2nd District Debate Live Baby Live
2:30 and hello from the Schwab Auditorium at the Coralville Library for the four way 2nd District Debate. Congressman Dave Loebsack is facing off with the three rivals -- Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Green Wendy Barth, and independent Brian White.
Opening statements start with Barth. She praises the AARP for inviting the third parties. "My single issue is sustainability," she says, and says thousand of issues fall under that umbrella. "It means having a lifestyle that continues generation after generation. Our lifestyles have to change. We can embrace that change or deny change."
Loebsack next. "I ran in 2006 because I was fed up with a system that was broken. I wanted to once again make government a positive force in people's lives." Cites his committee work. "I have worked tirelessly to provide for our troops and provide oversight to the Bush Administration's Iraq policies."
Miller-Meeks "I have not been a party affiliated person working hard to elect candidates. I got tired of seeing Congress doing nothing but seeing who was the victor in a partisan fight," citing Social Security, health and energy policy.
White: "What does 'change' mean? What is the change they're talking about? I ask you to really think about that. Do you really believe Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, can bring about that change? The only way we bring about real change is to change Washington first." He says term limits, getting rid of PACs, and ethics reform are the way to do that.
AARP rep Richard Tibbets asks if health care is a fundamental right. "It should be a right of all people on the planet," says Barth. "I'm perfectly comfortable with the term socialized medicine." Loebsack: "It is clearly a right, but hasn't been the case in this country. We have 45 million people in the richest country in the world without insurance. It's downright immoral." He supports portability and no preconditions.
Miller-Meeks: "As an affluent country, one of the responsibilities we have is health care. We should have a system that encourages personal responsibility." I didn't catch every word.
White: "The real issue is how do we make it affordable for everyone. We have to get rid of the interest groups that are tying it down."
"How can civil liberties be preserved while addressing terrorism?" Loebsack says the initial Patriot Act went too far and he would have voted no. "I don't believe we should impinge too much on our civil liberties. It's got to be a balancing act." Miller-Meeks: "We need an active and a vigilant press because they hold officials feet to the fire and they have an investigative arm." Says measures need timelines. White: "We have to protect civil liberties as a priority. We need to do it the same way the criminal system does -- with probable cause." Barth: "There's never going to be 100% safety. We have to protect ourselves but can't be paranoid."
Long term care starts with MMM. She mainly talks about existing programs and AARP long term care insurance programs. White: "The focus has to be in building a medical home so physicians can make home visits." Barth: "The big issue is the community that you're in, having people come in to make sure you're OK. The question is how we're going to build community." Moderator almost skips Loebsack, who says he backs the Community Health Choice Act.
Medicaid allocation for home care vs. nursing home care. Whit notes that the question is circular--you shift funding by shifting funding. "The answers are simple. The reason I'm running is nothing gets done." Barth: "The way to get things done seems to be to get a rich person to think they can get richer by doing it," and pushes the VOICE act "to get the money out of politics." They;re getting meta here.
"It's a question of priorities, of generating the political will, and of building coalitions across party lines" says Loebsack. MMM: "it's a combination of both public and private efforts."
Social Security privatization. Barth: "I hesitate to do anything to risk that, esp. in the stock market. It needs to stay an entitlement." Cap should be raised. "It's a terrible idea" to privatize," says Dave L. "President Bush pushed this idea after his idea and it was roundly rejected by the American people." MMM: "Social Security funds should not be used in the general budget. That's part of the reason we have a problem now. We need to have a congress that lives within its means and not continue to rob the SS fund." White: "We need to lift the cap on the fund, and we need to up the benefits." Only 45 seconds an answer, hard to stretch out.
Will you forgo congressional benefits and live with the Medicare the rest of us do with capped benefits? "I have to answer that first" says the incumbent. "I'm open to any kind of renegotiation." MMM: "I would be happy to forgo them, I don't think I'm better than any other citizen." (This is a really demagogic question.) MMM: Caps would require more thought. White "These are simple solutions, we just need to do them." The moderator keeps skipping the fourth candidate each time. "Thank you for treating us equally," says Barth when she's skipped.
Disability employment and ADA. MMM: "We want everyone to be productive and have to think outside the box a little bit." White acknowledges that the ADA was a good bill; "we did do something in Congress." The less involvement the federal govt has in this, the better" saying it can be better handled locally.
"I'm curious about this worker shortage MMM is talking about" says Barth, saying people are hurting for jobs. Loebsack cites the ADA Restoration Act passed this Congress to upgrade and update the ADA.
Tax reform and Fair Tax. "I am a huuge flat tax supporter," says White. "No loopholes, no deductions, none of that. It's very simple." Barth: "A progressive tax system is better," responds Barth. "There should be a Peace Tax so people can say 'I don't want any of my money going to the military,'" and says there should be similar options for sicial programs.
"We have to stop tax incentives for companies going overseas," says Loebsack, who says flat of "fair" tax proposals hurt the middle class. Bush tax cuts should not be extended. "Time is money," says MMM citing tax preparation costs. "I advocate an optional flat tax and then we could go to further tax reform."
Income and class disparity. "A lot of it comes from gaming the system in the financial markets," says Barth. Credit market needs to be re-regulated. Loebsack cites the Bush tax cuts again. "We have to extend the tax cuts for lower and middle classes." Also calls for alternative minimum tax reform. "If we don't reform it it'll catch the middle class." MMM calls for more stringent education requirements and immigration in the global economy. "The first thing you do is get rid of everything in Washington including the interest groups," says White, drawing the first applause of the debate.
Renewable energy. "Wind energy has been a boon to Iowa's economy" says Loebsack. "Clearly we can do better and reduce our dependency on foreign oil." "We need to go to a more electric based economy," says MMM, dissing natural gas (take that, T. Boone!) She mentions several other methods, including nuclear. White reads a modern-sounding quote on energy independence; his punch line is that it's from the Carter era. If we're going to put all our eggs in the ethanol basket, we need to look at other crops besides corn, said Barth. "I'm running out of time, I'm just getting started." "It's not fair," Loebsack says in sympathy.
"We should have flex fuel vehicles with electric engines," says MMM; the next question kind of becomes a second go around. Strictly speaking, it's a CAFE question.)"I'm not big into government control and dates, but we have to do it now because we've been listening too long to the oil company special interests in Washington," says White. "I'm also for making the number of miles we drive by making our communities closer together and producing more of our food locally," says Barth. Loebsack voted for higher CAFE "but we've got to do more."
How would you respond to another Postville? "I am for amnesty, but we need to incorporate them into the system," says White, calling for corporate sanctions. "It takes way too long to become a citizen." Barth noted that illegals paid into the system without getting anything out of it. "We need to treat these people like people." "Agriprocessors itself was a very bad actor. We need to hold our employers accountable, and need to give them the tools to be accountable," says Loebsack. He also supported more border security. "We need to ramp up the immigration system and have a clear system of why someone can immigrate," says MMM, adding that Bush has been poor on enforcement.
The Bailout. "That was the biggest mistake you made was voting for that," says Barth looking at Loebsack. "They want us middle class taxpayers to bail them out." Again, running out of time. "Those are the two toughest votes I've had to take. The downside of not doing anything, I feared, were worse." Second bill included $4.6 billion for flood victims and wind tax credits. MMM: "The risk has been passed on globally and we're paying the price for that." White: "In ten days they threw away one third of the revenue we get in taxes. I'm disgusted. Both the Democrats and Republicans hands are dirty in this," White says getting sustained applause.
Medicare shortfall. "I fought against Pres Bush's proposal to cut physician reimbursement rates," says Loebsack, saying they got modest rate increases. MMM: "We need to see if we need to shift costs between individuals." "It's been over regulated to the point where more people can defraud the system," says White, a UIHC attorney. "When you invite third party candidates, you get a perspective you haven't heard before" says Barth, advocating single payer.
Prescription drug cost reform. "Competition is a good thing," says MMM. "I see patients on too many medications that they may not need." The donut hole makes people reassess. White blames pharmaceutical profit margins as the worst aspect of health cost, again getting applause. Barth: "We should have price controls on our drugs, that's what Canada has." "We need to fill that donut hole" says Loebsack.
Marriage penalty tax: "I'm in favor of repealing the entire tax code," offers MMM. "Marriage is a church thing and not a govt. thing," says White, who returns to drug costs. (I think White may have a front row claque but it's hard to tell) "That penalty shouldn't be there, no doubt about it," says Loebsack. "The government does not negotiate as well as individuals who are getting the benefit" says MMM returning to drugs.
War and peace issues. "It needs to be a multinational approach," says White, "I can't stand the finger pointing of who voted for what in Iraq. Put away the rhetoric and just handle our foreign affairs."
"We're not fighting a war on the adjective 'terror,' we're killing a lot of people," says Barth.
"We have to reorient our foreign policy and have more creative diplomacy" says DL citing his visits to the war. "The real enemy are in Afghanistan and the border areas of Pakistan.," saying we need to recommit to Afgh. MMM cites her own military service. "When we vote to send in troops, we have a responsibility to support those troops," says MMM, getting applause from her side of the room.
Barth says she'll blog if elected; "you deserve to know what's going on." The question is about future forums, which they all say is a good idea. There's another debate on the 21st -- just the two major parties. White says this is the first he's heard of it ans asks DL and MMM to go to bat for him and Barth. Loebsack notes his VFW endorsements. " Being for veterans is not a partisan issue," says Loebsack. "We've had record increases for the VA on a bipartisan basis." MMM says a forum for every county in the district -- which she proposed and didn't get.
Closing statements let them stretch out a bit. We need to make a sustainable, happy and healthy lifestyle," says Barth. ""I'd appreciate your vote as a vote for sustainability."
"My job is to give Iowa a voice, to fight for what's right," says Loebsack. "It is tough to fight through the gridlock, but we got some things passed into law" citing education and veterans, ad the flood relief tax package. "We know there's much more to do." Applause from the left side of room (the physical is the political, with Dems on the left side of the room. There don't seem to be a lot of uncommitted folks here, though White gets some applause from both sides of the room.)
"We don't have advocates who are there fighting for us," says MMM. "Do they follow through on their campaign commitments." "If you've only been in one place you have a very limited viewpoint. I look through a different prism." Applause on the right of the room.
White: "Congressman Loebsack started his re-election campaign right away and raised $400,000 from interest groups in three months. We need to change the system, and the only way we do that is get the parties out. I don't want to be a politician -- I want to see our politics change."
The moderator thanks everyone for watching the timekeeper. But that was the real limiting factor here. Handshakes all around.
9 Ekim 2008 Perşembe
Running Up The Score, Part 2
In Baseball and Politics, Wins Mean More Than Runs
Barack Obama's got so many electoral votes that he's got some left over for John Kerry and Al Gore. At least that's what FiveThirtyEight says, predicting a final electoral vote of 346.8 to 191.2.
That .8 must mean that Lincoln, Nebraska is splitting out its electoral votes by ward or something. (An exaggeration, but only slightly. Nebraska splits its votes by congressional district, which is why Omaha has seen both a Sarah Palin visit and a Barack Obama office grand opening in the past week.)
It looks like the Democrats will win the total electoral votes of the 2000s decade while "losing" two of the three elections. It's like the paradox of the electoral college itself; winning the blowouts doesn't make up for losing the close ones. The general election is the inverse of the Democratic nomination process, where a 60-40 split in a congressional district's vote often meant a 3-3 delegate split between Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Obama won an edge by winning more 75 to 25 percent blowouts.
Bill Mazeroski crosses the plate after his Game 7 home run in the 1960 World Series
Not so in the fall, where it's winner take all (except, as noted, in Nebraska and Maine). Since the baseball playoffs and election season coincide, I like to think of it as the 1960 World Series paradox:
1960 went down in history as one of the all-time classic World Series, capped by Bill Mazeroski's walk-off, game winning home run in Game 7. 1960 was also one of the classic, close finish elections.
The 2004 Series saw the Red Sox break their decades-long jinx and win their first World Series since 1918, but Boston's John Kerry was not so lucky. This year looks like the flip side. Chicago was knocked out in the first round of the baseball post-season, but looks set to win the World Series of politics.
Barack Obama's got so many electoral votes that he's got some left over for John Kerry and Al Gore. At least that's what FiveThirtyEight says, predicting a final electoral vote of 346.8 to 191.2.
That .8 must mean that Lincoln, Nebraska is splitting out its electoral votes by ward or something. (An exaggeration, but only slightly. Nebraska splits its votes by congressional district, which is why Omaha has seen both a Sarah Palin visit and a Barack Obama office grand opening in the past week.)
It looks like the Democrats will win the total electoral votes of the 2000s decade while "losing" two of the three elections. It's like the paradox of the electoral college itself; winning the blowouts doesn't make up for losing the close ones. The general election is the inverse of the Democratic nomination process, where a 60-40 split in a congressional district's vote often meant a 3-3 delegate split between Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Obama won an edge by winning more 75 to 25 percent blowouts.
Bill Mazeroski crosses the plate after his Game 7 home run in the 1960 World Series
Not so in the fall, where it's winner take all (except, as noted, in Nebraska and Maine). Since the baseball playoffs and election season coincide, I like to think of it as the 1960 World Series paradox:
The Yankees outscored the Pirates 55-27 in this Series, outhit them 91-60, outbatted them .338 to .256, hit 10 home runs to Pittsburgh's four (three of the latter's coming in Game 7), got two complete game shutouts from Whitey Ford--and lost, three games to four.
1960 went down in history as one of the all-time classic World Series, capped by Bill Mazeroski's walk-off, game winning home run in Game 7. 1960 was also one of the classic, close finish elections.
The 2004 Series saw the Red Sox break their decades-long jinx and win their first World Series since 1918, but Boston's John Kerry was not so lucky. This year looks like the flip side. Chicago was knocked out in the first round of the baseball post-season, but looks set to win the World Series of politics.
8 Ekim 2008 Çarşamba
Jail Forum Liveblog
Jail Forum Liveblog
"You're liveblogging THIS?" Tom Carsner asks. "Depends on if anyone says anything interesting," I reply.
"This" is a County Supervisors forum on "Feasibility Study/Needs Assessment for Comparison of Locations and Site Selection of a proposed Johnson County Justice Center." A "justice center" is a new jail, with some additional courthouse space.
This is the third time they've done this forum, but this is the first one a significant number of people have showed up at (a couple dozen civilians). The first two, in North Liberty and Coralville, were sparsely attended.
Mike Lewis, the jail consultant from the Durrant Group, is armed with photos on posterboards of four site options. Basically, they sum up as Near The Courthouse and Out In The Country.
Lewis is reviewing the details, but we're looking at two basic designs: a more vertical setup for the midtown sites and a more horizontal layout at the outlying sites.
In more detail:
RIGHT next to the current jail and courthouse. The big issue here is they would need the Federal Building parking lot, which the Post Office doesn't really want to give up.
"We've projected a need of 10 to 12 courtrooms," says Lewis. Some of those wuld be in the old courthouse, a 1901 historic landmark. This site would have 240 beds and require 16 new staff positions. Theprojected cost is $61-66 million, $700,000 cheaper than the others. BUT that cost does not include land acquisition.
Site two is a little further south, near the Administration Building and the still under construction Health and Human Services building. More vertical movement is needed, which would require five more staff that the Courthouse and the highest staff needs of the four sites. "This plan would look at abandoning, or perhaps not utilizing is a better word, the existing courthouse and jail," says Lewis. Cost would be $70-76.5 million.
The third proposal is at the old County Farm, on west Melrose Avenue. This was the proposed site in 2000, when a jail referendum lost overwhelmingly.
"In all these solutions we've planned for proper court holding areas," says Lewis. The 1901 courthouse does not have holding cells.
The price tag here is $61.9-67.7 million. Land cost is not a factor, as the county already owns the site. But the site includes the old county Poor Farm, one of the few such facilities that has been preserved. "There are some historic concerns with that," acknowledges Lewis, which is an understatement; supervisor Terrence Neuzil has said he would oppose this site, and voted (unsuccessfully) against siting a Joint Communication Center at the location.
The county Bar Association has also expressed a preference for a mid-town site, near most of the criminal law offices.
The last site is south of the Fairgrounds, with a similar layout and cost as the farm and an added $300,000 land cost. "There's an added cost with the need to transport people," said Lewis.
Carsner asks about the value of the current downtown jail site. Lewis says the estimates include renovation costs but not land value. "What would be the tradeoff between selling off the present site and putting that money into the proposed building?" asks Carsner. "Can you get more bang for the buck selling it?" "That's an excellent question and I think there will be an answer," said Lewis. Eventually he points to the $5 million price tag difference between the two downtown sites. "The number that's been thrown around is $2 to $5 million," says Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. The other consultant says the plan at the courthouse site is flexible enough to either include or exclude the old jail.
"I'm a businessman and I've got to compete with the county, the city, and the schools for land," says Dave Hemingway. "The primary thing we should look at is the value of the land we're destroying," he said, unhappy that the productivity of the land wasn't considered. "Downtown is the most expensive land in the city. We've got to cut back, we've got to do more with less. This is gold-plated, this is way more than we need."
"There's nothing we can do to change the state's jail design standards without going to the higher elected officials," said Pulkrabek. "They have the ability to close operations, which they did in Washington County." Johnson County has been shipping prisoners out of county to meet compliance.
Carol DeProsse, a leading 2000 jail opponent, asks about library facilities; Lewis said it's dealt with through a book storage room and deliver. Library director Kara Logsden says the Iowa City library and jail are working together now to get materials to inmates.
Terry Dahms asks about the specifics of inmate segregation -- women vs. men, juveniles, dangerous individuals, etc. Lewis says details that specific won't be finalized until a site is chosen and if a referendum passes. "It's not that far along yet, but it's far enough along to provide cost estimates."
Caroline Dieterle, another 2000 opponent, asks "Can you give us some idea about the increase in the overall cost of operations?" Lewis says 60 percent of the cost is staffing, and the various options need at least 16 more staff, costing over $1 million a year.
"This fiscal year we're poised to spend more than a million just on rent" for housing prisoners elsewhere, says Pulkrabek.
Bob Welsh asks how likely it is the county can get the federal lot. "I think it's possible, but it is complex," acknowledges Lewis. The University of Iowa is also expanding near the old courthouse. "Site One is the most complex in terms of land acquisition."
Dahms asks about splitting the project in order to make it "more palatable" to the taxpayer. Lewis said it is possible, but prior meetings with officials have led toward a "justice center" concept. "We have not made any decisions yet, we're just taking public comment," says board chair Rod Sullivan.
Lewis estimates design and construction time at almost three years, after a vote of approval. No vote has been scheduled. A bond issue would require a 60 percent yes vote.
Supervisors Pat Harney and Sally Stutsman have mentioned a sales tax at past meetings. That would only take a 50 percent vote, but Johnson County has voted against local option sales taxes twice and has a historic hostility on the "regressivity" issue. Johnson was one of the last two counties to approve the local option school infrastructure tax.
"You're liveblogging THIS?" Tom Carsner asks. "Depends on if anyone says anything interesting," I reply.
"This" is a County Supervisors forum on "Feasibility Study/Needs Assessment for Comparison of Locations and Site Selection of a proposed Johnson County Justice Center." A "justice center" is a new jail, with some additional courthouse space.
This is the third time they've done this forum, but this is the first one a significant number of people have showed up at (a couple dozen civilians). The first two, in North Liberty and Coralville, were sparsely attended.
Mike Lewis, the jail consultant from the Durrant Group, is armed with photos on posterboards of four site options. Basically, they sum up as Near The Courthouse and Out In The Country.
Lewis is reviewing the details, but we're looking at two basic designs: a more vertical setup for the midtown sites and a more horizontal layout at the outlying sites.
In more detail:
"We've projected a need of 10 to 12 courtrooms," says Lewis. Some of those wuld be in the old courthouse, a 1901 historic landmark. This site would have 240 beds and require 16 new staff positions. Theprojected cost is $61-66 million, $700,000 cheaper than the others. BUT that cost does not include land acquisition.
"In all these solutions we've planned for proper court holding areas," says Lewis. The 1901 courthouse does not have holding cells.
The price tag here is $61.9-67.7 million. Land cost is not a factor, as the county already owns the site. But the site includes the old county Poor Farm, one of the few such facilities that has been preserved. "There are some historic concerns with that," acknowledges Lewis, which is an understatement; supervisor Terrence Neuzil has said he would oppose this site, and voted (unsuccessfully) against siting a Joint Communication Center at the location.
The county Bar Association has also expressed a preference for a mid-town site, near most of the criminal law offices.
Carsner asks about the value of the current downtown jail site. Lewis says the estimates include renovation costs but not land value. "What would be the tradeoff between selling off the present site and putting that money into the proposed building?" asks Carsner. "Can you get more bang for the buck selling it?" "That's an excellent question and I think there will be an answer," said Lewis. Eventually he points to the $5 million price tag difference between the two downtown sites. "The number that's been thrown around is $2 to $5 million," says Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. The other consultant says the plan at the courthouse site is flexible enough to either include or exclude the old jail.
"I'm a businessman and I've got to compete with the county, the city, and the schools for land," says Dave Hemingway. "The primary thing we should look at is the value of the land we're destroying," he said, unhappy that the productivity of the land wasn't considered. "Downtown is the most expensive land in the city. We've got to cut back, we've got to do more with less. This is gold-plated, this is way more than we need."
"There's nothing we can do to change the state's jail design standards without going to the higher elected officials," said Pulkrabek. "They have the ability to close operations, which they did in Washington County." Johnson County has been shipping prisoners out of county to meet compliance.
Carol DeProsse, a leading 2000 jail opponent, asks about library facilities; Lewis said it's dealt with through a book storage room and deliver. Library director Kara Logsden says the Iowa City library and jail are working together now to get materials to inmates.
Terry Dahms asks about the specifics of inmate segregation -- women vs. men, juveniles, dangerous individuals, etc. Lewis says details that specific won't be finalized until a site is chosen and if a referendum passes. "It's not that far along yet, but it's far enough along to provide cost estimates."
Caroline Dieterle, another 2000 opponent, asks "Can you give us some idea about the increase in the overall cost of operations?" Lewis says 60 percent of the cost is staffing, and the various options need at least 16 more staff, costing over $1 million a year.
"This fiscal year we're poised to spend more than a million just on rent" for housing prisoners elsewhere, says Pulkrabek.
Bob Welsh asks how likely it is the county can get the federal lot. "I think it's possible, but it is complex," acknowledges Lewis. The University of Iowa is also expanding near the old courthouse. "Site One is the most complex in terms of land acquisition."
Dahms asks about splitting the project in order to make it "more palatable" to the taxpayer. Lewis said it is possible, but prior meetings with officials have led toward a "justice center" concept. "We have not made any decisions yet, we're just taking public comment," says board chair Rod Sullivan.
Lewis estimates design and construction time at almost three years, after a vote of approval. No vote has been scheduled. A bond issue would require a 60 percent yes vote.
Supervisors Pat Harney and Sally Stutsman have mentioned a sales tax at past meetings. That would only take a 50 percent vote, but Johnson County has voted against local option sales taxes twice and has a historic hostility on the "regressivity" issue. Johnson was one of the last two counties to approve the local option school infrastructure tax.
Loebsack, Obama Hold Coffee Bean Leads
Loebsack, Obama Hold Coffee Bean Leads
"I better vote for Barack first," said Dave Loebsack as he accepted a coffee bean from the cashier at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn.
The 2nd District congressman made the pilgrimage Tuesday to the old-fashioned diner which is a well-known stop for presidential and local politicians. His main opponent, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, made the stop in August.
The Hamburg Inn runs a "Coffee Bean Caucus," where diners vote for the candidate of their choice by dropping a coffee bean in a jar. On Tuesday, Barack Obama had two full jars. The one John McCain jar was half full for Republican optimists, or half empty for pessimists.
"It looks kind of like the Republican economy," said the usually nonpartisan Dave Panther, the Hamburg Inn's owner.
“If the vote in the bean jar is any indication, I'm going to do well," said the congressman, though as a former political science professor, he was quick to note the unscientific nature of the poll. The Loebsack jar appeared to have about three dozen beans in it, while Miller-Meeks had a total of two.
Gary Sanders of Iowa City offered a strong opinion of Loebsack's opponent. “It really pisses me off that Miller-Meeks is running this Do-Nothing Dave thing," he said of the Republican candidate's ads. "We know how much you're doing.”
Loebsack has now earned a picture on the wall in the Hamburg's Ronald Reagan booth, where the Gipper dined in 1992. The new congressman's picture is kitty corner from a portrait of his predecessor, Republican Jim Leach. "I'm proud to be next to Jim," said Loebsack, who defeated Leach two years ago. "We ran the best and most civil campaign in the country."
“I'm the same Dave Loebsack who ran two years ago,” said the congressman, whose campaign is focusing on his record during his first term. He cited the College Cost Reduction and Access Act he worked on as an Education Committee member. “It provides the largest single infusion of college funding since the GI Bill.”
“I think I'm the only person on Armed Services who doesn't have a big base in the district," Loebsack said of his other committee. "But we have a lot of veterans and active duty personnel, and on that committee I can do a lot for our veterans and our National Guard."
Loebsack greets Hy Joseph of Iowa City
Loebsack's last several months have been dominated by flood relief efforts, including a visit by President Bush to eastern Iowa. “People ask what was it like to be on Air Force One, but I would have taken President Bush around in my Ford Focus if the Secret Service had let me," said Loebsack. "But Senator Harkin and I had President Bush alone two on one for 30 to 45 minutes. He was literally a captive audience. When we got on the plane he was at $1.8 billion (for flood relief), and we got him up to $2.65 billion.”
Loebsack and Miller-Meeks meet in a candidate forum Thursday in Iowa City, along with Green candidate Wendy Barth and independent Brian White.
"I better vote for Barack first," said Dave Loebsack as he accepted a coffee bean from the cashier at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn.The 2nd District congressman made the pilgrimage Tuesday to the old-fashioned diner which is a well-known stop for presidential and local politicians. His main opponent, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, made the stop in August.
The Hamburg Inn runs a "Coffee Bean Caucus," where diners vote for the candidate of their choice by dropping a coffee bean in a jar. On Tuesday, Barack Obama had two full jars. The one John McCain jar was half full for Republican optimists, or half empty for pessimists.
"It looks kind of like the Republican economy," said the usually nonpartisan Dave Panther, the Hamburg Inn's owner.
“If the vote in the bean jar is any indication, I'm going to do well," said the congressman, though as a former political science professor, he was quick to note the unscientific nature of the poll. The Loebsack jar appeared to have about three dozen beans in it, while Miller-Meeks had a total of two.
Gary Sanders of Iowa City offered a strong opinion of Loebsack's opponent. “It really pisses me off that Miller-Meeks is running this Do-Nothing Dave thing," he said of the Republican candidate's ads. "We know how much you're doing.”
Loebsack has now earned a picture on the wall in the Hamburg's Ronald Reagan booth, where the Gipper dined in 1992. The new congressman's picture is kitty corner from a portrait of his predecessor, Republican Jim Leach. "I'm proud to be next to Jim," said Loebsack, who defeated Leach two years ago. "We ran the best and most civil campaign in the country."“I'm the same Dave Loebsack who ran two years ago,” said the congressman, whose campaign is focusing on his record during his first term. He cited the College Cost Reduction and Access Act he worked on as an Education Committee member. “It provides the largest single infusion of college funding since the GI Bill.”
Loebsack Reluctantly Backs Bailout
Dave Loebsack said his vote for the financial bailout bill was "a lot reluctant," and said the people responsible for the financial crashed should by identified and punished, perhaps even with prison.
“I couldn't agree more and we have to find out how we got into this mess and then we need to resolve the problem," Loebsack said, when asked by Maria Conzemius of Iowa City if there was bipartisan blame for the financial crisis. "We need to hold folks accountable who made these mistakes, and if we find malfeasance we ought to punish them with prison terms," he added.
But Loebsack said the bill was, ultimately, necessary. "When it didn't pass, you saw what happened in the stock market," he said of the Dow Jones drop of more than 700 points the day the first version of the bill failed in the House.
Loebsack said the second version of the bill included more provisions for individual homeowners.
“If I had my way, we would have had a quick vote on the Paulson plan and voted it down. But over the course of a week to ten days the plan improved. I was concerned that if we didn't do anything the consequences would be far worse,” Loebsack said.
Loebsack's three opponents -- Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Green Wendy Barth, and independent Brian White -- have all said they would have voted against the bailout.
"This is one of those issues where people really have to search their conscience," said Loebsack.
Dave Loebsack said his vote for the financial bailout bill was "a lot reluctant," and said the people responsible for the financial crashed should by identified and punished, perhaps even with prison.
“I couldn't agree more and we have to find out how we got into this mess and then we need to resolve the problem," Loebsack said, when asked by Maria Conzemius of Iowa City if there was bipartisan blame for the financial crisis. "We need to hold folks accountable who made these mistakes, and if we find malfeasance we ought to punish them with prison terms," he added.
But Loebsack said the bill was, ultimately, necessary. "When it didn't pass, you saw what happened in the stock market," he said of the Dow Jones drop of more than 700 points the day the first version of the bill failed in the House.
Loebsack said the second version of the bill included more provisions for individual homeowners.
“If I had my way, we would have had a quick vote on the Paulson plan and voted it down. But over the course of a week to ten days the plan improved. I was concerned that if we didn't do anything the consequences would be far worse,” Loebsack said.
Loebsack's three opponents -- Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Green Wendy Barth, and independent Brian White -- have all said they would have voted against the bailout.
"This is one of those issues where people really have to search their conscience," said Loebsack.
“I think I'm the only person on Armed Services who doesn't have a big base in the district," Loebsack said of his other committee. "But we have a lot of veterans and active duty personnel, and on that committee I can do a lot for our veterans and our National Guard."
Loebsack greets Hy Joseph of Iowa City
Loebsack's last several months have been dominated by flood relief efforts, including a visit by President Bush to eastern Iowa. “People ask what was it like to be on Air Force One, but I would have taken President Bush around in my Ford Focus if the Secret Service had let me," said Loebsack. "But Senator Harkin and I had President Bush alone two on one for 30 to 45 minutes. He was literally a captive audience. When we got on the plane he was at $1.8 billion (for flood relief), and we got him up to $2.65 billion.”
Loebsack and Miller-Meeks meet in a candidate forum Thursday in Iowa City, along with Green candidate Wendy Barth and independent Brian White.
7 Ekim 2008 Salı
Obama's Stock Keeps Rising on Iowa Electronic Markets
Obama's Stock Keeps Rising on Iowa Electronic Markets
The Dow Jones may be dropping, but one stock that keeps rising is Barack Obama on the Iowa Electronic Markets.
Tuesday morning, Obama shares on the Winner Take All market were selling at 77 cents, meaning traders give the Democratic ticket a 77 percent chance of winning. That's up 10 cents since the first presidential debate, and more than 20 cents in the last month. The Winner Take All market pays a dollar per winning share and nothing for a losing share.
On the Vote Share market, which predicts percentage of the popular vote and pays a penny a percent, Obama was selling at 54.3 cents Tuesday morning, and Republican John McCain was selling at 47.4 cents.
The University of Iowa College of Business project, in which traders use real money to measure candidates' chances, has had a strong predictive track record since it started in 1988.
The Dow Jones may be dropping, but one stock that keeps rising is Barack Obama on the Iowa Electronic Markets.
Tuesday morning, Obama shares on the Winner Take All market were selling at 77 cents, meaning traders give the Democratic ticket a 77 percent chance of winning. That's up 10 cents since the first presidential debate, and more than 20 cents in the last month. The Winner Take All market pays a dollar per winning share and nothing for a losing share.
On the Vote Share market, which predicts percentage of the popular vote and pays a penny a percent, Obama was selling at 54.3 cents Tuesday morning, and Republican John McCain was selling at 47.4 cents.
The University of Iowa College of Business project, in which traders use real money to measure candidates' chances, has had a strong predictive track record since it started in 1988.
Time to Run Up The Score
Time to Run Up The Score
I don't want to jinx anything with a debate tonight. And I'll grant that my location in the dark heart of the People's Republic of Johnson County skews my perceptions.
But I think we'll look back on this election and see the middle of September as the turning point.
The economic crisis put the ball on Obama's end of the field to stay, as McCain double-fumbled; first with the "fundamentals of the economy are sound" (no one really believed he meant "American workers" by that) and then with the "suspended campaign" play that failed.
Not to give too much credit to one comedian, but Tina Fey's dead-on take on Sarah Palin has locked in her image indelibly to everyone except the core Republican vote. There was no "You're no Jack Kennedy" moment in her debate, but Fey provided the one liners that Joe Biden didn't need to: "I can see Russia from my house" and "I'd like to phone a friend."
The other important comedian is David Letterman. McCain's visit on the show was just about the only campaign event that was "suspended," and Letterman had been exacting his revenge every night.
When you become the punchline to the jokes, the game's over.
Perhaps most importantly, people watched Obama in the debate and did NOT see the Jeremiah Wright caricature which the attack ads had painted. He passed the plausible president test for the people who had doubts.
In the subsequent three weeks, the GOP has panicked and retreated to what it know best: attack mode. But, and these may be cliches, but McCain is using the exact same attacks that failed for Hillary Clinton in the primary, and he conceded his strongest argument, experience, with the Palin pick.
From here on out this is about running up the score. It's about coattails. It's about the 58th and 59th and 60th Democratic Senators -- and, we hope, the 61st so we can finally consign Joe Lieberman to his own caucus of one. Georgia is in play, and in North Carolina Elizabeth Dole is a goner.
It's about House races on the bubble, like Judy Baker in Missouri 9 and Becky Greenwald in Iowa 4 and dozens -- yes, dozens -- of others. It retrospect, it almost seems like the Republicans saw this collapse coming, and the Palin pick was designed to hold the GOP base vote at x, rather than x minus y (y being a Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin or Stay At Home protest vote) to hold a few seats.
It's about making this a realigning year that finally kills off the Nixon-Reagan era Republican Southern Strategy and consigns the GOP to a Flags, Fags and Fetuses base from which recovery is impossible and reinvention is necessary. The Republicans won the battles of the 80s and 90s by pulling Democrats to the right and making us fight on their turf, and a big 2008 win followed by a 2012 landslide over a Palin or a Huckabee can do the same. I'd rather spend the 2010s battling a libertarian Republican Party than a theocratic Republican Party.
I don't want to jinx anything with a debate tonight. And I'll grant that my location in the dark heart of the People's Republic of Johnson County skews my perceptions.
But I think we'll look back on this election and see the middle of September as the turning point.
The other important comedian is David Letterman. McCain's visit on the show was just about the only campaign event that was "suspended," and Letterman had been exacting his revenge every night.
When you become the punchline to the jokes, the game's over.
In the subsequent three weeks, the GOP has panicked and retreated to what it know best: attack mode. But, and these may be cliches, but McCain is using the exact same attacks that failed for Hillary Clinton in the primary, and he conceded his strongest argument, experience, with the Palin pick.
From here on out this is about running up the score. It's about coattails. It's about the 58th and 59th and 60th Democratic Senators -- and, we hope, the 61st so we can finally consign Joe Lieberman to his own caucus of one. Georgia is in play, and in North Carolina Elizabeth Dole is a goner.
It's about House races on the bubble, like Judy Baker in Missouri 9 and Becky Greenwald in Iowa 4 and dozens -- yes, dozens -- of others. It retrospect, it almost seems like the Republicans saw this collapse coming, and the Palin pick was designed to hold the GOP base vote at x, rather than x minus y (y being a Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin or Stay At Home protest vote) to hold a few seats.
It's about making this a realigning year that finally kills off the Nixon-Reagan era Republican Southern Strategy and consigns the GOP to a Flags, Fags and Fetuses base from which recovery is impossible and reinvention is necessary. The Republicans won the battles of the 80s and 90s by pulling Democrats to the right and making us fight on their turf, and a big 2008 win followed by a 2012 landslide over a Palin or a Huckabee can do the same. I'd rather spend the 2010s battling a libertarian Republican Party than a theocratic Republican Party.
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