This coming Wednesday evening April 22, at 7:00, George Pataki will be speaking at Drake University in the first of a lecture series being provided by The American Future Fund.  The Polk County Republicans are a sponsor of the event.  The lecture is titled: “Yes We Still Can: Why Washington Failed and How We Can Reclaim America’s Future”.
Event details:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 7 p.m.
Cartright Hall, Room 213
Drake University Law School
2621 Carpenter Avenue
Des Moines, IA

For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Thursday morning April 9th at 8:30 there will be rally at the Iowa State Capitol West Lawn.  There is good information at letusvoteiowa.org.  Please go there and read the information on parking, purpose, etc.

There are a number of legislators, along with Governor Culver, who are questioning the political safety of supporting this amendment.  Between their fears and the outright obstinacy of Democratic leaders to prevent the voice of the people from being heard, we are in dire need of people to take a stand now, to show the Iowa General Assembly that this matters to Iowans in a big way.

WHAT CAN I DO TODAY?

You can continue to keep pressure on the Iowa House by calling the following Members who are still undecided as to how they will vote on the Iowa Marriage Amendment.  Urge them to vote yes on the procedural vote.  Remind them that the procedural vote is a vote on the Iowa Marriage Amendment.

Representative Brian Quirk – brian.quirk@legis.state.ia.us, 515.242.6436 (desk),
Home Address: 1011 Sunset St., New Hampton, IA, 50659

Representative McKinley Bailey – mckinley.bailey@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.7480(desk),
Home Address: 521 Elmhurst Dr., Webster City, IA 50595

Representative Mike Reasoner – mike.reasoner@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.3238 (desk),
Home Address: 702 New York Avenue, Creston, IA, 50801

Representative Kurt Swaim – kurt.swaim@legis.state.ia.us, 515.242.6417 (desk), 641.208.6330 (cell)
Home Address: 504 North Davis, Bloomfield, IA, 52537

Representative Larry Marek – larry.marek@legis.state.ia.us, 515.242.6442 (desk), 319.430.0294 (cell)
Home Address: 1741 Riverside Road, Riverside, IA, 52327

Representative Kerry Burt – kerry.burt@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.7342 (desk), 319.215.8685 (cell)
Home Address: 150 Hawthorne Ave., Waterloo, IA, 50702

Representative Wayne Ford – wayne.ford@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.4061 (desk), 515.271.0605 (home)
Home Address: 3301 Cottage Grove Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311-3709

Representative Nathan Reichert – nathan.reichert@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.7332 (desk), 563.571.5242 (cell)
Home Address: 1155 Iowa Avenue, Muscatine, IA, 52761

Representative Paul Shomshor – paul.shomshor@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.7325 (desk),
Home Address: 3018 Avenue M, Council Bluffs, IA, 51501

Representative Phyllis Thede – phyllis.thede@legis.state.ia.us, 515.281.7336 (desk), 563.508.1773 (cell) Home Address: 2343 Hawthorne Court, Bettendorf, IA, 52722

We just received word that Thursday’s planned debate on House File 807, Repeal of Federal Deductibility, has been canceled.  We don’t yet know when it will be scheduled.  You may have heard that Iowans For Tax Relief were asking for people to show up at the Capitol on April 2, but due to this late event, that request is canceled.

We still strongly urge you to contact your representatives to express your opinion about the bill.  A tax on a tax is not good for Iowa.

To find out who your representatives are and contact them:

http://www.taxrelief.org/legislators

Des Moines Register Reporter Jason Clayworth provided an accurate headline:

BREAKING NEWS: Hundreds of Iowans thrown out of public meeting

Unfortunately his opening sentence was not fully accurate. He said “More than 500 people who are upset with a plan to change Iowa’s tax laws were cleared from a hearing tonight at the Iowa House after they interrupted multiple times.”

The word interrupted means “to break the continuity or uniformity of”.   I was in attendance in the gallery and amongst those removed.  The vast majority of the crowd applauded speakers opposed to House File 807, which eliminates Federal deductibility.  There were a few cases early in the proceeding where a smattering of “boos” or “shout outs” occured against speakers supporting the measure.  House Speaker Murphy cracked when a young college student brought the crowd to it’s feet. 

In no way did the participation by the crowd “interrupt” the proceedings.  I can’t think of one occurence where the next speaker had to wait for the crowd to quiet.  In fact, if anything interrupted the process, it was the removal of 500 taxpayers from the House chamber.   Understandably all of these folks were very very upset.  I felt sorry for the state troopers who were duty bound to enforce this arrogant order.  Thomas Jefferson said “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”.  We did not go silently.

I was impressed by the many self employed individuals and small business owners who spoke so passionately and credibly against this terrible proposal. 

Iowa House members will be taking the measure up for a vote on Thursday, April 2.  When I spoke with a House Member last night he said there were about 52 votes in favor of the measure.  I believe that 50 are required to pass the bill.  You can truly make a difference by contacting your representative today and letting them know where you stand.  If you don’t know who your representative is, go to this link:

http://www.taxrelief.org/legislators

I’m confident that last night’s attendance at the public hearing, along with the great speakers, had some impact on the minds of any wavering legislators.  We need your help to make the final push to stop this bill from passing.

John Bloom

Matt Strawn, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, released this Call to Action on Friday, March 27th:

“Democrats release Plan to Eliminate Federal Deductibility to Force YOU to Pay a Tax on a Tax:  Elimination of Federal Deductibility looks like it is on the Democrats’ “Must Do” List before Session Ends.  This could be Death Blow to our Economy!”

We stand with Chairman Strawn in condemning this action by the Democratic leadership.  Iowa must not join the states with high marginal tax rates and denial of Federal Tax deductibility.  We dare not risk driving more individuals and small business owners out of our state.

Iowans for Tax Relief and the Republican Party of Iowa are calling all Republicans to the State Capitol in Des Moines Tuesday evening, March 31st, at 6:30 P.M. in the Capitol Cafeteria, to attend the public hearing on this issue to be held at 7:30 PM in the House Chamber.

We encourage Polk County Republicans to attend the public hearing Tuesday night and speak out against the spending and added taxation plans of the 2009 Iowa General Assembly.  Let’s make sure Polk County leads the fight against any effort to raise taxes in Iowa.  Please join me at the Capitol!

If you cannot make it to the Capitol, please email and call your representatives.  Your voice does make a difference!  You can look up their contact information at http://www.taxrelief.org/legislators.

On Tuesday night you can also listen to the hearing online at http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Audio/Audio.html, and click house audio.

Sincerely, John L Bloom

Chairman, Polk County Republican Central Committee

The Polk County Central Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 24th at 7:00 – 8:30 pm.  It will be held at Hillside Elementary School located at 713 8th street just south of Ashworth Road in West Des Moines (map).

The Polk Country Republican Office is now open Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Please call 515-280-6438 if you have any questions. 

Our website http://polkgop.com/   is operational again.  Please visit it frequently as we continue to post content and improve it’s value to CC members.

Key Activities for this Meeting:

• Regular Business (15 minutes)
  1. Pledge
  2. Review and approve minutes from February 24, 2009 meeting.
• Officers and Executive Committee (30 minutes)
  1. Review and confirm new officers as appointed by the Chairman & Co-Chairman.
  2. Review and confirm the guidelines proposed for establishing an Executive Committee. 
  3. Review and confirm Executive Committee members as appointed by the Chairman & Co-Chairman. 
  4. Sign up for short term committee needs.  Long term committee needs will depend on the strategic plan.
• Strategic Planning Process (45 minutes) 
  1. Review Process Steps and Timeline
  2. Review and confirm questionnaire to be sent to all Central Committee members.
  3. Sign up for small group planning sessions

Future Meetings:

• April – No common meeting but we will hold one small group session every week through April & May.
• May 26th – 7:00 p.m. at Hillside Elementary

We welcome every Central Committee member to attend this meeting and help us improve the performance of the Republican Party in Polk County.

John Bloom, Chairman

Will Rogers, Co-Chairman

At the February 24th Polk County Republican Central Committee meeting, John Bloom of West Des Moines was elected Central Committe Chair.  Will Rogers of Des Moines was elected Co-chair.  Biographical information about both can be found at this link.

Central Committee Meetings for the next few months are as follows:

Tuesday March 24, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Hillside Elementary School, 713 8th Street, West Des Moines.  (Map)

Tuesday May 26, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Hillside Elementary School, 713 8th Street, West Des Moines.  (Map)

We are actively working to get your place for Republican Politics in Polk County, Iowa, ready for you to use!  We expect to be up and running by March 13.  Please check back often!