February 9, 2012

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Vander Plaats: no moderate, liberal running mate

September 8, 2009 By

Republican candidate Bob Vander Plaats says it’s too early to say who he might pick as a lieutenant governor running mate if he wins the G.O.P.’s 2010 gubernatorial nomination. But Vander Plaats is making his objectives clear and in the process is taking a shot at former Governor Terry Branstad, the four-term Republican governor who is mulling the idea of leaving his job as president of Des Moines University and running for a fifth term.

Branstad picked Joy Corning, a supporter of abortion rights, as his running mate in 1990 and ’94. Vander Plaats says he supports a "culture of life" and you won’t see him picking someone who doesn’t share that philosophy.

"I’m not looking to balance the ticket with somebody who is moderate or liberal or who doesn’t believe in those core values like I do," Vander Plaats says. "Hopefully they will bring different assets to the ticket, but they will believe in those core values."

Vander Plaats voted for Branstad in 1990 and 1994, despite Joy Corning’s presence on the ticket as Branstad’s lieutenant governor running mate.

"I did not withhold my vote from Governor Branstad because of his choice of Lieutenant Governor Corning," Vander Plaats says. "And to be quite frank with you when I voted for Governor Branstad both those times, I don’t think I knew who Joy Corning was, you know, that well."

Vander Plaats has no plan to announce his running mate this far in advance of the June primary, but Vander Plaats says they must share his opinion on core issues like gun rights, immigration and gay marriage as well as on abortion.

"The people that are voting for you, the people that you’re serving as their leader — they need to trust you first," Vander Plaats says. "And if you can’t be trusted on where do you stand on life; where do you stand on marriage; where do you stand on immigration; where do you stand on the second amendment; where do you stand on on state sovereignty; where do you stand on those core values, those core principles — why would they ever give you an opportunity to lead this state?"

Vander Plaats ran for governor in 2002 and lost in the Republican primary. Vander Plaats ran again in 2006, but ended his own campaign before the primary and signed on as Jim Nussle’s running mate. On Tuesday, Vander Plaats officially declared himself a competitor for the G.O.P.’s 2010 nomination for governor.

 

 

 

AUDIO: Vander Plaats news conf…23 min MP3

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

New rules considered for colleges dealing with student loans

April 7, 2008 By

State lawmakers are considering a new code of conduct for colleges and lenders handling student loans. Legislators started raising concerns last fall, fearing Iowa’s universities were working too closely with a private student loan agency and failing to encourage students to shop around for the lowest interest rates.

A bill pending in the Iowa House would prohibit Iowa colleges from accepting gifts from lenders. It would also require more public disclosure. Eric Tabor, the Iowa Attorney General’s chief of staff, calls it common sense reform. ”It is basically consumer protection for students and their families to make sure they’re getting the best loans out there and that there (are) not inappropriate relationships between lenders and schools,” Tabor says.

Iowa lenders say the legislation may be too restrictive and it could result in fewer loans being offered to students. The bill would prohibit Iowa colleges from promising lenders a certain number of student borrowers. Steve McCullough, the C.E.O. of the Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation, warns that kind of a deal is often struck to get lenders to take on higher-risk student loan applicants. “To do no harm is what we would really like and to make sure that students that would have otherwise have to drop out of school because they couldn’t get loans this fall are able to do so,” McCullough says.

According to McCullough, much of the bill is unnecessary because it mirrors federal legislation moving through congress. Representative Vicki Lensing, a Democrat for Iowa City, says that doesn’t mean the state shouldn’t move forward. ”It’s a national concern and so we’re trying to not do anything in the state that would jeopardize what the feds are doing,” Lensing says. “On the other hand because of all the concerns we’re trying to make sure that our state laws will protect parents and families looking into student loans but also to make sure that they have the tools they need to get higher education.”

The bill faces an uncertain future as it hasn’t even cleared a committee in the House and it’s among a variety of issues lawmakers might jettison as they wrap up the 2008 legislative session in the next couple of weeks.

 

Filed Under: Business, Education Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Congressman says Planned Parenthood info to teens is "pornographic", wants funding pulled

March 5, 2008 By

Iowa Congressman Steve King wants to pull the plug on federal funding for Planned Parenthood because of its website aimed at providing sex-oriented information to teens. King, a Republican from Kiron, says he’s disturbed by some of the items available which he considers obscene.

King says, “There are clinical drawings that can go on the webpage if that’s supposed to be educational and if they’re pictures, then I view that as pornographic.” He opposes teens having unsupervised access to such materials, saying the organization’s website for teen sex information goes too far.

King says: “I don’t think Planned Parenthood has any business engaging in the moral standard. If it’s clinical, that’s one thing and if they’re advocating for an agenda, that’s another.” Planned Parenthood receives about 315-million dollars in federal grants and contracts. King admits he’ll have an uphill battle in Congress to try and cut some the money — and says it may be next to impossible.

King says, “To cut funding from an organization, then you get into the debate of do they provide a lot of other services that people don’t want to be accused of shutting off.” He objects to the sections on Planned Parenthood’s website that focus on teenage sexuality and which provide information about such things as alternate sexual lifestyles, abortion and different forms of contraception other than abstinence.

The president and C.E.O. of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa disagrees with Congressman  King. Jill June says King’s objections to teenwire.dot.com are unfounded.

“Congressman King objects to sexuality education for young people,” June says, “we think that it’s much better to be sure that young people have information and not stick our head in the sand about what’s going on in the world today.” She says they’re providing medically accurate information about human sexuality and human reproduction, which most people think is a smart thing to do.

“Teenwire-dot-com is a site that is provided through our doctors and medical professionals to be sure that young people know about condoms, how to use condoms, how to take care of themselves and how to make good decisions about sexuality,” June says, “this is not obscene information. This is sexuality education.” She says the pictures used on the website are clinical and couldn’t be mistaken for porn.

June says, “Most people do not find this offensive. Most people find that this is necessary information so that as you grow up and become an adult, the curiosities you have about your body can be accurately addressed. Kids want information about their bodies and we as parents want to be sure that information is accurate.” She encourages people to go to the “teenwire” website and judge for themselves. 

Filed Under: Education, Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Legislation would block taxpayer-funded abortions

March 18, 2004 By

Poor Iowa women carrying a deformed fetus would not be able to get an abortion at taxpayers’ expense under legislation pending at the statehouse. Under current law, a poor woman can get a taxpayer-financed abortion at the University Hospitals in Iowa City if the fetus is deformed or has a congenital illness. But a proposal included in the republican-crafted budget plan would end that practice. Republican Representative Cecil Dolecheck of Mount Ayr says an abortion shouldn’t be deemed “medically necessary” if the unborn child has some sort of defect. Dolecheck says he “has a lot of constituency out there that does not feel we should be using public dollars for that purpose,” in other words, to abort a deformed fetus. Dolecheck says the proposal does not prevent a woman from aborting a deformed fetus, it just means taxpayer dollars can’t be used. He says a “medically necessary” abortion is a “choice in every sense of the word.” Judith Rutledge, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, says since 1973 Iowa law has allowed poor women to get a taxpayer-funded abortion if the baby they’re carrying is deformed. Rutledge says it’s worked for over 30 years and “there is absolutely no reason to change the language now.” Rutledge says if a poor woman’s told she’s carrying a baby that has no brain, she’ll have to deliver that baby. Rutledge says that’s “discriminatory” and “punitive.” Rutledge says very few “medical necessary” abortions are paid for with tax dollars, and they’re not being done for “insignificant defects” like a cleft palate. Rutledge says “these are decisions that should be left up to physicians and families and not politicians.” Anti-abortion groups have been pushing lawmakers to outlaw all taxpayer-funded abortions. Under the proposal, poor women could still get public-financed abortion in cases of rape, incest, a spontaneous abortion or if the poor woman’s life is endangered by her pregnancy.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Court issues stay in Planned Parenthood case

August 6, 2002 By

Planned Parenthood has won at least a temporary reprieve from a demand for pregnancy test records from its Storm Lake clinic. A dead baby boy was found in a Storm Lake recycling center in May, and Buena Vista County authorities are trying to track down the baby’s mother. The County Attorney went to court to get Planned Parenthood to turn over the names of women who sought pregnancy tests. A district court judge ordered Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa president Jill June to turn over the records by August 17, but the Iowa Supreme Court has issued what’s called a stay, a legal ruling which temporarily sets aside that deadline. Planned Parenthood argues the records should be kept confidential. Sandra Suarez, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa’s staff attorney, says the stay puts the ball back in the county’s court. She says the motion for the stay is temporary, giving Buena Vista County officials until August 19 to respond as to why they believe Planned Parenthood should release the records. Suarez says the county can respond to the stay, or let it stand. She says if the county does not resist the stay, they won’t have to turn over the records until the appeal is decided. Suarez believes Planned Parenthood will eventually win the case, because she says the information is part of private medical records protected by law. Buena Vista County Attorney Philip Havens has not returned a Radio Iowa phone call on the issue.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,

Planned Parenthood will fight ruling on records

July 18, 2002 By

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa plans to fight a ruling in northwest Iowa over the confidentiality of pregnancy records at its Storm Lake clinic. This week, district judge Frank Nelson ruled the agency must turn over by August 17th records requested by the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Department. The records are being sought in connection with the investigation of the death of a newborn baby, discovered May 30th at the Harold Rowley Recycling Center south of Storm Lake. The department has requested the names, addresses, and birth dates of women whose pregnancy tests were positive at the Storm Lake clinic between August 15th and May 30th. Planned Parenthood official Jill June says they will appeal the decision to the Iowa Supreme Court, saying the records are confidential.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine Tagged With: ,

Planned Parenthood President visits Des Moines for fundraiser

March 6, 2002 By

The president of Planned Parenthood of America came to Des Moines last night for a fundraiser for Iowa’s “Freedom fund” and its political action committee. Gloria Feldt says the group supports the re-election of Iowa senator Tom Harkin. She says Harkin is an important person with influence who has shown support for “a woman’s right to choose.” Feldt says when Harkin called for a “sense of the Senate” vote, 51 senators voted that they would uphold legal abortion. Jill June with Planned Parenthood of Iowa says a measure passed this week by the Iowa house would expose doctors to criminal prosecution if they don’t tell women the things that are mandated as “information.”She says women who suffer rape or incest must be told by a doctor that the child they bear could be supported by the father, and the woman is not allowed in the bill to refuse the information. June says the bill intrudes in the doctor-patient relationship.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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