Iowa’s First Lady, Christie Vilsack, today endorsed Massachusetts Senator John Kerry’s bid for the White House. She says she made the decision, in part, because of the way Kerry has acted toward others in private, like the time she and her husband went to dinner with Kerry and his family. Vilsack says “lots of times” Iowans make their choices based not on policy but on “intangibles.” Vilsack says she’s spent a lot of time over the past few months, listening to the candidates and talking with Iowans about the race. Vilsack says she thought this morning about the song by the Lovin’ Spoonfull — “Did you ever have to make up your mind? Say yes to one, and leave the other ones behind? It’s not often easy, it’s not often kind, did you ever have to make up your mind” Long-time Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller last Friday switched his allegiance from Senator Joe Lieberman to Kerry.Miller says he never thought a week ago he’d be backing Kerry, but Miller says it shows the momentum of Kerry’s campaign. Kerry stood on the steps of the statehouse this morning, flanked by Vilsack, Miller and 26 state legislators who have endorsed him. He says this is about people, about the people of Iowa, many of them who make up their minds in this last week. Mrs. Vilsack’s husband has announced he will not endorse any of the men seeking the Democratic party’s presidential nomination.
Mesaba pilots reach agreement
Mesaba Airlines and its pilots reached a tentative agreement Sunday, averting a strike, the threat of which forced the cancellation of dozens of weekend flights. Mesaba is the regional carrier for Northwest Airlines in six Iowa cities. The tentative contract ends more than two years of tough bargaining. The last few weeks were especially hard according to pilot Justin Palmer. He says every day he went to work he heard something new that would change his opinion on whether they would be striking or not. Union leaders will travel to Detroit, Cincinnati and Memphis to give details of the deal. The results of the electronic vote by union members are expected in about 10 days. Pilot Dave Eckstrom believes the rank-and-file will like the tentative agreement, as he says they’ve had a lot of input in the agreement.Mesaba flies into Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo and is the only air carrier for Mason City and Fort Dodge.
Tax books see little change
You may’ve noticed state tax booklets and forms showing up in your local library and post office. Iowa Department of Revenue Director Michael Ralston says you may not need to pick up a booklet. For taxpayers who’ve filed paper returns, the state will mail them a new booklet. Ralston says there aren’t many new things in the latest booklet.He says, in most respects, it’s the same as the booklets sent out for many years. While the tax books are out now, Ralston says you probably won’t have all the information you need to file for a few weeks. He says most taxpayers should receive their W-2 form by the end of January. Ralston says you should keep your eyes open for other important tax info that’ll be in the mailbox soon.He says statements regarding charitable giving, interest statements and other info is supposed to be to you by the end of January. Forty-five percent of Iowans still file taxes the old-fashioned way, but Ralston says you’re better off filing electronically, as you’ll get your refund back faster.
Legislature opens new session
The legislature convened this morning. The gavels fell at ten o’clock this morning to officially jumpstart the 2004 legislative session. Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack provided a jolt of his own, in the form of a letter. Vilsack said the budget outline he will present lawmakers later this week will not include tax increases, which Vilsack says means the budget does not keep spending promises he and legislators have made in the past. For example, he says 800 beginning teachers will be “sacrificed” and class sizes will increase because the state cannot afford to give schools as much money as it did last year — that is, unless taxes are increased. Vilsack says Iowans he’s talked to over the past few months want additional spending for priority items like education and public safety.
2004 Legislature "same song, different verse"
The 2004 Iowa Legislative session gets underway this morning, and the agenda items sound familiar. House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, puts it this way. Rants says the coming legislative session will be “same song, different verse,” so that just like last year, lawmakers will try to find ways to improve Iowa’s job and business climate. In 2003, the Iowa Legislature and Governor Tom Vilsack created a new, $500 MILLION state economic development fund. Rants says there will be no “giant, grandiose” project to come out of the 2004 session. Instead, he expects lawmakers to focus on the “nuts and bolts.” Rather than one landmark piece of legislation that everybody rallies around, Rants expects legislators to come up with several different bills that focus on ways to help reduce the cost of doing business in Iowa by doing things like reduce the payroll taxes businesses pay as “insurance” for workers comp cases. Republicans hold a majority of seats in the Legislature, and that means the G-O-P gets to set the debate agenda. One of the issues that Rants says will be debated this year is gambling, but no one — at this point — is betting on the outcome. While four counties have approved gambling referendums — indicating there is a desire in some parts of Iowa for more casinos — five counties have turned down gambling proposals.
Dean says he never called Iowa Caucus-goers "extremists"
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean spent part of his weekend explaining anti-Iowa Caucus comments he made on Canadian t-v four years ago. Radio Iowa’s O.Kay Henderson talked with Dean by telephone on Friday, and asked him if he was tired of telling everybody how much he loved Iowa. “It’s good for me,” Dean replied. “What I said four years ago has very little to do with what I now know about Iowa. I wouldn’t be in this race if it weren’t for Iowa because Iowa and New Hampshire are a places you can go, voters can look you in the eye and have some idea of whether you should be president or not.” Polls last spring showed a majority of Americans supported the war in Iraq, yet Dean’s campaign started picking up steam here last spring because many Democratic party activists in Iowa oppose the war, and Dean made opposition to the war in Iraq his major talking point. So, during that phone conversation, Henderson asked Dean is he hadn’t benefitted from the fact that extremists do dominate the Iowa Caucuses. “I don’t believe I used the word extremist,” Dean said. “I don’t think Iowans are extremist to go to the Caucus.” What Dean said four years ago was broadcast on NBC News. “The caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests on both sides on both parties,” Dean said. “The special interests don’t represent the centrist tendencies of the American people. They tend to represent the extremes.” Now, Dean says this: “Again, I hate to hear the word extremist applied to the Iowa Caucuses. I don’t think we really have any extremists that are doing anything in the Iowa Caucuses. Our people want their country back. Our people are new people. Many of them have not been in the Caucuses before. Those are just the kind of people we want in the Caucuses.”
Federal money to work on railroad
Crews will be “workin’ on the railroad” before long in parts of Iowa. Kevin Schieffer, CEO of a regional rail company which two years ago bought the Iowa-Chicago-and-Eastern Railroad, has landed a $233 MILLION loan from the Federal Railroad Administration. It’s to fix up track and refinance some debt in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Schieffer says down the line, other states will be included in the repairs and improvements, which will mean shiny new rails. He says they’ll lay new steel, put down ties and ballast, and work on bridges — what he calls the bread-and-butter of railroad infrastructure. Many are in desperate need of repair, as Schieffer’s corporate empire was put together from remnants of old railroads that were aging and, in some cases, ready to be abandoned. That was the case with the so-called “corn line” that runs through Iowa for hauling the harvest and Schieffer says there’s plenty of other cargo to haul, as well. In Iowa, the railroad’s predominant cargo is grain, fertilizer and chemicals, as well as cars, steel and other things. Schieffer’s Dakota Minnesota and Eastern railroad took over tracks that in some cases had speed limits below 50 miles an hour because the track and railbeds were too rickety to support faster trains. With these improvements, he says the future’s secure for decades, not just years, and certainly for the term of this 25-year loan. Work will get underway this year in three states, with more to come in time. There’ll be a lot of work between Dubuque and Mason City, and from Mason City to Minnesota, where he says it’s most needed because the line is in the “toughest” shape. Schieffer’s railroad empire, formed within less than a decade, comprises the Iowa Chicago and Eastern railroad as well as parts of other lines that cross nine states from Wyoming to Illinois.
