Tickets available for Congressman Tom & Kathy Latham's Annual Summer Family Picnic

Saturday, June 20th
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
At
Moore Memorial Park
3050 Northridge Parkway
Ames, Iowa

Great Food! Live Music! Playground for the kids!

$60 per family contribution to
Latham for Congress to attend

Tickets are available for the picnic by contacting Gene Newgaard at 641-648-4149 or any county central committee member.

The Chairman's Report - June 5, 2009

Matt Strawn, Chairman
The Republican Party of Iowa
621 East 9th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
O (515) 282-8105
F (515) 282-9019
mstrawn@iowagop.org

While more Iowans lose jobs, Culver travels the country; focuses on political campaign.

It was a rough week for Iowans as a number of important employers announced layoffs coupled with published reports of a steep decline in state revenue collections and a probable budget deficit for the current fiscal year. Unfortunately, Chet Culver was not on the scene as he was too busy ramping up his campaign committee and travelling to Washington, DC and Canada.

In addition to job losses from Ottumwa to Des Moines to West Union, we found out this week that state government finances are in worse shape than the Governor has led us to believe The May revenue report showed a slumping economy was taking its toll on tax collections as the state saw revenues slide by $90 million more than originally expected and led to serious speculation that our current state budget will be in a serious deficit by the end of this month.

What is the Governor’s response to this week’s challenging news?—an announcement regarding his efforts to crank up his own campaign for 2010 and a phone conference from out of state with reporters where he misrepresented the state’s financial status and refused to take aggressive action to meet our challenges head on.

Enough is enough, Governor. Iowans need a leader, not a politician who is out of town and out of touch.

I issued this call for leadership in response to the Governor’s poor leadership this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Iowa to raise funds for Democrat congressional candidates and to promote her radical energy and health care agenda.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently headlined a fundraising event in Des Moines at the home of lawyer Roxanne Conlin (former Chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party and candidate for governor in 1982). The event raised funds for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to support the election of Democrats to the House of Representatives.

Iowa Democrat Representative Bruce Braley serves as a Vice Chairman of the DCCC and is a staunch political ally of Speaker Pelosi. Despite her 30% approval rating in recent national polls and radical energy and health care agenda, Rep. Braley strongly defends Speaker Pelosi as he did this week during an appearance on the Iowa Public Radio program “Talk at 12.”

Braley said, "She's been an enormously effective speaker and one of the most powerful speakers in recent memory because she takes a very diverse Democratic Caucus, which distinguishes us from the Republican Conference, and tries to get us to consensus on a host of very difficult and challenging issues.”

Pelosi does in fact get a great deal of consensus and support from her Democratic puppets here in Iowa. According to the Washington Post, Braley has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 98% of the time during the current Congress, while Dave Loebsack of Iowa’s 2nd District has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 97% of the and Leonard Boswell in Iowa’s 3rd District has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 99% of the time during the current congress.

Is Iowa truly served by members of Congress who vote in lock step with a California liberal who promotes an energy policy that will drastically increase the cost of heating and cooling our homes and a health care agenda that will essentially nationalize the world’s greatest health care system? I suggest the answer is a resounding NO and the Republican Party of Iowa is excited about the prospects for fielding strong, qualified, and independent leaders who will put Iowa values first.

Excitement is building for RPI’s “Night of the Rising Stars” and the appearance of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

June 25 will be here before we know it and people are getting excited about the blockbuster GOP event of the summer – the Night of the Rising Stars. We’re changing things up this year with a new location, historic Hoyt Sherman Place in the Sherman Hill neighborhood of Des Moines, and people are taking notice Our event begins at 5:30 pm. with a fun cocktail reception followed by a fast-paced, video- and music-filled presentation. Our event will showcase a talented group of young leaders who are bringing new energy and new hope to the Republican Party of Iowa.
Gov. Haley Barbour

And who better to chart the path to renewal and recovery then Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour? Governor Barbour led the Republican revolution at the national level in 1994 and brought a dormant Republican party back to power. He then defeated an incumbent Democrat governor and claimed the governor’s mansion in his home state of Mississippi. Governor Barbour’s powerful message of renewal is particularly relevant to our efforts here in Iowa and he will send you home from our event ready to charge into battle and reclaim this state on behalf of our principled conservative agenda.

Please join me as we unveil your new Republican Party of Iowa and our new leadership team.

Your Iowa Republican Rising Stars:

Rep. Peter Cownie (Polk)

Rep. Pat Grassley (Butler)

Rep. Chris Hagenow (Polk)

Rep. Erik Helland (Polk)

Rep. Kevin Koester (Polk)

Rep. Steve Lukan (Dubuque)

Rep. Renee Schulte (Linn)

Rep. Jason Schultz (Crawford)

Rep. Kent Sorenson (Warren)

Rep. Annette Sweeney (Hardin)

Rep. Nick Wagner (Linn)

Rep. Matt Windschitl (Harrison)

Sen. Randy Feenstra (Sioux)

Sen. Shawn Hamerlinck (Scott)

Sen. Tim Kapucian (Benton)

Sen. Kim Reynolds (Clarke)

This is the “must attend” event of the year and you need to secure your place, today.

There are multiple sponsorship opportunities for this event to show your support for the Republican Party of Iowa and for the Rising Stars who are going to help us take our state back.

You can sponsor one of our Rising Stars for $1,000 and receive 10 general admission tickets to the event.

Those seeking individual tickets can do so for a $100 donation.

And, because we want every Republican to have the chance to meet our Rising Stars, we’re offering discounted $50 tickets to people 35 and younger.

To sponsor and/or reserve your spot at the Night of the Rising Stars, click here! Space is limited, so please do not delay.

In the News

Republicans redrawn: New Iowa chairman rallies for a sharper, hipper party

Fiscal report spurs heated exchange between Culver, GOP

Strawn criticizes I-JOBS pick

Iowa revenue falls again; economic indicators continue to sink

Sen. McKinley: Culver fails to recognize serious consequences for taxpayers

Public plan threatens bipartisan health deal

Grassroots Activist of the Week: Andy Swanson, Webster Co.

A fellow Webster County Republican nominated Andy Swanson as our Grassroots Activist of the Week. Webster County Republicans recently revealed a new website and Andy is credited for the exciting new web design. Here’s what was said about Andy and his efforts: “We have long discussed the need to redesign our website and Andy took the bull by the horns and did it. It is a great website that is sure to spark more interest in new members and inform current members of the goings on of the Webster County central committee.”

Thank you, Andy, for your hard work. The site looks great! Here’s the link to Webster County’s new website. Check it out!

(If you know someone we should recognize for their volunteer efforts in the Party, please send a brief letter to jboeyink@iowagop.org -- we will keep your nomination anonymous if so desired.)

Upcoming Events

June 11: An Evening with Dallas Co. Republicans

June 13: Union Co. Republicans Fundraiser

June 13: Muscatine Co. Republican Women’s Meeting

June 25: RPI blockbuster event, Night of the Rising Stars

For updates and local events go to www.iowagop.org

Four Ways to Stay in Touch With the IowaGOP

While RPI continues to solicit opinions and comments for overhauling our official website, www.iowagop.org, you can connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and IowaGOP the Blog! Click the preceding links for regularly updated news, commentary, and alerts from the Republican Party of Iowa. Have a news tip? Email them to dplogmann@iowagop.org or call Danielle at (515) 282-8105.

McKinley’s Memos

By Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley

Governor Chet Culver made it official this week. He has added his signature of approval to the largest budget in the 163 year history of the state of Iowa. His record $6.3 billion dollar budget, a compilation of several spending bills approved by the governor’s party allies in the Legislature during the finals days of the 2009 session, will take effect on July 1, 2009 and run through June 30 of 2010.

This year’s budget even trumps the record deficit spending levels enacted during the first two years of the governor’s term. During those two years, the state’s budget grew by an unsustainable 21 percent – nearly a one billion dollar increase. The record levels of spending during this session and the previous two sessions have come as a result of an executive and legislative branch solely controlled by one party.

Ever since the Iowa General Assembly adjourned nearly a month ago, many of the state’s newspapers have written articles with headlines that give Iowans a very clear, yet ominous picture about the fiscal future of Iowa. One prime example is the headline from The Des Moines Register from the day after the Legislature had finally adjourned following a sleepless marathon weekend of spending and borrowing. The headline simply read: “2nd all-nighter yields biggest budget ever”. Iowans saw their government’s budget grow by hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending over the spending levels of previous record setting budgets and yet their legislators did it while most were sleeping and unaware.

The Sioux City Journal last week had an article with the simple headline, “Culver says he’s done cutting budget.” This headline ought to leave Iowa taxpayers scratching their head. Hardworking Iowans know that you cannot be done with a project unless the project has actually started. Not only has Governor Culver not started to cut Iowa’s budget, the budget actually continues to grow year after year on his watch. Iowa’s families and employers are making difficult decisions and finding responsible areas to cut during challenging economic times, yet Governor Culver and legislative allies have not followed the lead of Iowans all over the state in making hard sacrifices.

The out-of-control spending is leading many Iowans to be concerned about the future fiscal health of the state. A recent The Des Moines Register story entitled, “Budget fears prompt calls for reform from Iowa lawmakers,” provides a chilling financial outlook for the state next year as a result of the irresponsible spending increases. Because so much of this new budget was built with one-time federal stimulus dollars that will not be available next year, Iowans could easily be staring at over a $900 million dollar deficit next year according to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA). If Iowa’s economy does not begin to pick up steam, that deficit could become larger and easily eclipse one billion dollars. Iowa did not even have a billion dollar budget until 1976. Senate Republicans have constantly and consistently called for reduced spending, borrowing and bonding and have advocated for less taxation. We have also offered tens of millions of dollars in immediate budget savings only to have the current majority party in the Legislature reject those smart cost savings solutions.

When signing the budget into law this week, Governor Culver had an opportunity to use his line item veto authority to significantly cut back some of the excessive spending passed by his legislative counterparts last month. Instead, Governor Culver used his veto pen to strike the rare cost saving measures enacted by this legislature this session that would have provided more transparency and reformed state government. For example, the governor vetoed provisions that would reduce the size of the state’s vehicle fleet. The state already has dozens of unused cars that are literally collecting dust in state parking garages but as a result of the governor’s veto, the state will now spend even more money to buy more brand new vehicles. In addition, the governor vetoed a common sense provision that would require state employees to turn in actual receipts to receive reimbursements and he also vetoed provisions cutting back on out-of-state travel.

However, Iowans must also remember that in addition to the record spending on the budget, there was also record spending on bonding schemes that will leave future generations of Iowans to foot the bill for decades to come. In the closing hours of this session, the current party in power in the Legislature at the request of Governor Culver passed three bonding bills totaling approximately $830 million dollars. After all the fees and interest are added in, this new spending will cost taxpayers almost $1.7 billion dollars. College freshmen will be 50 years old before this debt is paid off.

Now that all action has been taken on the 2009 legislative session, we will work towards the 2010 session by crafting practical solutions to the big issues facing Iowa. I encourage and welcome the input of all Iowans because we understand that when Iowans have a greater voice in their government, government will become more responsive and more efficient. I will continue to advocate our common sense message of less spending, less taxation and more jobs for Iowa because we understand that this is not the time to be growing Iowa’s government as is the case now – this is the time we should be growing Iowa’s economy.

As always, I welcome hearing from my constituents and can be reached by phone at 515-281-3560 or by e-mail at paul.mckinley@legis.state.ia.us and please add me as a friend on Facebook!

The Paulsen Perspective

By House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen

No news available

Sweeney from the Statehouse

By State Representative Annette Sweeney

No news available