................. he sees another opportunity for spending and taxing.
Democrat Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal’s knee jerk reaction saw only the opportunity to outspend the State’s emergency fund and incur debt to finance the difference.
Here’s a thought; if the emergency fund isn’t adequate to cover the socialist’s blue sky list of flood relief start cutting other items. Start with a deep Dave Vaudt audit over at the Departments of Education and Human Services. At a time when Iowa will have thousands of real victims of tragic circumstance on our hands when would be a better time to ask why the cost of education is five times faster than the general rate of inflation in Iowa’s larger economy?
Government exists to provide for emergencies that overwhelm the citizenry’s ability to insure and overcome through ordinary means. Government does not exist to provide tax payer health care to the entire citizenry so that they can buy cell phones, digital cable, designer clothes and wii devices; all of which can be acquired through ordinary diligence and effort. Since Democrats have already taxed new business and hundreds of thousands of residents, young and old, out of Iowa perhaps the public perhaps already satiated the public appetite for the nanny superstate and the endless growth of government it entails.
The response to these almost metaphysical floods certainly provides a tremendous opportunity to educate the Iowa voter about the ultimate poverty of liberalism. Floods do wash the landscape clean-that’s nature’s purpose; hopefully this alluvial affliction will polish the body politic as well.
38 comments:
This is pretty callous commetary, Spewer. "Floods wash the landscape clean" ??? That's "nature's purpose"????? Do those flooded buildings look washed clean to you?
Government is for much more than dealing with "emergencies that overwhelm the citizenry’s ability to insure and overcome through ordinary means." It is also to "promote the general welfare."
Education spending grew faster than inflation because we tried to lift teacher salaries from the basement. Young Iowa teachers get degrees here but go out of state for higher pay----not because the taxes are high here. Young teachers have never given taxes a thought!
If anything good comes from this alluvial affliction, it will be a recognition that global warming's effects (increased frequency of heavy rain) are already upon us. Now there's something else government could protect us from. But will it? Will you encourage it to do so during the special legislative session? Or will you selfishly worry about your tax bill? --------Spotlight
The image of the GOP - cold, callous, and they don't give a shit when people need help. If Chet calls a special session and Repubs vote against flood assistance - November will turn into a bigger ass-kicking than seems humanly possible.
Apparently Sporer thinks the Univ. of Iowa deserves to be washed away.
Spotlight, your latest commentary bespeaks your own vanity, that and the hubris of our species.
The flood is tragic to its human victims but floods are natural occurrences, not some evil force with which we are at war. Centuries of flood control and billions spent since ’93 and we have another 500 year flood. Those buildings aren’t part of the landscape my friend, just fleeting evidence of today’s dominant species.
That’s why the global warming theorists are so amusing. My God, nothing in man’s creation can overcome the march of time and the only thing that changes slower than climate is the Earth’s crust itself. When the global warming cultists can explain why the period of observed substantial subnormal temperatures in the in the early 20th Century exceeded any period of similarly observed warming by application of the scientific method I’ll start to prioritize “global warming” above the problems of actual existence.
As for education, the cost of education, both K-12 and especially post-secondary has accelerated three or four times, or more, than the overall rate of inflation throughout the economy over the last twenty years. How does your theory explain that anomaly?
Floods really suck for the people involved but they are a part of life on Earth.
When you are reflecting on the man’s impact on the planet, for good or ill, I direct your attention to the following verse:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away
Anon 7:45
Government by bribery of the masses. "We'll give you unlimited tax money if you just vote for us, and those evil Republicans won't".
I'll give you credit for sparing any pretense of statesmanship or good governance.
Just the highest level of unproductive confiscatory tax and spending, that is destroying our economy and our culture for some temporary power.
Sporer,
So, you are ok borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars for a strategically disastrous war, but you are unwilling to use the same funding mechanism to help flood victims in our own country? - Very telling my friend, very telling.
There is no way that Iowa should borrow its way into debt to recover from this disaster. Our state government increased spending at an unprecedented level, now it is time to trim the fat from that spending to help the state recover from this. I am not ready to mortgage Iowa's future for a little bit of comfort today.
rf - once again you cut through the crap and hit the nail on the head.
I'm still waiting for all the foreign countries whose worthless, ungrateful asses we have bailed out, to start sending money.
Still waiting.....
Still waiting.....
Aw, what the hell. I'm going to take a lesson from Katrina. Hungry? Steal a big-screen TV.
RF,
Your definition of disasterous is a sharp contrast to mine. With all due respect don't you think the Sept. 10th approach to fighting terrorism with a trial lawyer's legal approach was about as effective as the Lakers in Game 6?
Seriously, taking the fight to the terrorists and those who support them as Saddam did with his 25k bounty on the head of any American or Israeli which he paid to the families of homicide bombers is a fight worth fighting?!?!?!
Disasterous? When was the last time you were attacked by terrorists? I'm guessing not since 9-11 and it isn't for a lack of trying on the part of Al-Qadea but rather because while the use of force is inharently wrong in the eyes of your party, President Bush has kept us safe by defending our freedom. I'm pretty sure that is one of his job responsibilites. Yep, I think I read that somewhere once.
Next.
WAR Celtic Nation!!!!
blah blah blah. let's turn it back to the war cause that's all we're good at. bush sucks. wahhhhh. can't wait til he's out. boo hoo!!!!
we're talking about the flooding in Iowa. not the war.
Yoda,
Whatever helps you sleep at night. – So you gonna make that argument to someone in CR who lost his/her home when you refuse to borrow money to help them?
Anon 9:54,
Are we not allowed to raise this point? Do we just not talk about the cost of war? Are we not spending our tax dollars there? Are the war dollars somehow different from the dollars we would pay to help flood victims?
RF,
Whoa. Two VERY seprate issues.
I'm in CR and have many friends and loved ones who are severely impacted by the flooding.
I was just responding to your war comment and left the flood issue out because I don't like politics being invoked by either side. Period.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Comparing spending on the war to spending on the recovery efforts is asinine at best. For starters it is the federal government that was already in debt that is paying for the war spending. At the state level Iowa is not in debt, but if Gronstal gets his way it will be. He mentions raising the gas tax, he mentions going into debt, but he does not mention the option that most Iowans will have to choose. He never mentioned tightening the states belt, transferring funding from other non-essential programs. This is the option that should be looked at as it will not cost the taxpayers or the state any more in the long run to utilize this option.
but see rf, we're not talking about the war. we're talking about the floods. and there isn't some magical money that was suppposed to go to help the flood or tornado victims and now mr. dirty stinky bush is sending it to iraq. no. it's not apples to apples. but i understand that democrats love to cry and bitch and moan about the war no matter what the topic because it's easy.
Anon 11:13,
Please note that my comment was about the funding mechanism for the war. Sporer dedicated this whole post to the specific issue of funding flood relief and reconstruction. If other government spending/funding issues are not directly related to that, I don’t know what is. I’m sorry you are uncomfortable discussing the Iraq debacle and the very real consequences it has on us and the generations to follow.
Yoda,
I get your point. I hope you and your loved ones are ok.
sporie:
Nothing like a catastrophe to bring out the best in the conservative heart.
I can hear Dumas now: "One for all! All for none!"
Using the flood for your own political gain Sporer? Your no better than the liberals.
Any Anderson Cooper sightings yet? Why is he not rowing a boat around with a concerned look on his face.
Oh yeah. We're white.
Nevermind.
Ted wants to be state chairman and then on to be governor. He salavates everyime he's on the radio and passes Terrace Hill.
rf and spotlight show us once again that democrats absolutely cannot understand national security or economics.
Their answer to everything is Bush is evil!
Hey dickwad sperm sample at 5:28 - several hundred people each day read Sporer. Go read the more interesting blogs like Century of a Common Iowan or Bleeding Heartland or actually, any of the lib blogs - include the ragister. More your speed of reading over there. You need lots less congnitive ability with their tripe.
Then, save yourself some pain and heartache by not having to suffer from tripe infections to your insufficient brain.
Rather than debate the merits of tripe, let's discuss how the democrats want to nationalize oil refineries so they can control production? That came up this morning. Now we see what the democrats really have in mind for the US. They want to nationalize healthcare and energy. What governments nationalize things? Russia, Venezuala, Cuba and all other dictators.
Why do democrats want to be dictators in a free land? The ONLY free place on earth - and that includes Europe.
and speaking of national security and oil production. Libs - who still think there isn't a national security issue with oil - keep saying we can't drill our way out of this (yes we can), yet they think we can tax our way out of this.
Why does taxing our way out of this make any sense. That only INCREASES oil prices. Drilling our way out is the correct response. Drill here, drill now.
Oil is a renewable energy source.
Do the libs know that not one oil rig was hurt during any of the hurricanes? Not one oil spill - not one.
Drill here, drill now. Get me a bumper sticker.
We are missing the obvious here. We must follow some logical course of action:
1. Assess actual costs of flood recovery.
2. What costs are responsibility of the whole? (I hate to say government, because government is us and only has money they confiscated from us.)
3. What costs are the responsibility of the individual\private sector?
4. Evaluate what should reasonably be done. (not all buildings, homes, businesses, and schools have some absolute right to be rebuilt. Prioritizing is ok)
5. Figure out how to pay for the work.
a. $600 million rainy day fund. No coincedence the name fits. It is a term started in our agrarian society to describe dealing with flooding.
b. CUT SOME FAT!!!
(I know, I know, there's no fat in government. Every program is important as it buys another constituency group of "looters" for liberals)
The problem can be solved without borrowing, but it won't because liberals will employ their hyperbole and make this about caring for the poor, and disenfranchised, the children, and the elderly.
The best way to to care for the future of Iowa is to NOT incur debt if at all possible.
EFJ
I have been hearing libs/dummycrats catterwall, throw temper trantrums, stamp their feet and ball up their fists over public financing of campaigns.
so, how do you all square the fact that obama just lied to you all? He broke his promise to you. What does that do to your fervent passion for taxpayer financed campaigns? He just told the democrats to shove it, didn't he?
EFJ is correct! Maybe the big lug can't afford his $100 million dollar energy slush fund. Maybe we just can't afford that right now.
Maybe the big lug can't afford corporate welfare to companies like microsoft right now.
Maybe some of these ridiculous bleeding heart liberal do nothing and produce no results non-profits and government programs like CIETC can all go by the wayside right now.
Guys, guys:
Not to worry! Dumbya is on his way there and all will be well.
If Bush had balls (which he doesn't) at 11:59 tonight he would sign an executive order releasing HALF the strategic patroleum reserve onto the market at 12:01 and crush the speculators.
Calm down guys, it has already been established that one of sporie's better angels is not consistency.
Just as there are frustrated English teachers and Math teachers and History teachers, sporie is a frustrated poet, philosopher, historian, evangelical zealot.
He researched all of those professions for income levels and found that being a shyster lawyer beat em all hands down.
Wait till he finds out there are great fees in suing insurance companies over flood losses.
6:48:
You're absolutely correct. I, too, came here seeking wisdom. Seeking the Light. Like Diogenes, I continued the search for the elusive honest man. Alas, the search continues.
Instead I find a dualist; a budding Demosthenes by night and a Johnnie Cochran wannabe by day. A poor man's Ronald Reagan cloaked in the mantra of a Karl Rove imitator. A political observer with political skills akin to Attila the Hun and the empathy of Marie Antoinette.
Can one doubt that at our founding sporie would have been a Tory?
Come on, let’s be fair to Sporie. I know, I give him crap all the time and call him on his lack of logic, grossly slanted reading of history, blind partisanship, etc. But, by maintaining this blog and posting his provocative views he does provide us a great forum for discussion. Some of the most interesting and entertaining discussion I have been able to find in the blogosphere. Somehow he has been able to attract a very eclectic group of commenters here, from the right-wind nutcases to us argumentative D’s and progressives.
So with that, genuine thanks, Sporer! I do appreciate the time and effort you put into this blog, even though I may not always act/write like it.
sporie:
I'll second RF's thoughts, although I think the real benefit to Iowans is the more time you spend blogging the less time you have to screw up their politics.
A political observer with political skills akin to Attila the Hun
Yay! I got mentioned. I'd like to thank the Academy......
Thanks rf, hell I've been a debater since I was 14. I love to argue-although I prefer not to get nasty.
On a point of agreement, I fail to understand why no American politician but Huckabee has embraced the true comprehensive energy plan-which the old debater in me calls "do everything".
We should be doing everything from drilling everywhere there is oil (and yes, if there is no oil in existing leaseholds trade 'em for new land), longer term CAFE standards (I think the market has taken care of this anyway), huge tax incentives to heat/cool structures with windmills/solar/geothermal or other clean and renewables. Spend a lot more money on creating and improving automotive energy tech.
But we can do everything and I think the first politician to grasp that is going to be very popular.
How about open up ANWR and Florida, slap a $1 per barrel tax on it, and designate it for tax credits for solar, wind, and other clean sources? The Republicans would be happy with more drilling, the Dems would be happy with more taxes to pay for "green energy".
I think it is Germany that has solar stuff going up all over the place because there are some pretty significant incentives.
That doesn't sound bad to me. The tax would be minimal, the benefit great.
Before anyone bitches about the taxes, it's a tax on found money. I'd rather do that than raise capital gains on old people.
My brother and two or three neighbors live on a wind swept hill out in the boonies by Runnells. Why on Earth can they not put up a little windmill and generate a bunch of their own power. The state of Iowa should have big tax credits for that kind of energy improvement and so should the feds. Enough to basically pay for it.
Drilling in ANWR will NEVER happen there is a very large group of very rich land owners in the area that would never let it happen.
As for big tax credits for wind energy, There is a candidate out west, I think his name is Hubler who is running on this issue. I dont know if he is a democrat or a republican, but he sounds conservative
Those who don't care about climate change are consistent and logical in going for the drill everywhere approach when it comes to energy independence. But those who acknowledge we must do something significant about climate change and drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, it makes absolutely no sense to advocate for the drill everywhere approach. McCain needs to figure out if he's serious about climate change and GHG reductions. If he is serious, he must realize we have to put all of our resources into developing low or no-carbon alternatives and pursue efficiency with great urgency.
In the reality of political world, I could see domestic oil drilling being a token sacrifice in order to buy votes to go really strong for efficiency and alternative energy. If that were to happen, the idea of extra tax on new oil fields to fund low-carbon technologies would definitely make sense.
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