Stephen Burgmeier Receives Republican Nomination in House District 90

Stephen Burgmeier receives Republican nomination in Special Election

Iowa GOP’s Strawn: “We are in it to win it”

Des Moines, IA – Republican Party of Iowa State Chairman Matt Strawn tonight welcomed Stephen Burgmeier as the Republican candidate in the Special Election to fill the vacancy in Iowa House District 90. Strawn said, “Stephen Burgmeier is an outstanding candidate and my pledge as State Party Chairman to him is that we are in it to win it.

“This is clearly a lean Democrat district and presents a big challenge for Iowa Republicans. President Obama carried it by nearly 1,400 votes and Democrats hold an advantage in voter registration. However, we are going to carry the fight and the Republican message to all corners of Iowa and a victory here begins the process of bringing fiscal sanity back to our state, giving Iowans the opportunity to vote on marriage, and recognizing that private individuals, not more debt spending by the state, creates jobs in Iowa,” said Strawn.

The Special Election in Iowa House District 90 will be held on September 1, 2009 and was made necessary by the resignation of John Whitaker (D-Hillsboro) to accept a position with the federal government. The District contains all of Van Buren County and significant portions of both Jefferson and Wapello Counties.

“Anyone who knows Stephen Burgmeier understands how hard he works for the people of Jefferson County. I know he will continue that commitment as the state representative for the people of Wapello, Jefferson and Van Buren Counties,” said House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen. “The House Republican caucus looks forward to a successful election and welcoming him to our ranks in September.”

Burgmeier received the Republican nomination for this seat at a Special Nominating Convention held tonight in Fairfield and will begin his campaign immediately.

He and his wife, Betty, reside in Lockridge and are partners in the Hooter Lane Farms sow farm, and farm over 300 acres of land. Burgmeier is a three time elected Jefferson County Supervisor, currently serving as chairman, a past district director of the Iowa Pork Producers, an appointed delegate of the Pork Act boards, and a Jefferson County Farm Bureau board member.

Strawn concluded, “Stephen Burgmeier and his campaign will have the full and active support of the Republican Party of Iowa and I expect Republicans from all across the state will travel to this pivotal district and provide statewide support for this important election. Republicans are ready to work and ready to win.”

Stephen Burgmeier’s website

King: 6,900 Iowa Small Businesses Hit With Tax Hikes Under Liberal Health Plan

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Steve King (R-IA) today made the following statement about new research from the Heritage Foundation revealing that 6,900 Iowa small business owners will pay a 5.4 percent surtax under the liberal health care plan being debated in Congress. The Heritage study also states that the liberal plan will carry a $1.3 trillion price tag and will increase the tax burden of 2.04 million Americans, about half of them small business owners.

“Liberals have put forth a health care plan that will empower Washington bureaucrats to control our health care system. To pay for their plan, liberals are proposing more job-killing tax hikes – up to an additional 5.4 percent – on the engine of economic growth in America: small businesses.

“In Iowa and across America, many small business owners are doing all they can just to get by. Hard and smart working Iowa small business owners cannot afford these tax hikes. Iowa’s small businesses employ 668,226 people per year, and a number of these jobs will be lost if these tax hikes go through. Raising the taxes of small business owners will cost jobs and could result in some small businesses shutting their doors and closing their operations.

“Instead of destroying jobs and empowering Washington bureaucrats to control our health care system, I want to create new jobs and protect the relationship between patients and doctors. The liberal plan will decrease the quality of our health care, cost American jobs and raise our taxes to pay for more Washington spending.”

The full Heritage Foundation study is available at http://www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/upload/Surtax_table.pdf.

Senator Grassley on Sonia Sotomayor Nomination

Senator Chuck Grassley today released the following comment regarding his decision to vote against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court.

“I’ve had the opportunity to vote on many judges and Justices since becoming a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Weconfirmed a great number of them. I had hoped to be able to vote for Judge Sotomayor to be the next Justice on the Supreme Court, but after a thorough review of the hearing record and her cases, speeches and writings, I have come to the conclusion that Icannot support Judge Sotomayor’s nomination.

“My vote must be based on the nominee’s respect for and adherence to the Constitution and judicial restraint. I question if Judge Sotomayor will be able to set aside personal biases and prejudices to decide cases in an impartial manner and in accordance with the Constitution.

“At her confirmation hearing, I asked specific questions about the property rights of private citizens afforded by the Fifth Amendment. My colleagues asked detailed questions about the now famous Ricci case, the right to privacy and the Second Amendment right to bear arms. I was not convinced that Judge Sotomayor understands the rights given to Americans under the Constitution, or that she will refrain from expanding or restricting those rights based on her personal preferences. I am not certain that Judge Sotomayor won’t allow those personal beliefs and preferences to dictate the outcome of cases before her. There’s no question that nominees have become quite adept at dodging our questions, but her lack of clear and direct answers to simple questions regarding the Constitution were troubling. Some of her answers were so at odds with statements she has made over the years, that it was difficult to reconcile them.

“Nearly 20 years ago, then Judge David Souter talked during his confirmation hearing about courts “filling vacuums” in the law. That concept greatly worried me, because courts should never fill voids in the law left by Congress. Since Justice Souter has been on the Supreme Court, his decisions have proven that he does believe that courts do indeed fill vacuums in the law. My vote has come back to haunt me time and time again. So, I’ve asked several Supreme Court nominees about courts filling vacuums at their hearings. Her lukewarm answer left me with the same pit in my stomach I’ve had with Justice Souter’s rulings that I had hoped to have cured with his retirement, and reinforced my concerns with her hearing testimony, cases and speeches.

“Only time will tell which Sonia Sotomayor will be on the Supreme Court. Is it the judge who proclaimed that the court of appeals is where “policy is made,” or is it the nominee who pledged “fidelity to the law?” Is it the judge who disagreed with Justice O’Connor’s statement that a wise woman and a wise man will ultimately reach the same decision, or is it the nominee who rejected President Obama’s empathy criteria?

“There’s no doubt that Judge Sotomayor has the credentials on paper to be a Justice on the Supreme Court. But, her nomination hearing left me with more questions than answers about her judicial philosophy, and I cannot support her nomination.”

King: Taxpayers Forced To Fund Abortion

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Steve King, a member of the Pro-Life Caucus, made the following statement regarding abortion funding in the health care reform bill being pushed by liberals in Congress.

“Health care is about protecting life, not taking it. The health care bill put forward by liberals in this Congress will force pro-life Americans to pay for abortions in violation of their deeply held religious convictions. We know from past experience that unless abortion funding is expressly prohibited, it will be mandated and subsidized. Nowhere in this bill is taxpayer funding for abortion prohibited.

“This bill will also penalize Americans enrolled in health insurance plans that do not provide abortions. Bureaucrats will define ‘minimum benefit standards’ to require coverage of abortion, and any employer who offers a plan that does not cover abortion will face up to 8% in tax penalties. Individuals who choose not to purchase a plan that covers abortion will be forced to pay a 2.5% tax penalty.

“Americans should be free to have a health care plan that does not pay for abortions and should have the right to refuse to pay for abortions with their hard-earned tax dollars.”

Guest column: Health-care reform should work for you

Senator Charles Grassley’s article in the Des Moines Register.

This summer, Congress is hammering out ideas to overhaul the U.S. health-care system. The White House and Congress from the outset identified two overriding targets for reform: Curbing the spiraling costs of health care (which today absorb one out of every six dollars spent in the United States) and expanding access to health-care insurance for 47 million uninsured Americans.

Two bills have passed committees so far. The one in the House of Representatives would increase the deficit by $239 billion and enact a stiff surtax on small businesses and other higher-income taxpayers.

The one in the Senate (from the HELP committee) would blow a $2 trillion hole in the federal deficit (already projected to reach $1.8 trillion by Sept. 30) and, like the House bill, massively expand the role of the federal government in delivering medicine in America. Last week, the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said of both proposals, “The legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs” and “does not make fundamental changes to curb medical spending in the future.” By accelerating……

Read the rest of the article here.

McKinley Comments on Governor Culver’s Announcement of More Debt Spending

Governor Culver continues to spend millions of dollars that the next generation of Iowans will pay for

DES MOINES, IA – Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) issued the following statement today in response to Governor Culver’s announcement of more spending paid for by his unpopular billion debt scheme passed by legislative Democrats in the eleventh hour of the 2009 session:

“Once again Governor Culver claims credit for placing Iowa’s taxpayers into unnecessary debt. The only thing this tax, borrow and spend mentality has done is to place Iowa’s next generation into debt – it will certainly not create sustainable jobs that will grow Iowa’s economy and help Iowa families. The ugly truth is that Governor Culver and legislative Democrats opted to spend Iowa’s pay-as-you-go infrastructure account on dozens of pet projects instead of improving and repairing Iowa’s roads and bridges.

Had Governor Culver and legislative Democrats reined in their spending and accepted Republican amendments to dramatically reduce the largest budget in Iowa’s history, Governor Culver’s unpopular I-Debt scheme would not exist.”

The Iowa Republican: Bob Vander Plaats Op-Ed

The numbers in the first scientific poll of the 2010 GOP primary, published last week by The IowaRepublican.com, are helping bring the race into clearer focus. The poll told us a few things we already knew about Gov. Chet Culver’s vulnerability and our party’s growing opportunity for victory – and it even contained one or two surprises that the pundits may or may not admit.

As expected, well-liked former four-term Governor Terry Branstad holds a lead today over Culver, who is an unmitigated first-term disaster. It also indicates continued, overwhelming support for a position I’ve clearly staked out: Iowans want to vote on the marriage issue.

Not as expected was the narrow margin Governor Branstad would have at the moment in a GOP primary. For those who missed the poll results, Branstad leads Culver 53-46 percent but in a GOP primary his edge shrinks……

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McKinley Statement on Iowa’s New Unemployment Rate Figures

2009 session was missed opportunity to grow Iowa’s private sector economy

DES MOINES, IA – Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) issued the following statement today in response to the new 22-year high unemployment rate figures released today by Iowa Workforce Development today showing over 104,000 unemployed Iowans:

“Today’s unemployment numbers are another unfortunate reminder that Governor Culver and legislative Democrats’ response to rising unemployment is higher taxes on disaster victims, unbalanced budgets and unpopular billion dollar debt schemes.

While Democrats obstructed Republican legislation that will grow Iowa’s economy during the legislative session, Republicans will continue to offer smart solutions for growing Iowa’s economy and cutting Iowa’s government because our state cannot afford to continue down Governor Culver and legislative Democrats’ path of fiscal mismanagement and inexcusable inaction on creating job opportunities in the private sector.”

McKinley Response to Governor Culver’s Debt Sale

DES MOINES, IA – Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) issued the following statement today regarding Governor Culver and legislative Democrats’ unpopular debt scheme bond sale:

“Only a debt and spend governor like Chet Culver would believe that Iowa taxpayers will ‘save millions’ after first putting over a billion dollars of debt on the state’s credit card, a scheme so unpopular that 71 percent of Iowans are strongly against it. Governor Culver has disregarded the taxpayers’ money and instead has built up record levels of debt for future generations of Iowans to pay off and is responsible for unbalanced budgets that leave billion dollar deficits.

Iowans are known for their common sense and to a vast majority of Iowans, Governor Culver’s record of fiscal mismanagement has nothing to do with saving taxpayers money and everything to do with record budgets, record spending, record debt, increased taxes and zero action on creating sustainable private sector jobs.”

TIR: Vander Plaats Sets the Pace for GOP Primary Field

TheIowaRepublican.com poll has consistently shown that Governor Culver’s re-election bid is in serious trouble. But who will Iowa Republicans nominate to run against him? The Republican primary is still 11 months away, but the debate over who the Republican Party should nominate is as heated as ever.

There is still plenty of time for new candidates to emerge. Doug Gross joined the primary in January of 2002 and was successful in winning the GOP nomination, but this is somewhat unusual, and the clock is ticking. It is also possible that some current candidates could ultimately decide not to run. That happened……

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