Iowa State Capitol

“I feel like this place is like the Truman show and I feel like I’m living inside a pre-ordained sitcom.”   – GOP State Senator Dan Dawson

Huh. No, that’s what we feel like. You are in the party that is in charge by choice, Senator.

Another day with the soon to be over GOP trifecta in Des Moines, if everyone votes.

According to one Republican senator whose speech on the border wall being paid for by Mexico, oh sorry, I mean the world’s largest, most amazing, best ever, cleanest, environmentally friendliest steel mill that will be built in Kentucky, no wait, Arkansas, actually, Lee county, Iowa, (Trump LOVES Iowa!!) in congressional district #1.  Just happens to be in the same district as one of the most vulnerable republicans in the U.S. House, Mariannette Miller-Meeks who is already claiming credit. But nothing to see here.

In my opinion the Iowa press doesn’t want to be skeptical about this boondoggle that’s never going to happen because they don’t want to ruin their day by getting a phone call from their friend, Jeff. And perhaps some Iowa democrats don’t want to dash the hopes of Iowans in desperate need of hope and jobs, right before an election. So it seems like no one in an official capacity is calling this out as just another Trump scam that will go away as fast as the 24-hour news cycle, although privately, everyone is giving this project a 0% chance of happening. Trump has already been caught in a lie saying the thing was already being built as we speak. Of course that isn’t true.

One would think that Trump getting caught telling an obvious, provable lie which some local outlets have reported, would be enough to give media a clue that something is not quite right here, that there are likely more, bigger lies to come, but so far instead of the dominant narrative changing to “obvious lie” we’re mostly just getting “concerns.” Friends say the media will catch on eventually. I’m not so sure.

Republican State Senator Dan Dawson took to the floor of the Iowa senate and did some pretty good hammering on Kim Reynolds for selling Iowa taxpayers down the river without talking to the usually willing Republican legislators first, as one of her last burn-the-place-down hurrahs on the way out for the most unpopular governor in America. I suspect that may have been what Dawson was most upset about –  that he had been a good team player only to be betrayed by Kim Reynolds in the end, according to what she just stuck them with while she goes off and enjoys retirement.

Back to Senator Dawson. It was a great rant but as is typical of republicans, just as you were feeling in awe at how much sense a republican seems to be making, he suddenly flipped at the very end of his remarks and turned the whole rant into a reason to tell Iowans they should vote for Amendment 1 in November, and then framed the amendment as a future protection against what Kim Reynolds just did! Wow. That’s some some serious spin.

So the republicans get amendment 1 on the ballot, then Dawson says we should vote for it to prevent future elected leaders (he means democrats) from doing what his party just voted for.

You can find the video of his speech against the never-going-to-happen steel mill on the Bleeding Heartland YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF9fdt2Z708

I selected a few highlights for you.

“Last summer the company [Mesabi Metallics] hired a lobbyist who began to negotiate with the governor’s office outside of the normal IEDA (Iowa Economic Development Authority) process. Nothing illegal or unethical. I want to be very clear on that.”

“I have contacted state officials in Arkansas as well as Kentucky. Mesabi Metallics was attempting to locate in Mississippi County which already holds five primary steel mills operated by Nucor and US Steel. Speaking with the officials who had some knowledge inside the Arkansas proposal, they described the company officials as artists in negotiating lucrative packages and at a certain point they walked away from those negotiations because the company seemed to lack equity and could never locate where the equity would come from in the paperwork that they provided to the state.”

“When asked about the possibility of a special session I was bluntly told, and I apologize for this term but it is the quote, “that’s a wet dream.”

“If you’re not willing to walk away from a deal you’ll always negotiate against yourself. Because [Governor Reynolds] wasn’t willing to walk away from this deal, it’s my belief she negotiated against herself because Arkansas, I do not believe, was ever actually at the table seriously, and by negotiating against herself, she negotiated against the Iowa taxpayer.”

“The largest corporate giveaway in the state of Iowa’s history.” (13:05)

“This company will not pay sales tax. They are still negotiating a property tax exemption, and an income tax benefit for the jobs they do produce, as well as almost 1.2 billion dollars in refundable and transferable tax credits.”

“Transferable tax credit:  It’s simply taking your money and your money and your money [pointing in different directions around the room] and giving it to a company and then letting that company sell the tax credit or put it up as collateral. So the two companies make money but what do you and you and you [pointing again] and you get in the end?”

“Why do companies want transferable tax credits? Because of equity. Plain and simple, they need equity.”

“It will likely take over a decade before this company pays any taxes into the system. Is it fair that every county in Iowa has to chip in $14 million apiece to pay for this project in one county” 

“Is it fair that every other business corp. in the state that pays a tax rate that’s ranked 25th in the U.S. for competitiveness, to stay at that rate while we give a company an incentive package where they won’t pay any taxes for over 10 years?”

“John Deere, 13,000 employees. Collins Aerospace, 9,000 employees. Pella Corp, 2,200 employees. That’s not to mention over 10,000 employees Hy-Vee has. Is it fair that this overseas company gets $1.2 billion in income tax credits and the other portions of this package for 1,750 employees that they only have to hire half, to be clear, while the other Iowa companies have been here for decades who have vast more employees pay a 7.1% tax rate?”

“Finally, is it fair that all Iowans offer an incentive package to this company that would pencil out, presuming all 1,750 jobs are hired, an incentive package to this company that would be equal to $820,000 per job that they hire?”

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Great questions that sadly will likely not be followed up on by anyone in the Iowa press corps.

One more thing. I can’t resist.  Howard Dean, the man who should have been president, always said, “You can’t trust Republicans with your money.”

Sending this along from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI)

October 6: Vote NO on Amendment 1 informational meeting

CCI Action has joined Common Good’s Fair Taxes for Iowa’s Future, a campaign to educate Iowans on why Amendment 1 is wrong for Iowa’s future. And, we’ve invited Kylie Spies from Common Good Iowa to help us understand what’s in Amendment 1 – aka the Millionaire Protection Act – which will be on the ballot for all Iowans this November. Join this online discussion over Zoom on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 6pm by registering here.