Author Archive

Last night, Linn County Republicans gathered to elect their leadership team for the 2010 election cycle. Jim Conklin, the current Linn County chairman, along with the rest of the county executive committee who were seeking re-election, were defeated by a slate of candidates headed by Tim Palmer, who was elected as the new Chairman of ... Full story

By Steve King United States Congressman Iowa's 5th District On August 16, 2008, at the Saddleback Civil Forum, Presidential candidate Barack Obama entered into a memorable exchange with Pastor Rick Warren. Pastor Warren: Now, let’s deal with abortion; 40 million abortions since Roe v. Wade. As a pastor, I have to deal with this all of the time, all of ... Full story

There is a lot of hullabaloo over the recent news that the American International Group (AIG) paid its employees $165 million in bonuses after receiving more than $173 billion in federal bailout money. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has called on the AIG employees who were paid bonuses to resign and apologize to the American public. ... Full story

Congressman Tom Latham wants to know if you have what it takes to beat his NCAA picks. Latham for Congress has set up the Latham Tourney Challenge. The contest is open to anyone who emails their name and email address to contact@tomlatham.com by Wed. 11:59 pm CST. The winner of the overall group will also win a ... Full story

Last Friday, Governor Culver announced the details of his $750 million bonding proposal. There was just one problem: there was not many details. It was just a plan to max out the state’s credit cards under the guise of stimulating the state’s economy. Governor Culver claims that for every $100 million spent on infrastructure, ... Full story

By Dave Vaudt, CPA State Auditor Hard times have made Iowans nervous about the future. The problem is simple—for years, our state has spent more than it has taken in on an ongoing basis. Our elected officials were able to do this by playing shell games with funds and accounts designed for other purposes. Now, with those funds ... Full story

In June of 2008, I attended the Iowa GOP picnic before the State convention. One of the people milling around was then-RNC Chairman Mike Duncan. He was a nice man, but basically unknown. Some of the people I talked to that night said they wished Republicans had someone who was better known as ... Full story

For the first time in eight years, Polk County Republicans have a new leadership team in place. Newly elected County Chairman John Bloom of West Des Moines has been a long time donor to the Republican Party of Iowa, but has spent most of his time quietly working for Republican candidates in the background. Bloom, who ... Full story

Last Friday, Bob Vander Plaats was kind enough to let me tag along with him as he campaigned in Linn County. One of the objectives of TheIowaRepublican.com is to provide an up-close, unfiltered look at Iowa politics. While I hope my account of my day with Bob is helpful and/or interesting, I sought after ... Full story

Just over seven weeks ago, Bob Vander Plaats announced that he would begin raising money and building a grassroots organization for his third attempt to win the Republican nomination for Governor. On Friday, Team Vander Plaats allowed TheIowaRepublican.com an up close look inside his campaign as the candidate campaigned in Cedar Rapids. The day began long ... Full story