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Bullock says ‘dark money’ is corrupting government

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Steve Bullock

Montana Governor Steve Bullock says “dark money” and unlimited corporate spending on elections have fundamentally changed how our government works.

“Think about this recent tax cut that happened — $1.9 trillion in debt onto our kids and grandkids. Senator Graham said: ‘We have to do this to…appease our donors,'” Bullock said today on The Des Moines Registers’ Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.

Bullock filed a lawsuit this summer challenging the IRS decision that certain political organizations known as 501(c) groups will no longer have to reveal who their donors are to the IRS.

“Think about this: now, truly a Russian couuld write a check and influence our elections. We would never even know,” Bullock said. “…This rule had been around since 1971. Richard Nixon wasn’t exactly the model of good government and transparency.”

And Bullock argued none of the big issues facing the country can be addressed until money “is no longer allowed to corrupt the system.”

Bullock spent the past couple of days campaigning with Iowa Democrats and visiting with State Fair-goers. Bullock said during his “Soapbox” speech that Democrats need to figure out how to connect with Trump voters at the local level. Bullock is the only Democratic governor who was reelected in a state Trump won in 2016.

“The Democratic Party didn’t necessarily change,” Bullock said. “We just haven’t been able to figure out the ways to be speaking to people off of the coasts and if we can’t speak the language of the people of Iowa and Michigan and Wisconsin and others, even if you can get an electoral majority, you’re never going to have a governing majority.”

Bullock, though, isn’t ready to talk about whether he’ll run for president in 2020. The two fairgoers who asked the governor questions during his “Soapbox” appearance both asked about his 2020 intentions.

“I do have a story of how I’ve been able to bring people together and I think that’s, in part, what our country desperately needs,” Bullock said and many the crowd applauded. “…Right now, what I’m doing is listening and that’s honestly as far as it goes.”

Another out-of-state Democratic office-holder visiting the fair yesterday gave a strong answer to the “will you run?” question.

“I’m not running for president,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said, with a laugh. “No, I’m not.”

Walsh said he came west to help Iowa Democratic Party candidates who’re on the 2018 ballot.

Reynolds hopes details of HBAs, cheap alternative to insurance, out soon

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Governor Kim Reynolds.

Governor Kim Reynolds today said she hopes details of the “health benefit” plans the Iowa Farm Bureau and Wellmark will offer Iowans who do not qualify for ObamaCare subsidies will be released sometime next month.

Reynolds indicated that will give Iowans time before the sign-up period starts in November to review traditional insurance versus these alternative plans for 2019 which will be cheaper because they will not meet all Affordable Care Act guidelines.

“We want Iowans to be able to see and have ample time make the decisions and move forward,” Reynolds told reporters, “so I’m just excited that we do have some options and I was proud of the legislature working in a bipartisan manner to get that done.”

In April, Reynolds signed a bill into law that allows the sale of “health benefit arrangements” that have lower premiums because things like pre-existing conditions, mammograms or pregnancies are not covered. Critics say Iowans who fall ill may be surprised when their condition isn’t covered, but Reynolds said these plans are similar to what was available and purchased by thousands of Iowans before the Affordable Care Act took effect.

Website used for Mollie Tibbetts search may be model for future missing person cases

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The state-run website set up Monday to collect tips about the disappearance of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts could be a prototype for similar missing persons cases in the future.

Governor Reynolds says the state has added another computer server to deal with the volume of traffic to Findingmollie.iowa.gov.

“It seems like they’re getting a lot of tips and there’s a lot of people going on the site…and we should do whatever we can to really help in the efforts to find her and bring her home,” Reynolds says.

The governor says in today’s world, people need to be aware of their surroundings and report suspicious behavior and a website may help investigators deal with tips about human trafficking and missing persons. As of this afternoon, the state has 377 names on its list of missing persons. Some of the cases date back to the 1970s.

Three ‘Idea Summits’ planned to discuss key rural issues

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Governor Kim Reynolds.

“Idea summits” will be held in September as three new “Empower Rural Iowa” task forces examine ways to elevate rural leaders, boost broadband access and make more housing available in rural Iowa. Nearly 180 Iowans applied to participate and about half were appointed by the governor.

“With the governor’s appointments today, our work can begin in earnest,” acting Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg said during a news conference at the State Fair. “…There are ways for the public to get involved, even if they’re not on the task forces.”

Iowans may submit ideas online  or testify at one of the three “summits.” The first is scheduled for September 6 in Holstein and will focus on connecting more Iowans to broadband service The second will be held September 7 in Mount Pleasant and explore ways to spark strategic planning and development of new leaders in rural Iowa. The third will be held in Earlham on September 14 and focus on getting more investment into rural Iowa, particularly in housing.

Sandy Ehrig, chair of the Iowa Rural Development Council, is a co-chair of the initiative. She said task force members will be asked to come to the summits with at least one written idea on how to address the topic.

“We need everybody,” Ehrig said. “It takes all of us.”

Empower Rural Iowa Executive Council

Christopher Ball, Bloomfield

David Barker, Iowa City

Sue Cosner, West Des Moines

Dave Duncan, Clive

Steve Gilbert, Leon

Hollee McCormick, Harpers Ferry

Emily Schmitt, Clear Lake

Jenae Stokesbary, Pella

Jim Thompson, Ankeny

Investing in Rural Iowa Task Force – Ex-Officios

Sec. of Ag., Mike Naig

Sen. Mark Lofgren

Sen. Tod Bowman

Rep. David Kerr

Rep. Wes Breckenridge

Investing in Rural Iowa Task Force

David Barker, Iowa City

Joanie Bond, Earlham

Hunter Callanan, Clear Lake

Jude Conway, Adel

Sue Cosner, West Des Moines

Shannon Erb, Leon

Steve Gilbert, Leon

Lisa Houser, Monroe

Kiana Johnson, Primghar

Bob Josten, Clive

Stephanie Larscheid, Livermore

Vickie Larson, Mount Pleasant

Nathan Katzer, Cumming

Joshua Merchant, Storm Lake

Chuck Morris, Clarinda

Seth Moulton, Ankeny

Wayne Pantini, Creston

Mark Reinig, Elkader

Terri Rosonke, Prairie City

Nick Sorensen, Jefferson

Sarah Thompson, Radcliffe

Bret Wedemeyer, Casey

Growing Rural Iowa Task Force – Ex-Officios

Sec. of Ag., Mike Naig

Sen. Annette Sweeney

Sen. Amanda Ragan

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann

Rep. Amy Nielsen

Growing Rural Iowa Task Force

Kathy Anderson, Johnston

Whitney Baethke, Montezuma

Stacy Besch, Algona

Jennifer Crall, Ankeny

Rob Denson, Ankeny

Effie Hill, Fort Dodge

James Hoelscher, Cedar Falls

Philip Jones, Waverly

Caleb Knutson, Hubbard

Christian Lutz, Independence

Ashley Moyer, Birmingham

Jason Neises, Dubuque

Ron Reischl, Manning

Emily Schmitt, Clear Lake

Gerry Schnepf, Johnston

Jenae Stokesbary, Pella

Sharon Stroh, Ottumwa

Mike Taylor, Adel

Jim Thompson, Ankeny

Justin Wagner, Harlan

Bethany Wilcoxon, Des Moines

Rick Young, Jewell

Connecting Rural Iowa Task Force – Ex-Officios

Sec. of Ag., Mike Naig

Sen. Jake Chapman

Sen. Kevin Kinney

Rep. Jane Bloomingdale

Rep. Phil Miller

Connecting Rural Iowa Task Force

Bill Anderson, Pierson

Barb Baker, Grinnell

Christopher Ball, Bloomfield

Ryan Boone, Sioux Center

Sandee Buysse, Riverside

Josh Byrnes, Osage

Kevin Cabbage, Stanton

Dave Duncan, Clive

Stacie Euken, Wiota

Dennis Fraise, Burlington

Caleb Housh, Seymour

Billi Hunt, Urbandale

Linc Kroeger, Des Moines

Katherine LaBree, Aplington

Danna Larson, Odebolt

Deb Lucht, Minburn

Patricia Manuel, Olin

Hollee McCormick, Harpers Ferry

Grant Menke, Ankeny

Tom Petersen, Cedar Rapids

Steve Simons, Larchwood

Stacey Stewart, Cedar Rapids

 

 

 

Applishus Apple Eggroll wins Iowa State Fair best new food prize

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The 2018 “People’s Choice” for best new food at the Iowa State Fair is the Apple Eggroll.

“We’re using the same filling that we used in our apple tacos last year, only we’re dicing the apple instead of slicing it…People are getting a change to taste the really good caramel that we’ve had for over 30 years,” says Connie Boesen, the owner of the four Applishus stands on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Her products are not frozen, but made fresh in each stand. She was in one of the stands early this morning, teaching new employees how to roll out the egg roll crust since she anticipates a boost in business due to winning the “best new food” competition.

“We have a huge repeat business for all of our product,” she says. “It’s great to see the reaction. Now, we’re just hoping we can keep rolling, keep up with it.”

Boesen’s father, Ken Fulk, was the long-time manager of the Iowa State Fair and she grew up on the fairgrounds. After running the Applishus business for more than three decades, Boesen says she still likes apples — well, a specific type of apple.

 “The reason I started this is I do not like caramel apples that were with red apples,” Boesen says. “I love Granny Smith — the tart with the sweet — and in order to come into the fair, I wanted something different, so I slice the apple, so it’s easier to eat and I found a candy company that makes a tremendous caramel.”

State Fair officials say the Brown Sugar Pork Belly on a Stick from the Iowa Pork Tent and the All Iowa Belly Up Burger from The Rib Shack were “stiff competitors” in the best new food competition.

The Apple Eggrolls are sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and deep fried, then served with caramel sauce. The price? Five dollars for two Apple Eggrolls, with caramel on the side for dipping.

State treasurer and GOP challenger cite priority projects

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Mike Fitzgerald

A former Ames City Councilman is challenging the longest-serving state treasurer in the country in this year’s General Election.

Michael Fitzgerald is seeking a 10th term. “The treasurer’s job is to keep the money safe, kind of the banker for the State of Iowa and we have kept the money safe,” Fitzgerald says.”…You know, all the times I’ve been treasurer — I’m a Democrat — there’ve been Republican auditors and there’s never a criticism of how we’ve managed the money.”

Fitzgerald says if he’s re-elected, he’ll continue lobbying Iowa legislators to create a state-managed retirement savings plan like the College Savings Iowa program.

“We have a retirement crisis in this state. If you’re in IPERS or have a pension plan, that’s great, but also there’s a lot of folks — about half the people don’t have anything when they’re 55 years of age, (they) have nothing.”

Seven other states have established state-run retirement plans that are not run with state tax dollars, but the investment portfolio is managed by state officials.

Jeremy Davis

The Republican who’s challenging Fitzgerald in 2018 is Jeremy Davis, a former aide to Congressman Steve King who served one term on the Ames City Council.

“The state treasurer is the chief revenue officer of the state,” Davis says, “but when’s the last time he reached out to Iowans and asked: ‘How do you feel your money is being spent? Is it being spent appropriately by the legislature? Is the governor introducing the type of budget that meets the needs of all Iowans?'”

Davis says if he’s elected treasurer, he’ll launch a task force to identify duplication and wasteful spending that should be eliminated at the three state universities.

“We, as the state leadership, need to make the hard discussions and the hard decisions that will ultimately help either stabilize or bring down the cost of higher educaiton in this state,” Davis says.

Davis is floating one idea already: create one financial accounting platform for all three universities.

Davis and Fitzgerald made their comments during speeches on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair.

Vice President Pence says David Young’s race may decide control of congress

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Vice President Mike Pence at an appearance in Des Moines.

Vice President Mike Pence today said there is “progress and energy” in the U.S. economy, including “better” trade deals with countries like Vietnam and Argentina. During a speech in Des Moines, though, Pence sought to allay trade war concerns in farm country.

“I’ll promise you we will never stop fighting until American farmers win like never before,” Pence said.

Pence spoke at an event sponsored by “America First Policies.” The group was created in early 2017 to promote President Trump’s agenda. Pence ran through a litany of Trump Administration actions, including “rolling back red tape,” appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices and negotiating the return of Korean War soldiers’ remains before turning to trade. Pence told the crowd the Trump Administration is fighting for a “level playing field.”

“We’ve confronted countries that frankly for too long have taken advantage of America on trade,” Pence said, “and we’ve unprecedented progress on trade deals that are free, fair and reciprocal, that put American workers and American families first.”

Pence specifically mentioned bilateral deals with Vietnam which has agreed to buy U.S. corn and wheat and for American pork sales to Argentina.

Vice President Pence talking with reporters.

“We’re working with Canada and Mexico on a re-negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement. We we’re making real progress, Iowa, I’m here to tell you,” Pence said. “We’re actually in negotiations already with Japan about a new and better trade relationship and the European Union was in just a few days ago to start the same conversation.”

Screens flanking the stage periodically flashed the message that “tax cuts to put America first” as a crowd of about 300 waited for Pence to arrive.

After his speech, Pence spoke briefly with reporters. Pence said NAFTA negotiations are “very close” to reaching a conclusion.

“As the president’s said many times, as I said today, this president, this administration are going to continue fighting for American workers and American farmers 100 percent,” Pence said.

Pence was in Iowa in July to help Republican Congressman Rod Blum of Dubuque raise money. Pence headlined a private fundraiser today for Republican Congressman David Young of Van Meter. Pence told reporters Young’s race against Democrat Cindy Axne has national significance.

“There’s no quetion that Congressman Young’s district and that election may be one of the elections that decides control of congress,” Pence told reporters. “And for Americans who like what we’ve been able to do…we need Congressman David Young back in Washington, D.C. to continue that agenda.”

The Iowa Democratic Party held a news conference about two hours before Pence’s public appearance in Des Moines. They accused the Trump Administration of sacrificing farmers’ finances to a trade war that “is about to destroy our state.”

 

King says farmers want EPA action on ethanol, not $12 billion aide package

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Congressman Steve King.

Republican Congressman Steve King today said the best thing the Trump Administration could do to alleviate farmers’ angst about the trade war would be to allow higher percentages of ethanol to be blended into gasoline year-round.

“Let the market determine what that blend could be It could go E15, E20, E30, all the way up to E85,” King said. “If the administration does that, I will tell you our producers here would be happy and they would be a lot happier than the promise of $12 billion distributed. They want to earn and they want to trade.”

King met privately Monday evening with EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. King said Wheeler is trying to strike a deal that will placate the ethanol and oil industries.

“Administrator Wheeler is cautious. He’s afraid that if he opens up the door for E15 and beyond that there will be litigation,” King said. “The argument I made to him strongly is if you’re trying to get two stakeholders to agree, the one that already holds the advantage is never going to agree, so you have to go ahead and do what’s right.”

King is among those attending an event featuring Vice President Mike Pence this afternoon in Des Moines. King said the 2017 tax bill was an early Christmas present that is still giving and has created confidence and optimism in the business community.

“The cloud that looms over us is the one of “where does trade take us?'” King said. “But many of them say, ‘I’m willing to ride this thing out if we get a better deal on the other side.'”

King spoke with reporters before the event started. King said he’s warned the Trump Administration things “will get pretty tense” in Iowa if there’s no progress on trade deals by the time soybeans are maturing in September.

Secretary of State Pate says hackers cannot alter votes on paper ballots

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Secretary of State Paul Pate.

Secretary of State Paul Pate — the commisioner of Iowa elections — said Tuesday there is no way for hackers to alter votes in Iowa because every one of the state’s voters cast a paper ballot.

“In Iowa, we don’t vote on the internet…so you can’t be voting from Moscow, Russia. You can’t. The only ones that I would let vote from Moscow are the folks from Moscow, Iowa,” Pate said. “That’s it.”

Pate spoke yesterday on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. Pate warned the crowd “bad actors” on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook may try to sow doubt about election results.

“(They) will use propaganda to create that doubt in your minds. They want to undermine so you don’t believe the voting results…We cannot allow them to do that,” Pate said. “We work every day — the (county) auditors, the poll workers, myself…Homeland Security — we’re dealing with all these partners to try and make sure we do the very best to give you that assurance and we’re not going to stop.”

Pate, a Republican, served one term as secretary of state in the 1990s and returned to office in 2015. He is seeking reelection this year to a third term as secretary of state. His Democratic opponent, Deidre DeJear. Last week, DeJear accused Pate of not doing enough to secure voter registration information that is computerized, as recent news from the investigation of Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 election revealed Russian operatives visited the websites of some Iowa counties.

Pate said new voter ID requirements will address that, as voters show a driver’s license, a military or tribal ID, a passport or voter registration card at their polling place.

“It gives us the crucial information to make sure you’re voting in the right location and you are who you say you are,” Pate said. “Ninety-two of our 99 counties already have E-poll books and this card or one type of ID that we’ve authorized are the key to it.”

The voter ID requirement takes effect in 2019. For the 2018 election, Iowans who do not show an ID at their polling place may sign an oath verifying their identity and will be allowed to cast a ballot.

Reynolds says electing her will K.I.M. — Keep Iowa Moving

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Governor Kim Reynolds.

Governor Kim Reynolds today said the state’s low unemployment rate and the tax cuts she signed into law this spring show Iowa is on the right track with Republican leadership.

“And I’ve got something to tell you: we we’re just getting started,” Reynolds said. “We are never going to be satisfied with the status quo. There is so much potential and capacity that exists in this state and we’re excited about continuing the momentum.”

Reynolds spoke late this afternoon on The Des Moines Register’s Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. She did not mention her Democratic opponent Fred Hubbell by name, but did blast Democrats in general.

“We have a lot of positive things happening in Iowa and I know the other side wants to think everything’s doom and gloom and Iowa’s going to hell in a handbasket and I’m sorry. It is not,” Reynolds said and, as the crowd cheered, she continued: “No, it’s not!”

Reynolds has been governor for about 14-and-a-half months and emphasized the history made when she took the oath of office.

Governor Kim Reynolds spoke at the Iowa State Fair Tuesday.

“And today serve Iowans at the highest level as the first female governor of the great state of Iowa,” Reynolds said, to applause and cheers.

Reynolds touted the new state law authorizing “health benefit plans” to be sold by the Iowa Farm Bureau as a cheaper alternative to traditional insurance. Reynolds said it’s part of the “bold and ambitious agenda” that cleared the 2018 legislature.

“Keep Iowa Moving — K.I.M. — in the right direction,” Reynolds said near the end of her speech. “If you listen to what my opponent wants to do, he wants to reverse every single positive thing that we’ve done.”

Reynolds told the crowd her husband, Kevin, had an appendectomy at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. He was released from the hospital by Tuesday afternoon.

“I just want to thank the doctors, the surgeons and the nurses who did such a phenomenal job of taking care of Kevin,” Reynold said. “He’s back home already and he’s going hunting in two weeks, so that’s all he’s cared about. He wants to make sure he’s in good shape and can head off and go elk hunting.”

Kevin Reynolds retired a year ago after working as a district conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.