Pseudo-vice pResident Dick Cheney dropped by Clear Lake yesterday
afternoon to try to round up folks to work on behalf of the Bush/Cheney
ticket.  A tiny Republican crowd gathered to briefly hear Cheney
throw some red meat their way while everyone else living in the area
appeared to intentionally stay away from the major inconveniences of
barricades and road blocks.  The normally bustling streets near
the barricaded area were quiet and parking for the event was
exceedingly easy to find.



Apparently,
having the formerly-popular faux V.P. drop in for a ten-minute rant was
a GOP response to a recent newspaper article that quoted Democratic
Iowa Senate Minority Leader Mike Gronstal saying that his office was
targeting the Iowa Senate seat of Republican incumbent Thurman
Gaskill.  Bringing in the big guns is an interesting move,
seemingly replacing actual campaigning, which Gaskill appears to be
avoiding like the plague.  This would also seem to be a
questionable strategy since, because of redistricting, Gaskill is known
to only 40% of the registered voters in the district and doesn’t seem
to want to get to know any of them at all.



Gaskill’s opponent, Democrat John Drury
of Swaledale, had a press conference planned with labor leaders for
yesterday afternoon near the site of Cheney’s very short speech. 
Drury issued the following statement:



Good afternoon and Happy Labor Day! Thank you all for coming. I am John Drury and I am running for Iowa State Senate District 6.



I
invited you here today to talk about the direction the current
legislature has taken the state. I also want to talk about the upcoming
special legislative session scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow
morning. This session has been called to reach a compromise between the
governor and the legislature over the Iowa Values Fund. Ironically,
this compromise that follows so closely on the heels of the national
holiday that celebrates the American worker is actually anti-worker. I
have said it before, this election is not about right or left, it is
about right and wrong. This compromise is just plain wrong!



Despite
what they say at home, Thurman Gaskill and this legislature have
pursued an economic development strategy that provides no promise of
new jobs or recovery in rural Iowa. They have also reduced their
commitment to providing adequate funding to K-12 schools, especially in
rural areas.



This is
a double whammy to rural Iowa: with no commitment by Thurman Gaskill
and this legislature to good jobs and good schools, where is the hope?



I am
offering hope because I am committed to providing a significant boost
in spending specifically targeted to rural economic development and to
ensuring that our schools – all Iowa schools – have the funding and
tools necessary to lower class size, increase teacher quality and boost
student achievement. This is our hope for a better future in Iowa.



Instead
of making a long-term commitment to rural economic development and to
our schools, Thurman Gaskill and this legislature has focused its time
on efforts to reduce rights for injured workers, strip away the rights
of people to sue if they are injured by faulty products, and reduce the
rights of Iowa consumers – all under the ruse of something they like to
call “regulatory reform.” This is bogus. It is a hoax. It is
anti-worker. And it is anti-growth.



The
special session of the Iowa legislature on Tuesday is a great example
of why we need change – big time change in the statehouse. After
killing the Iowa Values Fund and other successful job-creation programs
with their lawsuit, Republicans are threatening to kill the Iowa Values
Fund unless the governor also agrees to swallow some proposals that are
bad for workers and bad for Iowa families.



I support the governor on many things, but I DO NOT agree with him on this issue.



But the
real blame is on Thurman Gaskill and other legislators who are hell
bent on hurting workers and families. They would rather approve a tax
cut for big insurance companies instead of reducing class sizes and
increasing student achievement. They would rather debate for hours
about cutting workers rights instead of increasing the minimum wage.



The real shame is that Thurman Gaskill and many others in the legislature are NOT listening to Iowans!



If they
had been listening, they would know what a true compromise looks like.
There are two bills that will be considered tomorrow. The Values Fund
bill provides up to $100 million to fund already promised projects.
Unfortunately, it does not recreate the long-term structure of the
fund. This is unfortunate.  The state of Iowa was experiencing
momentum with this strategy and we now seem determined to bring this to
an abrupt end all because of partisan politics. While it’s unfortunate
that the current legislature can’t see the importance of a long-term
strategy for economic development, I would still recommend passage of
this bill and leave the long-term strategy to the new legislature.



The
second bill includes several changes to the workmen’s compensation
system that are simply unacceptable. If passed, workers will lose
important protections under our present workers’ comp laws. It also
gives corporations a $70 million tax break. This tax break would allow
corporations to immediately and retroactively deduct expenses that
would otherwise have been deducted over a period of several years.
Handing out this $70 million provides no new economic stimulus. A true
compromise perhaps would be to give corporations these tax breaks but
to not make them retroactive. That would at least spark economic
activity.



Tomorrow’s
compromise is nothing more than a present for businesses at the expense
of workers. I told you it was ironic coming right after Labor Day.



I
promise that as your next state senator, I will listen to your
concerns. I will work hard in Des Moines to make North Iowa a better
place to live, work, and raise a family.



Please support my campaign as we work together for a better Iowa.