Two of the Republican candidates vying for Congressman Leonard Boswell’s seat sounded off on President Obama’s first State of the Union address.
Dave Funk said that with job creation he’s pushing an unfunded mandate:
Job creation is the biggest myth in the economy right now. That is, those jobs “created” by the government. Job creation, when done as direct investment by the government, is no more than a long term unfunded mandate…
…jobs created in law enforcement, education and construction (roads & infrastructure). These are government related jobs!
Let’s look at it this way. When the population of any given area increases there is a natural increase in demand for government services like education, law enforcement and infrastructure. It’s the natural way things work and under normal circumstances this works out fine because an increased population would result in increased tax revenue. These jobs are typically services that are paid for by local tax revenue either on the city, county or state level. Well, the stimulus bill invested money in these three areas to create jobs. So now in many areas this balance of population based services are, well, out of balance. (read the rest)
Jim Gibbons focused on Congressman Boswell’s comments regarding the State of the Union saying that the economy is steady and when he said, I will work with my colleagues in Congress to pass more robust legislation.”
I do not understand how Leonard Boswell can claim that the economy is on stable ground. With national unemployment above 10% and a significant number of Iowa home mortgages underwater, I would not say that the economy is stable. Clearly Leonard Boswell has spent too much time in Washington and not enough time back home in Iowa.
State Senator Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale) didn’t have a response, but I’ll cut him some slack since he told me yesterday that he had eye surgery last week. There’s this little thing called the Iowa General Assembly he has to be involved in… go figure. He is the first to run a TV ad though:
Nothing from the B team: Mark Rees (Boswell’s Republican Twin), Pat Bertroche or Jason Lee Welch. I also heard there is a seventh candidate out there as well. Yes seven people running, isn’t it great? Yeah his chances are really good I’m sure.