Republican budget plan could derail Iowa City-Chicago line

Terry Branstad: The pre-inauguration interview
Following is an edited transcript of Register political writer Thomas Beaumont’s interview with Gov.-elect Terry Branstad on Monday: Q: What have you learned about the Budget that you didn’t know during the campaign? Well, we found out more of the specifics. We knew they used a lot of one-time money for ongoing expenses. Medicaid, of course, is the biggest problem because that is an entitlement program. Pays Health Care for low-income Iowans, and there’s a significant shortfall in that budg

State Parks Crumbling Amid Recession
Chris Blank of the AP writes about maintenance delays at State Parks due to lack of funds: At State Parks across the nation, this is the toll of the deepening Budget Crisis and years of financial neglect: crumbling roads, faltering roofs, deteriorating restrooms. Electrical and sewer systems are beginning to give out, too, as are scores of park buildings, some of them built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. In a few places, aging bridges have been detoured and tun...

House GOP rolls out savings ideas for Iowa
Iowa's voluntary preschool program would be eliminated, State Employees would have to pay Health Care premiums, and family planning services would be scaled back under a proposal Iowa House Republicans released on Monday. Republicans also want to ax money for business incentive programs, new passenger train service between Iowa City and Chicago, and core educational Curriculum standards. The proposed Taxpayers First Act would affect broad swaths of spending and policy. If all of the bill's pro...

Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, & ...
When House leadership gathers at St. Peter's on Capitol Hill tomorrow morning for what's billed as a Bipartisan prayer service, . . . Go Two familiar Republican names are reportedly considering bids against Incumbent Democrat senators in 2012. In Hawaii, the departing two-term Governor, Linda . . . Go Ohio, like so many states, is facing a huge Budget Deficit. Ohio State University president Gordon Gee is trying to . . . Go Or so they say. I say: You wish. – Kevin D. Williamson ...

Bar owner drops lawsuit against Iowa City
Iowa City, Ia. - The owner of an Iowa City bar has decided to drop his federal Lawsuit against the city. Mike Porter filed the Lawsuit a year ago, targeting a city policy on liquor licenses for bars that allowed Underage customers. Among other provisions, the policy denied liquor licenses to bars with Underage patrons ticketed for possessing Alcohol at a rate higher than one citation per visit by an officer. ...

'After the Binge'
Here’s my column today on the looming Budget fight. A couple of things I couldn’t get into: People may not realize, but it’s going to be impossible to get down to ’08 domestic discretionary levels this year with the Fiscal ’11 budget. A lot of money has already been spent from a roughly $500 billion kitty, so getting $100 billion out of what’s remaining isn’t particularly plausible. The rubber will hit the road with the Fiscal ’12 budget. Going for...

Government Uncertainty Hurts (High Speed Rail) Business
This played out over the holidays so I’m a bit late in coming to it, but Spanish train manufacturer Talgo is converting their new plant in Milwaukee to a maintenance facility set to employ far fewer people following the cancellation of the planned high speed rail line to Madison (and eventually to the Twin Cities) by new Gov. Scott Walker (R). Walker ran against the rail plan and expressed concerns that a Federal Grant of $810 million would commit the state to unaffordable maintenance cos...

Judge Rules Rahm Can Run
A Cook County Judge has ruled that you can take the Rahm out of Chicago, but you can’t take the Chicago out of Rahm. When House leadership gathers at St. Peter's on Capitol Hill tomorrow morning for what's billed as a Bipartisan prayer service, . . . Go Two familiar Republican names are reportedly considering bids against Incumbent Democrat senators in 2012. In Hawaii, the departing two-term Governor, Linda . . . Go Ohio, like so many states, is facing a huge Budget Deficit. Ohio...

Iowa GOPer Branstad: Don't Impeach State Justices Over Gay Marriage
Gov.-elect Terry Branstad (R-IA) has now taken a firm position on a push by some State Legislators from his party to impeach state Supreme Court Justices who legalized same-sex marriage: He's against it. As the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports: "I don't think that Impeachment is the appropriate remedy," Branstad said in an interview. ... "I think if you look and read the Constitution, which I have, I think it's pretty obvious. The Constitution says what the grounds for Impeachment are. My reading ...

Activists to Branstad: Keep current voting rights rule
A coalition of about 20 Activist groups asked Gov.-elect Terry Branstad on Monday not to follow through on a pledge to rescind an Executive Order that automatically restores Voting Rights to ex-convicts. The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, sent a letter to Branstad expressing support for a statewide policy adopted in 2005. That's when Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack issued a blanket order restoring voting r...

Iowa Politics Insider: State budget report contains limited audit
An annual state financial report released Monday for the second year in a row contains a limited audit, which some have previously said jeopardizes Iowa's credit Ratings. The comprehensive annual financial report is considered the baseline of Financial Statements for State Government and allows investors to compare states' finances. Auditor David Vaudt said he did not perform sufficient audit procedures in completing the report, because of financial cutbacks in his office.

Judicial Retention and the Missouri Plan: Thoughts from Iowa
Thanks to Dan and crew for inviting me back, I’m thrilled to be here.  I am just about to send out a short online-type piece explaining some of my thoughts about the judicial retention Elections last month here in Iowa.  As you probably know, a coalition of social Conservatives managed to vote out the three Iowa Supreme Court justices that were up for retention last month.  This, of course, was a retaliation vote for last year’s unanimous decision upholding Same-Sex...

Taxi!
Two familiar Republican names are reportedly considering bids against Incumbent Democrat senators in 2012. In Hawaii, the departing two-term Governor, Linda . . . Go Ohio, like so many states, is facing a huge Budget Deficit. Ohio State University president Gordon Gee is trying to . . . Go Or so they say. I say: You wish. – Kevin D. Williamson is deputy managing editor of National Review and author of . . . Go The Media Needs George Clooney to Stay Focused on Genocide? Over at The Atlan...

re: Toomey Looks to Move the Center of Gravity
Conservatives who still hold grudges against Rick Santorum for supporting Arlen Specter might finally find a little forgiveness in their hearts? Two familiar Republican names are reportedly considering bids against Incumbent Democrat senators in 2012. In Hawaii, the departing two-term Governor, Linda . . . Go Ohio, like so many states, is facing a huge Budget Deficit. Ohio State University president Gordon Gee is trying to . . . Go Or so they say. I say: You wish. – Kevin D. Williamson i...

The Hot Dog Hallmark
By John J. Pitney Jr. After his inauguration yesterday, California Governor Jerry Brown attended a “People’s Inauguration Party” sponsored by the Orange County Employees Association. He disappointed the crowd when he failed to give a Speech, but nevertheless, according to the Sacramento Bee, union General Manager Nick Berardino gave him high marks: “He came out and had a hot dog, him and his wife, right where the people were standing and right where the people were e...

Terry Branstad: The pre-inauguration interview
Following is an edited transcript of Register political writer Thomas Beaumont’s interview with Gov.-elect Terry Branstad on Monday: Q: What have you learned about the Budget that you didn’t know during the campaign? Well, we found out more of the specifics. We knew they used a lot of one-time money for ongoing expenses. Medicaid, of course, is the biggest problem because that is an entitlement program. Pays Health Care for low-income Iowans, and there’s a significant shortfall in that budg

Whole Foods is eyeing D.M. metro
Officials in Des Moines and West Des Moines are pitching locations for Iowa's first Whole Foods Market store with the possibility that a decision could be announced as early as next month. "We have looked at a number of sites in Des Moines for a couple of years," Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Klotz said Monday, although she declined to discuss specific locations. Local officials said the leading site appears to be the Water Tower Place Shopping Center at 4100 University Ave. in West Des Moines....

Cantor: Hill's Budget Office Fudged Health Costs
In his first weekly news conference as the incoming House Majority Leader, Representative Eric Cantor, Republican of Virginia, accused the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office of misrepresenting the cost of the recently enacted Health Care law at the behest of the outgoing Democratic majority in Congress. House Republicans have already put forward Legislation to Repeal the Health Care law and say they will force a vote on it as their first major action in the House majority. But Mr. Cantor ...

Democrats Will Demagogue GOP Budget Cuts
The incoming House Republican majority plans to throw down its $100 billion fiscal gauntlet on the area of the federal Budget known as nondefense Discretionary Spending—that is, everything except Military and Veterans appropriations, Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. This is risky—as any package of spending reductions must be—but potentially brilliant. [Read more about the Deficit and National Debt.] It will satiate the Tea Party base’s appetite for “smalle...

The Most Important Races of 2011
The Houston Chronicle has a list of the 11 most important races in the off-year 2011 election cycle. Among the top contests are for Chicago mayor, three races for Governor and the Iowa Republican presidential Straw Poll set for August 14. ...

City gets only 1 bid for Taste of Chicago
The Sun-Times reports: Taste of Chicago patrons would pay a $20 admission fee--and up to $65-a-head for a music stage that draws the biggest-name talent--if City Hall accepts the only bid it got to take over lakefront festivals. That bid came from Celebrate Chicago LLC, a heavy-hitting joint-venture comprised of the Illinois Restaurant Association and two of the biggest names in the production of live entertainment: Chicago-based JAM Productions and AEG Live. Celebrate Chicago wants to boost sa...

Pelosi says 'no regrets' on last day as speaker
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday said she has no regrets on her last day as House Speaker, a reign that lasted four years and is ending after the November Elections. Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said she looks forward to leading a loyal but tenacious opposition in the House. She started by calling Republicans hypocrites for trying to Repeal the new Health Care law, which would increase the Deficit. Rep. John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, will be sworn in as the new speake...

Subsidy transparency a must
Governor-elect Scott Walker comes to office having made three chief promises: More transparent Government Spending, greater accountability to prevent waste and more jobs. Especially in hard economic times, these three undertakings are interconnected. Every public dollar wasted could have been used to make Wisconsin a more successful place to grow jobs and must otherwise be shouldered by Taxpayers. Transparency, meanwhile, remains the best way to make programs more efficient and accountable to ...

NY-based Allcare dental chain closes unexpectedly
A New York-based dental chain has unexpectedly shut its offices nationwide because of apparent cash-flow problems. Patients in states including New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and New Hampshire report going to Allcare Dental & Dentures offices for scheduled appointments over the last couple of days and finding the doors closed. Closings were also reported in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A call Tuesday to Allcare's chief executive, David Pennington, hasn't been returned and the company's website is d...

NY-based Allcare dental chain closes unexpectedly
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A New York-based dental chain has unexpectedly shut its offices nationwide because of apparent cash-flow problems. Patients in states including New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and New Hampshire report going to Allcare Dental & Dentures offices for scheduled appointments over the last couple of days and finding the doors closed. Closings were also reported in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A call Tuesday to Allcare's chief executive, David Pennington, hasn't been returned and the com...