First of all, lots of Dems are throwing around cutesy Nussle rhymes and it’s gross. Vilsack has coined the “Nussle hustle,” and Fallon kicked it up a notch by ending his convention speech with the chant “Out-muscle Jim Nussle, out-hustle Jim Nussle, let’s tussle with Nussle and win!”
According to Radio Iowa, the Iowa Department of Economic Development released a report today showing that the Values Fund has only actually created or retained 8,000 of the 25,000 jobs Vilsack was claiming. In other words, Ed Fallon was right all along. (In case you’re keeping score, that’s still 0 points for Vilsack.)
Yepsen flaps his mouth about why Culver decided to call for Archie Brooks’ resignation. After implying that CIETC is indicative of “the Democrats’ culture of cronyism in Polk County” and that Democrats need Brooks to deliver votes, he briefly bothers to mention that Culver is “among the majority of civic-minded Democrats who are profoundly outraged that people who call themselves Democrats would engage in the obscenity of milking a program designed to benefit the jobless.” So what you’re really saying then, Dave, is that corrupt politicians exist (gasp!) and that every now and then they happen to be Democrats. You would never, ever write a biased story that makes unnecesary jabs at Culver (just read it for yourself), right?
One happy bit though: another Register columnist goes over how Michael Mauro shouldn’t be tarnished by having relatives working at CIETC. It even includes quotes from Republicans saying what a great, professional, nonpartisan job he has done as Polk County auditor. Of course, one does manage to “sneak” a nonpartisan raspberry into print: “Michael has forgotten more about elections and election law than Chet Culver ever knew.” Sometimes I wonder if it’s wrong for me to even bother repeating their nonsense, but that one’s just funny.
p.s. Hotline has a story about the Culver campaign accidentally appropriating a Nussle quote on their website. WTF, mate?
June 20th, 2006
Alright, I take it back, maybe Congress.org’s Power Rankings do mean something. More likely though, it is just that Grassley’s power means something. Either way, he is using his considerable influence in D.C. to help out nearby Newton in anticipation of the Maytag plant closing. Grassley has set up a meeting with Newton Mayor Chaz Allen and the Assistant Secretary of Labor to discuss giving some assistance to Newton.
Grassley said that Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao is “very sympathetic to the Newton community” and has offered to help with resources available to the department. He said he expects the June discussion to be on the opportunities and assistance available from the agency as well as other federal departments.
I would be more impressed at the lengths to which Grassley is going to help out Newton, if it weren’t for the fact that there is obviously some politicking going on here. Boswell, Newton and Grinnell’s representative, is expected to face a serious challenge in the upcoming election. So the fact that Grassley is working independently of his Democrat colleagues is pretty significant. Unfortunately, it also seems to be working. Boswell and Harkin are calling on the Department of Labor to help Newton, but Grassley setting up a meeting is clearly a lot more useful, and clearly intended to make Boswell look ineffectual.
Not that Newton doesn’t deserve the help, but there are other towns in other districts in Iowa that are experiencing equally devastating factory closures that are not getting the same attention or assistance. If the Republicans in D.C. can do more for Newton, the Dems in Iowa are hoping to emphasize their own commitment. State economic developers have agreed to set aside $10 million over three years for Newton to assist in job replacement. (TheIowa Economic Development Board has a yearly budget of about $35 million for this kind of direct assistance.) However, Burlington and other southeastern Iowa towns have lost about 5,000 jobs in the past months (compared to Newton’s 1,800) and have not received anywhere near that kind of assistance.
Obviously this is all really good for Newton, but I trust that Boswell’s constituents won’t be so easily swayed by blatant political bribery.
May 19th, 2006
