stop here Thursday
From the WCF Courier

Kiernan launches “Terry Vs. Terry” tour
From the Des Moines Register

 

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