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IOWA
DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
PAGE 2
Wednesday,
Aug. 27, 2003
… Grassley
preparing for a different experience – running
for re-election without a Republican in the IA
Governor’s Office. Coverage from KCCI-TV (Des
Moines): “Iowa Sen. Charles
Grassley is assembling a well-financed and
aggressive campaign for a fourth term in
office. The Iowa Republican said he
doesn't want to be caught off guard, even
though no Democrat has stepped forward as an
opponent. Grassley said he's confident he
can win, but he said Iowa would be
different in the next election. His
previous campaigns were conducted when the
state had a Republican governor. Now, a
Democrat occupies that office. Grassley
currently has more than $4 million in campaign
funds. Last year, Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom
Harkin spent $8 million on his
re-election campaign, while Republican
challenger Greg Ganske spent $6
million. Grassley said he expects a
Democrat now holding a statewide office will
eventually emerge as his opponent. Grassley
was first elected to the Senate in 1980 and
his seat comes open again in 2004.”
…
Columnist: The issues that will dominate the
’04 prez race are now “suddenly clear” –
terrorism, energy and gay marriage.
Excerpt from commentary – on townhall.com – by
Maggie Gallagher: “For anyone who looks, the
outline of the 2004 presidential campaign is
suddenly clear. There are three, and exactly
three, issues that will dominate. The
first, obviously, is terrorism. Not the war in
Iraq (give it up, Dean). The continuous
direct threat of bodily harm to Americans by
an organized international enemy -- that is
the issue. We are vulnerable, and we know
it. The blackout of 2003 was just a reminder.
Like most people, when I realized via car
radio the extent of the blackout -- early
reports said New York and Detroit were
affected -- it sounded and felt like an
attack…When the fear subsided, the anger
started to rise. This is the second big issue:
the energy crisis. The last time I went
through an energy crisis, I was a young teen
and it was all the Saudis' fault for cutting
off the oil. Who is to blame this time?
Don't tell me a fly wanders into a transmitter
in Cleveland, and suddenly all the air
conditioners in New York City shut down.
First California, then the Northeast -- now we
hear reports that people in Phoenix are
without gas because the one gas pipeline was
shut down for safety reasons and may take a
week or two to fix. All right guys, get your
act together. I don't care how or who, but
this is not some Third World country here,
this is America. Get the lights running.
Keep them running. Now…The third dominating
issue is gay marriage. The political
massagers are desperately trying to find the
most favorable language for framing the gay
marriage question (favorable to gay marriage,
I mean). They seem to have settled on asking
Americans whether or not they want to ‘ban gay
marriage.’ A recent Associated Press poll
found that 52 percent of Americans support a
law banning gay marriage. However, in the same
poll, 53 percent oppose civil unions for gays.
Taken at face value, this would mean Americans
are actually more in favor of gay marriage
than domestic partnership benefits for gays…How
will this play out politically? Every
single one of the Democratic presidential
candidates is already on record supporting gay
civil unions, which the majority of Americans
oppose. No Democrat looks remotely credible,
at this point, as an alternative to President
Bush on terrorism. Which leaves the energy
crisis, plus the economic mess that is
generated when the generators fail. The Dems
had better hope President Bush and the GOP
Congress blow it big time.” This morning’s headlines:
Des Moines
Register, top front-page headline: “’Safety
lost out’ within NASA…Cost, schedule
issues cited in shuttle tragedy” (Note:
Register editorializes this morning that
manned spaceflight should be suspended.)
Quad-City
Times, main heads online: “U. S. facing
$1.4 trillion in new debt” & “Shuttle
report faults NASA”
Nation/world
online headlines, Omaha World-Herald: “Tax
cuts, drug plan to drive up deficit, analysts
warn” & “NASA must repair itself, board
warns”
Featured
reports, New York Times online: “Inertia
and Indecision at NASA” & “Leap in
Deficit Instead of Fall Is Seen for U. S.”
Top online
stories, Sioux City Journal: “Iowa crops
shrink; officials prepare requests for aid”
& “Ailing Canadians finally getting
government pot”
Chicago
Tribune, online headlines: “North Korea
Demands Nonaggression Treaty” & “Palestinians
Criticize Israel for Strikes”
Iowa Briefs/Updates:
The Sioux City
Journal reported that
Christie Lee
Ann Helen Van Oort pleaded guilty Monday in
Sioux County [Sioux Center, Orange City]
District Court to second-degree murder in the
death of Dick Post.
Van Oort, 27, was
originally charged with first-degree murder
in the April 16, 2002, death of Post, 87, who
was a resident of Valley Manor Nursing Home in
Rock Valley. The case was set to go to
trial on Sept. 23, according to Melissa
O'Rourke, Sioux County attorney
The Daily
Iowan (University of Iowa) reported that an
Oskaloosa man – Keith T. Hilson, 19 – has
been charged with kidnapping in the
third-degree and assault with intent to commit
sexual abuse after a weekend incident at a UI
residence hall. The report said Hilson
alleged confined a woman to a Rienow Residence
Hall bathroom and attempted to commit sexual
abuse
KCCI-TV (Des
Moines) reported that cleanup operations
continue after Story City was hit hard by
strong winds early yesterday morning. The
National Weather Service said the storms
produced downburst winds, which knocked down
trees and power lines. KCCI meteorologist
Brian Karrick said winds of 70 miles an
hour were reported in the area.
From the
Korean Front:
“China Will Oppose Sanctions on N. Korea at
6 Nation Talks” – headline from VOANews
(Voice of America). Excerpt from coverage by
VOA’s Luis Ramirez in Beijing: “As
representatives of six nations prepare in
Beijing to discuss North Korea's
nuclear-weapons program, China says it will
oppose sanctions against the North.
The warning
against sanctions came from China's deputy
foreign minister, Wang Yi, who spoke to
Chinese state-run media as delegates in
Beijing prepared to begin the delicate,
three-day talks. Mr. Wang said China does
not approve of sanctions or pressure, and it
would not support war. The talks among
China, Japan, North and South Korea, Russia
and the United States will center on U.S.
demands for North Korea to dismantle its
nuclear weapons program in a verifiable
manner. North Korea is demanding that the
United States agree to a non-aggression pact.
Pyongyang has repeatedly accused Washington of
preparing to invade North Korea - much, North
Korean leaders say, as it did Iraq earlier
this year. Earlier, Chinese Vice President
Zeng Qinghong called for North Korea's
concerns over its security to be addressed in
the upcoming discussions.
The Bush
administration has said that if North Korea
abandons the weapons program, Washington will
find some diplomatic language to allay the
North's security concerns.”
“CBO
FORECASTS $2.5 TRILLION IN DEFICITS THROUGH
2008” – headline from yesterday’s CQ Today
Midday Update. The Congressional Quarterly
report: “The annual federal budget deficit
will remain near or above the $400 billion
level during the next five fiscal years if
Congress and the president enact a Medicare
prescription drug benefit, extend tax cuts due
to expire and protect middle-income taxpayers
from the alternative minimum tax, according to
the latest forecast reported today by the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Under
such a scenario, the deficit predicted to
reach a record $401 billion this year would
increase to $484 billion in fiscal 2004 before
falling to $418 billion in 2005, $396 billion
in 2006, $395 billion in 2007 and rebounding
to $401 billion in fiscal 2008 -- a total of
almost $2.5 trillion for those years. The
deficit forecasts may turn up the political
heat on the White House's fiscal stewardship.
But the Bush administration has vowed to stay
the course, insisting the deficit is
manageable considering its relation to the
size of the economy. Democrats have been on
the attack on the deficit all year, but
opinion polls have shown the public is not
particularly concerned.”
The Daily
Iowan (University of Iowa) is back – with a
report that university leaders are making
summer contacts with state legislators.
Excerpt
from report in Monday’s DI by Jeffrey Patch:
“UI officials said they were optimistic
about relations between the university and the
state after a two-and-a-half-day trip across
Southeastern and Eastern Iowa to meet
legislators. UI President David Skorton
and Director of State Relations Mark Braun
drove a university vehicle to 10 state
legislators' home districts Aug. 19, 20, and
21 to discuss various issues that affect the
school and the state, such as tuition,
appropriations to state Board of Regents'
universities, and the UI's ability as an
economic engine. ‘I thought it was
important to put a human face on the
administration,’ Skorton said, emphasizing
that the closed-door, one-on-one meetings were
more about establishing rapport than hashing
out specifics. The next legislative session
will start the second Monday in January 2004,
more than four months away, and Braun said it
‘wouldn't do any good’ for school officials to
press the legislators for specifics because
state revenues are still an unknown and the
regents have yet to release their
appropriations requests. ‘No formal
discussion’ occurred about tuition specifics,
Braun said, but the university's role in the
Grow Iowa Values Fund was discussed as well as
faculty salary and research issues. The
roughly one-hour long meetings with
legislators in their offices and local
businesses were meant to provide a method for
the lawmakers - and indirectly, the public -
to personally criticize or applaud the
university administration.”
Today’s editorials, Des Moines Register:
“Suspend
manned spaceflight…Not enough knowledge is
to be gained to warrant the expense of making
the aging shuttle safer.” & “Give gym class
more respect…Schools should teach lifetime
physical conditioning.”
Tuesday’s editorials, Des Moines
Register:
Local
immigration issue – “Find a loophole for
her…Alma Castro could be deported on a
technicality. Seek another technicality to let
her stay…The Castros are the sort of family
any community would welcome.” & “A bloated
health-care system…One more reason for
change: Administrative costs in America are
three times higher than in Canada…The red tape
of treating a U. S. patient adds up to more
than $1,000 a year.” Morgan
signs ISU basketball contract – starts at
$500,000, but could go to $800,000 in fourth
season.
KCCI-TV (Des
Moines) reported that Iowa State
basketball coach Wayne Morgan has signed
his first contract, which includes a
no-negotiating clause, and could send his
guaranteed income to $800,000. Morgan
signed the four-year deal earlier this month.
It starts at $500,000 a year, with annual
raises of $50,000. If Morgan wins 20 or
more games or reaches the Sweet 16 of the NCAA
tournament in any of his first three seasons,
the fourth season -- and two additional
negotiation-free seasons -- will increase to
$800,000 a year. Morgan replaced Larry
Eustachy, who resigned in May after
published photos showed him partying with
college students in Missouri.
DSM 7 a. m.
70, fair. Temperatures at 7 a.m. ranged from
55 in Independence and 58 in Mason
City and Estherville to 70 in
Creston, Fairfield, Fort Madison, Keokuk
and Mount Pleasant. Today’s high 89,
mostly sunny. Tonight’s low 67, partly cloudy.
Thursday’s high 88, chance T-storms. Thursday
night’s low 63, chance T-storms. Friday’s high
76, chance T-storms.
Catt
portrait unveiled in Culver’s Statehouse
office.
From report in yesterday’s Quad-City Times by
Todd Dorman: A portrait of Carrie Chapman
Catt, an Iowan who was a national leader in
the fight to extend voting rights to women,
will adorn Iowa Secretary of State Chet
Culver’s Statehouse office. Culver
unveiled the portrait Monday, a day before
the 83rd anniversary of the passage of the
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
which gave women the right to vote. Catt, a
Wisconsin native who attended the former
Iowa State College in Ames and taught in Mason
City, is considered a central figure in
the decades-long struggle to secure equality
at the ballot box. “It will be nice to
remember the contributions of a very prominent
and famous Iowan,” said Culver, who was
joined by Carrie Lane, a seventh-grader who is
Catt’s great-great-great niece. “But it is
also to highlight the importance of a
continuing struggle, the struggle of making
sure our citizens are actively engaged in our
political process.” The portrait is on loan
from Iowa State University, which is home to
the Carrie Chapman Catt Center.
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