In an effort to restore some of the public’s confidence about government spending, President Obama on Monday directed members of his cabinet to help cut $100-million from the federal budget. While it’s a nice thought, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the president’s gesture is hollow. Grassley says, "So 100-million is a good start, but it’s a spit in the ocean for the problems we face with the budget that was adopted two weeks ago which will increase the national debt by three times." Obama said he wants to show the American people that the federal government can spend taxpayer money wisely. Grassley, a Republican, says he applauds the gesture and hopes the president will make more serious moves to curb runaway spending. Grassley says, "If he continues down the road that he said he was going to go during the campaign of reviewing every program in the government and getting rid of or cutting back programs that aren’t accomplishing what they’re supposed to accomplish, then that’s the best way to do it." The federal deficit increased by about $192-billion last month alone, so Grassley says a cut of $100-million is pretty insignificant in the big scheme of things, yet it’s a step in the right direction. "There’s a lot of little programs that can be eliminated, but those programs are not going to solve this long-term budget problem we have," Grassley says. "That’s reform of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid is a big part of that, but another big part of it is — not increasing spending the way we have recently." Iowans in several cities statewide took part in last week’s national "Tea Party" movement, demonstrations to protest massive government spending. Their "tea" stood for "taxed enough already."
Grassley says Obama budget cut "hollow"
DNR says spill problems would be cut with emergency plans
There have been a number of messy accidents in rural Iowa this spring involving chemicals or liquid manure. Ken Hessenius, supervisor of the Department of Natural Resources field office in Spencer, says crop and animal producers should have an emergency plan in place in case of a spill.
He says that plan should include phone numbers to call for help and having hay bales or other items on standby to contain a spill. In some of the recent accidents, farm machinery slipped off of roads or driveways.
"Some of those drives do need to be widened to accommodate this larger equipment and the gravel roads are pretty narrow," Hessenius said. "They may pull over to let a car pass by and the shoulders, this time of year, can be very soft. So, there are a lot of places where drivers and applicators have to be real careful."
Producers that do have an accident are advised to report the spill immediately to the D.N.R. The agency has a State Emergency Spill line at (515) 281-8694. Environmental staff are on call to respond to spills 24/7. Hessenius says the D.N.R. workers can advise producers on how to clean up the spill and prevent further environmental damage.
D.N.R. officials credit quick response by a manure applicator in Butler County for preventing an accidental spill from moving downstream in a drainage ditch last week. A connection in a line used to land apply manure came undone resulting in approximately 4,000 gallons of liquid hog manure being released to a drainage ditch northeast of Parkersburg.
The applicator, Tim McCandless of Greene, constructed a berm across a ditch on the farm to keep manure from flowing downstream. The spill was contained quickly enough to prevent a potential fish kill.
Governor, fellow Democrats quibble about governor’s role in tax debate
(This story was updated at 2:23 p.m.)
Governor Chet Culver and fellow Democrats in the legislature disagree about Culver’s influence in crafting a tax bill. The legislation would reconfigure Iowa’s income tax system and has been on hold for a couple of weeks.
Late last week, House Speaker Pat Murphy told reporters the changes Governor Culver insisted upon caused at least two Democrats to switch from "yes" to "no" on the bill.
"I think that slowed down the process, or I think we would have had that bill done two weeks ago," Murphy said.
According to Murphy, 52 House Democrats had lined up in support of the concept when it was first introduced, but after the changes Culver asked for just 50 Democrats now favor of it. That means the bill is stalled since it takes 51 votes to pass legislation in the House.
During an interview with WHO-TV on Monday, Culver had a different take."The original bill only had 49 percent of Iowans getting a tax cut. We now have moved that number to 60 percent," Culver said. "I think we probably picked up some important votes — and maybe even a few Republican votes."
Iowans for Tax Relief president Ed Failor, Junior has been a leading critic of the plan and he doubts Culver’s assertion that he’s helped pick up votes for the plan.
"I think his description of that is imaginative," Failor says. "I don’t think there is any truth to it, to be frank."
House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha says Culver has not rounded up any Republican support of the plan.
"While the governor may be eager to raise taxes to support the most spending in the state’s history, he is in error that Republicans will help him with that task," Paulsen said in a prepared statement. "There are no Republicans in the House that will vote to eliminate federal deductibility. House Republicans continue to stand firm with Iowans and will not support any attempts to raise taxes on Iowa’s families."
Culver and his fellow Democrats are also struggling to agree on the governor’s "I-JOBS" borrowing plan that would finance infrastructure projects around the state.
Saturday Drake Relays tickets going fast
Saturday’s session of the Drake Relays is expected to sellout for the 44th consecutive years but there are seats remaining.
Jackie Embrey is director of ticket operations at Drake. Embrey says there are still plenty of tickets left for Saturday, but she says they are going fast and you should buy ahead of time.
Embrey says ticket sales surged when the list of high school qualifiers was released. She says they could tell over the weekend that there was a spike in internet sales, and the phones have been busy.
Embrey says at this point any tickets sold will need to be picked up at the will call window, as she says they don’t want to trust the mail to get them there on time.
Wartburg back on top of Iowa Conference baseball standings
The Wartburg baseball team has surged to the top of the Iowa Conference race. The Knights have won nine straight games after sweeping a three game series from the University of Dubuque and at 11-4, own a half game lead over second place Buena Vista. Wartburg coach Joel Holst says they started 2-4 and were playing poor defense early, and now are excited to be back on top of the race. He says his team has been playing well in all phases. Holst says they traditionally put win streaks together and are hoping for another down the stretch run. The Knights play the next five games on the road beginning with Tuesday’s doubleheader at Coe. Holst calls it "tour week" and says they need to play good baseball on the road.
Iowa Conference softball race includes 4 teams
The Iowa Conference softball race heads into the final week with four teams still in the title hunt. Wartburg controls its own destiny. The Knights are 10-2 and close out with doubleheaders against Dubuque and Luther. Central is 11-3 and has won seven straight games.
Central coach George Wares says the pitching and defense is solid and he says they have four freshmen in the lineup that are playing well and are a surprise. The Dutch close out the regular season on Tuesday against a Loras team that upended third place Luther over the weekend. He says that win over Luther opened up their eyes, and there’s not chance of looking beyond them.
Wares says there is a lot to play for. The regular season champ will play host to the conference tournament.
Luther is tied for third with Coe at 8-4 and coach Renae Hartl is not surprised the race has been this competitive. She says they are playing in the best conference in the nation in terms of having three or four teams always vying for the conference title and a chance to make the tournament.
Luther visits Buena Vista on Tuesday but Hartl says her team will not get caught looking ahead to this weekend’s showdown with Wartburg.
Hartl says they would prefer to stay at home for the conference tournament.
Mayor says President’s trip testimony to Newton’s accomplishments
President Barack Obama will travel to Newton Wednesday for his first trip to Iowa since being elected. Obama will meet with workers at Trinity Structural Towers, the business located in the former Maytag plant, which now builds towers for wind turbines.
Newton Mayor Chaz Allen says the president’s stop in Newton is a testimonial to what’s been accomplished in the community since the loss of Maytag. Allen says the community has focused on the three "E’s." He says employment, entrepreneurship, entertainment and education are the four E’s they focus on to bring business and development to Newton.
Allen says there are already a lot of examples of the development efforts. He says the Iowa Speedway is entertainment, there’s D-MACC (Des Moines Area Community College) for education, and they are proactively trying to get people let go from Maytag to "take a chance and start their own business" as a way to push entrepreneurship.
Trinity and another wind energy company, T.P.I. , have created 700 jobs in the city. Obama will hold an invitation only event at Trinity where he will discuss his comprehensive energy plan.
