Friday, September 26, 2008

The Weekly Stampede – September 25, 2008

McCain, Palin rev up supporters, tour flood damage

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette, September 18, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS - John McCain lashed out at his opponent for failing to protect American workers from the financial dominoes falling on Wall Street and at the Democratic Congress for failing to deliver timely flood recovery assistance to Iowans.

"When I pushed legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Sen. Obama was silent. He didn't lift a hand to avert this crisis," McCain said during a Thursday morning rally at PS Air at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids.

Later, after a 20-minute walking tour of the Time Check neighborhood in northwest Cedar Rapids, the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate, Sarah Palin, called for quick congressional action to help Iowa families and businesses get back on their feet.

Noting that it's been three months since historic floods devastated 100 blocks of Cedar Rapids, McCain called for quick action on a recovery assistance package "that will provide not only home-owners, but businesses, a chance to be restored, to create jobs and give people an opportunity to rebuild their lives."

Click here to read more.

_______________________________________________________

Iowa Business and Government Leaders Highlight McCain-Palin Economic Plan & Why it’s Best for Iowans

(Ankeny, IA) – Several state and local elected officials met Wednesday with leaders at Accumold, a plastics manufacturing firm based in Ankeny, to discuss the benefits of the McCain-Palin economic plan and why it is the best choice for Iowa taxpayers.

State Representative Carmine Boal of Ankeny, State Senators Brad Zaun of Urbandale and Larry Noble of Ankeny, and Polk County Supervisor E.J. Giovannetti toured the Accumold facility and then held a press conference with CFO Steve Boal to show support for the McCain-Palin plan. The conference also touched on concerns with the Obama-Biden economic plan that calls for raising taxes on many Americans and the businesses that employ them.

Steve Boal is uniquely aware of how increased taxes and regulations can adversely affect both families and businesses. As the chief financial officer for Accumold, he is the first to see how new taxes and red tape can strain his company’s budget making it harder for them to expand and create new jobs.

“I believe Obama’s ideas for change are taking America down the wrong path,” Boal said. “We need less government, not more, because more government translates to higher taxes.”

Boal also knows the negative effects higher taxes have on families across Iowa. His wife is State Rep. Carmine Boal of Ankeny who also attended the conference.

“Obama has said repeatedly that he’s going to ‘tax the rich’ more in order to help the middle class, but his record doesn’t show that,” Rep. Boal said. “He has already voted to raise taxes on Americans making $42,000 a year, why wouldn’t he do it again?”

State Sen. Brad Zaun’s district does not include the Accumold facility, but called it a, “great success story for Ankeny,” and cited it as an example of smart economic growth.

“Tax breaks always help stimulate new investment and development, no matter where they come from,” Sen. Zaun said. “It’s that investment that enables lawmakers to then keep taxes down.”

State Sen. Larry Noble said that the McCain-Palin plan would be more productive in helping the small businesses that employ the majority of Iowans.

“Bureaucracy and taxes don’t make us stronger, it just drags us down.” Sen. Noble said.

Steve Boal summed up the discussion saying, “John McCain’s philosophy supports smaller government and lower taxes while Obama’s plans include more government. More government is not what Accumold needs.”

_____________________________________________________________

Election Day is approaching, RPI needs your help!

The Republican Party of Iowa is looking for individuals to serve as poll watchers for the general election, November 4, 2008. Poll Watching is an incredibly rewarding experience that enables individuals to see the election process in action.

For further information or to sign up please contact Director of Election Day Operations Danny McNamara at dmcnamara@iowagop.org or by phone at (515) 864-6127.

_____________________________________________________________

The question remains: Obama, Fannie, & Freddie

“While the American taxpayer’s hard-earned money was corrupted by a government-backed mortgage business in Washington, Barack Obama took record amount of their campaign cash, and did absolutely nothing to regulate their books. Just like he did over two years ago, Barack Obama chooses to ignore John McCain’s calls to regulate and reform Fannie and Freddie, while defending his own affiliations with their corrupted corporate executives and his stockpile of campaign cash.

“One question remains. Did Barack Obama provide Fannie Mae special access when he appointed Fannie Mae’s embattled former CEO Jim Johnson to lead his vice presidential search committee while Mr. Johnson was still receiving $71,000 a month from Fannie Mae?” ---Tucker Bounds, spokesman McCain-Palin 2008

Three Key Facts:

1. John McCain introduced reforms and regulation for Fannie and Freddie over two years ago.

2. While taking $120,000 in campaign cash in just 3 years, Barack Obama has maintained Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s broken business model.

3. Barack Obama appointed embattled former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson to lead his Vice Presidential search. At that same time Jim Johnson was receiving a $71,000 per month in pension benefits from Fannie Mae. Johnson also received millions in compensation due to accounting manipulation at Fannie Mae.

_______________________________________________

Paid for by the Republican Party of Iowa