The Attorney General went all legal eagle in defending his recommendation that the Big Lug Nut not let Walding go...
"After a staff review of the memo and applicable Iowa statutes, the office concluded that the allegations contained within the five-page memo were not sufficient to warrant removal of an appointive state officer by the Executive Council under the standards set forth in Chapter 66.26 of the Iowa Code."
Fitzgerald thanked the governor for seeking a
pay raise on their behalf that he and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller,
also a Democrat, supported.
The next Attorney General's salary would rise from $123,669 to $134,800.
The last time these two's salaries came up was in 2010, when the Big Lug Nut took a 10 percent pay cut and Fitzgerald (Ten Percent?) and Miller (Miller Lite) refused to do the same.
The state has $363 million in potential tax liability and the Governor has helped three top level state employees find the exit sign and Miller is auditioning for the Kevin Bacon role at the end of Animal House.
By then, I'm sure, Miller will have stoked the outrage more by settling with the film producers who will be suing the state like the Touchplay distributors did and that needlessly cost us $17.5 Million.
Iowa has spent nearly all of the bonanza it gained from suing tobacco companies in the 1990s.
Just like drunken sailors on shore leave and the scientific community is united in that fact.
The cigarette makers agreed in 1998 to pay up to $2 billion to Iowa over 25 years. In 2002, the state sold off the rights to most of those payments for about $500 million in immediate cash.
Here's our brilliant Attorney General...
Tom Miller, a Democrat who helped win the original settlement, said he now wishes the state hadn't sold off rights to the 25 years of payments.
Miller said he didn't oppose the sale at the time, because it decreased risk.
RISK?
But he now thinks that if the money had come in more gradually, it would have lasted longer and been more carefully targeted.
PURE GENIUS!
The problem with that theory is the Idiots Out Walking Around in the Legislature would have pissed through the $80 Million a year too.
The targets should be on these folks backs come November!
Well, you dad-gum government You sorry so 'n' so's You got your damn hands in every pocket Of my clothes
And now for something compeletely different, Bob Seger.
Per the Ragister, Governor Big Lug Nuttoday linked the prostate cancer of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller with the importance of passing a controversial labor bill.
The bill allows Iowa employees the right to select a doctor to treat them for workplace injuries.
That means Miller's cancer is work related?
The BLN rambled on...
“I have a number of friends not doing well right now. I have two other friends in the hospital right now including Edward Campbell and Rose Mary Pratt..."
Tiny Tot Tyler Olson and JackASS...err, Hatch want to make Branstad's age and length of service an issue.
Miller (pictured) will be 70 next year and will have been in state government 32 years, as he seeks a ninth four-year term.
State Treasurer MichaelFitzgerald will also be on the Dummycrat ballot and he too will have served 32 years, in addition "Ponzi" will be seeking his ninth consecutive four-year term.
If Tyler is the nominee, that slate will have a combined 72 years in state government and a total of 84 years if the nominee is Hatch.
Iowans have known this was coming and can still take action to avoid the loss of a mere TV signal so they can watch the Hawkeyes in the Orange Bowl.
Mediacom doesn't carry the NFL Network, carrier of the Insight Bowl in which the Iowa State Cyclones are playing tonight, but a work around was found, WOI TV/5 will carry it, without government intervention.
This is not the first dust up between Sinclair and Mediacom, in January 2007 Iowa Dummycrats in the Legislature wanted to hold hearings on the dispute.
Back then the President of the Des Moines branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Linda Carter-Lewis cited the impact the dispute had on the poor.
Stating the absence of the Sinclair channels is hard on low-income Iowa subscribers in rural and urban areas. Minimal cable service, costing less than $20 a month is their best TV alternative.
Actually the best TV alternative then for the low-income was a one time purchase of rabbit ears, now it would be a one time purchase of a converter box.
I'm trying to figure out if the look on Sweaty Chetty's face is one of dazed because of dehydration, or if there's a beer sign up ahead and he's dreaming of double fisting.
The Big Lug Nut is trying to scare us out of a "past we can't repeat" with Terry Branstad, but it is painfully obvious that Chet Culver is a future we can't afford.
From his $875 million (plus interest) I-JOBS borrowing scam, to the IDED film office fiasco and the IABD (Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Divison) bender that makes the RIO $19,000 carpet look like a wet spot.
How is it that the Governor can help three top level state employees find the exit sign over IDED, but can't get Attorney General Tom Miller to agree that one of Miller's former assistant Attorneys General, Lynn Walding, needs to be canned after improperly spending tens of thousands of dollars?
If all of this hasn't taxed your patience, there's also the more than $133 million increase in property taxes.
It was with his latest commercial that I finally figured out who Chester Culver reminds me of.
He's our Al Gore!
They were both born in Washington D.C. to a United States Senator, both went to school in that area and their daddies lost their seats to Republicans.
Both give awkward kisses to their wives to help their campaign, it doesn't work.
Gore practically swallowed Tipper befor his convention speech and Chester gets a peck from the mother of his children in their commercial.
Oh yeah, both are quite LARGE!
"Big lug" is what Mariclare says.
In an interesting development today. The Pickle, Governor Vilsack, appointed key Culver campaign advisor Brent Appel to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Appel ran Chester's daddies 1980 campaign, he lost to Senator Grassley. Appel ran, and lost, in 1982 to Congressman Tom Tauke. Attorney General Tom Miller hired the fellow Dubuquian to work for him. Appel's wife is running for the State Senate (I've had the pleasure of already voting against her, my fear is that she'll win).
The interesting part is there's a little over three weeks until election day. Does the Pickle think Chester's not going to win and that's why he's appointed this Dummycrat shill?
Brent Appel has contributed nearly $40,000 in the last 6 years to Dummycrats. Staci, a homemaker, has given $7,300 in the same time period. $3,000 of that went to Hillary Rodham Clinton!
Now that's a first, because he previously blamed Attorney General Tom Miller for not allowing him to fire Lynn Walding at the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Divison.
A year later, Culver has still never fully come clean over his role in the film office fiasco involving the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).
There are still problems lingering from his second term as Secretary of State, that may cost the state $576,000, and he wants another term as Governor?
I've never been a fan of the Bill Clinton thumbs up
Culver seems to have got it down pat.
Branstad should have been more clear on the debate format, wanting response time, especially after the moderators had just gone over it with the viewers.
Culver stumbled over Sioux City seeming to call it Sewer Water City.
I love how Branstad shot down Culver's AAA bond rating by noting how Enron and Lehman Brothers both received the same rating from Moody's.
Culver used a majority of his time regarding the judicial selection process to go back to a previous question about bonding.
Culver seemed to be bragging about the 30,000 Iowans collecting extended unemployment benefits, but because Culver did not seek a change in the state's unemployment law roughly 18,000 Iowans have missed out on an 13 weeks of benefits paid for by the federal government.
When questioned by Branstad, Culver could not name one (let alone the three asked for) of his biggest mistakes, yet said he takes full responsibility for his mistakes.
That lends credence to the belief that the mistakes he's admitting to making are just an insincere campaign ploy.
When Culver was given a chance to question Branstad he just talked and talked before finally asking him to admit I-JOBS was being funded with gaming revenue.
Those revenues continue to fall and I-JOBS could end up being paid back from the state's general fund.
Branstad scored with the 300,000 jobs he created as Governor versus the 50,000 jobs Culver has lost.
Education came up and Culver brought up his two "amazing" children.
Those kids have made a commercial for him, Clare seems to take after her dad and John after his mom, Mari.
Culver also claims preschool could be the defining issue in the campaign, which makes me wonder what happened to embryonic stem cell research?
Just last week it was to be a key to Culver winning re-election.
Branstad pointed out that preschool should not be an entitlement, funded by taxpayers for everyone, but should be paid for on the basis of need.
Congratulations to Culver on not breaking out Sweaty Chetty until roughly half way through the debate.
When questioned about what he would have done different about the floods of 2008, Culver started off his response about the tornado that hit the Little Sioux Scout Ranch and then mentioned being to Cedar Rapids 100 times.
When asked again what he would have done different, his response was nothing.
I loved how Branstad tied Jack DeCoster to the Dymmycrats with his $10,000 campaign contribution to Attorney General Tom Miller and to Culver via a $400,000 donation to the Democratic Governors ASSociation, which has funded Culver's campaign.
Thankfully nobody called Decoster a bad egg or a rotten egg.
I'm not sure what to make of Culver's claim that the "facts are getting in the way of the truth".
On the topic of economic development, Culver's plan to end brain drain in Iowa is with BRAIN SUCK.
As my lovely and talented wife pointed out to me, brain gain would have been more appropriate.
In his closing statement, Culver claimed Terry Branstad is against civil rights?
Larry is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and when you say that about someone in broadcasting it is quite a statement.
Larry and I worked for the same company when he was in news at WHO TV and I was at KLYF Radio.
Larry organized the company basketball team and just a couple years ago organized a successful (and fun) reunion of onetime WHO TV/Radio and KLYF employees, where I reminded him that my grandmother (98 this month) was the house mother at his Iowa State fraternity and Larry shared nice memories of that experience.
FIRE IN THE HOLE as another rodent leaves the SS Lug Nut.
What does Donn deliver to the campaign?
He was the Iowa Deputy Secretary of State for Communications when the BLN held the top job, where it looks like in 1999 one of their projects was internet voting and that the BLN was convinced there would be real Internet voting in the states within the next 10 years.
EPIC FAIL!
Lately, Stanley was an ASSistant Attorney General for Tom Miller and had hopes of being appointed U.S. Attorney for Iowa's southern district.
