Cyclone Conservatives "Going Dark"

As I approach the last few weeks of my time as an undergraduate at Iowa State University and because I will soon be embarking on a new and very exciting adventure, I wanted to inform you, the readers of this blog, that it will be "going dark".

"Going dark" in blog terminology means that it will no longer be updated and will likely be removed altogether.

After I started this blog in December of 2006, I never dreamt that it would afford me some of the opportunities that it has. They are too numerous to mention. Nor would I be able to thank all the people who have stopped me on the street, called me or sent me an e-mail about this blog.

726 posts later and all of time and effort thrown in, it was all worth it.

I've received countless hundreds and probably thousands of e-mails containing press releases, photos, tidbits of gossip and the like. You take the good with the bad.

No, this blog was never the biggest or the best blog out there but I certainly did my best to further the political discussion here in Iowa. Cyclone Conservatives went from one reader - me - to a few hundred a day to even those occasional days where more than a thousand people stopped by.

If there's one thing we must do, as Republicans in Iowa, it is to enhance and increase our online presence.

Please, if you are reading this and have ever thought of blogging, shoot me an e-mail and I'd be glad to assist you in any way. There are a lot of good conservative and Republican oriented blogs out there but there is always room for one more - yours.

Please keep in touch and thanks for stopping by for the last 17 months.

All the best,

Don McDowell
Publisher, Cyclone Conservatives
mcdowelldon@gmail.com

Obama Versus Obama's Chief Strategist

Via Jon Martin's Politico Blog



David Axelrod is one of Obama's top guns and he does a very nice job debunking the distortions that his own candidate has been pedaling on the stump regarding McCain's "100 year" comment.

Short little clip.

Livestock Not the Only Odor at the Capitol

By Royd Chambers
Iowa House of Representatives

This week a bill I think would have been very positive for the future of livestock in Iowa died amidst disagreements among House Democrats. House File 2652 would have authorized a livestock odor research and mitigation effort. The majority party caucused extensively on the issue with the ultimate result that they chose not to proceed with the bill, and it died under constraints of the second funnel week. This means both the House and Senate versions of the bill are no longer eligible for debate this session. It is possible the issue could be resurrected through a majority party leadership bill, or aspects of it could be incorporated into other bills as an amendment, so I still hold out some hope.

The bill created a framework for the odor research that would have been conducted in a joint venture involving Iowa State University, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Department of Natural Resources. These entities were to work with an estimated 300 to 500 individual livestock producers to discover which odor reduction methods, practices and facilities work best to reduce odor and air emissions. The purposes of the research would be to accelerate the adoption of affordable and effective odor mitigation technology and animal husbandry practices by livestock producers.

The controversy arises from some interest groups that are more interested in exploiting the politics of the issue rather than finding solutions. We do have people in this state who are simply anti-livestock and seek to damage the industry regardless of the negative impact on Iowa’s economy. After all, if solutions to odor problems were found most people would not have issues with livestock operations. Additionally, if solutions were found, the reason for some of these interests groups to exist goes away, so it is in their interest to derail the study.

As the 2008 session winds down be aware that the majority of work left to do relates to finalizing the budget. I have expressed my concern over the fact that spending has increased by over one billion dollars in a two year period of time. Thanks to the healthy status of Iowa’s economy, and revenues pouring in at record paces, much of the increased spending will be covered. Clearly, however, the majority party is putting in place unsustainable spending practices that will cause the budget to grow by leaps and bounds in the out years.

Even a slight downturn in the economy will have dire consequences for future budgets. An area of special interest is how to increase funding for road construction and maintenance. Iowans demand good roads and this is especially important for rural economic development.

A bill being proposed would increase license and registration fees for nearly all vehicles and trailers. The trouble with the bill is that it puts the entire burden on Iowans to pay for roads. While I dislike the prospect of a gas tax increase, that route is actually cheaper on the Iowa consumer than all the fee increases proposed in the current bill. A gas tax would be paid by all people traveling through Iowa, as out of state vehicles account for 20 to 30 percent of vehicles on our roads.

But don’t try to bring common sense into the discussion. The governor, early in the year, staked out a position that he would not sign a gas tax increase and is unwilling to reconsider that position. So, Iowans may get stuck with huge fee increases that will actually cost them more. Also, consider the fact that the majority party is transferring 90 million dollars from funding that is supposed to go to roads, and other infrastructure projects, in order to help pay for spending increases in other areas.

Looks like Iowans may end up on the short end of this deal. Clearly, livestock issues aren’t the only things that stink at the capitol.

As always, I invite your comments on these and any other issues. Contact me any time in the Iowa House by calling 515-281-3221 to leave a message; or by e-mail at royd.chambers@legis.state.ia.us.

Royd Chambers of Sheldon represents House District 5, which consists of O’Brien, Osceola, the rural parts of Clay, and four townships in Sioux County.

The Students' Congressman: Tom Latham

In recognition of the 150th Anniversary of Iowa State University and of Congressman Latham's dedication to the University, staff, faculty, alumni and students.

This week is the start of VEISHEA, the largest student organized campus festival in the United States of America. This 1/4 page advertisement has and will run in the Iowa State Daily this week. It certainly looked lovely in today's paper.

Speaking of the Iowa State Daily, they had a fascinating top story today about university administration using Facebook to jump into the fray over a controversy surrounding VEISHEA. Here is the link. Worth the 5 minutes to read it.

John Carlson's Column Echoes What Republicans Warned About

If you have not yet read John Carlson's column in today's Des Moines Register, you should read it as soon as possible.

Carlson essentially echoes what Republicans, last spring, warned about. They warned that this kind of legislation is not really going to cause a tsunami of smokers to give up the smokes. It would instead cause a tsunami of smokers to find a whole lot of friends across the borders.

I thought a story from yesterday's Register was perhaps the most telling. If Democrats were really interested in curbing the negative outcomes from smoking, they'd propose legislation to ban the products from being sold at all.

Here's a small portion of that story that was very telling:

It's time to stop smoking," he said during a taping of the public affairs show "Iowa Press." It will air at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on Iowa Public Television.

Instead, they are just interested in pushing what ultimately ends up as a regressive tax on Iowans. It also ends up slamming businesses at a time when we ought to be promoting business expansion instead of doing everything we can to stifle it.

Democrats seem to be interested in continuing to push their nanny-state agenda that deals with tobacco bans in public places and trying to mandate exercise in public schools.

I exercise regularly and I certainly do not smoke. But I don't need the government to tell me that or make more liberty slashing mandates.

Miller-Meeks: Loebsack's "Change" is Just More of the Same

Republican candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks called on Rep. David Loebsack to serve his constituents and reform the congressional practice of behind-closed-doorsbudget earmarks that continue to drive the cost of government higher.

On Thursday, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste reported that Congress approved more than 11,000 earmarks that added $17.2 billion to this year’s federal budget.

Those projects were deemed “pork barrel projects” by the group if they met one of seven criteria: a request by just one member of Congress; no specific authorization; no competitive award; no presidential request; a greatly increased budget amount compared with the previous year; serving only a local or special interest; or no congressional hearing.

Loebsack, a Mount Vernon Democrat, said he “hasn’t decided” whether to make public the earmarks he sought. Meanwhile, he supported his party’s plan that requires voters to go to Washington, D.C. to obtain a list of earmarks in person rather than having those public expenditures posted on the internet or published by the media.

“Iowans don’t need a medical degree to see that David Loebsack came down with the fastest case of Potomac Fever on record. He promised to be an ‘agent of change’ but he’s really become an agent of the status quo in Washington,” Miller-Meeks said. “The people of the Second District need a member of Congress who is committed to representing us rather than voting with Nancy Pelosi 98 percent of the time.”

She added, “I will work hard to ensure that the Second District receives its fair share of federal funding, especially for veterans’ care and programs for older citizens, but we have to rein in this costly practice of earmarking. David Loebsack and his Democratic allies said they were going to do but they’ve shown neither to discipline nor the ability to get the job done.”

Miller-Meeks, an Ottumwa ophthalmologist, favors a suspension of earmarks until reforms can be put in place, including a requirement that those who seek earmarks are clearly identified and that all proposed earmarks are made so that the public is given time to review and commentnon them. She also proposes a separate vote on any earmarks inserted into legislation.

RPI to Host Series of "Chairman's Receptions" Around Iowa

On Thursday, April 24, in Davenport, the Republican Party of Iowa will host its first Chairman’s Reception.

This begins a series of receptions across the state, and we hope you can join us.

The event will be held at the Outing Club in Davenport from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Dress is business attire.

The guest of honor will be Republican State Chairman Stewart Iverson, former Senate majority leader. Republican candidates for congress, U.S. Senate and state Legislature will be invited to attend. The requested contribution is $1,000 for sponsors, $500 for patrons and $100 for hosts. To attend is $50.

For more information, please call Wes Peterson at the Republican Party of Iowa. The number is (515) 282-8105, and his e-mail is wpeterson@iowagop.org.

This promises to be a tremendous event. We plan to have a very successful round of receptions across the state. Please contact Wes if you are interested in hosting one in your area!

Albrecht Gives Harkin A Little Straight Talk

Got to LOVE This...!

Republican Party of Iowa Communications Director Tim Albrecht issued the following statement today in response to Sen. Tom Harkin’s comments during a conference call he held today:

“Tom Harkin’s remarks are shameful. Sen. McCain has honorably served his country, and deserves admiration and respect. Perhaps Sen. Harkin should focus on his own party’s presidential race, where there is plenty of mud to go around. Unfortunately, Tom Harkin’s liberal record mirrors that of his would-be nominee, and he goes to excruciating lengths to distance himself from it every 6 years, when his own name is on the ballot.

“The only thing that is ‘scary’ to Tom Harkin is Sen. McCain’s strength as the Republican nominee.”

Here's the reason for the statement.

Congressman Tom Latham: Working Hard on Behalf of Nurses

After completing his first series of nursing roundtables focusing on the growing nursing shortage in the state, Iowa Congressman Tom Latham declared this week that he gained valuable information from the forums. Latham listened to input from members of the nursing community in a series of five meetings that focused on the status of nursing in Iowa, nursing wages, educational benefits and opportunities for nurses to become nurse educators.

"It is my intention to address the nursing crisis head on," said Congressman Latham. "I'm determined to bring Iowa common sense from Iowa nurses and the Iowa nursing community as a whole to the national health care debate. The participants in these roundtables provided valuable input from the important and unique perspective of those involved in the many facets of this profession."

The nursing shortage in Iowa has been exacerbated by a number of factors, including the capability of nursing programs to produce enough graduates to fill vacancies in the industry. Nursing schools in Iowa are at capacity and are simply not able to fit any more nursing students into the classrooms. A shortage of nurse educators also plays a part in the schools' ability to train and educate qualified nursing graduates. The underlying causes of these problems were discussed by the nursing community throughout the state.

“Iowa is unique on this issue as we face different types of nursing needs incorporating urban, suburban, and rural concerns mirroring the differences throughout the entire United States. I will be taking this multi-layered perspective back to Washington to propose legislative solutions to this growing crisis at the federal level.”

In addition to the five roundtables held last week, Latham is planning a second series of roundtables in early May to get more input from the nursing communities in other parts of the state.

Big Win for Steve King, Big Loss For Chet Culver/Mike Mauro

Congressman Steve King scored a major legal battle and, if I might add, also a political battle today over Lug and his Secretary of State replacement Mike Mauro.

Mr. King has clearly made it a priority to protect this very important law that he passed as a State Senator. English only in Iowa survives and Chet Culver's obsession with multilingual goverment documents, which were against the law, was slapped down.

I hope our Republican nominee in 2010 is ready to use this against Culver. Chet Culver violated the law. I would love to see that on big letters on my tv screen in the fall of 2010.

King had been fighting this battle tooth and nail for over a year and it was just delightful to see a judge uphold the legislature's law, which is the elected will of the people. We'll see if it gets appealed.

Updated:

Congressman Steve King today cheered an Iowa court decision to uphold Iowa's English Language Reaffirmation Act that made English the official language of Iowa in 2002. King led the lawsuit with nine others to make certain the law was respected and followed by the Iowa State government.

The English Language Reaffirmation Act, introduced by then-Senator King, passed the State Legislature in early 2002 and was signed by Governor Vilsack. Despite the passage of the official English law that requires all official documents to be printed in English, the Iowa Secretary of State continued to produce voter registration forms in foreign languages. The Secretary of State's office argued that it has a right to produce voter registration forms in the Spanish, Vietnamese, Laotian and Bosnian languages.

"This Iowa court ruling upholds our official English law. No one is above Iowa law, not even the Iowa state government."

"I am thankful for the careful and thorough ruling in this decision. The Judge's decision made clear - the foreign language voter registration forms produced by the Secretary of State violated Iowa's English Language Reaffirmation Act."

"I authored the English Language Reaffirmation Act when I served in the Iowa Senate and I can tell you that we wrote it to have meaning. This ruling respects the intent of the legislature who passed the law and the Governor who signed it.

"English is our official language. The English language unites us a state and as a nation. E Pluribis Unum - out of many, we are one- with a common language. I believe that, and am thankful that our official English law has been upheld."

Check out the story here from the Des Moines Register.