Tonight Republicans from around Iowa met at the Elwell Family Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  Isaiah McGee, Iowa State Central Committee Member, acted as Master of Ceremonies.  He made some brief remarks, including “We Must Unite!”

Video presentations from David Vaudt, who criticized Democrats 30% slash of his budget as an attempt to “muzzle the taxpayers’ watchdog” and Bill Northey who wants to see more republicans in the state capital.

Representatives Tom Latham and Steve King could not attend, but they probably had a good excuse since they are working in Washington tonight.  Both provided videos where they spoke to the health care bill being debated today.  Both are trying to kill it.  King stated that ”Iowans need to speak out until the bill is mortally wounded with …

Note: Art Smith is Communications Director for the Polk County Republican Party.  His views as expressed here are not necessarily those of the Polk County Republican Party.

Just an observation but if the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI)leaves this key position to work on the Branstad campaign, is that not sufficient reason to confirm that Branstad is going to run?   Well, Jeff Boeyink did.  RPI has benefited greatly from Jeff’s work, and will certainly be a challenged in finding a comparable replacement.  Matt Strawn had this to say today:

“I hope all Iowa Republicans join me in thanking Jeff for a job well done. The Iowa GOP is better off because of his service and tireless advocacy for principled, conservative government. I’m personally

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The following is Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn’s most recent Chairman’s Report.  – Ed.

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A personal note from the Chairman:  please keep Bob, Darla, and the Vander Plaats family in your thoughts and prayers over the Easter weekend as they continue to mourn the loss of Bob’s father who passed away this week.

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Governor Culver flips his position on Same Sex Marriage and sides with the Iowa Supreme Court.

After 100 hours of silence, Iowa Governor Culver finally broke his silence on the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Iowa’s law that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  While his statement was carefully written and would have done …

The political fallout continues for Democrats as they try to fend off criticism for Pat Murphy’s behavior Tuesday evening.  A letter to the editor in this morning’s Des Moines register lays it out pretty succinctly: characterizing the behavior of the public at Tuesday night’s public meeting prior to being expelled as anything more than brief expressions of disapproval or aproval (granting the first speaker deserved to be treated better) is spurious at best.  And Kiernan’s accusations that the public’s actions were orchestrated by Republican leaders is an outright lie; I was there during the preparatory time and there was nothing more than providing people with shirt and buttons… no direction to behave in any way.

If you watched KCCI news on Tuesday night (or the …

Empty Gallery

Pat Murphy will probably say he was well within his rights to clear the gallery at tonight’s Public Hearing on House File 807, the bill to repeal the deduction of Federal Income Tax from Iowa Income Tax.

But he was so wrong.

The galleries were filled with people who opposed the bill.  It is interesting that Democrats could not raise up any more than a handful of speakers to support the bill, none to sit in the gallery who support the bill.  And those who spoke in favor were the expected litany of social services and union leaders who would either benefit directly from the bill or are beholden to Democrats.  One speaker in favor, it was observed, sounded distinctly as if he …

Update:  Repeal of Federal Deductibility is tax increase in every tax bracket!

Yesterday’s newsletter addressed the Democrat proposal to eliminate federal deductibility; a tool that allows Iowans to deduct our federal income taxes from our ordinary income prior to calculating our income for state taxes.   This is the largest, and in some cases the only, tax deduction available to many hardworking Iowans. 

Last night the House Ways & Means Committee passed out the proposal on a party line vote.  14 Democrats voted aye – 11 Republicans voted no.   House File 807 is the new bill number as the bill moves forward and becomes eligible for debate in the House.

After having additional time to study the proposal, we have discovered exactly what we expected: more …

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 …

The deductibility of Federal Income Tax on the Iowa Income Tax is in jeopardy.  Iowa Democrats have officially brought the issue to the table in the Iowa House in HSB 284 (currently in the Ways and Means Committee).  Iowans need to stand up against this bill, as it is a direct increase in the income tax obligation of Iowans.  After rejecting sound recommendations from Iowans and elected Republicans, the Democrats are anxious to fix the mess they have created by raising our taxes.

There will be a Public Hearing on Tuesday, March 31, 6:30 PM (meeting commences at 7:30) at the Iowa Statehouse in the House Chambers.  This is the public’s best opportunity to be heard.  If you can, please plan to attend.  If you …

Today the Republican Party of Iowa finally ended one of the more unusual elections for party officers in recent memory, which included last week’s candidate forum.  The new slate of officers are:

• Party Chair: Matt Strawn
• Party Co-chair: Jim Kurtenbach
• Party Treasurer: Matt Randall
• Party Secretary: Bill Schickel

Strawn is a 35-year-old businessman and co-owner of the Iowa Barnstormers Arena Football Team.  Strawn’s focus in his campaign has been on better use of technology, communication and encouraging participation by younger Iowans in the political process.

After listening to Polk County GOP Chairman Ted Sporer (for the first time in a couple of months, by the way) on Steve Deace’s show Friday afternoon, I suspect that one of the first things Matt will need to do …