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Iowa Presidential Watch's IOWA MORNING REPORT Holding the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.

General News Candidates & Caucuses Iowa Politics Morning Summary War & Terrorism Federal Issues Iowa Issues Opinions  Iowa Sports Iowa Weather  Iowaisms   Our Mission: To hold the Democrat presidential candidates accountable for their comments and allegations against President George W. Bush, to make citizens aware of false statements or claims by the Democrat candidates, and most especially, to defend the Bush Administration and set the record straight  when the Democrats make false or misleading statements about the Bush-Republican record.                                                                                                           Wednesday, May 21,  2003 Headline of the morning: From an editorial in this morning’s The Union Leader in New Hampshire: “Kerry’s plantation: President Kerry would force all teens to work” First sentence: “Someone needs to reacquaint Sen. John Kerry with the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 13th Amendment.” (More below.)  GENERAL NEWS:     Among the offerings in this morning’s update:  ... President Bush comes under sharp attack yesterday as seven of nine Dem wannabes appear at EMILY’s List forum in DC ... Edwards outlines major rural development initiative in IA today ... Washington Times: House Republicans to accept tax cut plan, Grassley working out details ... Los Angeles Times’ Brownstein: Gephardt seeks the ‘union label’ for his candidacy – and AFSCME boss McEntee handicaps the Dem field ... Kerry – as noted above – and Edwards criticized in New Hampshire editorial for their compulsory “volunteerism” proposals ... Poor Richard – it seems like Gephardt can’t escape or outrun media reports about his dismal House voting record…And so, as if to further reinforce the point Gephardt missed another key “green” vote yesterday ... IA GOP Congressman Leach – not be surprised by additional terrorist attacks ... At least five IA counties consider holding referendums on casino gambling ... Chicago Tribune goes in search of Moseley Braun’s campaign – and reports basic findings All these stories below and more. Voinovich on Grassley: As Congress moves toward passage of the tax cut legislation – see item below about yesterday’s anticipated agreement – a letter to the editor appeared in this morning’s Des Moines Register from Ohio GOP Sen. George Voinovich. Headline – “Grassley kept his word”  Voinovich wrote (highlighting added): “The May 11 Register ‘thistle’ to Senator Chuck Grassley indicated he didn’t keep his word to moderate Senate Republicans not to exceed $350 billion in tax cuts. Well, I’m one of the two senators he made an agreement with, and I can tell you that such criticism is unfounded. He has kept his word. In his position as chairman of the Senate’s tax-writing committee, Grassley passed a tax bill that pays for every penny in tax cuts more than $350 billion with real and honest offsets, such as closing the tax loopholes Enron used to evade millions of dollars in taxes. Grassley has kept his word and kept his promise. Iowans should know that Grassley is an honest broker who is making the legislative process work.” – George Voinovich, U.S. Senator from Ohio, Washington, D.C.  CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES:  Morning report: ... Edwards is scheduled in Iowa – planning to visit Nevada in Story County -- today to outline a billion-dollar rural development proposal. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported last week that today’s presentation would be one of Edwards’ major policy initiatives.  ... First two sentences from a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Gephardt’s hometown newspaper – “Rep. Richard Gephardt is ahead of his Democratic presidential rivals in at least one arena: the number of missed votes since he launched his campaign for the White House. Gephardt, D-St. Louis County, has missed 162 House votes, or nearly 85 percent, since the beginning of the 108th Congress in January, according to a running tally by the Republican National Committee.”  On top of that, The Hill newspaper on Capitol Hill yesterday also reported Gephardt’s absences – “Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year – 85 percent of the total – prompting Republicans to charge that he has abandoned his congressional duties in his pursuit of the presidency. The Republican National Committee has seized on the absenteeism to point out that several of Gephardt’s missed votes have been on legislative and policy matters that are centerpieces to his campaign.” (Iowa Pres Watch Note: Yes, it does appear that a lot of folks – the RNC, The Hill and The Post-Dispatch – are all piling on Poor Richard, and Iowa Pres Watch is all for it. In fact, many of Gephardt’s missed votes have been highlighted in Morning Reports for the past three months and last week Dick Morris joined the choir in his New York Times column, even suggesting that Gephardt’s absenteeism record will make him vulnerable to attacks from fellow wannabe rivals.) ... And Gephardt missed another vote yesterday that will not enhance his standing with liberal/radical environmentalists – the president’s pro-forest (and anti-forest fire) initiative to accelerate logging on 20 million acres of overgrown, old-growth forests. GWB, in fact, urged the Senate to take fast action on the bill after it passed the House on a 256-170 vote. Gephardt – along with IA Dem Congressman Leonard Boswell, who was on a trade mission to Cuba, missed the vote. Pres wannabe Kucinich – and IA GOP Congressman Jim Leach – voted against the legislation. Leach was one of 12 Republicans to oppose the bill while the other congressional Iowans (King, Latham, Nussle) supported the president’s approach.  ... Editorial in today’s The Union Leader assails Kerry’s latest brainstorm – see headline at top of this Morning Report – “Someone needs to acquaint Sen. John Kerry with the U.S. Constitution, specifically the 13th Amendment. In Manchester on Monday, Kerry unveiled his plan for the conscription of every American teenager into involuntary servitude …Kerry can call his program ‘High School Service’ or ‘community service’ or whatever he wants. It’s still involuntary servitude, and it’s still unconstitutional. Even if forcing people to work X number of hours (Kerry suggested between 50 and 100) for a diploma were constitutional, it would remain morally wrong and strategically unsound. Kerry argues that drafting teenagers into volunteer work in their communities will reinvigorate a charitable spirit in America. Of all the candidates currently running for President, Vietnam veteran Kerry should know that drafting young people into service to their country fuels contempt for, not love of, one’s country and government …Neither Kerry nor John Edwards, who has a similar proposal, has sufficiently explained how voluntarism, by definition freely given, can be compelled, or why the federal government must institute this compulsion now. This is not a right vs. left issue. But both sides should be just as outraged by Kerry’s and Edwards’ readiness to dispense with personal freedom. And both sides need to work together to squash this idea immediately.”  ... Seven of the nine Dem hopefuls – Graham and Sharpton did not attend – participated in an anti-Bush political orgy yesterday during an EMILY’s List pro-feminist forum. Headline in this morning’s Washington Post online edition: “Bush’s Rights Record Assailed …Democratic Hopefuls Tailor Message to Feminist Audience” Coverage by veteran political reporter Dan Balz: “Courting the women’s vote, Democratic presidential candidates accused President Bush yesterday of stacking the federal judiciary with conservatives hostile to feminist issues and warned that abortion rights in the United States will be at risk if Bush is reelected in 2004. With the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy as early as this summer and interest groups preparing for a major confrontation over the president’s first nomination to the high court, the Democrats attacked the administration’s record on civil rights, civil liberties, women’s rights and judicial appointments.” Another version – from AP’s Ron Fournier: “Democratic presidential candidates, courting female voters in their fight for the party’s nomination, condemned President Bush’s policies on the economy and terrorism, and pilloried his judicial nominations. Each claimed to be the White House’s harshest critic …The tough-on-Bush rhetoric coursed through every speech delivered by seven of the nine presidential candidates at a gathering sponsored by EMILY’s List, the political organization that recruits and funds Democratic women who favor abortion rights. One by one, the White House hopefuls accused each other of not being tough enough on Bush.”       ... Chicago Tribune headline – “Braun’s quiet candidacy stirs questions, criticism …The former Illinois senator insists she is running to win, but some say her start is much too slow.” The coverage with Tribune staff writer (and former Des Moines Register reporter) Jeff Zeleny reporting from Des Moines: “When Carol Moseley Braun stepped off the stage at a weekend forum for Democratic presidential hopefuls here, her rival candidates fanned out across Iowa to meet the voters and political activists they must win over if they are to capture their party’s White House nomination. But Braun, the former Illinois senator, scheduled no such events. Shortly after the television cameras were turned off at the ‘Presidential Town Meeting,’ she and a lone volunteer drove back to Chicago. Three months after launching her presidential exploratory campaign, Braun has not missed an opportunity to appear at joint events with the field of Democratic hopefuls. But there are few signs that she is aggressively chasing the nomination when she is away from the pack, which has raised questions and criticism from candidates and political strategists that her candidacy is a façade.”    ... Under the headline “Gephardt & Co. Look to Service Sector for Coveted Union Label,” Los Angeles Times political ace Ronald Brownstein wrote in his weekly column: “Poll results in Iowa and New Hampshire. Fund-raising totals. Lists of endorsements in key early states. All measure the strength of the contenders for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. But there’s another number worth watching: 8.8 million That number is the key to capturing what could be an invaluable asset in the race: the endorsement of the AFL-CIO.” Brownstein writes that unions representing two-thirds of roughly 13.2 million members – or 8.8 million – are needed to receive an endorsement, and only Mondale (1984) and Gore (2000) have reached that threshold. Brownstein then adds: “Many union officials believe only one candidate even has a chance to reach the two-thirds figure: Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). The game then for the other candidates isn’t so much to win the AFL-CIO’s endorsement as it is to deny the prize to Gephardt. And in that quiet but intense struggle, the critical decisions may rest with the presidents of the federation’s two largest members:  Andrew Stern of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, and Gerald McEntee of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME.”  More Brownstein: McEntee handicaps the Dem presidential players – “McEntee, the chair of the AFL-CIO’s political committee, may be the most politically sophisticated union leader. In 1992, when the industrial unions were touting Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, McEntee – joined by the teachers’ union – broke to endorse Bill Clinton, who he correctly thought had a better chance to beat the first President Bush. Like a railbird handicapping ponies, McEntee zips through balance sheets for all of the 2004 contenders. Dean has won converts in the union, McEntee says, but he appears dubious that the former governor’s opposition to the war in Iraq will sell in a general election.   He likes Edwards’ energy and skill as a campaigner, but he isn’t sure such a newcomer ‘can take off.’   Lieberman’s connections to the centrist Democratic Leadership Council ‘is not in our ballpark,’ but he praises the senator’s toughness on national security.   McEntee is impressed with Gephardt’s support among his House colleagues and believes he’s been bold with his health-care plan and his strong support for the war with Iraq. But McEntee seems worried about Gephardt’s viability, his early fund-raising ‘was a bit of a disappointment,’ he says. Kerry clearly appears to intrigue McEntee most. In the course of an hourlong conversation, McEntee kept returning to the senator, citing his service in Vietnam (and opposition to the war when he returned), his strong record on labor issues, the quality of his campaign staff and the ability to tap the personal fortune of his wife, Teresa Heinz.”   IOWA POLITICS:  ... DSM City Councilwoman Christine Hensley finally announces her candidacy for mayor. After weeks of pre-announcement announcements – including an announcement announcing that incumbent Mayor Preston Daniels would support her mayoral bid – Hensley finally announced her candidacy in one of the worst timed political announcements in Des Moines political history. The announcement time: 6 p.m. yesterday – meaning she didn’t get full coverage or top billing on the local evening newscasts. WHO-TV popped over to get a couple live shots of the announcement, but the coverage was incoherent. Hensley did assure voters she would be “the No. 1 salesperson” for Des Moines – which she presumably is better qualified to do than planning the announcement of her candidacy to become the No. 1 salesperson for the city.   MORNING SUMMARY:     This morning’s headlines: ... Top front-page headline, Des Moines Register: “Mad cow case hits Canada…U.S. halts beef imports; human health risk ‘very low’” ... Quad-City Times online, top story headline: Illinois state – “Blagojevich: No gambling expansion” Illinois governor says gaming revenues are not a “magic wand” to make state budget deficit vanish, threatens veto of proposals to expand gambling.  ... Omaha World-Herald online, world/national headlines: “Allies aim to disarm citizens of Iraq” & “Terror alert level is back to orange” ... Main headlines, Chicago Tribune online: “Terror Alert in U.S. Raised to ‘High’” & “Federal judge won’t block hazing suspensions” A federal judge yesterday refused to intervene in case of two students suspended after Glenbrook North High School hazing incident.  ... Top headline, Sioux City Journal online: “U.S., Britain, Germany close embassies after threats”  ... New York Times online top heads: “Allies to Begin Seizing Weapons From Most Iraqis” & “Bush Weighs Mideast Trip as Peace Plan Ebbs”  Iowa Briefs/Updates: ... A hearing will be held next month to determine whether Oskaloosa chiropractor Dr. Phillip Zickefoose will lose his license over allegations of illegally possessing prescription painkillers and carrying a gun while drinking in a public place. The DSM Register reports Zickefoose acknowledged that he didn’t contest a 1996 drunken-driving charge in Florida and pleaded guilty to a weapons charge last year related to an incident in a bar. The Register said that Zickefoose, 53, said he was selling his practice ... Big news on farm broadcasts across IA yesterday and this morning – Canadian border closed to beef and cattle shipments due to discovery of “Mad Cow” disease. Discovery in one cow in Alberta leads to investigation and precautionary moratorium on shipments ... Several newscasts report that Fox TV’s “Cops” program will return to Des Moines next week (5/27) for a scheduled eight-week stay. Reruns of the last time “Cops” followed DSM officers on patrol are still airing on some cable networks.   Watergate journalist Bob Woodward will join a distinguished list of prominent speakers next fall when he participates in the annual William W. Siebens American Heritage Lecture Series at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. Woodward – now an assistant managing editor with the Washington Post – is scheduled to deliver the address on 10/24. Past speakers have included former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, newsman Walter Cronkite, Secretary of State Colin Powell (as a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. WAR & TERRORISM:  ... Radio Iowa reports that Iowa GOP Congressman Jim Leach indicates “he’d be very surprised if there weren’t more attacks against American interests abroad and American assets at home” …but “where and when the attacks will occur is anybody’s guess.” The Darwin Danielson coverage notes that Leach said the Muslim world is “up in arms” because they see the war in Iraq as a negative, while “we look at it in a positive way.” More from the Danielson report: “Leach says it’s a problem of the nature that we’ve never seen before in international affairs. Leach says it is something that America is going to have to learn its way through and hope goodwill and good effort will carry the day.” ... From the Korean Front. VOANews (Voice of America) reported this morning: “Economic talks between the two Koreas remain stalled for a second day in a standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons. South Korean economic aid to the North may be in jeopardy. South Korean reporters in Pyongyang describe Wednesday’s economic talks between the two Koreas as a ‘war of nerves.’ For a second straight day, North Korea refused to discuss its nuclear weapons programs, insisting that the talks focus on a transfer of food and money from Seoul.”    FEDERAL ISSUES:   ... Headline from this morning’s Washington Times online: “House GOP accepts $350 billion tax cut” Coverage by Times’ Stephen Dinan – “House Republicans yesterday said they will accept a final tax cut totaling about $350 billion over 10 years – a far cry from the $726 billion the president first proposed or the $550 billion plan the House passed several weeks ago. ‘Using Chairman Grassley’s words, the net number’s always going to be $350 billion; the gross number may be higher,’ said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican. Senate Finance chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, had to promise two Republican senators last month that he would not allow a bill with a net worth of more than $350 billion to come back for a final vote in the Senate. Mr. Grassley and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, California Republican, were meeting last night to decide on a final tax-cut total and construct a package that leaders want to vote on and send to President Bush by the end of the week.” IOWA ISSUES: ... The Iowa gaming craze. WHO Radio (Des Moines) reported this morning that five Iowa counties are currently considering proposals to hold casino gambling referendums over the coming months – despite the fact IA currently has a moratorium on expanding the number of casino licenses. Two of the counties – Dickinson (Spirit Lake) and Worth (Northwood) – have scheduled summer referendums on gaming. Other counties considering casino proposals are Linn (Cedar Rapids), Franklin (Hampton) and Cerro Gordo (Mason City). The current gaming moratorium can be lifted either through legislative action or by the state’s Racing and Gaming Commission. The gaming proponents – such as Mason City businessman Tom Jolas, who’s pushing the Cerro Gordo County proposal – believe an additional license would be granted if the applicants make a compelling case for a 14th (or 15th or 16th) casino in the state. OPINIONS:  ... This morning’s editorials, Des Moines Register: “Follow Maine’s lead …Iowa should seek lower drug prices for groups here, too …Americans are relying on their states, and Iowa is poised to do something innovative.” & “Don’t let the terrorists win …Israeli-Palestine peace may be beyond Bush’s power. It’s up to the people involved …Somehow, the yearning of peace among ordinary people must overcome the terrorists.”  ... Register columnist Rekha Basu: Headline – “The changing story of saving Private Jessica Lynch” Column about recent reports in Toronto Star and on the BBC that the U.S. forces raid to rescue Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch was unnecessary since Iraqi forces had already fled the Nasiriyah hospital. Basu wrote that “the falsifications of a young [New York Times] reporter pale in severity compared to the Pentagon and White House participating in spreading a false story, them letting it go uncorrected – if that’s what’s going on.”  ... Citizen commentary from Sioux City Journal online: “Upward and onward, America. Thanks for the competent, compassionate, courageous leadership and military of our great country.” Wes Roeschke, Moville IOWA SPORTS:  ... The Central College softball team yesterday won the national championship at the NCAA Division III tournament in Salem, Va. The Dutch (41-5-1 for the year) had to win five games in a row at the tournament to secure the school’s fourth national championship.  ... The Sioux City Journal reported yesterday that Iowa men’s basketball coach Steve Alford is optimistic about the upcoming season and said the Hawkeyes had “our best spring workouts in my time at Iowa.” Alford, whose team was 17-15 last season with two wins in the NIT post-season tournament, said the players were “running the show with intensity …We won 17 games and with a break or two it could have been 22 wins. We’ve got some good kids coming in and we’re excited about next season.” Alford made the comments while attending a Siouxland I-Club at the Sioux City Country Club.  ... Northern Iowa junior Adam Boave has been named the Missouri Valley Conference baseball player of the year. Radio Iowa’s Todd Kimm reported that the Central Lyon High School produce leads the Panthers – who open conference tournament play this morning – in hitting (.375), home runs (17) and stolen bases (28 in 30 attempts).   IOWA WEATHER:  ... DSM 7 a.m. 46, a few clouds. Temps across IA at 7 a. m. ranged from 39 in Spencer and 40 in Mason City to 49 in Burlington. Today’s high 68, partly sunny. Tonight’s low 45, partly cloudy. Thursday’s high 72, partly sunny. Thursday night’s low 48, chance T-storms. From WHO-TV’s Brandon Thomas: “Partly sunny on Thursday, with a chance of showers and isolated t’storms late. Highs will be in the upper sixties. A chance of showers in the morning on Friday, with partly sunny skies in the afternoon. Highs will be in the upper sixties. Memorial Day weekend is looking great, with highs in the low/mid seventies. Mostly sunny on Memorial Day, with highs in the seventies.”  IOWAISMS:  ... There’s little doubt that being associated with the Clinton name – especially if the first names are Bill or Hillary – doesn’t always have great appeal, but what’s wrong with being Miss Clinton County? That’s the question – and challenge – facing organizers of this summer’s Miss Clinton County Pageant in eastern Iowa. The 43rd county pageant is scheduled for next month – 6/28 – but so far only three entrants have signed up. For the event to qualify under Miss America pageant rules, at least four women must compete for the Miss Clinton County title. Pam May, executive director of the Miss Clinton County Scholarship Program Board, said young women these days don’t appear to be interested in entering pageants.  TODAY’S IOWA LINKS:  -- Des Moines Register: www.DesMoinesRegister.com -- NWS Des Moines: http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KDSM.html -- Radio Iowa/Learfield Communication: www.radioiowa.com -- WHO Radio (AM1040), Des Moines: www.whoradio.com -- Quad-City Times: www.QCTimes.com -- Washington Times: www.washingtontimes.com  -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch: www.stltoday.com -- The Union Leader: www.theunionleader.com  -- Sioux City Journal: www.siouxcityjournal.com -- Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com -- WHO-TV, Des Moines: www.whotv.com -- New York Times: www.nytimes.com -- Omaha World-Herald: www.omaha.com -- The Hill: www.hillnews.com -- Chicago Tribune: www.chicagotribune.com -- Various morning newscasts from around IA.  top of the page                                                                                                              click here  to read past Iowa Morning Reports Paid for by the Iowa Presidential Watch PAC P.O. 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