Annual Fall Dinner

Thanks to Wanda Cornelius--for her decorative additions to our fall dinner. They certainly added a festive touch to the rustic atmosphere at the lodge.

Thanks to Ken Marburger--for truly tasty chicken and pork. His day-long efforts produced a great feast! Thanks to all those who provided those wonderful desserts.

Thanks to Steve Rathje--he's an outstanding speaker and a great candidate. Of course, it was good to see Sarah Mayberry Chapman once again--she's a great asset to the Rathje campaign!

Thanks to all who represented presidential candidates, including Craig and Mary Romney.

Thanks to Leon Mosley and Sen. Hartsuch--both such interesting personalities!

Thanks to Jack Willey, who did a wonderful job as auctioneer--and thanks to all who purchased auction items.

Thanks to Adam Reuter, who proved to be an able master of ceremonies.

Thanks to all who made this event a fun time and a memorable dinner.

Jean, the Political Junkie

Huckabee Visits Maquoketa

Gov. Mike Huckabee made a campaign stop in Maquoketa earlier today at Flapjacks in Maquoketa. The former Arkansas Governor was introduced by his State Chair Bob Vander Plaats, then spoke for about a half hour before taking questions. The main issue that he touched upon was the Fair Tax, as he tried to explain how the Fair Tax would work and tried address some concerns people had with the plan. Also discussed was his plans for energy independence and his thoughts on the Iraq war.

There was a good sized crowd in attendance for a weekday afternoon appearance. One thing I found interesting was that I was asked to be interviewed by a group of news reporters. The intriguing part was that the news reporters were actually working for a news channel in Sweden (they stated that they themselves though were based out of Washington D.C.).

On behalf of Jackson County Republicans I would like to thank Gov. Huckabee and his staff for arranging the visit.

-Adam Reuter

A Little From the Plain Blunt Guy

Just noticed on our website that I haven't posted since july 14th, wow!!! Well where do i begin... since July 14th I enjoyed the Jackson County Fair and I think it was another successful fair. The new fair manager Lanny Simpson is doing an excellent job. Loved Sawyer Browne, the charge for the grandstand was very nominal and made for more comfort, great concert, and a good stunt show on Sunday night.

Then it was off to the GOP debate in Des Moines. I stayed with a friend of our state chairman for the Hunter campaign in Ames and they were awesome, and very good hosts. The Sunday of the debate called for waking up around 4:30, and it was off to Des Moines where we met Roy Tyler at his hotel and we went to the debate site at Drake University. We got there in a heavy rain and everyone made it into the hall and we all patiently waited for George Stephanopoulos to come out. I am sure glad David Yepsen participated his questions (all two of them, both negative) were well worth going through a rain storm. When the debate ended we went down to the stage and met Duncan and then it was off to the spin room. What a great experience, got to meet Steve Forbes, a personal hero of mine (yes, I was a Forbes man) and Bay Buchannan, also there was Bill Salier, Bill Dix, and we had a good talk with Mike Huckabee. Next followed lunch at the Drake an old diner in the 50's mode, and more campaigning the rest of the weekend.

Then the next weekend it was time for the straw poll. I went out with Ron Elmegreen and all I can say is he is one heck of a man. He worked all day over a hot grill, 'til he was sweating real salt - he has my respect. We had Elvis in our booth, one of the best ones I have ever seen, and Duncan came along and we went out to where the buses were coming in and worked the crowd, giving out literature, with Duncan shaking hands. Then it was time for Duncan's speech, we got in line to go down in front of the stage, trying not to say anything to the moveon.org people, oops I mean Ron Paul supporters. Duncan gave a great speech, and brought the crowd to it's feet with his dedication to our country and our troops. I would also like to add while talking about a heck of man Duncan ran around this day and the day before at the State Fair in a suit and tie!!! What a guy!! Well thats what I did with my summer vacation.

On a local note, I see the city may have to keep the outdoor pool open now since it is going to be prohibitive for most working families in town to afford the Arc, add to it that life guards will have to pay $35 to get sanctioned when Jackie Crowley taught the life guard class for free. The Arc is turning into a debacle, not to mention the new pool reminds me of the same spa the Romans in Ben-Hur used

-Tim Grover, The Plain Blunt Guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

IOWA STRAW POLL attendees came back from this event hot, tired, and EXCITED. There's nothing like a political event of this size to motivate volunteers.

We visited several tents and vendors during the Straw Poll and happy, excited people seemed to be everywhere. Every Republican should attend this event at least once.

Here are some interesting facts assembled by the Romney campaign:

- One In Three Caucus-Goers Attends The Ames Republican Straw
 Poll In Person.

- No Candidate Has Ever Skipped The Straw Poll And Gone On To
 Win The Iowa Caucus.

- The Caucus Winner Has Always Finished Either First Or Second In
The Straw Poll.

- Romney’s Total Number Of Votes:  4,516

- Romney’s Percentage Of Vote:  31.5%

- Margin Of Victory:  13.4%

- Comparison To 1999 Results:  31.3% Bush Victory
(10.5% Margin Of Victory)

- Comparison To 1995 Results:  24.36% Dole And
Gramm Tied Victory

- Number Of Romney Volunteers: More Than 250

- Number Of BBQ Sandwiches: 9,000

- Number Of Water Bottles Handed Out: More Than 11,000

- Number Of Mini-Mitt Fans: More Than 3,000

- Number Of Mitt Foam Hands: More Than 3,000

- Number Of Golf Carts Deployed: 62

- Longest Bus Travel: 5 Hour Trip From Rock Rapids, Iowa

- Number Of Romney Family Members: 96

- Jean Davidsaver

Jean, the Political Junkie

This Week with George Stephanopoulos will have a special program next Sunday, August 5. This ABC News program normally airs at 8 a.m., but they announced that their Live Debate with nine of our GOP presidential candidates will be at a different time--so check your TV listings.

The debate will air live from Des Moines.

Since the debate is so close to the August 11th Straw Poll, you can expect a lively interchange. Don't miss the debate, and don't miss the straw poll!

Can anyone identify the people in this photo?

A LITTLE FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

Sorry about the long lay off, been very busy on the campaign trail and going to the grand kid's baseball games.

Speaking of baseball, it has come to my attention that the local youth baseball leagues are talking about not keeping score anymore. Well I always have said I wish the local Democrats were more like the ones on tv. Well, apparently some of them are. Needless to say the point of not keeping score is counter-productive for competitive sports. The kids already know we play the game for fun, and the fun is always better if we win but good sports know losing is not the end of the world.

On that same note, can we trust liberals who cannot stand the conflict of a simple baseball game score to have a clear perspective on the conflict with Islamofascists?? Believe me, they keep score and it is a game that we do not want to lose because it is life and death.

John Edwards was in town today and there looked like a nice crowd there when I drove by. I can't help to see the attraction, I got my hair cut today and it was only $11, edwards is paying 400? Too much!!! no matter what party you are in.


- Tim Grover,
The Plain Blunt Guy

'08 Presidential Race

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson made several campaign stop in eastern Iowa this week, one of them being here in Jackson County. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the event myself. I would like to thank Mr. Thompson and his campaign for making a stop in our area.

I have just received word that former Virginia Governor and Presidential hopeful Jim Gilmore has pulled out of the Presidential Race. For those of you that remember, Mr. Gilmore attended and spoke at our Jackson County Soup Supper back in April. Recently, his campaign was suspended when it was discovered that he had a partially detached retina while on the campaign trail. He has indicated that he has been approached to either run for Governor of Virginia again (Virginia law states that a candidate cannot serve consecutive terms, but can serve more than once), or to run for the U.S. Senate if Sen. John Warner retires. Whatever path he takes, I wish Mr. Gilmore well in his future endeavors.

-Adam Reuter

News and Thoughts From Jackson County...

Last Sunday, we did our annual funnel cake stand at Heritage Days in Bellevue. Just as in years past, the stand was a great success. Look for our funnel cake stand again later this month when we offer up our goods to the Ragbrai participants in Bellevue on July 28th.

It appears that Steve King is possibly considering entering the U.S. Senate Race to challenge Tom Harkin. While I believe that Congressman King has every right to try to dethrone Harkin and would make a fine candidate, I really hope that our party can avoid a primary if at all possible. I find it interesting that very few media outlets are giving Steve Rathje any kind of press coverage thus far, or even acknowledging that he has announced his candidacy. I have met Steve and seen him speak several times and believe me, he is a very viable candidate that deserves much more press than he is getting.

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson will be making a campaign stop in Maquoketa this Thursday, July 12th. He will be appearing at Flapjacks Family Restaurant (101 McKinsey, Int. Hwy 61 & 64) at 1:00pm to speak and answer questions. There is no cost to attend. I urge you to attend if you are able, and show our candidates that Iowa does not take it's First in the Nation status for granted!

-Adam Reuter

Flashback: Gore Criticizing Bush Sr. For Ignoring Iraq ties to Terrorism

-Adam Reuter

This Week in Washington....

It was quite a week in Washington this week. First up, the Immigration Bill (S 1348) was defeated, with 45 Senators voting for it and 50 against. The bill needed at least sixty votes to advance. I firmly believe that this bill was defeated due to the massive outcry directed to our elected officials. I feel I should point out that Sen. Tom Harkin voted for this bill, while Sen. Grassley voted against.

Next up – Embryonic Stem Cell research. The bill (S 5) introduced in the House would expand Federal financing for Embryonic Stem Cell research beyond those limits set by President Bush in 2001. The House voted 247 for and 170 against to send the bill to President Bush. Voting for the bill were Iowa Representatives Bruce Braley, David Loebsack and Leonard Boswell. Voting against were our two Republican Representatives, Tom Latham and Steve King.

Finally, The House voted 387 for and 10 against to change it's rules to require automatic ethics investigations of indicted members (H Res 451). This was spurred by the recent indictment of Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA on charges of corruption, racketeering and bribery. All of our Iowa Representatives voted in favor of this new rule.

-Adam Reuter

A LITTLE FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

It's Memorial Day; take some time this weekend and see a movie about a great tradition in this country, liberating oppressed people from tyranical government. Hopefully we will come to realize that is what we are doing now, and thank everyone who has lost family members in this cause. I recommend They Were Expendable, or Saving Private Ryan, two favorites of mine. They really bring home the meaning of this holiday.

I have signed up as a Fair Tax supporter, and tried to submit a dvd about it to the local access channel. Quite to my surprise, they inform me that they only handle vhs. Can you believe that? We have an indoor swimming pool, a 6 million dollar gym at the high school, and more land to develop industry that will move out when the TIF money runs out, but our local access channel only does vhs. Unreal !!!

Speaking about industrial land, why are we accessing more farm land for industrial purposes when maquoketa has two large buildings sitting empty in the old industrial park? It doesn't make sense. I can see the TIF coming on again, and no jobs paying enough to buy a house on without government assistance. To make it worse, taxes and insurance for a home have gone so high people cant buy a house even with assistance from a government program. When are we going to learn?

the plain blunt guy top 5 presidential picks
1. duncan hunter 2. tom tancredo 3. mike huckabee 4.fred thompson 5. rudy guilani

-Tim Grover, the plain blunt guy

A LITTLE FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

I want to thank Adam for hosting the debate watching party Thursday night. What a goofy format! At least that is what I thought at first. But when it comes down to it, the best way to see who can communicate in that environment and cut through liberal bias is do something like that. I agree with the King of plain bluntness, Rush Limbaugh that the top three performers were Gilmore, Rommney, and Hunter. All three proved they are ready to compete in a media format cluttered and dominated by liberalism, and still get the conservative message out. Also the best questions of the night did ask each candidate to take a stance on issues and all three came through well, in regard that they stood up for controversy and told the media that the media was wrong. what issues? the war, corruption, and especially Scooter Libby.

It is long past the time that we allow the media and the Democrats to smear us with short comings that they also have in their backgrounds themselves. The reason for this is that people are human. In any big group you are going to have bad apples; it is unavoidable. To retreat or agree with our detractors only perpetuates a stereotype, and validates our opponents points -- the time is over for that.

The veto this week of the democrats war bill was a good start but long overdue. Better late than never. Lets be clear, I am not talking about not being a good sport. Sportsmanship is fine, I am talking about not letting the other side beat you. Politics is hard to know when we are playing the game, and when there is a timeout, or down time between games. If this was basketball game we would have a defined time frame where we are competing and we would know when the game was over and it was time to shake hands, and go home. In politics, it's hard to know when to do that. The main thing to remember is if you have died in the wool convictions you know when it is the right time and when it isnt. Timing is everything!!

the plain blunt guy top five presidential candidates as of 5-6-07
1.Duncan Hunter {what a surprise} 2. Tom Tancredo 3. John Cox {why wasnt he on the panel thursday night?} 4.Mike Huckabee 5. Mitt Rommney

-Tim Grover, the plain blunt guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

The Iowa Legislature is close to adjournment, but they still haven't dealt with the critical issue of commercial property tax relief. Some of our small businessmen in the area really need that relief, so I hope the Legislature doesn't pass a quick bill just to get rid of a thorny problem.

All those bills they've been passing are adding up on the bottom line, so I'm wondering how our legislators plan to pay the bills. The added cigarette tax can't pay for everything.

For the U.S. Congress, Governor Mitt Romney has called on our Congressmen to re-impose a three-fifths (60%) supermajority requirement to raise taxes. Sounds good for the nation, and sounds good for Iowa!

- Jean Davidsaver

A LITTLE FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

It looks like the Maquoketa city budget keeps getting worse, with no deal in sight for the arc. With the YMCA, the maintenance payments to keep the crew working on the arc seems to be coming out of the city reserves. I wonder, can a city go bankrupt? I will still say that mayor Messerli is not to blame for this, he warned them not to do this and they went ahead anyway.


One reason I am supporting Duncan Hunter for president is he brought me to realize that NAFTA was a bad deal. As conservatives we are for limited government, but limited government can take on different meanings. Certainly it can be argued that government is too large of a percentage of our nation's wealth. A nation that was built on the arsenal of freedom, building and maintaining the United States military, also with the ability to feed ourselves through farming. Since NAFTA, all of that has changed. We now have to get many of our components from China to build our equipment we use to defend ourselves, and we are importing more and more of our food every year, from South America and Canada. in other words, the private sector of our economy has been shrinking, to where it is being dominated by government, and we spend more time every year trying to pay for government. To put it bluntly, we have reached the limit of our ability to pay for all of this and the only way to increase the incomes necessary to support our current government services is bring back the industrial and agricultural base. I think if we do this we will see a great change in Maquoketa's city budget.

Tim Grover, the plain blunt guy

News and Thoughts from Jackson County

Our Soup and Sandwich Supper Friday night was a great success. We had a great audience of people from Jackson County and neighboring counties alike. The crowd got a chance to listen to Leon Mosley, Steve Rathje and Jim Gilmore, who all gave good speeches. I want to thank all of those who spoke as well as those who attended. I also want to give special thanks to Greg Grant for agreeing to be the auctioneer for our bake sale, and to Ken Marburger for taking on the huge task of food planning and preparation. I also want to thank those who helped with the food preparation and decorating, you know who you are!

Earlier in the day, Mitt Romney also visited a crowd at Flapjack's in Maquoketa. Unfortunately, I myself was unable to attend. After talking to several people, we concluded that this was likely the first time we have ever had two Republican Presidential Candidates in Jackson County on the same day. This is an exciting time for us in Jackson County, and we hope to have many more appearances by Presidential candidates in our county in the upcoming months.

The Iowa Senate this week passed Senate Bill 596 (also called the “iTunes Tax”) that will impose the 5 percent state sales tax on all downloaded songs, videos, ringtones and audio books. The bill was passed on a party line vote, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against. I am sure a lot of people in the general public at first glance will look at this legislation and say, “5 cents per song? Big deal!”. Well, it is. Five cents per song is not a huge amount of money, and that is exactly the mindset that the Democrats in our State Senate want you to have. This legislation remind me of the plot of the movie Superman III. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the movie, the character played by Richard Pryor creates a computer program that takes the fractions of a cent left over from bank transactions and deposits those fractions of a cent into a dummy account. Over time, the account would grow quite large because of the large number of transactions processed. The logic is that by siphoning off such small amounts of money in each transaction, it will go unnoticed. Sound familiar?

The fiscal legislation pushed by Iowa Democrats in the House and Senate this year shows what their mindset truly is. They know that pushing for huge tax increases would result in a backlash. Instead, they have set their sights smaller, as in smaller amounts. People take notice when they are asked to cough over hundreds or thousands of dollars in one lump sum. However, most don't think twice about ponying up a few extra cents for everyday purchases, such as music downloads or a pack of cigarettes. Instead of asking for huge amounts of money up front, they plan to nickel and dime us to death.

-Adam Reuter

A Rendezvous With Destiny

It's amazing how much this speech pertains to today's world just as much as it did over 40 years ago...

-Adam Reuter

THIS WEEK FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

Well what can i say had quite an experience this week with duncan hunter, he is deffinently a plain blunt guy, after dinner and a long visit with him i am sure he is a genuine candidate for our parties nomination, he points out and quite accurately that he was against nafta to begin with and it has been a terrible drag on the middle class, and has led to an increasing vulnerabilty for our country as far as defense goes. To look at his issues check out gohunter08.com. You say what does national defense, and bringing back american jobs have  to do with Maquoketa? I think our local economy has not been the same since they closed down caterpillar there were alot of people who worked there from this town and they moved on when the plant moved, and the jobs that replaced it did not fill the need of allowing a family to purchase a home. I think duncan is going to rereaganize this party and i am proud to support him. P.S. the rule of you see my guy i will see yours still applies and i am looking forward to the 20th. Thanks to everyone who attended, and duncan will be back if you missed his visit and i am sure that when you meet him that you will find that like his national co chair chuck yeager he has the right stuff.
tim grover the plain blunt guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

Last Saturday I joined several other GOP women from the First District for their spring Women's Club conference in Dubuque. Among the speakers was Bill Northey, Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture. He gave us a lot of interesting information about the ethanol/biodiesel industry. One of the most important facts he gave us is that the ethanol industry was started around 20 years ago by a group of farmers. No government mandate! Ethanol got its start by farmers with a vision to grow the markets for their crops. They have been so successful that corn is now a decent price, and farmers plan to plant more corn this season.

Since Secretary Northey is our top elected state official, he gets a lot of attention, and justly so. He maintains a busy schedule and seems to communicate easily with the public, farm groups, businessmen, bankers, etc. He's a great representative for our Party. I can easily see him elected to higher office.

If you get a chance to meet him or hear him speak, by all means GO!

Jean Davidsaver

THIS WEEK FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

Good to see the fire station bond pass, i think some times liberals
think conservatives are antigovernment, that is not true we are for
government that does what government is suppose to do and i think fire
prevention falls under protecting our properties which is why i
support the fire department and the efforts made by the volunteers to
make this victory happen. i have seen signs all over town saying thank
you, well i think the election tuesday was the publics way of saying
thank you to the fire department, so thank you fire department you
should not have been put through what you were put through to get this
improvement to your facilities.the bond referendum should have been
for the arc, not you the arc is an extravagance that we conservatives
believe government does not need to be involved in, and it is too bad
people feel it is necessary to impose their will for something that
does not have the support of the community that the fire department
has.

By the way is paying for construction payments for the arc through the
city reserves a proper way to conduct city business? I dont think its
illegal is it? Definetly unethical.

Saw Tommy Thompson in Davenport today he drew a good crowd lots of
friendly faces a nice guy , but i think it is a little past his time
for President he said he had been up for 23hours straight, and he did
seem pretty tired, but i dont think i would have done as well on such
short sleep and i am at least 25 years younger thank him so he is ok
with the plain blunt guy.

While i am at it i am enjoying the experience of the nominating
process and having these contenders coming to Iowa, it is a special
thing and the leaders of both parties have an obligation to keep Iowas
first in the nation status, it brings a common man approach to how we
pick our president.
timothy l grover the plain blunt guy

Liberal Agenda Being Pushed in Des Moines

When the Democrats took control of both the House and Senate this past November, many of us worried about what would come out of the State House. However, I don't think any of us could have envisioned the liberal agenda being pushed. We have had "Fair Share", a cigarette tax increase, and now we are treated to.....election day voter registration. That's right, this past Tuesday bill HF-653 passed the Iowa House by a vote of 54-45. This bill will allow people to register to vote at the polls on election day. It doesn't stop there though. An election day voter registration applicant is to provide proof of identity and residency; however, if this applicant cannot provide a valid ID, simply having someone from the same precinct vouch for them being who they say they are will be good enough. An amendment to this bill to require an ID to register was voted down. Amendments to force county attorneys to investigate suspected voter fraud and to make same day voter registration applicant's vote provisional were also shot down. My question is, why? Even if one were in favor of same day voter registration (which I am not), why wouldn't you want to implement these steps to make sure everything was on the up and up? This stinks of voter fraud, and I don't like it.

I attended a trade show today with my mother and wife in Peosta this afternoon. At the show, we talked to several vendors who spoke of how businesses in Iowa have been hurt by the passing of the cigarette tax. One Clinton convenience store has seen it's cigarette sales down 75% since the tax was signed by Gov. Culver. This has resulted in a daily loss of nearly $5,000 dollars per DAY. I am sure other businesses, especially those close to bordering states have felt this as well. If we are to believe Chet Culver and Iowa Democrats, these people have "gotten smart" and sworn off smoking. The reality of the situation is that they are simply taking their business across the river.

I myself am not a smoker, but if someone wants to smoke (so long as they don't subject me to it) I don't have a problem with it. People I have talked to were shocked when I informed them that this "noble" effort to raise cigarettes taxes was just an ordinary tax raise, since all the extra revenue will go directly into the general fund. Raising this tax has been nothing more than a play to give tax and spend Democrats more play money, and smokers are picking up the tab this time.

-Adam Reuter

THIS WEEK FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

Just got back from Jones county and an appearance by Tom Tancredo, boy what a great experience. Being the plain blunt guy, I would say Congressman Tancredo qualifies to join the plain blunt club. He spoke well of service to country and of being in office to do something instead of being something. I can't help but believe this is the kind of attitude we are looking for in this country, with the illegal alien problem that Congressman Tancredo is talking about; it is leading to many problems that we are facing in this country today. Let's be clear -- we are talking about ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, many of these people are causing crime, and over burdening our health care system. It is not fair to the people who immigrated legally. My wife is a second generation American, her father's family came here from Holland through the usual way of immigrating and they did just fine. Also, an endorsement from Bill Salier did not hurt at all. As Bill said lets start looking at candidates who live like Reagan did not talk like Reagan did and not do anything about it.

I know in the past I have said I will talk about national issues and how they effect us locally. Well this is exactly the issue I was talking about. The drug dealers and workers coming across the border are showing up here in Iowa, and causing a drain on all of our services, either through social services, health care or housing, and it is the one issue that is touching every part of our society.

How you say? Well, let's look at my father in law, who is now deceased. Imagine coming from Holland, growing up in Iowa, serving in World War II, coming back and getting married, and working for someone for two years to save up enough money to buy and work your own farm the rest of your life. The American dream right? Well how many stories can we point to today like that? I understand the renewal of the farming industry, with young farmers is obviously a problem, and what has lead to that? First of all working two years to save up for the price of a farm is unheard of today. The increased valuation caused by the government saying your land is worth more is almost enough to keep you out and why do they need to say your farm is worth so much? TAXES !!! Why are the taxes up? Because maybe the increased demand on social, health and law enforcement services caused by people who are here that their own home country will not even take back when they get in trouble, are stretching our resources.

Be sure to vote for the fire station improvements on Tuesday this week. Yes, I know it is a tax increase, but we would not have to do this if they did not build the new cement pond which I understand is being paid for out of city reserves at this time. What a mess. I know one thing, it is not the Fire Department's fault.

Timothy L Grover, the plain blunt guy

Cigarette Tax Increase Passed

Chet Culver signed into law this week Senate File 128, which raised the cigarette tax $1 per pack. This tax will apply to other tobacco products as well. Along with House and and Senate Democrats, Governor Culver has made it apparent to his constituents that the government has a much greater idea of what is good for you than you do. This new tax comes with great promises; Culver has touted that this tax increase will “prevent 37,000 Iowa children from smoking and save nearly 20,000 lives”. My question is, who came up with these arbitrary numbers? Anytime I see “statistics” like these that are completely made up I am very skeptical. I'm sure if one were to present this question to Culver or any other Democrat for that matter, they would respond by saying that those numbers aren't what is important, it is the intentions of this legislation that we should care about.

A major portion of this bill as it was originally presented by the media was altered significantly with very little fanfare. The original House version of this bill would have taken the revenue from this tax increase and placed it into the Healthy Iowa Tobacco Fund. The Senate version of the bill, which is what Culver has signed into law, places this money in the General Fund. By placing this money in the general fund, we must see this for what it truly is – a plain old tax increase, plain and simple.

-Adam Reuter

THIS WEEK FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

Nice to see the weather changing finally, it was really quite a shock to have the time spring forward so soon. Usually you have a couple of weeks to gradually get used to the sunrising and setting at different times. Sure is a different feeling.

Well the demos raised the cigarette tax, and all of the demos I know who smoke forgave them for it, can you imagine that? talk about totally indoctrinated in the program I am beginning to think that the Democrat supporters are totally brainwashed, what could be a bigger stab in the back than to run around saying I am for the poor man and then raising the taxes on one of the things that the poor man uses to relax? Don't get me wrong, I am not a smoker but the general population doesn't realize this is really a freedom issue. I personally know that one local anti-smoking activist is now going to push to ban smoking in the general public, i.e. streets, and parks. Before you know it they will even arrest you for smoking on your own property. Total totalitarianism, well I told him that can work both ways. I told him I will start a petition to ban all activists from coming into your business and soliciting you to change work place policy. I may even make it illegal to distribute literature on the street about your special issue no matter what it is, especially to people who smoke, on top of that maybe we could ban protesting the war on public property, wow just think of the possibilities, my activist friend didn't think I was very funny. He said smoking offends him, I said activist protests against the war, and soliciting business to change policy when they should be working on other things offends me. He didn't know what to say.

The solution to the smoking problem is very simple, it is supposed to be a public health issue, well the best way to eliminate a public health issue is we all pay our own health bills and then we don't have to burden our fellow man with our troubles. See, it all comes back to the social security, and Medicare issue again. When they created these programs they didn't have disability, and public health issues were viruses, colds ,flu other communicable diseases. These problems could wipe out a society that is what a public health issue is -- self inflicted problems from smoking or overeating are not public health problems, they have become one because of our socialized medicine system. If the liberals are worried about public health maybe they should be more concerned about terrorism, suit case nuclear bombs, or chemical weapon attacks are pretty hard on the public health also.

Timothy L Grover, the plain blunt guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

The fight's not over on the so-called "Fair Share" bill. After passage by the Senate, state representatives were scheduled to debate the bill on Thursday, but discovered they did NOT have the votes to pass the bill. Therefore, they went into caucus, seeking to force a few of their Democratic representatives to change their minds and vote in favor of the bill. Two Democrats (Rep. Dolores Mertz and Rep. Dawn Pettengill) left the causus rather than bow to pressure from their leaders.

It's important to speak up now that there's still a chance to defeat the bill. Email or write to your representative to weigh in on this bill. Rep. Schueller reportedly plans to vote for the "Fair Share" bill, so it's important for him to know his constituents are against it! Do you know any non-union teachers, state, county, or municipal workers? Ask them to send an urgent message as well.

Jean Davidsaver

THIS WEEK FROM THE PLAIN BLUNT GUY

Here we go again... The fair share bill passes on a compromise, they exempted private industry. What could our party out in Des Moines be thinking? What kind of bargaining position are the state, counties, or municipalities going to have if they come to a stalemate and all of their employees walk? There isn't even the possibility of having any employees who will not be obligated through union membership to stay and do their job. They will all be union employees now and can strike in mass. Don't tell me about safety -- employees can't strike, all the unions do is unionize an exempt job and then they go out on strike, in support of their public safety brothers. Ever hear of a garbage strike in New York City? This is not how a party interested in smaller government should behave. Remember the operative word here is compromise!

What a shock, to my understanding of this the Maquoketa Schools Budget is at least three times larger, than the City of Maquoketa's budget. How do we get any service from the city with such a limited amount of funds? Or what is it that the school does that demands so much more money? I don't know if it seems city government is ineffective anymore, and unable to balance its budget it is obvious that that the city has champaign tastes on a beer budget. This also is a tribute to our Fire Department imagine how strapped the budget would be if the department was not volunteer, and every fireman was about to be unionized thanks to our brave state legislature? To me the whole comparison comes down to how many employees does it take to educate our children which can conservatively be 50% of the general public, or how many employees does it take to plow our streets, mow the grass on our public properties, and enforce our laws, and protect our properties. Now I know why I prefer to be on the highway during a snow storm instead of driving around in town the road conditions are usually better, and it is not the cities fault, they are doing the best they can with what they have.

Well I haven't done this for a few weeks, but I have a congratulations to give to Michael Eisner former CEO of Walt Disney Inc, yep Micheal turned 65 this week way to go Mikey hope you enjoy the full social security, and Medicare benefits you have fully qualified for at this time. Never mind that Mike enjoyed a retirement benefit of over $100 million dollars which I do not begrudge him one bit, he earned it, on top of his earnings from the years he held his position. But what does it say about a system that is providing the same benefits to a person who can buy his own hospital with staff, and somebody who worked their whole life and is living on $800 a month. Mike is pretty smart he got out because he realized there is an entire generation coming along that will have trouble providing food, and shelter for their families, much less buy movies about cute little bears. oh pooh!!

Tim Grover, the plain blunt guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

Good news - Bad news from the Iowa Senate--the so-called "Fair Share" bill passed through the Senate in modified form. The revised bill affects only teachers and government workers, while the original bill would have required all employees--public or private--who are affected by a collective bargaining agreement to pay a fee.

Isn't it ironic that the two unions who probably lobby the Legislature the most stand to benefit from this bill? Now all the non-union teachers and governmental workers will have to help those unions lobby even more!

I haven't seen any statistics on the teacher's union, but a recent AP news article noted that 25% of state employees are non-union members. That's 4,000 people that will be required to start paying union fees. They couldn't convince those 4,000 people that union membership would be beneficial, so now those same people will be forced to pay fees. Add county and municipal workers to the equation, and those unions will suddenly see a big influx of funds!

Another bill to watch is the education bill, which also includes provisions that are helpful to the teachers' union.

Why does the Legislature think they need to help the unions? If the unions are so beneficial, employees would be fighting to join them. Then, those unions wouldn't need the Legislature to pass a bill requiring related non-union workers to pay fees.

News Items of Interest

After much debate the past several weeks about proposed “Fair Share” legislation, things have been relatively quiet the past week or so. According to Iowa House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, there are some Democrat Representatives who claim that this issue is “off the table” for at least the rest of the year. Rants predicts that ultimately the “Fair Share” proposal will be modified by Democrat supporters to include only public employees in an effort to get this piece of legislation passed. You can read Rep. Rant's entire column on the Krusty Konservative blog by clicking here.

On the topic of labor issues, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this past week (HR 800) that would allow a union to establish itself in a workplace after receiving a simple majority of workers declaring their support. Our 1^st Congressional District Representative Bruce Braley voted for this measure, while Iowa's two Republican Representatives, Tom Latham and Steve King, voted against this bill. A Republican amendment to this bill was shot down, which proposed to ban union “salting”. “Salting” is a practice used frequently by unions in which a union supporter joins a company payroll in attempt to organize a union. If they happen to fail, these people make allegations of unfair labor practices against said company. Again, Bruce Braley voted against this practice with our Republican Representatives from Iowa voting in favor of this amendment. Bill HR 800 will now be sent to the U.S. Senate.

The South Carolina Straw Poll was held this past week. Duncan Hunter surprised many by taking second place behind Rudy Giuliani. Although the true value of a Straw Poll this far from the Primaries is debatable, this will no doubt be viewed as a huge positive for Hunter's campaign.

-Adam Reuter

This week from the Plain Blunt Guy...

Hi everyone. I took last week off for my niece's wedding. The weather cut the party short but it had an old fashioned feel to i., Now my niece can tell her grand children that when she was their age she had to go to a one room church in snow up to her you know what to get married.

I want to commend Superintendent Huckstadt for proposing a tax cut. It was a nice headline to see in the paper -- “School Proposes Tax Cut”, something you don't see very often. I kind of have mixed emotions about cutting staff, in business we should never employ more people than we have work to do, but at the same time since the school employees are the best paid people in our town, I hate to see the loss of a good paying job, especially since so few are to be found in Maquoketa. Either way I think Superintendent Huckstadt, and the board can be commended, building a $6 million dollar addition, and cutting taxes. good job!!

P.S. I am aware they are also factoring in the increased funding from the state, but they were not obligated to pass it on so i still think it is commendable. Yes of course we are paying for it in some way, so let me take this time to say we do need to get away from over reliance on government, and start paying our own way, then we will truly experience the freedom our founding fathers envisioned.

While I am at it, why is it that private industry pays better than public education, for employees with the same training, despite the fact that they have to derive their income from the open market, usually on a charge per service basis. Public schools have a guaranteed income through the tax system. Until we answer this question, I do not think we will have total peace and confidence in our education system.

I see that Pat Deppenwolf died from Bellevue. I was reading about the situation what her sons were going through about having their brother Mike come home from Iraq, and the leave was being denied despite the fact they could prove she was terminally ill. I think it is terrible that nothing got done in this case, it is hard to believe that the service could not spare him for two weeks to go home and see his mother before she died. I know he might have had to take another leave for the funeral, but maybe it was more important to the family, and to her to see him before she died, it is kind of tragic to let him come home now. This is not what we are fighting this war for, I think the family should have been given a choice come home before the death, and not take a leave afterwards, which i can only assume is what the family would have been happy with since they wanted a leave before she passed away. I don't know, but one thing is for sure this was not right!!!!

Timothy L Grover, the plain blunt guy

News and Thoughts from Jackson County

Last Saturday, I traveled to Davenport along with other Jackson County Republicans to see Sen. John McCain speak. While I do not always agree with Sen. McCain on the issues, I do think that he is a true American hero. At the event, McCain talked about something that I think should be heard by all anti-war protesters. While he was a P.O.W. during the Vietnam War, McCain's captors would play radio broadcasts featuring sound bites from anti-war protesters to try and break his and other American soldiers' spirits. While I think these protesters have every right to speak their mind, I think it is equally important that they be made aware of the possible consequences of their actions.

Coming soon to a medical facility near you....human cloning. While that may sound like a plot from a movie playing on the Sci-Fi channel, it appears that it is coming close to reality. The Iowa House of Representatives this week debated Senate File 162, which if passed will make it legal to clone human embryos for research purposes. This bill has passed thru the Iowa Senate already (by one vote), and if passed by the House Gov. Chet Culver has already made it clear that he will fully support this legislation. As a soon to be first time parent, this is very troubling to me. I cannot begin to fathom allowing someone to create clones of our child so that they can be used to conduct research, and subsequently discarded.

We had our Central Committee meeting this past Thursday at the City Hall in Preston. Among our guests we had representatives from John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Tom Tancredo's campaigns. We thank them for taking the time out of their schedule to travel halfway across the state to attend our meeting. Also, we have firmed up plans to host a Soup and Sandwich Spring Fundraiser at the Pearson Hall at the Jackson County Fairgrounds on April 20^th. Guest speakers will be announced at a later date. I will post more details on the website as they become available.

- Adam Reuter

Jean, the Political Junkie

Once again, Mary Lundby is the voice of reason in the Iowa Senate. Our Senate Republican Leader gives details in her latest newsletter about expensive teacher pay legislation that was passed quickly out of the Senate Education Committee with little discussion. We all need to take a closer look at this bill.

Does every Jackson County school have a nurse and a licensed guidance counselor? That's an unfunded mandate included in the bill. Ask County Supervisor Jack Willey--he can tell you how much damage unfunded mandates have done to the county budget. BUT WAIT! The legislators will take care of that problem because the bill will also allow additional levies and property taxes for us.

Republicans see the merits of additional money for teacher pay. In 2006 our GOP legislators worked with Democrats and former Gov. Tom Vilsack on a $200 million package to move Iowa teacher pay from 41st to 32nd in the country. This new bill represents a BIG policy shift from the 2006 education bill.

There are many concerns with this new education bill that deserve lengthy discussion from school board members and administrators, parents, teachers, and taxpayers. Ask your legislator for public input on this critical bill!

In her latest "Statehouse Straight Talk" newsletter Mary Lundby says, "There is no need to rush this teacher pay plan through the legislative process without careful consideration, thoughtful dialogue and compromise. We need to slow this train down; Iowans deserve to see what train they're riding." You can read Mary's latest edition of "Statehouse Straight Talk" by clicking here.

-Jean Davidsaver

This week from the Plain Blunt Guy...

I looked into this Fair Share bill in the legislature and I can't buy into the theory the unions are using, in that it is not fair to allow non-union members to receive the same benefits that paying members get. There are many things people benefit from the activities of a group without contributing; one thing is church, you are just as much of a member of a church, whether you contribute or not. Another is political parties; thousands of people benefit from the political parties activities that never contribute one penny to the cause. Trade associations are another, AARP is another. Lets face it. if this passes it will amount to paying a fee for employment. Let's call this what it really is -- THE MANDATORY UNION MEMBERSHIP ACT.

Another embarrassment for local government : How did the company from Cedar Rapids end up with the contract they did in doing the reassessment of commercial property in the county? $180,000 for a job we already have an Assessors office to perform, and since it was Valentine's week it looks like their sweetheart showed up. An hourly wage to sit down and discuss how they came to these findings? They said they look at all property from a buyers standpoint, well $250,000 for the EU tech building? If they think it is worth that much, maybe they should buy it!!

I saw John McCain in Davenport last night, he had a large crowd there. I know some people don't trust him, but one thing is undeniable: he is a real American Hero. What he went through in the Hanoi Hilton, is inspirational, and a tribute to American resolve. One thing that touched me is he said they were allowed a radio, and when there wasn't any music on it there was antiwar statements that they had picked up from the American Media. He said it was hard being a prisoner there and listening to what the people back home were saying, it made us feel America had abandoned us, and that he still remembers all the names of the celebrities who spoke out. I believe that it is incumbent upon us to see that this does not happen to another generation of American servicemen and women. Let's support the war and bring them home victorious.

Timothy L. Grover, the plain blunt guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

This is a great weekend for all of us political junkies! First, there's the free chili dinner featuring Senator John McCain and special guest Senator Phil Gramm on Saturday night. Even if Senator McCain is not your top choice, it's still a good idea to take in all the top candidates for our highest office. Still looking for a candidate? Want to reinforce your opinions on your top choice? Go! There's no doubt McCain has the ability to cross party lines to attract voters, and it should be an interesting crowd.

Sunday morning, look for Governor Mitt Romney on This Week with George Stephanopoulos (8 a.m. on ABC). I usually pass up George to watch Tim Russert on Meet the Press, but Sunday's program will be on my "must watch" list.

- Jean Davidsaver

I wish I could be in Des Moines tomorrow evening, where there will be a public forum on Iowa's Right to Work law. Legislative Democrats plan to pass a law that would force workers to pay fees or union dues if they work in a business represented by a union. Presently, Iowans have a choice whether to join a union or not.

Forcing non-union workers to pay fees or union dues takes away their choice to join or not join a union. Would they want to be paying dues that could be used to support strikes? Probably not.

Is this bill in the best interests of our state? We need to make changes that are more supportive of business, not less supportive. According to business relocation experts, at least half of businesses looking to relocate or expand will not consider non-Right to Work states.

Iowa is one of 22 Right to Work states. You can read all sorts of statistics that show workers are better off in those states. Those are good statistics to support the case to retain Iowa's Right to Work status. For me, the real issue is personal choice. Less and less choices are available to us, and the Democrats are trying to take away one more individual choice.

Jean, the Political Junkie

This Week With The Plain Blunt Guy

Didn't have much to say last week so I took it off. This deal with the city budget gets more bizarre every week. First they spend all that money on the indoor cement pond, and now they are talking about laying off a police officer, and look at the problem with financing the Fire Station. Why didn't these things get paid for first instead of committing so much money to the arc? There was a letter to editor this week in the paper that says it best, if they had allowed a vote on it would the arc have passed? At least mayor Messerly is innocent on this, he warned them not to jump into the arc project to begin with, and its coming home to roost now. Last time I knew it was the job of the city to provide police, and fire protection. Failing to prioritize this is very irresponsible, and shows no understanding of government to begin with.

The right to work issue in the state legislature is an interesting issue. I understand where the people against repealing the right to work are law coming from, they bring up good reasons not to. You should not have to join a union to work somewhere , but the people who want to repeal it are right too; it is not fair to receive the benefits that the union gets for you, and not pay your fair share of the dues. I think I need to study this further.

One thing is sure -- the minimum wage law is going to be a disaster, most businesses in Iowa start people off around $8.00 hr, at least that seems to be the market wage give or take a dollar. Are you telling me that these people who pay bills are only worth 75 cents more than a high school kid who has no bills? One thing is for sure, the resulting increase in the cost of goods and services will make the ability for families to buy homes even more difficult, and without the resulting property taxes does that bode well for the city budget problems?

Finally this week, I am curious: does Ted Kennedy collect Social Security and Medicare benefits even though he receives salary and benefits for being a senator, does anybody know? My understanding of it would be yes, lets see $200, 000 plus a year for salary, and health insurance that most people only wish they had and retirement benefits to boot. Awesome nice system, and the minute we talk about cutting taxes, he yells tax cuts for the rich, lets talk about subsidizing the rich, Ted.

-Timothy L Grover, the plain blunt guy

Jean, the Political Junkie

After the November election everyone anticipated that the minimum wage would increase. What we didn't anticipate is that the Iowa Legislature would create a more aggressive schedule of minimum wage increases than the Federal government is proposing.

Is the small businessman concerned? Two business people that I know have said they will no longer hire high school students--they want more mature workers if they have to pay $7.25 per hour in less than a year. Those same small businessmen are also concerned about their property taxes. How much relief will they really get from the blue-ribbon panel assembled by Governor Culver?

I was concerned that our Iowa Democratic legislators refused to consider any help for the small businesses that will bear the brunt of the minimum wage increase. We now have to rely on the U. S. Senate and the House of Representatives to negotiate a reasonable compromise.

Looking for a good read? Mary Lundby's STATEHOUSE STRAIGHT TALK is a great way to keep up with issues at the Statehouse.

-Jean Davidsaver

This week from the Plain Blunt Guy...

I find it hard to believe that Maquoketa spent all that money on an indoor swimming pool, when we needed a new fire station all along; now we have to go out and borrow more money for it. Lets make this clear -- I will vote for the fire station addition. The Maquoketa volunteer Fire Dept. saves many lives, not to mention the taxpayers loads of money, and they deserve a building that they would be happy with, do they need it or not? I don't know, but one thing is for sure -- we need it worse than an indoor swimming pool, thanks mayor Tom for showing the right priorities I am with you on this, and thanks fire dept you have my support.

Well, they are going to raise the minimum wage. At work this week i had a co worker who was happy he was expecting a $2.10 raise and i told him that we do not make minimum wage, and quite rightly our employer was not obligated to give us a raise since we do not have a collective bargaining agreement with him. The coworker was shocked, and I am too that the general public can't see that this is nothing more than a payoff to public employees, teachers, and other union workers. Let me make this clear -- I am not saying that the people I just mentioned are in the wrong and do not earn their money, I am only saying that the press has portrayed this as a increase to the working poor when people in the higher income brackets will benefit more at contract negotiation time. Very unfair, and deceptive on the part of the press. I wonder if Schueller Construction is going to voluntarily raise their employees $2.10 an hour, since Tom voted for this. I am not quite sure if Senator Stewart has anyone employed that this would effect.

Well, I did not see any celebrity birthdays this week for welcoming some one into the Medicare club. I guess we will take a week off, although I did receive my Social Security statement, it had an interesting line on it under the benefits section: YOUR ESTIMATED BENEFITS ARE BASED ON CURRENT LAW. CONGRESS HAS MADE CHANGES TO THE LAW IN THE PAST AND CAN DO SO AT ANY TIME. THE LAW GOVERNING BENEFIT AMOUNTS MAY CHANGE BECAUSE, BY 2040, THE PAYROLL TAXES COLLECTED WILL BE ENOUGH TO PAY ONLY ABOUT 74 PERCENT OF SCHEDULED BENEFITS. I thought that the press and the Democrats told us it was not going broke?

Tim Grover, the plain blunt guy

Romney To Make Appearance in Dubuque

Mitt Romney will be appearing at the Best Western Midway Hotel in Dubuque on Friday, January 26th at 5:30pm. Admission is free, there will be a cash bar and complimentary hor d'oeuvres. The Midway Hotel is located at 3100 Dodge Street. For more information or to RSVP, please call 1-888-722-4704 ext. 200.

This week for the plain blunt guy

Well, lets see what happened this week:
I see at the gun show this weekend that there is a federally licensed gun buyer going who is to be on hand. Although i do confess i dont know what that entails, the words federally licensed gun buyer has a bad ring to it, and I can't see what good could come from it, I guess the government has the wisdom to decide who gets to exercise their constitutional rights although you will have a hard time convincing me of that.

It was announced late Friday that our new County Attourney has filed dismissal papers on four cases that are currently in district court. Two of them are for violent incidents, the other two are for marijuana possession. I don't understand this, did they legalize marijuana in this state? What kind of evidence could have come in that would create a dismissal? Isn't that the judge's job? I don't think it is fair to the arresting officers to not back them up on this. I am sure the last thing they have to do is arrest someone wrongfully, and since those cases were filed by the last County Attourney, everthing involved in these cases could not possibly have been in the notes, very disappointing.

This week's new Medicare qualifier is Muhammad Ali, yes indeed he is eligible for full Medicare benefits. Happy birthday, Muhammad.

-Tim Grover, the plain blunt blogger

the plain blunt blog

Hello,
This is my first attempt at blogging, the name of my blog is the plain blunt blog since i think that describes me best. I think a person can be plain and blunt and not offend anyone. It has to be done right though, if you think i am doing it wrong, please let me know. I would like to cover things involving local news and state politics, and try to show how it is affected by national issues. Well, this week:

-Kind of dissapointing the turn out for the local sales tax extension, around 1,000 people voted to extend the tax, thus i guess most of the county did not care. I voted no even though i knew I would lose, now we can have a new gym up here and it will only cost about 5 months of what it takes to operate the school, yes i know they are borrowing the money.

- TIF: Interesting, I listened to Kim Huckstadt ask the city council not to TIF the Wal-Mart project, and many local educators supported him. I am curious, how many voted for Dave Kendall, do they vote for the issues, or the party despite the issues?

I will have a weekly update on who gets social security, and medicare and who do not:
receiving Mick Jagger, not receiving is Elvis, he would have been 72 this week.

Thanks,
tim grover, the plain blunt blogger