#114 Republican results
HUK 55, ROM 74, MCC 59, THO 25, RUDY15, PAUL 16, HUNTER 1 caucus count

Now they're passing out ballots - I will be a counter.

I don't know why they bother with the speeches. If you are motivated to squander your evening here, you know who you're voting for. 241 people

Now we're listening to speakers from of the candidates. My wife had to register republican to vote here, and it pains her greatly.

Liveblogging my caucus. I'm firing up the long dormant blog to liveblog my caucus. Our precinct, West Des Moines 114, has a big turnout and st

Who says Des Moines Register editorials aren't influential?

The Des Moines Register has declared bottled water an environmental menace. I responded to their stirring cry by immediately making a trip to Sam's Club:



They'll take my bottled water when they peel my cold, dead, well-hydrated fingers from it.

I'm not the only one moved by the Register's eloquence.

200-1 gets you 15-85

You have to hand it to our local chamber of commerce. The Greater Des Moines Partnership, with the backing of the biggest companies in town and a $770,000 war chest - 200 times that of the opposition - managed to convince about one voter in seven to vote for a sales tax increase in an off-season election specifically timed to maximize their chances for approval. It's hard to think of a way to make their performance any more disastrous, short of having mobs chanting "no!" sack their headquarters building.

What a debacle. Only Kim Jong-Il and Fidel Castro win by greater margins than "No." In some cultures, a loss like that would lead to abject apologies by the Partnership board, perhaps followed by ritual suicides.

After such a resounding vote of no confidence, a parliamentary government would resign and appoint a caretaker government pending new elections. That would also be appropriate for the leadership of the Partnership after such a waste of member and taxpayer dollars. The Partnership has strayed far from it's small-business, low-tax, good government roots and has become a cheerleader for government spending and crony capitalism. Maybe this will help them rethink their direction.

Every local politician who embraced this shameless cash grab should withdraw from the next election, and those who don't should be hounded from office. A new generation would have a chance to remake our dysfunctional local politics. Maybe they could try the old-fashioned approach to economic development - low taxes, good and thrifty government, and good schools. The Central Iowa as Yuppie Theme Park fared poorly yesterday.

None of this is likely, of course. But at least the size of this defeat should frighten our "business leaders" away from trying to stick us with a tax increase for a few years. That's something.

Project Destiny Vote is Today!

Destiny: the trap range, I hope.

UPDATE, 8:50 p.m.: Dust off the Browning!

Project Destiny Viral Marketing #3

Dan Albritton, local labor official, friend of Ramona, and member of the Prairie Meadows board, has been indicted on conspiracy charges related to CIETC. Mr. Albritton is innocent until proven guilty, but just to be safe, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent when asked to testify about his role on the CIETC board and as a paid CIETC consultant.

This indictment can only make central Iowans more excited about the one-cent "Project Destiny" sales tax vote slated for July. It will remind the voters how well the Central Iowa political establishment plunders manages their money, inspiring the voters to send them more cash.

To help this process, we introduce our third effort in our Project Destiny Viral Marketing Initiative. Feel free to use this on your website. Of course, Project Destiny is welcome to put this on billboards.

Our prior efforts are here and here.

Steadfast for skedaddle

The Democrats who now run Congress - many of whom voted to go to war in Iraq, including Senator Harkin - now want to run away and turn over that country to Al-queda. So how does the Des Moines Register describe this behavior on today's front page?

(click photo to enlarge)

"Democrats Steadfast," says one headline. Then further down, it says "Public Ignored: Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and others said Bush was ignoring the will of a majority of Americans."

So, according the Register, the Democrats are being "steadfast" by changing their positions on the war to conform with polls. Profiles in courage, indeed.

Project Destiny Viral Marketing 2.0

The blogosphere has not taken up the Project Destiny Viral Marketing Initiative with the gusto we would have expected/ To move this noble cause along, then, another contribution is in order:



Featuring Tom "Rubber Stamp" Vlassis. As a city councilman, Mr. Vlassis would oversee the new sales tax proceeds with the same rubber stamp approach he used in overseeing CIETC spending. If this doesn't sell the new tax, what can?

The Project Destiny Viral Marketing Initiative

Project Destiny, the initiative to give Central Iowa the higher sales tax everyone is clamoring to pay, seems to be spending its money at an alarming rate. The Des Moines Register has reported that $118,000 of its first $245,000 in corporate donations had already gone into the pockets of consultants and other vendors by February 12.

It's up to us to help Project Destiny find ways to convince us that we need higher taxes. I summon the power of the internet to produce a viral marketing campaign for the sales tax increase.

To kick things off, here is my first effort. It would look lovely on that fancy digital billboard at 63rd and Grand.



I think the celebrity theme is a winner. Project Destiny is welcome to use this free of charge, but I will also accept checks or cash if they insist.

For background on the celebrities on this billboard, go here.

Adam Smith, call your office

"Jane's Law" holds that the party in power - whichever party - is smug and arrogant, while the party out of power is insane. Since winning control of the legislature, Iowa's Democrats are struggling with the transition.

How so? Consider newly-introduced SF 182. The bill explanation says it all:

This bill provides that a person or employer shall not discriminate in providing compensation for work of comparable worth between jobs predominately held by women and men. The bill defines "comparable worth" as being the value of work as measured by the skill, responsibility, and working conditions involved in performing the work. A violation of this provision constitutes a simple misdemeanor.

"Comparable worth" is absolute economic illiteracy. The "worth" of a job is found where an employer is willing to pay an employee is willing to accept. The idea of legislators or judges second-guessing wage levels across the economy is so impractical and absurd that only politicians could advocate it with a straight face.

Brian Gongol has more.

Slowest book review ever

Last summer I was live-blogging Arnold Kling's book "Crisis of Abundance." The project ground to a halt when I lost my copy (long but incoherent and embarrassing story omitted); As a Christmas present to myself, I got another copy, so the posts now resume.

To recap, the book addresses the causes of our rising health care costs. Dr. Kling examines some commonly-held beliefs about the causes of increases in health care costs and finds them wanting. He says the evidence doesn't show that private health insurance is the culprit, nor is overcharging by health-care providers. Instead, it is the prevalance of "premium medicine" that drives up health costs.

Premium medicine can be thought of as the practice of always wanting to use the latest and greatest health technology and medicine, even if it doesn't necessarily improve treatment results.

When I left off, I was on the verge of Dr. Kling's discussion of possible solutions to the problem. With California's governor blundering into drastic state intervention in the healthcare economy, and with some here in Iowa pushing the same direction, the topic is timely, even if my completion of the book isn't.

If you've somehow lost the thread of my earlier posts, you can pick them up below:

LAZY SUNDAY 'CRISIS OF ABUNDANCE' POST
Expat comments on Crisis of Abundance Posts.
Premium medicine in action
C of A: "Three Health Care Narratives"
Crisis of Abundance: "Premium Medicine"
May 20, 2006
May 16, 2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From Tom Vilsack! What a nice surprise:

Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack’s suggestion that ‘‘no one in their right mind’’ would fund an indoor rain forest in Iowa came as a surprise to the project’s supporters who previously counted on his support.

Sure, now that he has an audience outside of Iowa, it's obvious how insane Earthpork is, but, wow. What great news. How can they possibly squander that $50 million now? Here's to you, Governor - what a great present.

Borlaug Travelog

Congress today voted to honor Norman Borlaug, the Iowa farmboy who grew up to save millions through improved plant varieties and farm practice. Bobby and I took a little pilgrimage to his boyhood home in Northeast Iowa this fall.

The farm is about 10 miles south of Cresco, in the far Northeast corner of Iowa.



Cresco honors him in its little downtown with this memorial:



We got directions to the farm by emailing the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation, a non-profit "dedicated to promoting education programs and projects which reflect the lifetime achievements and philosophy of Dr. Norman Borlaug." The foundation is restoring the house; you can help out here. We took the highway south out of town about 10 miles to 200th street, a gravel road, and turned west about two miles. For a hero's house, it's modest:



Nothing extraordinary; there are thousands of square old farmhouses like it in Iowa.



The Borlaug house does have an old barn that's nicer than most you see. Eight year-old Bobby is on the left, shooting his pictures.



I don't know how much Bobby will remember about the trip. I think he was more impressed by the Decorah Ice Cave we visited later. I sure hope he retains more about Dr. Borlaug than this farm about 1/2 mile down the road did:



Dr. Borlaug is unenthused about this organic stuff:

Reason: What do you think of organic farming? A lot of people claim it's better for human health and the environment.

Borlaug: That's ridiculous. This shouldn't even be a debate. Even if you could use all the organic material that you have--the animal manures, the human waste, the plant residues--and get them back on the soil, you couldn't feed more than 4 billion people. In addition, if all agriculture were organic, you would have to increase cropland area dramatically, spreading out into marginal areas and cutting down millions of acres of forests...


If people want to believe that the organic food has better nutritive value, it's up to them to make that foolish decision. But there's absolutely no research that shows that organic foods provide better nutrition. As far as plants are concerned, they can't tell whether that nitrate ion comes from artificial chemicals or from decomposed organic matter. If some consumers believe that it's better from the point of view of their health to have organic food, God bless them. Let them buy it. Let them pay a bit more. It's a free society. But don't tell the world that we can feed the present population without chemical fertilizer. That's when this misinformation becomes destructive.

The house isn't open for regular tours yet, though there is a caretaker who lives onsite in a trailer. Either he didn't notice us running around on the lawn, or he didn't mind.

It's a beautiful part of the state. Visit if you get the chance, and spare a thought for the millions living today thanks to his work.

A platform for a party of me.

Iowa's Republicans just got stomped from the top of the ticket to the bottom. They got whipped by Chet Culver, which is like losing a foot race to a grandma pushing a walker. It's just so embarrasing, Iowa's Republican leaders look like Dan McCarney trying to explain how the Cyclones can lose to Colorado. There's just not much you can say.

I don't think it's the end of the world. It's healthy to occasionally have changes of control politically, because any party that has power too long seems to inevitably get flabby and corrupt. I don't think Chet and the Democrats will be good for Iowa, but the Republicans haven't exactly been covering themselves with glory either.

So what should the Republicans do? Krusty thinks they should be more Konservative; Mr. Sporer thinks they should rebuild from the ground up. State 29 thinks they should find something to stand for besides "responsible Republican alternatives."

Maybe they're all right. I'm not smart enough to tell the Republican party what it would take to get people to vote for them. If I ran for office, I might not be able to get my wife to vote for me. Actually, I know I wouldn't, because she'd probably dump me for being demonstrably insane, and then insist I keep my full-time job so I could make my alimony payments.

While I can't tell the Republicans how to win, I can tell them how to make me care again whether they do.

NEWS ITEM: A Council Bluffs candidate for the Iowa house had this stirring battle cry:

The second tier is generally program and incentive driven. I support the Values Fund and believe it will continue to create and attract high paying jobs. Tax Increment Financing is also an effective program that allows cities and counties to attract businesses by helping pay for necessary infrastructure. Also, small business development centers help existing and new businesses grow in the state.

The sad thing: this candidate who says the government can grow the economy by taking money from some taxpayers and businesses and giving to their competitors is the Republican. Throw in my local Republican Senate candidate (Dan Clute) weighing in against "Big Pharma" in a leaflet left at my house, and we barely need Democrats. If only Democrats run, Democrats are probably going to win.

Since the Branstad days Iowa has been trying to grow the economy with high taxes, tax credits, gambling and, especially lately, ethanol. As ethanol only is an "industry" thanks to federal subsidies, it's basically an economy on the dole. Our economic policy debates in Iowa are just detached from reality, like a couple on food stamps arguing over whether they should buy a Lexus or a Cadillac, based on their plans to win the lottery.

So how do they get me excited about electing statehouse Republicans?

Promise to lower tax rates, end the futile corporate income tax, and get the government out of the business of allocating investment capital. This means no research credits, no ethanol credits, no historic building credits, no venture capital credits, no tuition credits, and an individual top rate no higher than 4%. You say that that doesn't raise enough money to finance government? Then...


Shrink Iowa's government. Iowa delivers government services with the same structure that it has had 100 years ago. Does any business operate that way? Go to 10-15 counties; we sure don't need 99. Force more school consolidation. Stop squandering money on convention centers, stadiums, and the like. And maybe trim duplicated programs at the state universities. What about our "unmet needs?" If jobs are going begging in Iowa, like the Register keeps telling us, any such needs aren't likely things the state of Iowa will be very good at fixing.

What about social issues? Don't bother with abortion, stem-cell research, and the like. That's above the pay grade of anybody at the statehouse. Gay marriage? Feh. We have too much work to do to argue about it.

I would like to see them look for ways to empower people and to get the government out of peoples hair. Give parents vouchers to send kids anywhere to school, as long as they can get them there. Make school districts compete for their students, and make it possible for parents to get educate their kids the way they see fit. If they want to home-school, or send them to Dowling, or send them to a new school, let the parents decide. And if they want to try college early, don't make them waste time high school. If a kid gets a perfect grade on her ACT as a junior, let her take classes at ISU, or MIT, for that matter, if she doesn't care to hang around for the senior prom, and let her use her voucher to pay for it.

Oh, and roll back drug laws. We spend a lot of money keeping drug users in jail. Let them pay their own keep on the street. It's only our problem because we make it our problem. Use the space for people who are a danger to others, like drunk drivers and child predators. If the sex offenders really can't be trusted to be within 2000 yards of a school (another stupid law), they shouldn't be out in the first place.

What other stuff would follow from this approach? No county-owned casinos or city-owned sports bars. No state-owned liquor wholesalers. Forbid red-light cameras or speeding cameras in Iowa. Allow High speed-limits on four-lanes. No restrictions on spinner hubcaps and no "adult entertainment" taxes. (Update: and none of this state as lifestyle police garbage either).

This I could fight for. It's a platform that would get my vote, if nobody else's. I wouldn't be too surprised, though, if it actually proved popular. And it's not like they're winning now by trying to out-pander the Democrats. Who knows? A principled stand for freedom and growth might actually be be popular.

Davenport city government hates its citizens

Only a government that thinks its own citizens are ignorant, untrustworthy peasants could embrace traffic cameras like the City of Davenport has:

Davenport police have been using their speed enforcement van since the first of the year to deter speeding on River Drive, but now they are using a fixed camera to catch speed-limit violators.

The new camera in the 1200 block of East River Drive has been in place for about a week but wasn’t activated until noon Monday.

And if you peasants think you can keep us from picking your pockets by slowing down for the cameras, think again:

Although the River Drive and Kimberly Road locations will have fixed cameras, it does not mean that Davenport police won’t still use their van at those locations. Venema said police already have been using the van near other fixed sites where drivers will sometimes slow down for the fixed camera then speed up. The van will be stationed a block or two away and catch the drivers when they accelerate.

So pay up, you irresponsible traffic scofflaws. You exist only to comply and pay. Be sure to salute the cameras as you drive by.

I'm Chet Culver, and I approve of this front page

Gee, who do you think the Des Moines Register favors for Governor? Two-thirds of the front page is an unpaid campaign ad for Chet.

This is an example of why campaign finance reform is a bad idea. Without lots of money, a candidate disfavored by the old-line media has no way to get his message out, while the Register, unconstrained by any finance restrictions, distributes free advertising for the Culver campaign statewide.

IRS Collection Division recruiting documentary

Well, not really. It's an outrageously partisan campaign commercial. If you turn the sound off, though, it does look like a Collections Division recruiting piece.

Enjoy. (Via Instapundit)

Note: I had this on the work site at first, but I decided it was a bit too partisan, so here you go.