On the second day of this legislative session, Republicans in the Iowa General Assembly passed legislation, House File 194, which gives every Iowan a 20% discount on his, her, or your businesses’ income tax. But the Democrat-controlled Senate buried the bill.

People need money and hope, right now. Tens of thousands are still struggling to recover from damages due to floods and tornadoes, with more at risk in northwest Iowa.

Nearly 100,000 Iowans are still out of work. According to research from The Beacon Hill Institute in Boston, up to 18,000 new jobs could be created in just the first year if taxes on income, property and sales were discounted by 15%, www.iowansfordiscountedtaxes.org.   So who’s against putting your friends and neighbors back to work?

Senators Gronstal, Bolkcom and McCoy, in particular, have kept the bill buried in the Senate Ways & Means Committee so they can work on more spending, and legislation that will favor teachers and other unionized constituents: but why? Democrats and Republicans in Washington worked together to discount payroll taxes by more than 30% and extended the current low tax rates to help as many people as possible get through this crisis.

Iowa’s Republicans have proposed and passed balanced legislation to solve critical problems by curtailing unnecessary spending and proposing discounts on Iowans’ income and property taxes, (the sales taxes need to be next to help the most disadvantaged among us). This legislation helps everyone and hurts no one. To get your discount you can contact:

Senator Matt McCoy at realmccoy@me.com or 274-0561 and
Senator Mike Gronstal mike.gronstal@legis.state.ia.us or 712-328-2808

Refer to Polk GOP House File 194 – Suggested Remarks for Elected Officials when writing to Senators.

Contacting these men should help get your discounts out of Committee for a vote. When it passes, Governor Branstad can be trusted to sign it so you, your family and business will have a more secure and brighter future.

Kevin McLaughlin, President
Iowans for Discounted Taxes,

Steve Forbes, Honorary Chairman

Additional information regarding Iowans for Discounted Taxes can be found by going to Iowans for Discounted Taxes Strategy Meeting with Assns. and Elected Officials 3-04-10.

In a press release today, the Polk County Republican Party announced its early endorsement of Tom Latham for the Congressional Seat in the newly created Third Congressional District in Iowa.

For the full text of the press release, click on the link below for the entire post…

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The table below is from the Polk County Auditor’s web site.  These are the polling places for the special election on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 for the Senate District race in which Republican Jack Whitver is running.   Also, there will be an Election Night Watch Party for Friends of Jack Whitver at Wig and Pen Pizza, 2005 S. Ankeny Blvd. Suite 300, Ankeny (across from DMACC), starting at 7:00 PM.

Jack Whitver is the Republican candidate running for Larry Noble’s seat in Iowa Senate District 35.  District 35 covers much of northern Polk County.  It is vitally important that we keep this seat in Republican hands, and we have a very qualified conservative candidate in Jack Whitver!

In order to ensure that Jack wins this election, the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is opening phone banks and needs your help to make calls to get out the vote (GOTV)!  Getting voters to the polls will be critical to our success, and these calls will make the difference.

You can show up at RPI headquarters at 621 East 9th Street in Des Moines.  The phone bank hours are listed below.  If you have questions, please contact Ryan Gough at rgough@iowagop.org.  You can also call RPI offices at (515) 282-8105.

If you can make a donation, please click on this link to do so.  Polk County Republicans have already made a $1,000 donation, but more help is needed!

As you probably know, Larry Noble was nominated to be the new Commissioner of Public Safety.  Larry has resigned his Senate seat and a special election will be held on January 18th.  Local business owner and former Iowa State football player Jack Whitver was selected in a special convention last week to run as the Republican candidate… the Democrat candidate was selected last night and is John Calhoun, also a local business owner and a former Juvenile Court Officer.

Jack Whitver is an entrepreneur, small business owner, and law student who lives in Ankeny with his wife Rachel and newborn daughter Ella.

He owns “Acceleration Iowa”, an athlete training center and fitness facility that has grown to three locations in the Des Moines region. Jack is also a second year law student at Drake University, and an assistant coach for the Iowa Barnstormers.

Jack is a pro-life, fiscal conservative who understands the importance of a balanced budget for individuals and businesses from firsthand experience. He believes with a strong conviction that the government must balance its budget as well. His top priority is to lower taxes, and ensure that state government does a better job of setting priorities within the nearly $6 billion already spent.

Republicans interested in helping get Jack Whitver elected should contact Katie Koberg at kkoberg@taxrelief.org or Erin Strawn EStrawn@stantonparkgroup.com.

There will be a house party to raise money for Jack’s campaign this Friday at Matt and Erin Strawn’s home (702 SW Coventry Circle, Ankeny – map) from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

More info about last week’s convention can be found at The Iowa Republican and The Conservative Reader: Iowa.

Your polling place on Election Day (November 2) is based on where you live.  The easiest way to find out where you should go to vote is to click this link, which will take you to the Iowa Secretary of State’s office.  If you are unable to find your polling place that way, you should call your county Auditor’s office (Polk County Auditor: Jamie Fitzgerald, phone: (515) 286-3247).

If you run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact Polk County Republicans at 515-280-6438.

[From The Conservative Reader: Iowa]

The Dave Funk Campaign announced that Former Governor Terry Branstad is working to help the candidate for Polk County Supervisor in District 3. At Funk’s website:

The race for supervisor in Polk County’s third district is described as one of the most important races in Iowa. Former Gov. Terry Branstad (and current candidate) works to raise support for Republican supervisor candidate Dave Funk.

Funk, Branstad and event organizer Jeff Lamberti speak to constituents.

It should say a lot that as a Gubernatorial Candidate, Branstad took the time to attend the Lamberti event and speak on Funk’s behalf.  There’s no question that this campaign, to end over 60 years of Democrat control in Polk County, will have a significant impact on Iowa’s capitol city.  Since any candidate for governor does not have time to support every individual candidate in their party, clearly Funk’s campaign is seen as critical to making a difference in Iowa as a whole and that this district is important to the Governor’s race as well.