Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news">
Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports
and information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns
and issues
IOWA
DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
Monday,
July 21, 2003
Among the offerings in this morning’s update:
Gephardt names GWB as “worst president” he’s
served with, says he’s “becoming nostalgic
even for Reagan…I might even be nostalgic
for Nixon.”
Must read --
In Quad-City Times, Dorman offers up
comprehensive mid-term report on the Runnin’
Wannabes. Gephardt, Kerry and Dean top
the Iowa field, Edwards showing “signs of
life,” Lieberman and Graham yet to establish
a political base, and Kucinich showing
indications of “some traction.”
In New Hampshire Sunday News, columnist
Roger Simon reluctantly gives Lieberman
“my Dumb and Dumber Award for pulling off
two boneheaded plays in a single month.”
Cheney, during planned four-hour visit, aims
to bolster campaign coffers with Omaha visit
today
Graham hits a weekend double in Des Moines,
gets coverage on alleged Cheney Iraq
intelligence involvement and economic plan
New Mexico, scheduled to be part of
five-state 2/03/04 showdown, votes to move
from June primary to an earlier caucus.
DNC approval still required, but NM expected
to join Arizona, South Carolina, Oklahoma
and Delaware as second-round states
Q-C Times says Kerry – whose sister was
laid off last week from her middle-school
teaching job -- told eastern IA audience
Bush responsible for “plight of working
people,” but Kerry needs to get new stump
speech. He bores audience by saying for
millionth time – or is it the two millionth
time? -- GWB is the “one person” who
deserves to be laid off
New Hampshire report: Gephardt
campaign working to counter “whispering”
from Lieberman camp that the MO
congressman is in “serious trouble” after
missing on fundraising goal
Washington Times: White House kicking off
high-profile grassroots campaign to promote
economic policies, child tax-credit refund
checks
State – Quad-City Times column, commenting
on municipal cutbacks and political
buck-passing, says “if City Hall politicians
are smart” they’ll make budget reductions a
central issue in legislative campaigns next
year
Iowaism: In Davenport, be like Bix.
For $2,500, toot his horn – or a classic
replica All
these stories below and more.
New Cartoons:
Poor Joe
Smokin' Joe
Lieberman Dumb2x
Morning reports:
… Reports of extensive storm damage,
electrical outages dominated newscasts across
the state this morning. Tornado warnings were
issued last night from Woodbury County (Sioux
City) in western IA to Jones County (Anamosa)
and Linn County (Cedar Rapids) in
eastern Iowa. The Omaha World-Herald reports
the storm left damage along a 25-mile long
stretch west of Sioux City. Radio Iowa
reported that a tornado was sighted near
Moville and “several people” were injured
when lightening hit a barn near Danbury
in northwest Iowa. Two tornadoes reported in
Linn County, including one over downtown
Cedar Rapids, as 30,000 in the area were
without electricity for a time
…WHO-TV (Des Moines) reports this
morning that a “mentally challenged”
21-year-old Ankeny woman has been found
after a seven-hour overnight search. The
search centered on the area between Ankeny
and the Saylorville Lake.
Editor’s Note:
The first and foremost commitment of Iowa
Pres Watch is to provide as much information
about the respective wannabes as possible –
usually more than other political websites –
and that will continue to be the primary
mission. Today, however, the format is
somewhat different because of a couple
lengthy reports that should be of special
interest to wannabe watchers – especially
Todd Dorman’s most comprehensive mid-summer
analysis of the current Iowa situation, the
column on Lieberman’s “boneheaded” campaign
missteps and Gephardt’s statement that GWB
is the “worst president” he’s encountered
during a quarter century in DC.
… “Gephardt calls Bush ‘worst President’”
– headline from yesterday’s New Hampshire
Sunday News. Gephardt says he’s “nostalgic”
for Reagan – and possibly Nixon – over GWB.
Excerpts from report from Durham by the
Sunday News’ Riley Yates: “Presidential
hopeful Richard A. Gephardt yesterday blasted
President Bush on issues ranging from health
care to his State of the Union Address,
calling Bush the ‘worst President’ he has
served with since being elected to Congress in
1976. Standing in a home crowded with
about 60 Democratic activists, the former
House leader from Missouri highlighted a
recent Zogby poll that showed Bush’s
popularity has declined to its lowest since
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Gephardt
said the results show what he’s been saying
all along: Bush’s policies hurt the average
American. ‘George [W.] Bush is the worst
President I’ve served with,’ Gephardt said,
‘and I’ve served with five. I’m becoming
nostalgic even for Reagan…I might even be
nostalgic for Nixon.’ Mostly Gephardt’s
criticism came on the economic front, where he
stressed jobs and health care. But his
comments on the later retraction of a
statement Bush made in his 2003 State of the
Union Address brought the most rise from those
gathered. While saying he believed there
was much evidence that former Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein was trying to develop weapons
of mass destruction, Gephardt called for an
independent investigation into how the claim
Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa got into
the speech. But regardless, Gephardt
said, in the end the President, not the
director of the CIA, must take the blame for
what he said. ‘That wasn’t George Tenet’s
speech; that was his,’ Gephardt
said. On foreign policy, Gephardt said
the nation needs to build coalitions, not go
at it alone. Although a key architect of the
resolution giving the President the power to
invade Iraq, Gephardt said he warned
Bush it must be done with wide international
support. ‘Remember in your report card in
grade school where it says plays well with
others,’ Gephardt said. ‘He got an
‘F.’”
… While most Americans – including
Democrats – are still trying to learn the
names of the wannabes, it’s times for a
mid-summary roundup in Iowa. Agree or
disagree, the bottom line is that all the
wannabes are in a battle while even Kucinich
gets “some traction” in the first caucus
state. Headline from Todd Dorman’s report
in yesterday’s Quad-City Times: “Caucus
nears as Democratic field jockeys”
Excerpts from Dorman’s analysis: “Although
presidential politicking is already blanketing
Iowa like summertime humidity, veteran
activists say a large block of Democrats have
yet to pick their candidate with six months to
go before the state’s crucial, first-in-the
nation caucuses. Those politics-watchers
say a pack of three hopefuls currently
leads the race: U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt of
Missouri, U.S. Sen. John Kerry of
Massachusetts and former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean. But they also contend that a large
pool of undecided Democrats leaves a window
of opportunity open for others, including U.S.
Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, U.S. Sen.
Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and U.S. Sen.
Bob Graham of Florida. U.S. Rep. Dennis
Kucinich of Ohio is beefing up his Iowa
efforts, while former U.S. Sen. Carol
Moseley Braun of Illinois and the Rev. Al
Sharpton of New York have yet to make
much of a splash. Iowa’s precinct caucuses are
scheduled Jan. 19. ‘This is very placid water
that has yet to start churning,’ said Dave
Nagle, a former Democratic congressman from
Waterloo. ‘And you don’t know when it
starts churning where the current’s gonna go.’
Dean, who has surged into contention
after once being regarded as a long shot,
agrees that the race remains fluid. ‘We’re
hot. And there will be a time when we’re not
hot, probably,’ he said during the Friday
taping of Iowa Public Television’s ‘Iowa
Press’ program. The campaign pace is
expected to intensify in the coming weeks. Two
key labor groups, the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, or
AFSCME, and the Iowa Federation of Labor, each
will hold state conventions expected to draw
multiple candidates. The Iowa State Fair’s
rustic charms and farm state photo-ops are
sure to draw several hopefuls. Dean plans to
pedal along part of RAGBRAI, the annual
bicycle ride across the state that [began
Sunday] in western Iowa. Graham is
expected to lead an RV caravan while the
Edwards clan is rolling in by bus during
August…All of the Democrats interviewed say
Gephardt remains the candidate to beat in Iowa.
He won the caucuses during his first run back
in 1988, has personal ties to scores of key
activists and is still expected to receive
strong union backing…But Gephardt’s
campaign has sputtered recently. He fell
short of fund-raising goals and some Democrats
say he is struggling to light a fire under
voters. ‘I think people realize he’s probably
past his prime and that he probably can’t pull
it off,’ said Ned Chiodo, a former state
lawmaker and Democratic power broker from
Des Moines. ‘He’s still in front, but he’s
slipping.’ Dean, activists contend,
used his opposition to the war in Iraq to
kick-start his campaign and energize
supporters. His innovative use of the Internet
to mobilize volunteers and solid fund raising
have fueled his ascent, Democrats say…Nagle
rejects the notion that Dean’s stand against
the war and his support for gay civil unions
make him far too liberal to win the White
House. Conversely, Kerry’s main
strength, activists say, is a perception that
he has the best chance to run strongly in the
general election. The decorated Vietnam War
veteran’s résumé and his fund-raising record
underscore that notion. ‘His hurdle is not
money. His hurdle is not qualifications,”
Chiodo said. “His hurdle is whether or not
people can feel comfortable with him as
somebody who empathizes with an everyday
citizen.’ Edwards’ campaign,
according to those interviewed, is showing
signs of life as he focuses on rural issues,
such as regulating large-scale hog
confinements. Lieberman, who ran as Al
Gore’s vice presidential candidate in 2000,
has largely bypassed the state so far, but he
plans to add campaign staff and travel to Iowa
more frequently in the coming weeks. ‘Lieberman
and Graham ... have yet to establish a
political base,’ Nagle said. ‘I’m not
saying that they can’t. But at this point,
they haven’t and they’re struggling.’ Dave
Loebsack, a Cornell College political science
professor who campaigned for Bill Bradley four
years ago, said Kucinich is also
capitalizing on nagging concerns about the
Iraq war and siphoning some support from Dean.
‘I don’t think (Kucinich supporters) will
willingly throw their support to Dean at this
point,’ the professor said. Kucinich
has said he plans to add staff and open
additional Iowa offices. ‘Clearly, (the
Kucinich campaign) shows some traction. That’s
surprising to me,’ said Mark Smith, the
president of the Iowa Federation of Labor.”
… “Kerry blames Bush for cuts, economy
during visit to Q-C” – Headline in
yesterday’s Quad-City Times. Excerpt from
Kathie Obradovich’s report on Kerry’s
campaign stop in Bettendorf: “Massachusetts
Sen. John Kerry told Quad-City
Democrats Saturday that he blames the
president’s tax cuts for the plight of working
people. ‘The one person in the United States
of America who deserves to be laid off is
George W. Bush,’ Kerry told a capacity
crowd of about 150 at the United Steel Workers
of America hall. Kerry, one of nine
candidates seeking the Democratic nomination
for president, laid the nation’s economic woes
at the feet of the president’s tax cuts and
the national deficit. “We could put people
back to work in America tomorrow if we weren’t
forcing governors to cut services and raise
taxes for a ... national deficit while we give
$350 billion in dividends tax cuts to the
wealthiest Americans,’ he said. He said
the war in Iraq wouldn’t distract Americans
from economic issues, even as he poked fun
at Bush’s post-war appearance on an aircraft
carrier. ‘Having a Navy pilot land you on
an aircraft carrier in a borrowed suit does
not make up for losing three million jobs,’
he said. Kerry said later that his
sister, Diana, a middle-school teacher in
Boston, was laid off last week. ‘Why are we
laying off teachers in the United States of
America? Because George Bush wants to give the
richest Americans a tax cut? Shame on us,’
he said, his voice rising. In an interview, he
said he wasn’t angry about his sister, but
about the lack of support for teachers across
the country. ‘It’s not fair for me to get
upset just because my sister is in a plight.
It’s just that it’s representative, and she
just happens to be a teacher,’ he said. ‘I’m
just upset about teachers across the country
that are being laid off. It’s not the way to
reflect our commitment to education in the
country,’ he said. ‘It just happens to be
in our family, too.’ Kerry told the
Quad-City crowd that his plans to create jobs
include a payroll tax holiday for working
people, an increase in the personal tax
exemption and a rewriting of trade agreements
with other countries.”
… Not the biggest surprise of the weekend,
New Mexico Dems vote to move from a June
primary to a Feb. caucus next year. Most
surprised if its not improved – the wannabes,
who have been stopping in Albuquerque, Santa
Fe, etc., for months. Excerpt from AP
report: “Hoping for more political clout,
New Mexico Democrats voted Saturday to replace
the state’s June Presidential primary election
with a Presidential preference caucus in
February. Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson
sought the change, which was approved by the
Democratic State Central Committee. ‘It’s to
get New Mexico more visibility,’ he said.
Nominees-to-be are often clearly identified by
June, weakening the effect of the old
springtime primaries. But Richardson got state
election law rewritten this year to give
parties the caucus option. The New Mexico
plan still must be approved by the Democratic
National Committee. Terri Holland, deputy
director of the state Democratic Party, said
no date is set for the National Committee
vote, but she expects ‘a speedy response.’
If the plan is approved, New Mexico will join
Arizona, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri
and Delaware with Presidential nominee
selections on Feb. 3.”
… Graham surfaces in Des Moines over the
weekend to raise Cheney questions and promote
his economic package – but the really bad news
is that he keeps promising to return to Iowa
with his family for an August “vacation.”
First, the headline from yesterday’s Des
Moines Register: “Graham: Cheney knew claim
on Iraq uranium dean was false” Excerpt
from report by Sunday Register’s lead wannabe
writer Thomas Beaumont: “Democratic
presidential candidate Bob Graham said
Saturday that Vice President Dick Cheney knew
information in the president's State of the
Union address in January was false and should
have told him to omit it. Graham,
the former chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said he was privy to an
intelligence report last year about a claim
that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from the
African nation of Niger to build a nuclear
weapon. Graham said Joseph Wilson, a
former U.S. ambassador who investigated the
claim at Cheney's behest, reported that the
claim was invalid because it was based on
documents that had been forged. British
intelligence was cited as the source of the
claim. ‘I cannot believe that report was
not made available to the vice president,’
Graham said while campaigning in Des
Moines. ‘And I cannot further believe
the vice president, seeing that report, would
not have told the president.’…The White
House has denied knowledge of Wilson's report.
Republican National Committee spokesman Chad
Colby said Graham had no proof that
Cheney saw Wilson's report. ‘He needs to
stop making baseless claims,’ Colby
said…Second, an excerpt from coverage of
Graham’s comments on his economic plan by
AP’s Amy Lorentzen: “Florida Sen. Bob
Graham touted his economic plan Saturday,
saying it's a stark contrast to the Bush
administration's fiscal policies.
Graham, who is vying for the Democratic
presidential nomination, said his plan will
put money back in the hands of the American
middle class. He said that's a change from
President Bush's policies, which have widened
the gap between rich and poor and dramatically
increased the national deficit. ‘If you're
in a hole the first thing you do is to stop
digging. We're in a hole but it looks like
what George W. is doing is asking for more
shovels,’ Graham said to a group of
about a dozen potential supporters who
gathered at a coffeehouse in downtown Des
Moines. He told the group that his
six-year economic plan will lower the deficit
while investing in the nation's future. His
plan would promote a national high-speed rail
system and encourage the use of renewable
fuels such as wind power. The plan also
includes increasing tax credits for students
and people in job training programs to create
a more skilled work force. Graham has been
one of the least active candidates in Iowa,
where precinct caucuses in January will launch
the presidential nominating season. Over
the past two weeks, however, he has announced
the opening of eight satellite offices
throughout Iowa and that he plans to take a
weeklong family trip across the state in
August. Graham, who spent the morning at a
downtown farmers' market, also continued
criticizing the president for misleading the
American people about the war in Iraq.”
… With Gephardt AWOL again, a near
predictable vote as House Thursday night
rejected a ban on recreational snowmobile use
in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
On a 210-210 tie vote – with a majority
required for the amendment to prevail – the
House turned down efforts to restrict
snowmobiles with Kucinich supporting
the ban. Also supporting the amendment IA
congressmen Boswell and Leach.
Opposing the ban IA GOPs King,
Latham and Nussle.
… Under the subhead “The Spin Game,”
the Union Leader’s senior political reporter –
John DiStaso – reports on behind-the-scenes
whispering and maneuvering between the
Gephardt and Lieberman campaigns. But what’s
that they say about throwing stones – and
glass houses? An excerpt: “The hottest
behind-the-scenes war of whispers this week
emanates from the Lieberman and Dick Gephardt
camps. The Liebs are whispering
that Gephardt is in serious trouble
because of his well-documented failure to
reach his own second quarter fundraising goal
of $5 million — falling about $1.2 million
short. The Liebs also point out that
Gephardt has a slim Iowa lead and was at a
paltry 3 percent in the recent University of
New Hampshire poll. They also say that
while he is winning endorsements from
individual unions, he’s apparently having
difficulty securing the big one — from the
AFL-CIO itself. They conveniently downplay
the recent shakeup in the fundraising end of
their own campaign, however.
Gephardt’s staff is working hard to counter.
They’re pumping the congressman’s weekend
visit, which will include throwing out the
first ball at a Nashua Pride game. And they’re
saying that while Gephardt may lag in
fundraising, he’s in the top tier in cash on
hand. Anything below $5 million in the bank
isn’t up to snuff, the Gephardt camp
says. That logic puts Gephardt, with $6.3
million on hand, in the same league with Kerry
($10.9 million) and Edwards ($8.4 million) and
on an equal footing with Howard Dean ($6.4
million). And such logic relegates Lieberman,
with $4 million on hand, to the same boat with
Bob Graham ($1.8 million), Dennis Kucinich
($1.1 million), Carol Moseley Braun ($22,000)
and Al Sharpton ($12,000) — at least according
to his “friends” in the Gephardt campaign.”
IOWA/NATIONAL
POLITICS:
… The Omaha World-Herald reports that Vice
President Cheney is scheduled in Omaha today
for a fundraising appearance. World-Herald
staff writers Henry J. Cordes and Robynn
Tysver reported that at least 200 Bush
supporters from across eastern Nebraska and
western Iowa will pay “at least $1,000 each”
to attend the event at the Durham Western
Heritage Museum – “$2,000 if they want a photo
taken with the vice president.” Hal Daub, a
member of the host committee who served with
Cheney in Congress, said: “We’d look
at Omaha and Nebraska as important to the
backbone strategy for the president’s
re-election.” The VP is scheduled to spend
about four hours in Omaha – 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. –
with the reception at 5:30 p.m. No other
public appearances are planned, according to
the World-Herald coverage. This
morning’s headlines:
Des Moines Register, top front-page headline:
”Annan shows support for Iraq council”
The United Nations secretary general has given
a report to the Security Council urging them
to support new Iraq governing council. RAGBRAI
headline: “Day 1: Fog, heat compete…But
warm welcome cools riders in Shenandoah”
Today’s route – 62 miles from Shenandoah
to Bedford.
Featured stories, Quad-City Times online: “Probes
of prewar intelligence key to credibility of
Bush, U. S., senators say” & “Bremer:
Saddam believed to be alive, but not behind
troop attacks”
Main stories, New York Times online: “Officials
Debate Whether to Seek a Bigger Military”
Rumsfeld, senior military officers are
considering how to fill the long-term mission
in Iraq while fulfilling other overseas
commitments. & “Subsidies to Poor Pose a
Hurdle to Compromise on Medicare Bill”
House and Senate differ widely on how to treat
poor people in legislation adding prescription
drugs to Medicare.
Sioux City Journal, top online stories: “U.
S. will train armed militia to stop violence”
& “Driver says crash that killed 10 broke
his heart” Statement from elderly driver
who crashed into a California farmers market
last week.
Nation/world heads online, Omaha World-Herald:
“U. S. asserts Saddam not leading fight”
& “2 U. S. soldiers killed in ambush”
Chicago Tribune, featured online reports: “Israel
will free more Palestinians” & “Taylor’s
regime ‘fighting for our lives’ in Liberia”
Daily Iowan (University of Iowa), nation/world
headlines: “NASA mulls display of
Columbia’s debris” & “U. S. to
establish Iraqi defense force”
… “BBC says Kelly was weapons source” –
Headline from BBC News. Excerpt: “BBC
director of news Richard Sambrook broke the
news after speaking to the family of the Iraq
weapons expert, who was found dead on Friday.
He said the corporation believed it correctly
interpreted and reported the information
obtained from Dr Kelly during interviews.
BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, the author of
the report, added that Dr Kelly had not been
‘misquoted or misrepresented’. Mr Sambrook
said the BBC had, until now, owed Dr Kelly a
duty of confidentiality and was ‘profoundly
sorry’ that his involvement as the source for
the reports had ended in tragedy. Prime
Minister Tony Blair, speaking as he left Korea
for China, said: ‘I am pleased that the BBC
has made this announcement. Whatever the
differences, no one wanted this tragedy to
happen.’”
… “Blair, Roh Agree Dialogue Needed in
North Korea Crisis” – Headline from
VOANews (Voice of America). Excerpts from
yesterday’s report: “British Prime Minister
Tony Blair and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
have agreed that dialogue is the best way to
resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.
The two leaders conferred on North Korea's
nuclear ambitions in Seoul on Sunday, before
Mr. Blair traveled to China for talks with
that country's top leaders. In a news
conference, Prime Minister Blair said the
nuclear crisis must be handled with what he
called ‘special sensitivity,’ and that Japan
and South Korea should be involved in the
effort. Mr. Roh told reporters the
situation on the Korean Peninsula is more
stable than it was six months ago, and
indicated all sides are working toward a
resolution. Neither man commented on a
U.S. newspaper report published Sunday that
claims Pyongyang may have built a second,
secret plant for producing nuclear
weapons-grade plutonium.”
… White House launches grassroots campaign
to promote economic initiatives. Excerpt
from coverage by Washington Times political
specialist Donald Lambro yesterday: “The
White House is kicking off a stepped-up
grass-roots campaign to promote its economic
policies and the child tax-credit refund
checks going out next week to 25 million
families, administration officials said. Less
than six months before the start of the 2004
presidential campaign and with the polls
showing President Bush receiving his lowest
scores on the economy, senior administration
officials said the country is still
experiencing a ‘slow, lumbering economy’ but
one that is ‘poised for growth’ by the end of
the year. With unemployment at 6.4 percent
and Democrats relentlessly pounding Mr. Bush
on the economy's persistent weakness, the
president and three of his Cabinet officials
will be hitting the road again in the coming
days and weeks to meet and talk with
manufacturers, small businesses and workers in
key electoral states in the industrial Midwest
and elsewhere…To counter the Democratic
attacks on the administration's economic
policies, Mr. Bush is planning nearly a dozen
or more speaking events on the economy during
the next two weeks to talk up his tax cuts and
give their economic effect more visibility.
‘Obviously, this is a time to highlight the
things that are going into effect, the child
tax-credit refund, the accelerated income
tax-rate reductions that have been implemented
and the business expensing to spur expansion
and new equipment purchases,’ a White House
official said. At the same time,
Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, Labor
Secretary Elaine L. Chao and Mr. Snow are
preparing for a six-city bus tour of
Wisconsin and Minnesota, two key electoral
states that Mr. Bush did not carry in 2000, to
talk with small-business owners, manufacturers
and workers in town-hall-style meetings. Also
this month, a phalanx of Commerce Department
officials, led by Mr. Evans, has been holding
round-table discussions with manufacturers and
employees in key industrial centers around the
country. That will continue into
September. Administration officials say they
are more optimistic about the economy turning
around this year, saying the combined tax cuts
taking effect this summer will spur business
expansion, consumer spending, capital
investment and job creation.”
… Under the
headline “Safe plan: Blame it all on the other
guy,” Quad-City Times columnist wrote
yesterday that if city leaders are “smart”
they’ll make state budget cutbacks an issue in
the 2004 campaigns. Excerpt from column by
the Times’ Ed Tibbetts: “Politicians at the
Iowa Statehouse may want to pay close
attention to what’s happening
at Davenport City Hall these days.
Gov. Tom Vilsack and the Legislature
dropped a budget bomb on cities at the end of
the 2003 session, cutting back state aid and
labeling it a ‘government-reinvention’ plan.
The idea, put bluntly, was to starve cities
of cash and force them to reorganize. Both the
governor and legislators said the state had
cut its costs, so the cities had to take a
turn. Every city is handling the loss
differently. In Davenport, it’s
prompted a plan to put a garbage fee in place
and dismantle the parks department.
Funny thing
is, this has been talked about for years. Yet
nobody at City Hall ever stepped up and did
it, mainly because they lacked the political
courage to go to voters and say they were
going to jack up their taxes to pay for a
service citizens already were getting. The
irony is it’s now finally happening, and the
Legislature’s decision to stick it to cities
is giving City Hall the political cover to do
so.
What alderman is not going to go on the stump
this year and tell voters it wasn’t his or her
fault the fee was passed? The Legislature put
them in a bind and it had to be done to cover
the shortfall. I’d be surprised, in fact,
if the City Council didn’t name the new
garbage fee after the Legislature…As much
as the protests over consolidating the parks
department with other city functions surely
reflect some turf protection, they also are a
big sign that people don’t think cutting their
government costs should mean giving up basic
services. And, like cops and firefighters,
people seem to think a strong parks department
is one of those basic services. The
political question in all of this buck-passing
(from Washington to Des Moines to Davenport to
the taxpayer) is: Who is going to bear the
responsibility? You can bet this will play
heavily in city elections this November. If
City Hall politicians are smart, they’ll make
sure it’s an issue in Statehouse elections the
November after that.” Today’s
editorials:
… Today’s editorials, Des Moines Register:
“Stop the stupid spending…Trying to
save money on troubled kids actually ends up
costing more…Every day, county taxpayers are
shelling out $2,750 for those 11 kids to be in
the wrong placement.” & “A new start for
Head Start?…There’s no harm in letting a
few states experiment with state
control…Still, there are plenty of reasons to
be wary of the proposed overhaul.”
… Former
University of Iowa wide receiver Scott
Halverson, 40, will be officiating his
first National Football League game in less
than a month. Sports reports over the
weekend and this morning say Halverson, who
now lives in Des Moines, will be a back
judge on referee Ed Hochuli’s crew this
season, starting with an 8/9 preseason game
between San Diego and Seattle. He has spent
seven years as a Big Ten official, six years
in the Arena Football League and three years
in NFL Europe.
… DSM 7 a.m.
70, partly cloudy. Temperatures at 7 a. m.
ranged from 62 in Estherville and
Mason City, and 63 in Fort Dodge
and Sioux City to 70 in Des
Moines and Ottumwa and 71 in
Burlington. Today’s high 84, mostly sunny.
Tonight’s low 60, mostly clear. Tuesday’s high
77, partly cloudy. Tuesday night’s low 57,
clear. From WHO-TV’s Brandon Thomas: “Partly
to mostly sunny on Monday, with highs in the
upper seventies to low eighties. A slight
chance of t’storms on Tuesday, with highs in
the upper seventies.”
… Quad-City Times columnist Bill Wundram –
a well-known Beiderbecke enthusiast – adds
another page to the Bix saga. Headline
from yesterday’s Times: “For $2,500, you
can toot Bix’s horn” Excerpt: “Were
he alive — and likely he wouldn’t be — ‘Our
Bix’ would look twice at that gleaming silver
horn in the Davenport music store and
likely say: ‘Hey, that horn looks like mine.
What’s it doing here?’ Bix’s horn — as
close and practical as possible — has been
reproduced by the company that made it in the
first place. It is a shining Stradivarius
model, with a gold bell, aqua-cast mother
of pearl valve tops, and engraving that is
nearly a duplicate of the horn — er, horns —
that Bix bought one day when he said something
like, ‘I don’t want one, I want two.’…For
the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bix, the
Bach Co. — one of the foremost manufacturers
of fine brass instruments — made several
hundred limited edition Bix-style horns.
Sorry, Bix, these new ones aren’t cornets,
your favorite instrument because of their
mellow tone. They are trumpets, which are the
favorites of today’s musicians. ‘All those
made were immediately sold; collector items,’
says Doug Davis, one of the owners of Griggs
Music, Davenport. As are all high
quality trumpets, these Bix horns are pricey.
They sell for $2,500. Griggs, which also is
100 years old and sold the Beiderbecke family
the piano upon which Bix learned to play,
bought 13 of the trumpets.”
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Given the way the Lieberman campaign has been
going lately, it’s not a real shock that the
CT wannabe gets recognized for pulling off two
“bonehead plays in a single month.” Actually,
it only took a few days for these Lieberman
problems – and others – to be exposed, but
who’s really counting?
(If you missed the entire list, check out
Sunday’s Daily Report.) Under the headline “Lieberman’s
bonehead moves could haunt him,”
columnist Roger Simon wrote:
“It pains me to do this, but I am forced to
give Joe Lieberman my Dumb and Dumber Award
for pulling off two bonehead plays in a single
month. Joe Lieberman is the one serious
candidate for President who was really active
in the civil rights movement while growing up.
More than active. He risked his life for the
cause. While other candidates were comfortably
ensconced in school, Lieberman went to
Mississippi to register black voters at a time
when this was seriously dangerous. And it did
not go unappreciated. In August 2000, when he
was a vice presidential candidate,
Lieberman spoke at a black church in
Detroit. According to the AP account: ‘Before
Lieberman took to the pulpit, the Rev.
Wendell Anthony, pastor of the chapel and
president of the largest chapter of the NAACP
in the country, recalled for worshippers how
Lieberman in the 1960s had marched on
Washington with Martin Luther King Jr. and
went into Mississippi to register black
voters. And he criticized Republican rivals
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the
process.’…Not a bad platform from which to
seek black support in 2004, right? I mean,
considering no other candidate has anything
approaching a lock on the black vote. So what
does Lieberman do? He stiffs the NAACP by not
showing up at its annual convention in Florida
last week, and the NAACP leadership is now
furious. Sure, the NAACP was flexing its
muscles and showing its clout by demanding the
candidates show up. This is what interest
groups do. But why does Lieberman stiff an
interest group that, a) is extremely powerful
in the Democratic Party, and, b) one with
which he might have an advantage? True,
two other Democratic candidates also stiffed
the NAACP: Dick Gephardt said he had a
family commitment, and Dennis Kucinich
said he had vowed not to miss any votes in the
House of Representatives. (President Bush
did not show up, either.) What did he,
Lieberman, do instead of going to the NAACP?
He spent part of the day taping Bill
O’Reilly’s TV show. One can only guess at
how the Lieberman Brain Trust came to this
keenly astute political decision…During
this campaign, Lieberman has had to
miss a number of political events that were
(rudely) scheduled for the Jewish Sabbath on
Saturdays, but the NAACP event was on a
Monday. And Lieberman still doesn’t
show up! His campaign now recognizes this was
a mistake, and Jano Cabrera, Lieberman’s
spokesman, said, ‘Our hope is to mend
relations and reach out to the NAACP to work
together in the future.’ An excellent plan. If
there is a future. What could be dumber
than this? Well, putting your kids on your
campaign payroll at salaries so big that other
staffers get enraged and complain to the press.
That could be dumber. Lieberman’s son
Matt and daughter Rebecca are on the
Lieberman campaign payroll as
fund-raisers, each making six-figure annual
salaries. According to Forward magazine, ‘Some
(staffers) grumbled that, given their
eye-popping salaries, the Lieberman
children were not pulling their weight as
fund-raisers.’ Hiring your own children at fat
salaries is not illegal. But I know I have
never heard Joe Lieberman give a speech
that went, ‘Please give to my campaign so I
can keep our military and our homeland
security strong, return to the fiscally
balanced, pro-growth, pro-middle class fiscal
policies of the Clinton-Gore years and line
the pockets of my kids with dough.’
Gephardt has a daughter working for his
campaign at $3,500 a month, which apparently
is not enough to anger anybody. But Howard
Dean’s teenage daughter is doing something
really old-fashioned: She is volunteering in
her father’s campaign, which means she is
getting paid nothing. Presumably, she is
doing this because she thinks her dad would
make a fine President, and that is motivation
enough. What a crazy thought. Do you think it
could catch on? The Lieberman kids have now
agreed to take 20 percent pay cuts. Which
leaves only 80 percent to go. I doubt Joe
Lieberman has a dishonest bone in his
entire body. But he is supposed to be the
candidate of higher values. And, last I
looked, nepotism was not a higher value.”
to read past Iowa Daily Reports
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