Vander Plaats Opposes Culver, Legislative Attempts to Expand Gambling; “We Don’t Need to Increase State Budget’s Addiction”

BURLINGTON, Iowa – Gov. Chet Culver’s call today for the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to approve casino licenses for four more communities is fueled by “his desperation to win another term and his own compulsion to grow state government,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats said today.

Speaking at a campaign stop in this southeastern Iowa community, Vander Plaats also criticized legislative efforts to make Iowa the first state in the nation to legalize in-state internet gambling.

“Taking more money from people hooked on gambling by our state officials isn’t leadership, it’s just plain irresponsible. We don’t need to increase the number of individuals or communities dependent on gambling and we sure don’t need to increase the state budget’s addiction to it, either,” he said. “These moves to allow internet gambling and open casinos in four more places are just two more steps along the path that Terry Branstad set us on in the 1980s when he joined with Democratic legislators to create the state lottery, open casinos and destroy the lives of many Iowans for the sake of generating more revenue for state government to spend.”

Vander Plaats added, “As governor, I would do many things in office different than Chet Culver does. I guarantee you one of them is that I would not go to the Racing and Gaming Commission and beg them to open four more casinos. Our communities need innovative companies that create income for Iowans instead of places that are going to take money from people’s pockets. Chet Culver said today that more gambling is economic development. That just proves again that we need a governor who can really open Iowa for business instead of doing what the past three governors have done, which is invite more and more gambling.”

Vander Plaats cited projections that legalized in-state internet gambling would bring in $11.5 million to the state.

“Are our state officials really so desperate for money and short-sighted that they couldn’t find $11.5 million in savings in a $6 billion annual budget? This is the problem we face with Chet Culver and some legislators. They think the answer is to take more money from Iowans. I think the answer is to cut state spending,” he said. “One way to do it is to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘No more new gambling licenses.’ That’s what I’ll do as governor.”

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Miller-Meeks Calls Out Loebsack on his Lack of Fiscal Responsibility: “He’s Changing His Story Almost as Fast as He’s Spending Our Tax Dollars”

OTTUMWA, Iowa – In a news release Wednesday, Democrat Congressman Dave Loebsack “urged fiscal responsibility and honest budgeting” and “encouraged steps towards reigning in spending, reducing the deficit and addressing long term fiscal health.” Interestingly, Loebsack has been a rubber-stamp for much of the runaway spending in Congress he now denounces, voting for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda over 97 percent of the time and putting America on a path that will triple our national debt over the next 10 years.

“Dave Loebsack is changing his story faster than he’s spending our money in Washington. It’s clear that he’s getting pressure from working families across eastern Iowa who are sick and tired of the new spending, massive debt and looming tax increases that he voted for, in lock-step with Nancy Pelosi,” said Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican candidate for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District.

In a little over a year, Loebsack has voted in favor of big-spending policies in Washington, a few of which are listed below, and now wants Iowa taxpayers to believe he is on their side:

• Wall Street Bank Bailout $700,000,000,000.00 Yes
• Raise the National Debt $1,900,000,000,000.00 Yes
• Government-Run Health Care $1,200,000,000,000.00 Yes
• 2010 Budget that Raises Spending by Over 40% $3,600,000,000,000.00 Yes
• Auto Company Bailout $14,000,000,000.00 Yes
• Dec. 2009 Omnibus $447,000,000,000.00 Yes
• Pork-Filled Feb. 2009 Omnibus $400,000,000,000.00 Yes

Miller-Meeks said, “We need a fresh new voice in Congress who will stand up for taxpayers and put an end to the big-government agenda going on now in Washington. I want to be that common-sense voice and put my decades of experience as a small business owner, medical professional, Army veteran and community volunteer, to work for us in Congress.”

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Miller-Meeks: Rangel Move Spares Loebsack from Ethics Vote; “Doesn’t Change Past Support for Business-as-Usual Politics, Ethically Challenged Pal”

OTTUMWA, Iowa – New York Democrat Charles Rangel’s decision to temporarily step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee today has “saved Rep. David Loebsack from another embarrassing vote in support of an ethically challenged, old-style politician,” Republican congressional candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks said today.

Loebsack, a Mount Vernon Democrat who was elected in 2006 by bemoaning the “culture of corruption” in Washington, D.C., voted in 2008 to block an ethics investigation of Rangel and accepted a $5,000 contribution from Rangel. That investigation centered on several charges against Rangel, including allegations that he failed to pay taxes on income from a Caribbean villa he owns and using his House stationery to solicit contributions to a City University of New York school to be named in his honor.

Rangel, who later claimed he didn’t understand federal tax laws, has served 20 terms in Congress and chairs the committee that writes federal tax laws. This latest ethics investigation involves Rangel’s acceptance of corporation-paid trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008. Rangel said he didn’t know corporations were paying for his travel.

“Charles Rangel says he’s temporarily stepping aside as Ways and Means chair because he doesn’t want to endanger the re-election chances of his fellow Democrats. That’s what Washington has come to – not that he’s going to permanently step aside because it’s the right thing to do but that he’s going to temporarily step aside so his pals get re-elected,” Miller-Meeks said. “The truth is that Nancy Pelosi pressured Rangel to step aside so vulnerable Democrats weren’t forced into the position of voting to support him. One of those Democrats is David Loebsack, who is already on record as supporting Rangel in 2008. David Loebsack is breathing a sigh of relief today because he knows Iowans want the mess in Washington cleaned up – and all he’s done is contribute to the problem with his get-along, go-along mentality.”

In 2006, Loebsack said he was “committed to genuine reforms that protect our rights and ensure that elected officials act appropriately. So long as Washington continues with politics as usual, few of the changes we as a nation need to move us forward are likely to occur.”

Miller-Meeks said today, “As long as we’re reflecting on past comments, let me repeat what I said about David Loebsack on Sept. 17, 2008: ‘His words in 2006 were correct. Unfortunately, his actions have never measured up and that’s why David Loebsack needs to go. I’ll bring about the real change we need to move us forward.’ Those words are truer in 2010 than they were two years ago. It’s time we replace David Loebsack.”

Miller-Meeks, whose criticism of Loebsack in 2008 forced him to donate Rangel’s $5,000 to charity, announced her candidacy for Congress in December and was the 2008 Republican nominee in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Growing up poor, she worked her way through college, became an Army nurse and soon after graduated medical school. Miller-Meeks is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a former president of the Iowa Medical Society. She owned and operated a small business – an ophthalmology practice – up until last year when she gave it up to run full-time for Congress. Miller-Meeks and her family live in Ottumwa.

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Vander Plaats Nomination Papers Filed, Accepted for June 8 Republican Primary

DES MOINES – State Rep. Jodi Tymeson, state chair of Bob Vander Plaats’ gubernatorial campaign, filed nomination papers with the Iowa Secretary of State’s office this morning to place the Sioux City businessman’s name on the ballot for the June 8 Republican primary election. Late today, an elections official said the petitions had been accepted for certification.

Today is the first day that candidates may submit nomination petitions to put their names on the ballot. Vander Plaats’ petitions included 4,766 signatures and 28 qualified counties. Gubernatorial candidates are required to receive signatures equal to 1 percent of their party’s vote total in the 2008 presidential election in at least 10 counties and 0.5 percent of their party’s statewide vote. Republican gubernatorial candidates must submit at least 3,412 signatures to secure a place on the ballot.

Vander Plaats, who has campaign appearances in Denison and Creston today, said in a prepared statement that Gov. Chet Culver’s mismanagement of the state budget and a string of other failures has “convinced Iowans to replace the first-term Democrat with a conservative Republican with a focused, aggressive agenda to open Iowa for business, create more quality private-sector jobs, make government more efficient and effective, reduce property taxes and create a culture of innovation and results in our public schools.”

He noted that many candidates submit their nomination petitions on the final possible day, which is March 19 this year.

“As I noted last week in challenging Terry Branstad and Rod Roberts to a series of debates, the outcome of a Republican primary has never been more important than it is this year. Republicans need a nominee who will step up and meet the challenges facing us. We chose to submit our petitions on the first eligible day so Iowans see I’m committed to this process and ready to lead,” Vander Plaats said. “I’m determined to be the nominee who leads a united Republican Party to victory in November.

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Vander Plaats Challenges Branstad, Roberts to Series of Debates About Iowa’s Future

DES MOINES – Saying Iowa Republicans deserve to see how their gubernatorial candidates compare face-to-face on the issues that will shape the state’s future, Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats today challenged former Gov. Terry Branstad and state Rep. Rod Roberts to a series of debates across the state before the June 8 primary.

“Chet Culver has brought Iowans together on one point: We need a new governor capable of leading us forward instead of dragging this state down. The outcome of a Republican primary has never been more important than it is this year. Republicans need a nominee who will step up and meet the challenges facing us,” Vander Plaats said. “I appreciate the opportunities Rod Roberts and I have had to meet in various settings and exchange ideas. Terry Branstad has been in this race quite a while now and it’s time for him to step up, join me on the same stage at the same time, and talk about the issues.”

Vander Plaats continued, “A number of people in the media are reporting this race as if Terry Branstad has won and is our party’s nominee. But he hasn’t won, he isn’t our nominee and that vocal minority in the media doesn’t get to make the decision; Republican voters do. As candidates, we have a responsibility to let GOP voters size us up side-by-side to see for themselves who has the energy, the new ideas and the focus on the future to lead us forward. I’m prepared to talk about how to open Iowa for business, fix our broken tax system, cut state spending and create a culture of innovation and results in our public schools.”

In a letter to Branstad, Vander Plaats proposed debates in Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and another city agreed upon by the candidates.

“I welcome a format in which we discuss an economic strategy to improve Iowa’s business climate and create more jobs, effectively reform our tax and regulatory structures, streamline and instill a standard of excellence in our state government, create a world-class education system, and address other important issues including the separation of powers. I recognize that you have issues that you wish to highlight and would be happy to do so, too,” Vander Plaats wrote. “As you and your staff know, many county GOP organizations and other groups all across Iowa have organized – or have an interest in organizing – forums for the three of us to discuss our positions and principles. I encourage you to join in as many of these events as possible through June 8.”

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Rasmussen Poll: Vander Plaats Lead Over Culver Grows, Branstad Lead Shrinks

DES MOINES – Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats leads Gov. Chet Culver by six points in the latest Rasmussen Poll, which is an increase of 3 percent from an Iowa Poll published earlier this month.

Vander Plaats leads Culver 46 percent to 40 percent among a survey of 500 likely voters contacted by the Washington, D.C., polling firm on Thursday. He led Culver 43-40 percent in the Iowa Poll. Meanwhile, Terry Branstad’s lead over Culver in the Rasmussen Poll is 53 percent to 37 percent, down from the 53-33 percent margin in the Iowa Poll.

Only 41 percent of Iowans approve of Culver’s job performance while 57 percent disapprove, according to the Rasmussen Poll.

Vander Plaats, a Sioux City businessman, said the latest poll continues to dispel claims by Branstad’s campaign that the former governor is the only candidate who can defeat Culver.

“The Republican primary is going to come down to the wire and I believe we’re going to prevail because voters want the clearest possible contrast between our nominee and Chet Culver. They want an energetic leader for the future – and that’s what our campaign represents,” Vander Plaats said. “What the Rasmussen Poll says to anyone who has been told that they have to nominate Terry Branstad if we’re going to beat Chet Culver is that that’s just not true. We can move the Republican Party forward in June and defeat Chet Culver in November – and that’s just what I’m going to do.”

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Miller-Meeks: Loebsack Claims Bipartisan Mantle but Recorded Votes Prove Otherwise as He Sides with Pelosi 97 Percent of the Time

OTTUMWA – Rep. David Loebsack’s claims that he favors more bipartisanship to tackle the nation’s problems is “one more example of a politician telling us one thing and then doing something else in Washington because he’s voted with liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi over 97 percent,” Republican congressional candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks said today.

In an article in Thursday’s Burlington Hawk Eye, Loebsack said “he couldn’t agree more” that there needs to be more bipartisanship in Washington, and he “already reaches across party lines.”

“I’m in full agreement that we need to reduce the partisanship in Washington to start getting results for Iowa, chief among them creating more jobs. But Congressman Loebsack is part of the problem in Washington, siding with tax-and-spend liberal Nancy Pelosi 97.3 percent of the time he’s casting a vote and he’s just wrong. He’s saying one thing to Iowa residents, but doing something completely different in Washington,” Miller-Meeks said. “If he paid more attention to us here in Iowa, he’d know that we don’t want bigger government, we don’t want massive new debt, we don’t want more spending, and we don’t want a government take-over of health care. David Loebsack voted with Nancy Pelosi for all of it, and there’s not a hint of bi-partisanship in that.”

Miller-Meeks, an Ottumwa ophthalmologist, noted that Loebsack claims to now support common-sense measures like opening up insurance markets across state lines to reduce costs to patients and providers; however, when Dr. Miller-Meeks asked him that question at last summer’s town hall meeting in Burlington, he claimed states’ rights precluded such action.

“If he is truly sincere about claiming a bipartisan mantle, one easy thing Loebsack could do is demand Speaker Pelosi stop blocking Republican legislation from the floor for an up-or-down vote, and allow Republicans to have a seat at the table for important reforms like health care,” added Dr. Miller-Meeks, who will bring her health care expertise to Washington where it is desperately needed. “As the next member of Congress from the Second District, I would always put the taxpayers of this district before any party leader in Washington. It’s clear the taxpayers of Iowa are not Mr. Loebsack’s priorities.”

Miller-Meeks announced her candidacy for Congress in December and was the 2008 Republican nominee in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Growing up poor, she worked her way through college, became an Army nurse and soon after graduated medical school. Miller-Meeks is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a former president of the Iowa Medical Society. She owned and operated a small business – an ophthalmology practice – up until last year when she gave it up to run full-time for Congress. Miller-Meeks and her family live in Ottumwa.

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Funk: Gibbons Should Explain Where Constitutional Authority Exists for Feds to “be in Charge of Education”

ALTOONA – David Funk, a Republican candidate for Congress in Iowa’s Third District, today called on one of his primary opponents to clarify comments stating the federal government has the constitutional authority to control local schools.

In an interview with the political blog Caffeinated Thoughts, Jim Gibbons of Perry said, “It’s fine for me where the Constitution says that the federal government should be in charge of education. Now, I understand testing, benchmarks and standards. But, a lot of that can be accomplished at the state Ievel. … It appears we’ve got some sort of a brain drain going on but those things mostly have to be attacked at the state level and at the local level. Bigger is not necessarily better.”

Funk, a retired military and Northwest Airlines pilot, said he would “like to know what constitution Jim Gibbons is looking at when he says that.”

“Not only is he wrong about the U.S. Constitution, but he’s drastically out of step with Republicans and, for that matter, most Iowans about the federal role in education. We’ve long recognized that local districts should control education. States have a legitimate role in the process, but the federal government has clearly overstepped its bounds by trying to dictate standards from Washington, D.C.,” Funk said. “It’s troubling that we have a candidate in this primary who is more aligned with the education philosophy of Leonard Boswell and Nancy Pelosi than with common-sense Iowans.”

Funk expressed concerned that Gibbons’ comments reflect “a sense of confusion” about the issue. Funk said his core philosophy on education is clear.
“The federal government has no business sticking its nose in the local classroom – and we don’t need anyone in Congress who thinks it has the authority to do so. This issue is managed best at the local level by local school boards. School choice and home schooling should be available to all of our citizens. With the reintroduction of competition, we can fix our broken public school system,” he said.

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On One-Year Anniversary of Failed “Stimulus,” Miller-Meeks Says Loebsack and Pelosi Failed Southeast Iowa

OTTUMWA, Iowa – One year after the passage of a $787-billion economic stimulus package that was supposed to hold unemployment around 8 percent, Americans “are the ones stuck paying for the mistakes of Rep. David Loebsack and the rest of Nancy Pelosi’s big-government, anti-individual-freedom allies,” Republican congressional candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks said tonight.

“Unemployment is hovering around 10 percent, average Americans are saddled with massive new debt and the economic climate is nowhere near as bright as it should be. Congressional Democrats should have approved significant tax cuts for the people who create jobs to turn the economy around,” Miller-Meeks said. “Instead, more and more southeast Iowans are being added to unemployment rolls and small businesses continue to fail as Dave Loebsack and other congressional Democrats have driven us deeper into debt.”

She added, “I don’t know what would be worse, the fact that he voted for the 1,000-page ‘stimulus’ bill without ever reading it or that he would have supported it no matter what was in it because that’s what Nancy Pelosi told him to do. Either way, we have nothing to show for this stimulus package other than a worsened job climate and massive new debt for us, our children and grandchildren to pay off. America deserves better.”

Miller-Meeks noted that Loebsack “didn’t stop there in heaping mountains of debt on Iowa families.”

“David Loebsack also voted earlier this month to raise the national debt ceiling by $1.9 trillion to its highest level ever, after backing job-killing cap-and-trade legislation and a government take-over of health care that will increase costs and decrease the quality of patient care.”

The stimulus bill alone strapped taxpayers and families with payments of nearly $100 million per day over the next 10 years just to pay off the interest on the debt being financed by foreign governments like communist China.

“As a member of Congress, I give you my word I would work every day to cut our bloated government with a balanced budget amendment, pay down our debt and reduce taxes on job creators to get our southeast Iowa economy moving again. I’ll stop Washington bureaucrats from dictating health care to southeast Iowa patients and move forward in developing patient and family centered health care reforms that will increase affordability and protect quality of care,” added Miller-Meeks. “The bottom-line: we must create jobs, cut spending and reduce taxes to get our economy moving again here at home.”

Miller-Meeks announced her candidacy for Congress in December and was the 2008 Republican nominee in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. Growing up poor, she worked her way through college, became an Army nurse and soon after graduated medical school. Miller-Meeks is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a former president of the Iowa Medical Society. She owned and operated a small business – an ophthalmology practice – up until last year when she gave it up to run full-time for Congress. Miller-Meeks and her family live in Ottumwa.

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Vander Plaats: Culver Should Promise to Veto any Assault on Iowa’s Right-to-Work Law

BELMOND – Gov. Chet Culver owes it to Iowa companies, their employees and local economic development groups to say definitively that he will veto any legislation that weakens the state’s right-to-work law, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats said today.

After Culver signed an order on Wednesday requiring state agencies to consider expensive project labor agreements that favor union contractors and workers over their non-union counterparts, he gave a vague answer when asked by reporters if he would attempt to repeal Iowa’s right-to-work law that protects employees from being forced to join unions or pay union dues. “I don’t believe we are going to do that,” Culver said.

“His attempt last year to assault our right-to-work law had a chilling effect on economic development. Unfortunately, he doesn’t understand what Iowa’s employers or workers need any more this year than he did last year,” Vander Plaats said. “No one should interpret Chet Culver’s comments yesterday as an iron-clad promise to protect the 85 percent of companies and workers who are non-union. I call on him to state clearly and unequivocally that he will veto any legislation that weakens our right-to-work law in even the slightest way.”

Vander Plaats said he will “proudly, consistently and constantly market Iowa as a right-to-work state as governor.”

“I owe that not only to the vast majority of Iowans but especially to the more than 110,000 of our fellow citizens who are out of work and need a governor who create a tax and regulatory structure that will really open Iowa for business,” he said.

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