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Iran "don’t give a damn"
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted on state-run televisions as
saying "Today, they want to force us to give up our way through threats and
sanctions but those who resort to language of coercion should know that
nuclear energy is a national demand and by the grace of God, today Iran is a
nuclear country."
Russia and China continue to put roadblocks in the way of U.N. actions to
counter Iran’s defiance of U.N. orders to halt nuclear production.
"We think that the IAEA must continue to play a key role and it must not
shrug off its responsibilities to resolve such questions and shift them on
to the UN Security Council, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, warned.
"The Security Council is the primary and most important institution for the
maintenance of peace and stability and security and it cannot have its word
and its will simply ignored by a member state," U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said.
Iowa beat
Romney
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) will hold a fund-raiser for Iowa’s
2nd Dist. Rep. Jim Leach in Burlington on May 8.
Vilsack
Governor Vilsack, having traveled to everywhere but Iowa, finally came back
to Iowa to reach agreement on a budget so the legislature can go home. The
Des Moines Register reports on the details:
A budget deal reached Thursday by Gov. Tom Vilsack and legislative leaders
will dish out tax breaks over eight years to 140,000 seniors and boost
teachers' salaries by $3,000 over three years.
The agreement on next year's $5.3 billion budget includes $15 million to
expand children's access to preschool and an additional $17 million to
improve the quality of Iowa lakes and rivers.
Harkin would cap salaries
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) has moved to repair the damage he caused himself
when he reported he wasn’t sure where he met CEO Ramona Cunningham of the
Central Iowa Employment Training Consortium (CIETC) -- who is undergoing
federal criminal investigation. One of the training centers at CIETC is
named after Harkin for providing federal largess to the consortium.
Harkin moved to cap total salaries and bonuses at $165,200 a year for
executives running job-training agencies that receive federal work force
money. This of course would be only $200,000 less than Cunningham received
in one of the years that she performed her executive duties.
The Cunningham’s scandal is tied to the Democrat cronies from the South Side
of Des Moines. These Democrats have provided winning majorities for
Democrats in Polk County where the consortium is based.
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