BFIA editors went to our respective budget meetings last night hosted by our state representatives and senators. I went home afterwards even more depressed and had a couple of, not exactly nightmares but definitely what I would characterize as stress dreams.  

At our meeting in Johnson County, about 35-40 people showed up, mostly Democrats. A self-identified “conservative” and someone who said he was “not a liberal but married to one” were there and of course, spoke up. The self-identified conservative property owner said that he found it very hard to believe that the Republicans could be so uncaring as to allow some of the cuts to occur that are in the works. Yes, well, we all find it a little hard to believe. This is part of the problem we are having, IMHO.  We all need to get out of denial as to what is the true nature of the current Republican party in Iowa.  Do they care at all about our state's people? Do they care at all about our state's future?  If so, how does one account for their behavior?  Everyone in the room, including the legislators, seemed equally perplexed.

Someone asked a question about high speed rail. The person was obviously not a Democratic party hack (such as myself), but couldn't figure out why Branstad and the GOP would oppose free federal dollars for this investment in Iowa's future transportation needs and a cool, timely project to boot.  Welcome to the club, friend.

One person said it appears that the GOP only care about transferring wealth from the poor and middle class to the corporations. They want out of state corporations like Wal-Mart to not have to pay taxes. [For more on the giveaways to corporations while schools and local municipalities are being told they have to sacrifice, see Mike Owens' article in the CR Gazette, where he points out that 133 companies received over $45 million in “research credits” with $43 million of that paid out in checks — which means they also paid no income tax.]

Democrats pointed out that the Culver cuts have left the state with money in the coffers and that the state is not broke or in a financial crisis. In fact, according to our legislators, Iowa will have almost a billion dollars in the bank at the end of this fiscal year, June 30.  One person in the room didn't exactly accuse the Democrats of lying, but asked them if they could prove this.  Dems responded that the state treasurer will soon be travelling the state sharing the facts about Iowa's financial health. I would like to know: Is anyone asking Branstad to prove what he is saying?

There ensued the usual quandary regarding how people can be so misinformed.