By Krusty Konservative
The Iowa Republican
It has been twelve years since a Republican occupied the Secretary of State’s office. Chet Culver used the office as a platform to run for governor after two terms in office. According to the Feds, he also used it to throw elaborate parties and misspend taxpayer dollars, but who gets worked up over things like that?
Read full story here – Source: www.theiowarepublican.com
By Pamela M. Prah
Stateline.org Staff Writer
Anyone who is following the 2010 midterm elections knows that tea party activists are angry, motivated and determined to create a low-spending, low-taxing Congress. It’s anybody’s guess just how successful they will be. But an equally compelling question is just what impact the movement will have on gubernatorial and other state elections this fall…
The Iowa Tea Party doesn’t have a candidate in the race between incumbent Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, and former Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican who is leading in some polls. “We don’t have the money,” says Ryan Rhodes, a party activist in Des Moines. But the tea partyers have a candidate for secretary of state in Matt Schultz, a Republican city councilman from Council Bluffs, who hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Mike Mauro.
Schultz will first have to beat two opponents in the June 8 Republican primary in a race that party insiders say will be competitive. Schultz, a life-long Republican, calls himself a tea party member because “the Republican Party has strayed away” from fiscal conservatism.
Read full story here – Source: Stateline.org
By Matt Schultz
Most recently the writers of the Des Moines Cityview have said that I don’t understand what the Secretary of State does, marginalizing the Secretary of State’s role in business by saying that its only connection is maintaining a database of corporations. Those same writers said that “the Secretary of State has nothing to do with fighting for Iowa jobs…” If the Cityview were actually describing Chet Culver and Michael Mauro, I would agree. When Chet Culver was Secretary of State he did nothing to advocate for business or promote job growth in Iowa and Mauro has followed his lead, practically ignoring his role as an advocate for business.
I’m sure to the surprise of the writers of Cityview, the business role of the Secretary of State is not something I just made up. The current Secretary of State website describes the Secretary of State’s duties to include advocating for business friendly laws. “The office of the Secretary of State is now a service center for businesses in Iowa, the nation and the world and is committed to making sure Iowa remains a gateway for the world by being an advocate for Iowa business and products and making government more business friendly. Each business day the Office receives over 200 telephone calls and emails with business services related questions. In 2008, the Office processed over 175,000 corporate and commercial documents and more than 127,000 UCC filings” (http://www.sos.state.ia.us/office/duties.html).
The truth is I can’t totally fault the Des Moines Cityview for their opinion. It is no wonder that the Cityview does not recognize that the Secretary of State should be an advocate for business when they are looking at the examples of Culver and Mauro over the past 12 years to base their opinions. This year the Secretary of State has proposed legislation for election laws in SF 2196, but Mauro has not proposed any legislation for small business (http://www.senate.iowa.gov/democrats/state-government-week-of-feb-15-2010/). Last year when Iowa’s Right to Work laws were under attack and the Democrats tried to repeal Federal Deductibility the Secretary of State did nothing. The current Secretary of State is not an advocate for business or jobs; instead he tows the line of the Democrats’ attack on business by keeping silent.
Albert Einstein said that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If we want different results then we must look to new leadership, not career politicians looking for retirement jobs or notoriety. It is time that we expect more from our elected leaders, including the Secretary of State. It is time for the next generation who has a vested interest in the future of our children, grandchildren, and our State, to now step up and take the lead. Iowa needs a Secretary of State that understands each of his responsibilities, including advocating for business and jobs. That is why Iowans should elect me, Councilman Matt Schultz, as a “Pro Jobs” Secretary of State, who will stand up and fight for Iowa jobs and fair elections. Visit my website at www.VoteMattSchultz.com to see how you can help.
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By Krusty Konservative
The Iowa Republican
Another One Bites the Bust!
How many more top campaign aides will Culver lose before Election Day?
Who knows, but it will probably be two or three if he keeps us the current paces of losing one every three months. Yesterday, Jesse Harris, Culver’s Deputy Campaign Manager bolted for a tremendous professional opportunity. I mean who could pass up running Mike Mauro’s reelection campaign for Secretary of State.
This news tells us a couple of things. 1. Democrat operatives see Culver as a sinking ship and they are not about to be the staff that couldn’t get an incumbent governor reelected in Iowa for the first time since the 1960’s. 2. It could also mean that Mauro is very nervous. He might not be worried about his Republican opponents, but I’ll bet you he is worries about the Republican wave that is coming. If Culver gets crushed, guys like Mauro will get caught in the wake.
Speaking of the SOS race, I think I’ll just endorse Matt Schultz today. Since 2006, Eichhorn has lost elections to be the Republican nominee to fill Stu Iverson’s seat, lost his State House reelection to McKinley Bailey, lost a bid to be on the Republican State Central Committee, and lost the US Senate primary to Chris Reed. Folks, I know a trend when I see one. I couldn’t pick Schultz out in a crowd, but we need new faces, not perennial losers.
Read full story here – Source: www.theiowarepublican.com
Read: House File 2420
Iowa’s Right to work laws are being threatened by House File 2420 and it is time Iowans let their elected officials know that they want to strengthen Iowa’s Right to Work laws, not weaken them.
Governor Culver started the attack on Iowa’s Right to Work laws by issuing an executive order requiring all state departments and agencies to consider using Project Labor Agreements on large-scale construction projects.
Now the Iowa House of Representatives is taking up legislation in House File 2420 that opens the door to forcing all Non-Union employees to pay union dues. This legislation will require all public employees that work in the executive branch to pay mandatory union fees even if an employee chooses not to join the union.
House File 2420 is just the first step, soon the unions will be pushing to apply this to all of Iowa’s businesses. This isn’t good for government and it is bad for Iowa jobs and business. This legislation is a job killer not a job creator, it is the first step down a slippery slope.
