Evidently anticipating a challenging public presence (although as of 5:10 PM there are only about 100 people in the Iowa House galleries), Speaker Murphy provided the following list of rules:

Persons signing up to testify will be permitted on the House floor during a public hearing.
To testify, members of the public will be required to enter [...]

(DES MOINES)—House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) commented on the governor’s condition of the state address today.

“The governor needs to be straight with Iowans, he has raised taxes to balance his budget and that is unacceptable. Balancing the budget is not good enough if it’s on the backs of the taxpayer.

“Among others, the governor has signed utility tax increases, raised taxes on Iowa employers, and a $250 million tax levied on property tax payers. The governor has repeatedly [...]

The following piece addresses specific thoughts about the direction of the Republican Party. While the writer is actively serving as Communications Director for the Polk County Republican Party of Iowa, the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Polk County Republicans, the Republican Party of Iowa, or the Republican National Committee.

If you’ve followed The Conservative Reader earlier in 2009, you would note that we discussed a need to rethink the Conservative/Republican agenda. We have not yet dug into that process deeply, although many have been voicing their opinions about what needs doing.

There has been a substantive effort on the part of some Christian Conservative Republicans to promote an agenda that honors God with a level of apparent intolerance to those who do not agree with them. “No Compromise” is their war chant. While their positions certainly fall within the same realm as my own, their approach, ability to listen, and ability to acknowledge that they will not achieve the political utopia they seek (especially not on their own power), are all sadly lacking in the true message of the very God they are trying to serve. Interestingly, some of these folks have even stated some of the clear Christian principles that come in opposition to their behavior: Love, Mercy, and the need to change hearts through the power of God’s Grace and not through human Law. Instead, one hears little more than condemnation, personal attacks, and hatred. These folks could do themselves and the world a greater service by listening more and saying less. Regardless, I hope they continue to speak out about what is right (without the personal attacks), because that is a message that the World needs to hear. But Politics is never the final playing field of Truth.

Contrast that with the efforts of Doug Gross, who in the August 30 Des Moines Sunday Register delivered an Op-ed piece recommending complete abandonment of our efforts to drive back the social diseases that have infested society and have been embraced by the courts. Gross, who has been an unsuccessful candidate for Governor, believes that the key to the Republican Party’s success in 2010 will be a complete focus on fiscal issues and minimizing of [...]

A new message from Matt Strawn, Republican Party of Iowa:

DEMOCRATS PLAN TO ELIMINATE FEDERAL DEDUCTIBILITY AND RAISE TAXES ON IOWANS!

ACTION ITEM: Join US for a Republican Rally at the State Capitol tomorrow night.

Just when you thought things could not get worse at the Democrat-controlled Statehouse, majority Democrats have hatched a plan to raise income taxes on tens of thousands of Iowans by eliminating your right to deduct federal income taxes on your Iowa income tax return.

What Democrats call “tax reform” we see for what it is: a blatant attempt to use Iowa’s tax code to play destructive class warfare games and redistribute the wealth. Their plan would result in big tax increases on the very people on which we are depending to get this state out of our economic slump.

And, for the first time in Iowa history, you would be forced to pay state income tax on money you use to pay your federal income tax. A tax on a tax is wrong and Iowa Republicans MUST stand together and defeat this job-killing legislation.

Here are TWO big ways you can help stop this bill:

1. ATTEND the Republican Rally at the State Capitol today. On Tuesday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. there will be a public hearing on the proposed bill to eliminate federal deductibility. We want to pack the House Chamber with hundreds of Republicans to oppose this terrible legislation.

   Republicans are encouraged to gather in the basement of the State Capitol at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday night to hear from opposition leaders and learn how you can make a difference. We will then march up to the House Chamber and fill the seats. If you are able to attend, please send an email to Eric Johansen, our Political Director, at ejohansen@iowagop.org.

2. Call your [...]