Radio Iowa

Culver on Iowa Press

Governor Chet Culver is the guest on this evening's "Iowa Press" program on IPTV.  It airs at 7:30 and is rebroadcast on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

The taping of the program commenced shortly after 10 o'clock Friday morning.  Culver began the program by talking about the 1.5 percent cut he ordered -- across the board -- in the state budget, saying of the cuts that "I hope it's the end" of cutting in the current budgeting year.

In addressing critics who say he should have acted sooner, Culver argued the economic downturn impacted Iowa's economy "sooner than expected."  Culver suggested 43 of the 50 states are facing deficits totally $60 billion for the current budgeting year.

As for tax increases: "I've taken them off the table for now.".

"We have to be careful about any kind of tax increase on anybody in this recession," Culver said later in the program, responding to a question about local govt requests -- from flood-ravaged areas -- for new taxing authority to finance flood recovery.

"I'm for it, all the way," Culver said of requiring students to complete high school by raising the compulsory attendance age in Iowa law to 18.  "...It's about reform.  This is an easy step that will send a strong message to all of our kids....We expect you to graduate."

David Yepsen asked a question about the "rip off" of schools getting a full day's worth of state aid for a "snow day" in which school either starts late, or ends early.  Culver didn't bite and did not endorse the idea of paying school aid per hour rather than per day.

The next question was about leasing the Iowa Lottery, and Culver offered the same explanation he did yesterday regarding that idea.  "I think we have to make it very clear to the legislature and to all of our constituents out there...We have a very valuable asset out there in the Iowa Lottery....We have a lot of assets.  I think this is the time to look at all of those assets and evaluate them....so what I'm trying to do is present to the legislature options."

A few legislators have talked about letting bars have TouchPlay machines to make up for what the bar owners argue is lost business because of the smoking ban.  "I don't think TouchPlay's on the table," Culver said.

As for whether there'll be a backlash against him and other Democrats in the 2010 election, Culver predictably rejected the idea.  "I think what our constituents expect is leadership...They want elected officials to do the right thing.  I fell like I've done the right thing," Culver said of the 1.5 percent across the board budget cut. "..No one has suggested this is an easy job."

Will he run again? "I'm certainly looking at running against in 2010," Culver said.

In the closing minutes of the program, Culver suggested it might be time to merge some state agencies, or even shut down some areas in state buildings in order to save utility costs.

The last question was about Postville, and Culver said it was a "federal issue" and he does not anticipate the need for state action in response to the immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant.

Reaction to Vilsack as ag sec

A number of statements have been issued from a variety of office-holders and farm groups regarding former Governor Tom Vilsack's nomination to be the next Secretary of Agriculture.  I'll post several below.

Governor Culver announces budget cuts

News release, posted below -- followed by prepared statements from legislative leaders:

GOVERNOR CULVER TAKES ACTION TO MEET ‘HISTORIC’ NATIONAL ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

Announces 1.5% across-the-board reduction, seeks $10 million in fund transfers

DES MOINES – Governor Chet Culver has announced new steps he is taking to meet the budget challenges facing the state of Iowa caused by a global economic downturn, including an across-the-board cut in State spending.

“We are in the midst of an economic challenge that is historic in its scope,” said Governor Culver.  “While its cause comes from actions on Wall Street, supported by misguided federal policies from Washington over the past eight years, the result has been an economic recession that is hitting Main Streets and factories and farms and families across the nation.  This world-wide economic recession is affecting every state in the nation, no matter if they are big or small, rural or urban, Democratic or Republican. We are all facing this challenge together. And together, we must accept the reality and share in the sacrifice.”

A primer on Tom Vilsack, Obama's choice for ag sec

Former Iowa Governor Tom J. Vilsack, 58, will be introduced this morning as President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.  There are thousands of stories in the Radio Iowa archive about Vilsack.  I'll provide links to some in order to provide a bit of biography and background.

In May of 2004, Radio Iowa ran a nine-part series of stories profiling Vilsack because John Kerry, the presumptive 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, was considering Vilsack as a potential running mate.  Here are the segments of that series:

    Tom Vilsack, the accidental politician? --  If you look at Tom Vilsack's resume, it looks like a flow chart that a college professor would use to illustrate how to move up the political ranks. Vilsack was elected his town's mayor three times, then he won a seat in the state legislature which he held for five years. Vilsack followed that with two successful campaigns for governor...

    Vilsack: the state senate years -- Tom Vilsack was elected to the state Senate in 1992 and tackled complicated issues, like tinkering with the formula used to calculate how much businesses pay into the state's unemployment compensation fund. Vilsack tried to find some middle ground in the brewing controversy over large-scale livestock operations...

    Vilsack:  the 1998 campaign for governor -- 1998 was a big year in Iowa politics. Republican Governor Terry Branstad was not seeking re-election after 16 years in the job. Two democrats launched campaigns for governor -- Tom Vilsack and Mark McCormick, a Des Moines attorney who had been a justice on Iowa's Supreme Court. During that campaign, Vilsack cast himself as the champion of the little guy...

    Vilsack:  weathering the storms -- In January of 1999, Tom Vilsack was sworn in as Iowa's 40th governor. Republicans Bob Ray and Terry Branstad had been governor for 30 years, and Vilsack offended statehouse Democrats and the state workers union that had backed him when he chose to keep many of the administrators who'd been working for the previous Republican governor...

    Vilsack's brushes with disaster -- Once he became governor, it sometimes seemed as if Tom Vilsack might not survive the experience. Early in his first term, Vilsack traveled to the far east on a trade mission, and wound up in the midst of an earthquake in Taiwan. "I had rosary beads next to my bed," Vilsack said. "I grabbed them and I just said a prayer...

    Vilsack:  "I like governing." -- ..."Do you like campaigning?" Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson asked. Vilsack laughed. "I like governing and I like campaigning in terms of meeting people, going out and talking to folks, shaking hands, visiting with them, finding out what's on their mind," Vilsack replied. "There are other aspects of campaigning that, you know, I could do without."

    Vilsack accomplishments, legacy -- Governor Tom Vilsack will leave his mark on Iowa because of two major programs. The first, called Vision Iowa, hands out state grants for construction of major community attractions like the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines and the Mississippi River Museum complex in Dubuque... 

    Vilsack, the speechmaker -- ..."Many believe that elections are about winning and indeed that is an important aspect of any election, but more fundamental than winning is the fight -- what it is that you fight for, who you fight for and what you stand for," Vilsack said during a speech in 2002...

    Vilsack counts labor as an asset -- ..."It's very helpful that he's a policy wonk because that's what we end up dealing with is policies and how they impact our members and the services we provide," AFSCME Council 61 president Jan Corderman said during an interview with Radio Iowa.

Surprise! It's Vilsack as ag sec

Sources tell Radio Iowa former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack will be with President-elect Barack Obama tomorrow in Chicago at the Drake at 10:45 a.m. (Iowa time), to be introduced as Obama's pick for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.  That link takes you to the Radio Iowa story which includes interviews with Senators Harkin & Grassley as well as details on the four other Iowans who've been US ag sec.

Here's my blog post from 11/5/08 regarding Vilsack & the job of ag secretary. 

Mauro versus Maduro

When I'm writing a story featuring comments from Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro, spellcheck wants to change Mauro to "Maduro."  Today, I Googled "Maduro" and here's what I came up with:

1.  The number one Maduro in the Google ranking is Hedwiges Maduro.  He's a Dutch footballer (soccer player).

2.  The number two Maduro is Ricardo Rodolfo Maduro Joest.  He was president of Honduras from 2002-2006.

3.  There's an "electronic musician blending textured technopop and Intelligence Dance Music" who goes by the name "maduro."  

4.  Finally, maduro is a spanish word meaning ripe and it's often used to refer to cigars.  Maduro-wrapped cigars, apparently, are highly sought after because of the time it takes to wrap the tobacco leaves and the dark colors or pigment of the material used to wrap the cigars.  One on-line source referred to Maduro-wrapped cigars as "oily, plush with flavor, and earthy to the nose."

5.  One would guess that Michael Mauro fits none of these descriptions.  Spellcheck -- the version that's loaded onto my computer by the IT staff at Learfield -- also insists "internet" and "email" are not words until you add those two words to your spellcheck list.  It's one of my "define irony" examples.

Flashback: 1987

I've been listening to cassette tapes that feature Radio Iowa material broadcast in 1987 (cassette tapes were cutting edge then, a step above reel-to-reel).  I stumbled across a 1987 interview of Hugh Sidey, the Greenfield, Iowa native who went on to a long career at Life and then Time.

"The problem is that it takes so much money, so much energy, it takes so long that it's a four-year process," Sidey said in 1987 of the 1988 presidential campaign.  "I'd like to see that changed, you know, confine it to, say, a year and a half or a little bit like the British system.  What do they do?  They all are campaigning for six weeks or something like that, so I'd like to see some reform.  I think this is a great weakness, this system that has blown up and I must say, I have to blame television as much as anything because it's money -- money that's at the core of it."

Sidey continued that thought, addressing the importance of the 1988 Iowa Caucuses. "All of us feel that the system has become too distorted and there's too much hype and too much stagecraft in it, but the fact of the matter is that Iowa was there and the Iowa Caucus, like it or not, is going to be terribly important," Sidey said.  "...We could solve a lot these problems tomorrow if we just gave up freedom and assigned absolute authority to one party, one officer.  We don't do that, so we go through these tortuous processes and nobody's going to offer the magic solution."

Sidey addressed the Farm Crisis and the U.S. economic situation in 1987. "We've got a weak economy and Reagan's in his last dog-days, but so was Ike and so were others and he's had some problems.  They all have," Sidey said.  "I think we in Washington tend to exaggerate the problems.  The economy is the principle one and that's where he's the weakest. Now, will a new president be able to solve all those things?  No. You know that. We all know that. A new president, though, will be able to set new priorities in new directions and maybe be able to do it a little bit better and improve things a little bit here and there as, indeed, Reagan did over his predecessor, but you know, they're all going to run into problems.  That's the price of freedom."

Iowa delegation splits on Detroit bailout

The three Democrats in Iowa's congressional delegation (Congressmen Bruce Braley of Waterloo, Dave Loebsack of Mount Vernon & Leonard Boswell of Des Moines) voted for the bailout destined for Chrysler and General Motors.  The two Republicans in Iowa's congressional delegation (Congressmen Tom Latham of Ames & Steve King of Kiron) voted against it.

Four Iowa congressmen (all but Boswell) issued statements last night.  Read them below:

Sporadic

For those who regularly check out the blog, you may have noticed posting has been sporadic lately.  Sorry.  I could list the reasons, but that'd be a waste of time.  Instead, here are six items that could have been posted in the past few weeks.

****The ever-vigilant Cedar Rapids Gazette political team emailed a tip:  Earlier today, Senator Tom Harkin's website advised folks who wanted to attend the Inauguration that Harkin's office was no longer "excepting" ticket applications.  It's been corrected to advise Harkin is no longer "accepting" requests for tickets.

****Former State Representative/unsuccessful 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate/unsuccessful 2008 third district congressional candidate Ed Fallon (D-Des Moines) submitted an application last week, hoping President-elect Barack Obama names him the "White House Farmer."  Fallon, as you may recall, endorsed John Edwards before the Caucuses, then endorsed Obama shortly after Edwards dropped out of the race. Read Fallon's news release below.

In Memoriam: Thomas A. Fogarty

He was the man you'd want at your dinner party -- or the reporter you'd want next to you as you sat through another long night of boring debate in the Iowa Senate.  He was the consummate story teller -- in print and in person. Tom's vivid accounts of the grand and not-so-grand moments in life made the day brighter with the shared laughter that followed every punchline.

Tom Fogarty -- a friend, colleague, and mentor -- died Tuesday night.  Since then I've been "talking" (via email) with a number of folks who have been part of the Iowa statehouse press corps and who were enriched by Tom's candor, grace and wit.

"Tom was such a class act," Eric Stern, a former statehouse reporter for The Waterloo Courier, wrote in an email today.  "He was one of those fatherly, steady old-timers that made newspapering so friggin' cool."

In Tom's defense, he wasn't that old.  Stern, though, was very young and in his first real job after college.  Tom, writing under the byline Thomas A. Fogarty, worked for The Des Moines Register from 1985 to 1999. 

Todd Dorman, a columnist for The Cedar Rapids Gazette, covered the Iowa Senate for The Sioux City Journal toward the end of Fogarty's statehouse tenure.  "He was a great guy with a wicked sense of humor, and very helpful to a young, clueless pup like me," Dorman wrote this morning in an email.