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Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update: Governor Culver, Shake Up Microsoft!

Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update: Governor Culver, Shake Up Microsoft!

This week’s newsletter from Iowa House District 60 Representative Peter Cownie is addressed to Governor Culver and provides encouragement for the Iowa Governor to travel to Microsoft headquarters to press for the software giant to recommit to their plans for a data center in West Des Moines.

Dear Governor Culver,

One of the most important jobs a governor can perform is that of advocating for new businesses and jobs to come to his/her state. No one is as recognizable or deserves to be listened to more than a governor in this respect. Therefore, I respectfully encourage you to go directly to Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington and advocate for Microsoft to remain committed to building the data center in West Des Moines.  The data center was scheduled to break ground in 2009. However, Microsoft recently informed West Des Moines officials that plans would be postponed indefinitely due to the difficult economic times. The data center represents $550 million in new development for West Des Moines and Iowa as well as the creation of 75 new jobs with salaries near $70,000. 

Governor Culver, now is not the time to sit and wait for Microsoft to decide what they want to do. Iowa needs to be proactive in bringing business to our great state. Nobody has more credibility in selling Iowa than you. Microsoft is an example of new business that would bring millions of dollars to Iowa. Real leadership means taking chances even when failure is a possibility. Real leadership also means going to bat for the people who elected you. As a State Representative for West Des Moines, I feel strongly that you can make a real difference for the people of Iowa in this case. This COULD be a signature moment for Iowa and your tenure as governor. I hope you will decide to rise to the challenge. I would be happy to accompany you.

Sincerely,

State Representative Peter Cownie
District 60
West Des Moines

This is the type of action that our state leaders need to take… acting intentionally to ensure that players like Microsoft don’t think we’re just fine like we are.  This is the time to act as if the deal were new and we are in contention with other states or cities… if you think that Microsoft isn’t looking somewhere else right now, you don’t know much about the world.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the way, this reminds me of the fact that the General Assembly seems to be sitting on their collective hands waiting for the Stimulus package.  Among other things, Iowa has around 50 projects that are specifically waiting for federal money to be commenced.  I don’t know how many of those projects need state legislative action to proceed, but it’s a little concerning that we’re getting in line for money in some cases for projects that have questionable value or relevance in our current economic times.  After all the criticism of US Banks for how they manage their [stockholders’] money, it’s rather ironic that we won’t treat the excesses of government spending being brought about by this huge pile of pork manure with the same level of contempt.

More on these projects later.

Getting Around The Constitution

Getting Around The Constitution

Some like to use the Court System.  Some like to use creative Congressional Legislation.  Some even like to use Executive Orders.

Others seek a coalition of states to enact laws to just circumvent the Constitutional system.

Today we look at a bill before the Iowa General Assembly (House version, Senate version).  This same bill has already been enacted into law in Maryland and New Jersey.  It is still in the “Study Bill” state (in a committee for review), and will essentially cause Iowa to select Electors based on the National Popular Vote results instead of Iowa’s Popular Vote results.  Once enough states opt into this coalition to cover 270 electoral votes (the number of votes currently needed to win the Presidency), the law would go into effect.  In case it’s not obvious, the point is to make the College meaningless.

I am very concerned about this bill. I’ll start by saying I support the Electoral College structure that we have in place today to mange the electing of the President, and although I could use this space to explain my support for it, my concern with the bill is not in the value of the College, but rather in the Compact that this bill places Iowa in.

This bill, in concert with the same language in other states’ codes, is intended to provide a means to circumvent the Constitution of the Unites States. I consider that a serious matter. Despite the fact that each state has the right to select its electors for President by whatever means it deems appropriate, this is a creative way to achieve a populist agenda that should be given the due course of debate at a national level and resolved by changing the Constitution as it is intended to be managed.

Further, this bill will hurt Iowans in the following ways:

  1. Iowa, along with the other states that are agreeing to this compact, will become at odds with the Federal Government. Circumventing the Constitution is serious business. Congress will, of course, take notice and somehow act. Congress may act in a way that penalizes the states that participate in this Compact.
  2. If this is passed, I am confident that Iowa will lose its first-in-the-nation caucus status. Both parties will abandon Iowa as due to the negative impact we are supporting against national party politics.
  3. Iowa will lose its voice in the national debate. Becoming part of this Compact will mean that no matter how Iowans vote, it will be the national voice that we speak, not our own.
  4. The loss of Iowa’s relevance will mean that candidates will no longer bother coming to Iowa. They will focus on the urban centers such as the Northeast, Chicago, the West Cost, and Texas. Agrarian states will get no attention.

Other problems with this bill include the fact that this course of action may, ironically, be executable without the favor of a majority of American Citizens. Only required is that the legislatures of enough states to acquire a majority of the Electors approve this measure. Regardless of the polling on this issue, it deserves to be debated and decided by all Americans.

Once this Compact is enacted, the Electoral College will become irrelevant. Congress will be forced to act. It could take the course of withdrawing the Electoral College, which is what the Compact supporters desire more than anything. Again, I will refrain from speaking to that issue at this time.

Or, Congress may decide to take other action to abolish the Compact. It may determine that it will have to define how electors are selected. I don’t think we want that.

We are currently suffering from a series of attacks on the Constitution. Plans nationally to enact the “Fairness Doctrine”, the recently approved Stimulus Package, discussions around nationalizing the banking system, plans to further limit religious expression and the holding of firearms, and the repeated use of the court system to decide the things that we should be deciding in the halls of our legislative bodies are all slowly eating away at the foundation of our law.

Even if this is the direction that Iowans and Americans really want to go, it concerns me that such a dramatic change could be thrust into the heart of our country while we are trying so desperately to recover from economic challenges and a significant shift in popular thinking… this decision, this idea needs more time and more debate.

If you live in Iowa, please contact your State House Representative and Senator.  At the this links you’ll find email, phone numbers, and home addresses.  I would urge you to send an email right away, and perhaps follow up with a phone call.

Since this topic has both Iowa and National impacts, it is being posted on both The Conservative Reader and The Conservative Reader: Iowa.
Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update: Governor Culver, Shake Up Microsoft!

Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update: Budgets and Fair Share

Since I don’t currently have the time I need to follow the work of the Iowa General Assembly as closely as I’d like, it helps me to read these updates from Peter.  This week, I’m surprised to learn that the Democrats are anxious to bring back the “Fair Share” concept that they tried to force down Iowan’s throats last year.

It isn’t bad enough that we have to struggle to ensure that spending is under control and that we don’t depend on the Federal Government to meet our fiscal needs, but do we really have to start sucking up to the unions yet again by taxing non-union members to pay for the junkets of corrupt union leaders?

Mind you, if union members really want to throw their money away by paying union dues that cost them more than they get (and I mean costing in terms of lost opportunities, meager strike funds and ridiculous concessions that just bankrupt the companies they work for), that’s their business.  But dragging their co-workers into paying for the same obsolete concept is larceny.

Call your representative and stop this madness!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile the budget battle goes on.  Evidently, the message continues to be finding ways to keep the spending flowing despite any sense of thoughfulness.  Granted, I think we can live on a lot less  spending even when the economy is good… and if we worked with that mindset, it wouldn’t be so hard for us right now because we’d already have budget, the government, the horse trough, all under control.  It’s too bad we don’t do enough to hold the politicians accountable.

But you can.  Call them.  And start planning for the 2010 elections.

Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update: Governor Culver, Shake Up Microsoft!

Peter Cownie Weekly Newsletter: Make Smart Choices For Iowa

You can view Peter’s newsletter here.

Peter poses some great positive ideas for improving the current economic state of affairs in Iowa, with particular and appropriate emphasis on our need to reduce state government spending:

These cuts should be a positive thing for the taxpayers of Iowa. Like any business that goes thru [sic] hard times, the cutting of excess can make government leaner and more efficient in the long run.

This should be a message spread throughout the States’ and Federal Legislatures: part of our problem has always been too much government spending, too much bloating in the government, too big a trough for elected officials to feed on and build electoric favoratism to ensure a nice long career as a politician.

Although I haven’t had time to peruse the budget that Governor Culver has placed in front of the General Assembly yet, I appreciate the fact that he has gone a long way to cutting the fat out of Iowa Government.  However, since we are still a ways from seeing a balanced budget, there is more to do.  The Entitlements need more thoughtful review.  I hope to have some thoughts on the content of the budget next week.  Meanwhile, if you’re interested,  you can read the budget here.

And the convoluted attempts to raise money through shenanigans such as leasing or selling the Lottery cannot be allowed to move forward.  Emily Geiger at Battleground Iowa had a great analysis of the current state of the politics around this issue Thursday.

At any rate, we don’t get a lot of time to do the lawmaking here in Iowa.  We need to all pay attention as our Legislators and Governor are making decisions that may impact us for a while.  Keep in mind that even though we have a Balanced Budget law in Iowa, the politicians are still adept at manipulating the numbers to convince us they’ve done as much even though they have not.

And get in contact with your Statehouse Representative and Senator.  They are there for you.

Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update: Governor Culver, Shake Up Microsoft!

Peter Cownie’s Weekly Update

Peter Cownie was elected to the Iowa State House (District 60) this past November and enters his freshman year.  I think that Peter’s insights into this year’s General Assembly work will be valuable, and will be posting his newsletter here.

First, the following text was included in the email with his first newsletter:

SOLVE PROBLEMS IN A BIPARTISAN MANNER

The inauguration of President Barack Obama this past week was a historic moment for the United States. Not only is President Obama the first African-American to become President of the United States, but he is probably inheriting more problems than any other President in recent history. However, I believe this to be a time of optimism for  Americans and Iowans alike. The most important thing I took from President Obama’s  inaugural address is his increased emphasis on personal responsibility. This is referring to  personal responsibility for all citizens in their daily lives. We should not wait for the government or anyone else to solve our problems. President Obama’s tone and rhetoric are sadly not struck upon enough in American politics and society.

President Obama is surely one of the greatest speakers to ever ascend to the White House. It will take all of his powers of oratory as well as salesmanship to be a successful president. President Obama inherits two wars, a recession, a massive federal deficit, and nearly every state in the Union looking for a bailout to deal with its own budget problems. Iowa is no different in this regard. The Statehouse seems to be “waiting by the phone” to see how much money we will get. Frankly, I do not see this as the job of your elected officials to sit and wait for the feds to bail the state out. You elected us to solve problems.

I intend to follow one of President Obama’s guidelines and work in a bipartisan manner to solve Iowa’s problems. Too often the people’s government gets bogged down in petty differences and party politics. There will obviously be differences during this session and it will be the minority party’s job to highlight those differences. However, I think the people of Iowa will be better served if the Legislature spent more time finding common ground amongst ourselves rather than worry about the next election cycle. Instead, we should be focusing on helping the people that are still displaced from the floods of this past summer and working to cut waste from our state budget. Hopefully next week I will be able to report some progress on these fronts.

In closing, Iowa lost one of its finer public servants this past week. State Senator Mary Lundby of Marion passed away after a long battle with cancer. Senator Lundby was a tireless worker for her state and district as well as one of the most effective legislators to serve at the Statehouse. On a personal note, Senator Lundby hired me a few years ago to work for the Senate Republican Caucus staff. I credit Senator Lundby with my start in public service. Thank you, Senator Lundby. You will be missed.

Peter’s newsletter requires Adobe Acrobat Reader (download here).  The newsletter is at this link.

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