Caffeinated Thoughts |
- The Iowa Personhood Bill (HF 153) Is Dead or Is It?
- The Untold Story of State Government
- Michele Bachmann Exposes Legislative Fraud in Obamacare
| The Iowa Personhood Bill (HF 153) Is Dead or Is It? Posted: 04 Mar 2011 10:00 AM PST Two conflicting reports on the status of HF 153 authored by State Representative Kim Pearson (R-Pleasant Hill). It passed out of its subcommittee, but hasn't moved out of the House Human Resources Committee. Jennifer Jacobs at The Des Moines Register declared it dead since it didn't make it out during funnel week. However, Pearson and other prolife legislators said that it will move forward next week in a different form. It will likely go the same road as HF 5, the late term abortion ban which Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) moved to the Government Oversight Committee which is funnel proof. The rumors of HF 153's death seem to be greatly exaggerated. I've said before that I would like HF 5 to be codified along with HF 153. We'll see where they both go from here even if they pass the House since it seems like the Iowa Senate doesn't want to debate or vote on anything this year. Share and Enjoy:                 |
| The Untold Story of State Government Posted: 04 Mar 2011 09:00 AM PST
Are you aware of the untold story of state government? We often hear of the actions of the governor and legislative branch – as they are responsible for crafting our laws and are directly beholden to the voters every few years. But there is a whole lot more to the story about our state government. It is about more than just one governor, 50 senators or 100 representatives. It is about the undue influence that is being exerted on our state's direction by unelected government union bosses and activist administrative bureaucrats. It is this untold story that is leaving Iowans increasingly frustrated. Iowans are already keenly aware of the significant ramifications of the decisions made by our Supreme Court, but sometimes the decisions made by administrative bureaucrats and government union bosses can have just as big of an impact. As Senate Republicans have traveled the state hearing from Iowans on our "Re-Open Iowa for Business" rules and regulations tour and have listened to our constituents back home, one common theme has emerged: too many decisions are being made by those who have no accountability to the people that must abide by their directives. For the past several years, employers – both small and large, entrepreneurs, farmers, city administrators and taxpayers have increasingly become subjected to overly burdensome rules and regulations that have been promulgated by activist government bureaucrats who are not directly beholden to the people who pay their salaries and benefits: the taxpayers of Iowa. Oftentimes, these rules and regulations are put in place by activist political appointees. During the last 12 years, many of these activists have imposed rules that are at odds with the intent of the legislation. This has caused onerous and burdensome barriers that are squelching job creation and fostering an uncompetitive economic environment. As a result, two-thirds of our counties lost population in the last decade, 222 factories closed their doors in 2009 alone and we are near the bottom in friendliness to job creators according to US News & World Report and the Small Business Survival Index. While Senate Republicans are beginning to work to reverse this damaging trend and bring about a cultural change in these state agencies, the same problems also apparent with our immensely powerful government unions. Year after year, our government unions continue to demand healthy increases in pay and lucrative benefit packages for government employees even as private sector employees continue to face layoffs, hour and benefit reductions and salary freezes or cuts. In fact, the Des Moines Sunday Register, just days ago, ran a front page story on the fact that real wages for Iowans are actually on the decline. As one of his last acts in office, Governor Culver accepted a union boss negotiated contract that added hundreds of millions in new salary increases and benefits that become added costs to state government – thus further exacerbating the fiscal hole he and his legislative allies dug for the state and its taxpayers during the last four years. But it is not just Iowa where balance needs to be restored in public and private employment and our collective bargaining system – many other states like Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and New Jersey are beginning to take steps to correct the inequities, give more power back to the elected officials (and away from the unelected union bosses), and therefore put the state back on a fiscal path that is more sustainable for the long term. As Governor Branstad and the Legislature works to finish the budget in the coming weeks and debate important policy changes, keep in mind that it is not just your elected officials that are making decisions that have significant impact – it is the unelected and often unaccountable that are just as responsible. In the weeks and months ahead, Senate Republicans look forward to telling this often untold story of state government. We believe it is a story that every Iowan needs to hear and understand. State Senator Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) is the Iowa Senate Minority Leader Share and Enjoy: |
| Michele Bachmann Exposes Legislative Fraud in Obamacare Posted: 04 Mar 2011 08:00 AM PST
"This is a case of legislative fraud of the highest order. We now know that the ObamaCare bill contained advanced appropriations for use in implementing this massive government takeover of health care. This year alone, the provisions are already in place to spend $5 billion on ObamaCare, and another $100 billion will be spent over the next eight years, even without any appropriating actions by Congress. "More and more we are seeing what Nancy Pelosi meant when she said the bill would have to be passed in order for the American people to find out what was in it. The Obama Administration has already added about 6,000 pages of regulations to ObamaCare, and this funding shows a clear intent to circumvent the appropriations process and make it much more difficult for future Congresses to repeal ObamaCare. When it was passed, Democrats knew they would lose the gavel. But this funding ensures they will not lose their prized government takeover of health care because it's already well-funded. "With this information, I am vowing to vote 'no' on future Continuing Resolutions to fund the government unless there is specific language included to defund ObamaCare and rescind the funding that has already been appropriated. Defunding ObamaCare, along with defunding Planned Parenthood, must be non-negotiable planks in our budget negotiations. "I also want to offer a public word of gratitude to former Representative Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, who worked hard to uncover this startling new information about how ObamaCare's sponsors included several years' worth of current and future appropriations for the health care takeover." For more background click here. Share and Enjoy: |
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