When Republicans Say Middle Class, They Mean Millionaires

I find it really annoying when Republicans say they want to help the middle class, but actually mean millionaires.

From Matthew Yglesias...

On Sunday, Mitch McConnell’s proposed cutting the 25 percent income tax rate to 15 percent, which he described as a move to help the middle class. As usual with conservative tax proposals, this is true as long as you see “the middle class” as primarily composed of extremely wealthy people. Ben Furnas points to new analysis from the Tax Policy Center:

As economic stimulus, meanwhile, anything that — like McConnell’s proposal — would do nothing at all for folks earning less than $40,000 is a terrible idea. You need to direct tax relief at people who have a high propensity to spend a marginal dollar, even in a climate when there are some deflationary expectations. That means first poor people, second middle class people, and not at all the $2.8 million a year crowd that McConnell’s trying to help out.

Who will Democrats Pick to Be Chair of the State Party?

With six candidates running, the race for chair of the Republican Party of Iowa has conservative blogs buzzing.  Yesterday, John Deeth wrote about who might be the next chair of the Iowa Democratic Party and what their goals might be.  

Maybe it's because the party chair seems to matter less when you control the White House, Congress, and the state government trifecta. And maybe it's because when you're in power, the opinions of those in power matter. 

In Iowa, that means Governor Culver and Senator Harkin. They'll have strong opinions, and for most of the election cycle they'll be otherwise busy. Culver will be focused on the re-election and Harkin, fresh off re-elect, will be busier in Washington with a friendly Administration.

One of the names in the mix is Patty Judge, which would take the IDP the route it went in the Vilsack era, with the lieutenant governor serving as party chair. But Sally Pederson didn't move in as party chair until after the re-election, and there's an inherent conflict as IDP interests and Culver-Judge interests may not always be identical. 

Other names in the mix have included Becky Greenwald and former Mike Blouin running mate and leading Hillary backer Andrea McGuire. Either would be a solid fundraiser and spokesperson.. But if Greenwald wants to take another shot at Latham, she's out, and McGuire's unlikely to get support from the governor.

One thing that seems likely: this will be figured out ahead of time and presented as a fait accompli, without the campaign web sites and public debates that we've seen in the Republican race. The grassroots influence, if any, will be less on the name and more on the direction.

LS Power Pulls the Plug on Waterloo Coal Plant

It was announced today that LS Power is pulling the plug on plans for a coal-fired power plant in Waterloo after they lost a major funder last week.

LS POWER AFFILIATE WILL FOREGO FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ELK RUN ENERGY STATION
01/06/2009

WATERLOO, IOWA (January 6, 2009) - LS Power affiliate, Elk Run Energy Associates, LLC, announced today that it will forego further development of the Elk Run Energy Station in Waterloo, Iowa.

Given the slowing load growth in the region due to the current downturn in the U.S. economy, and the fact that LS Power has more advanced projects under development in the region that could serve the same need, the Company will redirect its development efforts to other projects.

This is a great victory for Community Energy Solutions, the community group that organized against the coal plant and provided information about the environmental, health, and economic dangers of coal plants.

The focus now turns to the proposed coal plant in Marshalltown. Will Alliant feel the same economic pressure as LS Power and pull the plug?

Pissed Off

From Andrew Sullivan...

"Some people are p-ssed off at [Americans for Tax Reform President] Grover [Norquist]. Some people are p-ssed off at the Conservative Steering Committee. Some people are p-ssed off at [current RNC chair] Mike Duncan. Some people are p-ssed off at social conservatives. The social conservatives are p-ssed at leaders in Congress. Everyone is basically p-ssed," - a Republican consultant who has worked with the RNC on the leadership contest.

Iowan Named Executive Director of DNC

Bleeding Heartland has the news that Jennifer O'Malley Dillon will be named the executive director of the DNC.  

O'Malley Dillon has strong Iowa ties...

Many Iowans know O'Malley Dillon from her work on John Edwards' presidential campaigns. She worked in field before the 2004 caucuses and was Edwards' Iowa campaign director before the 2008 caucuses. After Edwards left the presidential race, she became the director of battleground states strategy for Obama's campaign.

O'Malley Dillon is married to Patrick Dillon, whom she met while both worked on Edwards' first presidential campaign here. Patrick Dillon later managed Chet Culver's gubernatorial campaign andbecame the governor's chief of staff.

This is great news for O'Malley Dillon and probably solidifies the Iowa Cacuses's first in the nation status.

Financial Support for Waterloo Coal Plant Fizzles

Over the weekend, desmoinesdem at Bleeding Heartland posted that a financial partner backed out on the proposed coal-fired power plant in Waterloo.

From the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier...

The future of a proposed coal-fired power plant near Waterloo became a little cloudier Friday when Texas-based Dynegy Inc. announced that it and New Jersey-based LS Power Associates were dissolving their joint venture to develop that plant and others in several states.

The move transfers to LS Power full ownership and developmental rights associated with various "greenfield" projects in several states, including the 750-megawatt Elk Run Energy Station proposed for construction northeast of Waterloo.

[...]

Separation from Dynegy puts the Elk Run plans in doubt, said Don Shatzer, a member of Community Energy Solutions, which opposes the Elk Run Energy project.

"LS Power has no experience developing/operating coal plants and so is unlikely to proceed (without) a new partner," Shatzer said in an e-mail note.

According to Bleeding Heartland, Dynegy's stock shot up 19 percent in one day after they pulled out of the joint venture with LS Power.

I am not sure exactly sure about the plans for the proposed coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown. The DNR was supposed to hear public comments about coal plant in September, but that hasn't happened yet. I have heard that the flooding over the summer might have something to do with that, but I also heard Alliant's investors aren't exactly in a hurry to continue the permit process.

Bill Richardson Withdraws as Commerce Secretary

From MSNBC...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

He said he plans to continue in his role as governor.

This is too bad. I thought Richardson was a nice guy when I met him campaigning prior to the Iowa caucuses. The Commerce Secretary will be a very important position with the economy doing so badly and Richardson had a lot of experience to bring to the table.

Bigger Than Bush

Paul Krugman writes about the demise of the Republican Party. He says they have become a party of whiners...

But most of the whining takes the form of claims that the Bush administration’s failure was simply a matter of bad luck — either the bad luck of President Bush himself, who just happened to have disasters happen on his watch, or the bad luck of the G.O.P., which just happened to send the wrong man to the White House.

The fault, however, lies not in Republicans’ stars but in themselves. Forty years ago the G.O.P. decided, in effect, to make itself the party of racial backlash. And everything that has happened in recent years, from the choice of Mr. Bush as the party’s champion, to the Bush administration’s pervasive incompetence, to the party’s shrinking base, is a consequence of that decision.

Krugman goes on to explain that the Southern Strategy has run its course...

“Government is not the solution to our problem,” declared Ronald Reagan. “Government is the problem.” So why worry about governing well?Where did this hostility to government come from? In 1981 Lee Atwater, the famed Republican political consultant, explained the evolution of the G.O.P.’s “Southern strategy,” which originally focused on opposition to the Voting Rights Act but eventually took a more coded form: “You’re getting so abstract now you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites.” In other words, government is the problem because it takes your money and gives it to Those People.

Krugman concludes that the Republican Party is left with no clear political strategy...

That’s why the soon-to-be-gone administration’s failure is bigger than Mr. Bush himself: it represents the end of the line for a political strategy that dominated the scene for more than a generation.

1 Year After Winning Iowa Caucuses, the Obama's Head to D.C.

Today, Barack Obama's family moves to Washington D.C.

One year ago Barack Obama path to the White House began by winning the Iowa Caucuses. Thanks to a record number of Democrats turning out to participate in what can only be called pure democracy, Obama defeated the Clinton machine and the Edwards organization.

This was my first experience with the Iowa Caucuses and, though the caucuses has some faults, was amazed at the entire process. To go along with desmoinesdems post at Bleeding Heartland, here's my report from my precinct. This comment to that post sums up Obama's victory and explains how Obama defeated Clinton...

I think the whole story of what happened in the caucuses is encapsulated right there. Out of 66 people who were not supporting viable candidates,, 22 went Edwards, 19 went Obama and 4 for Clinton and that, for whatever reason, Hillary lost the caucuses during the realignment period.

Roadmap to Economic Recovery Town Hall Meeting Saturday in Des Moines

Iowa Citizen's Action Network is sponsoring a town hall meeting on the topic of economic recovery this Saturday from 10:30 to noon. The event takes places in Des Moines at the Bidwell Riverside Center at 1203 Hartford.

Here's more info...

WHO:
The Economic Recovery Alliance (ERA), a collaborative made up of USAction, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), and a broad coalition of local groups includingIowa Citizen Action Network, AFSCME, Iowa United Methodist Conference, American Friends Service Committee, Communication Workers of America, NASW-Iowa Chapter; South Central Federation of Labor-AFL/CIO, RESULTS, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Des Moines, Iowa Global Warming and Working Families Win.

WHAT:
A Town Hall, featuring local experts presenting the causes of the economic crisis, testimony about the impacts of the crisis in our community, a call to action for economic recovery to public officials.

WHY:
America is in need of a fundamental reshaping of national public policy to promote the economic interest and well-being of working families through improved employment opportunities, greater access to affordable financial services, and enhanced economic mobility. This call to action represents the first steps to economic recovery: 1) foreclosure mitigation and addressing the hardest hit communities 2) accountable financial regulation and 3) economic recovery for working families.

Should Iowa Ban Junk Food from Schools?

The Iowa Board of Education is thinking about banning junk food from schools in an attempt to teach healthier eating habits. However, opponents say that snack bars are big money makers in cafeterias.

Now, I thought banning junk food was a pretty drastic step. Then I read this...

''I don't think anybody should tell you what you can and can't eat,'' said Megan Brady, 15, a student at Valley Southwoods Freshman High School in West Des Moines. ''That's horrible.''

Brady skips the lunch line nearly every day to buy vanilla ice cream and shortbread cookies from the snack bar.

If you are eating ice cream and cookies for lunch everyday then someone needs to tell you what you can and can't eat.

Ideally, a system could be put into place where a student can buy ice cream sundaes or nachos only after they buy a more healthy main dish.

Students need to learn about a balance diet and it seems schools could get creative and come up with point systems, punch cards, or tickets that could be used for students to earn a trip to the snack bar.

Jib Jab Year in Review