Fighting for Newton

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.

1 comment May 19th, 2006