Students Against Jim Nussle press release

From the press office (yeah, right!) of the Drake Democrats:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Students Launch Campaign Against Student Loan Cuts

(Drake University, Des Moines, IA – Feb. 14th, 2006) – There’s no love loss this Valentine’s Day between students at Drake University and Congressman Jim Nussle over Congress’ recent cuts to the federal student loan program. Students at Drake University will now pay, on average, $1,540 more for 4 years of tuition thanks to the cuts, and are directing their outrage at House Budget Chairman, Jim Nussle.

Nussle, also the front-runner for the Republican nomination for governor of Iowa, led the effort to cut $12.7 billion from higher education, including the largest cut to the federal student loan program in its history. The main change will come in the interest rates on Stafford loans, which will rise from the current 5.3% to 6.8%, causing students to pay thousands more on their loans for college. In response the Drake Democrats are launching their “Students Can’t Afford Jim Nussle” campaign this week to spread awareness about the cuts and hold Jim Nussle accountable for his actions.

Drake Democrats President Patrick Rynard criticized the massive cuts saying, “Jim Nussle is making college less affordable for middle-class families and forcing students to go into even deeper debt. What’s especially reprehensible is that the day after passing those cuts, House Republicans then called for another $60 million in tax cuts, mostly for the rich. This really shows the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats, considering not a single Democrat voted for the student loan cuts.”

The Drake Democrats have started collecting signatures for a petition to send to Jim Nussle, and already gathered nearly a hundred in just one hour. They will also hold a press conference tomorrow to explain more details of the campaign.

Also, students won’t be the only ones facing harder times, as the cuts also raised rates on PLUS loans, loans that parents take out for their children’s tuition. Sophomore Chris Woods is upset because “My parents are going to be paying more than they ever imagined thanks to Jim Nussle's bad budget. All they have ever done, like most parents, is support my efforts to pay for a quality education—but Jim Nussle doesn’t seem to care about that.” Students and parents can figure out exactly how much more they’ll spend by visiting the Drake Democrats’ website, www.drakedems.com."

More to come later. I'll let you know how much, if any, press coverage there is and how the press conference goes. Pictures possible as well, if I can borrow someone's digital camera.

Drake Democrats launch "Students Can't Afford Jim Nussle" campaign

From an advisory sent out by the Drake Democrats:

"MEDIA ADVISORY

Drake Democrats Hold Press Conference to Announce "Students Can't Afford Jim Nussle" Campaign
Drake Students Outraged by $12.7 Billion in Higher Education Cuts

Students at Drake University and colleges around Iowa will pay thousands of dollars more on their federal student loans thanks to higher education cuts imposed by Jim Nussle last week in Congress.

The Drake Democrats plan to show that college students are paying attention to Nussle's efforts to make college less affordable, and are launching a "Students Can't Afford Jim Nussle" campaign. The campaign will inform students, parents, and the general public about the cuts, and work to hold Jim Nussle accountable for his actions.

Students will be very active in the next several weeks in this campaign, and the Drake Democrats will announce the specifics of it at a press conference this Tuesday.

WHO: Members of the Drake Democrats

WHEN: Tuesday, February 14th, at 10:00 AM

WHERE: Drake University, Olmsted Center, Pomerantz Stage (2507 University Ave)

CONTACT: For overall statements, Drake Democrats President Patrick Rynard (ptr003@drake.edu). For press details, Drake Democrats Press Secretary Kailyn Heston (kmh034@drake.edu). For further information, visit the Drake Democrats website: www.drakedems.com"

As Legislative Liaison, I'm part of this campaign, and will keep you, my loyal readers, informed of our developments. Stay tuned early tomorrow morning for a press release we'll be putting out coinciding with our press conference at 10 AM. More details should also becoming about the extent of Budget Chairman Jim Nussle's cuts and how they'll impact average students and parents with federal loans. Looking at the FY 2007 budget, things appear even worse.

Who's Not Helping Nussle in Iowa?

Who's Not Helping Nussle in Iowa?

Via Political Wire, some of the GOP wannabees aren't $haring the love:

When Nussle asked the political action committees of some possible 2008 candidates for donations, not everybody ponied up. Those who did, according to soon-to-be-released financial reports: Virginia Sen. George Allen $10,000; Arizona Sen. John McCain $5,000; Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback $2,000; and Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum $1,000. Who didn't: Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, New York Gov. George Pataki, and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But, we're assured, Pataki and Romney showed their love by offering to help raise money...

Guest post: Catching Nussle Lying Again

Ed. note: This post originally appeared on Patriot Skull Face.

From the QCTimes.com - The Quad-City Times Newspaper:

"As an example, the food stamp program has an error rate of 7 percent, down from a previous error rate of 19 percent a couple of years ago," he said. "That was almost 20 cents on the dollar that was being wasted in food stamps," Nussle said.

A Government Accountability Office study issued in May said the combined error rate for the program - which includes underpayment and overpayment of benefits - was actually 9.9 percent in 1999 and had shrunk to 6.6 percent in 2004. Erin Seidler, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party, said the proposed budget cuts are doing nothing to cut the deficit, noting Congress also is considering $70 billion in tax cuts."

So, Jim Nussle is claiming that food stamps should be cut this year because the program has increased its efficency. Actually, the FSP has become more efficent every year for the past six years, and now is at its best in the history of the program. This has a lot to do with the EBT cards that are used instead of the funny colored monopoly money that they used to use. But this improvement signals to Nussle that the program needs cuts. Uh, er...huh?

Nussle is lying. The cuts in the program have nothing to do with "fraud, waste, and abuse" as he wants you to think. You see, he wants you to think that no one's losing food assistance for any other reason than that they or DHS were frauds who wasted and abused taxpayer dollars. That's simply not true.

Food Stamps is an entitlement program. That means that to cut it, you either have to a) make large numbers of people inelligible, or b) reduce benefits. Since benefits are on average between 70-80 cents a meal, there isn't much room for cutting there, and that would just look too mean spirited. Nussle chose option A, but says he's cutting waste because that makes him sound like he's fiscally responsible.

Nussle is lying about the nature of the cuts so he doesn't have to face the public on the fact that he's cutting people off of a program like food stamps while giving wealthy folks $70 billion in new tax cuts.

Nussle should give back tainted and corrupt cash

The Iowa Democratic Party issued a good demand today to Congressman Jim Nussle today:

"The Iowa Democratic Party calls on Congressman Jim Nussle today to return a $1,000 donation from the Friends of Duke Cunningham congressional campaign committee. Congressman Randall “Duke” Cunningham resigned yesterday after pleading guilty to charges of bribery and tax evasion.

“Once again, Congressman Nussle is connected to the culture of corruption in Washington that has become the trademark of the Republican Party. Will Jim Nussle once again refuse to return the campaign donation and separate himself from unethical behavior by his Republican colleagues?” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sally Pederson. “Iowans won’t stand for elected officials that put special interests and personal gain over high ethical standards.”

Cunningham pled guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion after accepting $2.4 million in bribes in return for political favors on behalf of a defense contractor. The Washington Post calls Cunningham’s case “the most brazen bribery conspiracy in modern congressional history.” [11/29/05]

The Iowa Democratic Party also called on Nussle to return campaign donations from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is currently facing an indictment on money laundering charges. The Nussle campaign has refused."

How long will it take for Iowa's presumptive Republican candidate to finally face the facts and become an ethical man, unlike the rest of his corrupt GOP pals in Washington?

Does Iowa need a governor who's taking money from Congressmen pleading guilty to or under indictment for federal offesnses? Of course not.

Jim Nussle: Quit being a corrupt Washington Republican. We don't want your culture of crime and misdeeds in our state. Give back Cunningham's money AND DeLay's money. It's what a true Iowan would do.

Iowa college students can't afford Jim Nussle

First, Jim Nussle helps to throw the United States into trillions of dollars of debt as Budget Committee Chairman in the US House of Representatives. Now he wants to cut federal financial aid spending so college students will be able to be massively in debt just like our country (except not as badly).

From the Iowa State Daily:

"U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, chairman of the House Budget Committee, is pushing to get a vote from the House of Representatives by the end of the week on a bill that would cut several billion dollars from federal student loan programs.

The Budget Reallocation bill, which would also cut funds from other programs to help pay for hurricane-induced emergency spending, was scheduled for a vote last Thursday, but the action was postponed."

Go read the rest of the story for more information, particularly what impact it might have on students at Iowa State.

Remember: This man wants to be the next governor of Iowa. It is up to us as responsible citizens to let Jim Nussle know that we CANNOT afford him as leader.

Guest Post: Nussle, subsidies, food stamps, and insolvent government

With permission from Patriot Skull Face, a progressive Iowa blog you should be reading:

DesMoinesRegister.com:

"Overall, the package of spending cuts would total $50 billion over five years and includes reductions in spending for Medicaid, the health program for the poor; student loans; and food stamps.

The biggest impact in Iowa is likely to be in the increase in the cost of student loans and the reduction in state aid for child-support enforcement.

The effect on Nussle's gubernatorial campaign is likely to be marginal, said Dennis Goldford, a political analyst at Drake University.

'What he wants to do is sell some sense of leadership and vision for Iowa. I'm not sure that this speaks to that,' Goldford said."

So what role did Nussle play in these cuts? Well, as someone who is particularly concerned about cuts to food stamps, I paid close attention. I work for a local non-profit hunger relief organization that serves 42 Iowa counties. Here's how this all went down:

In March or so, Chairman Nussle set out the various levels of cuts that each committee was going to have to make. For the committees in question, the Agriculture Committees, he set the levels to be cut at about 3 billion dollars. After that, the House and Senate Ag then looked at policy reccomendations all summer to formulate their budgets.

For example, the Farm Bureau wanted food stamps to take $2 billion in cuts. Food and nutrition advocates like myself pushed hard for no cuts, and if any cuts were to happen they shouldn't exceed the President's proposal of cutting $574 million. This cut would remove 300,000 people from food stamps across 11 states, as well at 40,000 kids from school lunch.

As for farm subsidies, Senator Grassley was the champion for cutting payments to farmers collecting making over $250,000. Seems pretty reasonable, right? These subsides go mostly to farmers in the South for sugar and cotton supports. Thanks to Senator Harkin's leadership on the Democratic side, and with support from various Republicans in the Senate, the budget called for $0 in cuts to food stamps. Because the Senate Ag chairman is Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), don't expect payment limitations happening anytime from the Senate Ag Committee. Perhaps if Grassley can get it attached to something else, there is a chance, but his attempts this year haven't worked out.

Now the House Ag, starring such Iowa members Steve King and Leonard Boswell, voted to cut above the President's reccomendation, and set the level at about $844 million. This would affect the previously mentioned 300,000 recipients as well as any immigrant that hasn't been in the U.S. seven years. This was a food stamp provision that was repealed in 2002, yet has returned thanks to anti-immigrant rhetoric from fools like Tom Tancredo and Steve King.

The House and Senate Ag committees will then have to have a conference committee to decide what cuts will be included in the final budget. There is much speculation that because the congressional Republicans and Bush are in such bad trouble, they will forgo reconcilliation and just extend last year's budget. That would be the best thing for our nation right now, unless repealing the tax cuts for the top 1% suddenly become a possibility.

SO - bottom line - Jim Nussle crafted a stupid budget a long time ago not thinking that things like food stamp, school lunch, medicaid, college loan and other cuts would hurt him. Essentially, as the hurricaine Katrina debacle has pointed out: Democrats are in favor of a large solvent government, and Republicans are for a large insolvent government. That is a debate we should be willing to have.