A little too ambivalent

Following up on Drew's post below, The Des Moines Register gets into action on Nussle today with a more state-focused article about Nussle and Social Security. They even happen to give the same quote that the Post had.

In the article, we find out that Bob VanderPlaats, the other GOP candidate for governor, fully supports the President's privatization plans. We also find out how vague Nussle's position is.

From The Register:

"The retirement program has been an issue in the past in Nussle's re-election campaigns for the House in eastern Iowa, and he has at times backed personal accounts.

During the 2000 campaign, Nussle told the Register: "Seniors who currently rely on the program need to be assured that their benefits are completely secure. Younger workers should also have the chance to invest a small portion of their payroll tax dollars in low-risk investments."

In 2002, he told the Register that "I am not for privatization of Social Security. Social Security should be a government-run pension program and should be a guaranteed benefit and operate just the way it is now."

This year, Nussle has said that "doing nothing is not an option" but he has not expressed outright opposition to or support for the president's plan. He appeared with President Bush at a Cedar Rapids event where Bush touted personal accounts, and at a House Budget Committee hearing, he accused Democrats of using scare tactics to try to derail the Bush proposal."

So, which position is it Jim-Jim?

Iowa voters want an answer. And it better not involve privatization--or its spin name, personal accounts.

Nussle's friendly contributors

Sorry this wasn't posted this morning, like I had expected. I ran into some posting troubles that have now been resolved.

Looking over Jim Nussle's campaign contributors has led me to some very interesting findings.

First of all, Jim's in deep with John Deere and their lobbyists. Now, I know John Deere is a very important company to Iowa, and particularly the Quad Cities region that Jim represents, but having personal donations from their lobbyists--that seems a bit sketchy.

William M. Behan lists himself as "In-House John Deere Lobyist." On September 12, 2002, he gave Nussle $1000. On November 21, 2003, he gave $500. I hope that the second one wasn't a "Christmas Bonus" from John Deere to Behan to Nussle. That would be a bit illegal.

Next up is Taylor S. Davis, Legislative Counsel for John Deere. As another move to get on the Budget Commitee Chairman's good side, he gave $25o three times: April 4, 2004, November 21, 2003, and June, 28, 2003.

I hope that Congressman Nussle was having a fundraiser on the 21st of November 2003 otherwise that is one hell of a coincidence to have two John Deere lobbyists give on the same day.

Finally, there is Charles R. Stamp--John Deere Government Affairs Manager. He gave $500 on August 5, 2004, and gave $1000 on Septeber 12, 2002. Again, another date coincidence--he gave on 9/12 just like Mr. Behan did. Hopefully that was a fundraiser too.

Beyond just John Deere, however, Jim Nussle has got a lot of friends in the banking lobby. That would explain his support for the terrible bankruptcy bill that passed the House earlier this year (and went on to pass the Senate and be signed by President Bush) that made it phenomenally harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy from the shark-like and fiendish credit card companies.

Nussle has also received a lot of contributions from a multitude of Maytag executives. But what have those contributions gotten the company? Nothing but more layoffs and a buyout by a new firm. However, those executives got the benefit of massive tax breaks thanks to the Bush tax cuts that Jim Nussle has so widely supported. While Maytag employees at the lowest level get screwed over, their executives and CEO get huge tax breaks thanks to the work of the Budget Committee Chairman.

And, what is even better, Jim Nussle has the support of his fellow congressmen--or at least one from Iowa. Tom Latham's (R-IA-04) Chief of Staff, Vicky Vermaat, personally gave the Nussle campaign $1000 on September 29, 2002.

There is my look at Nussle's contributions. If you see anything else worth pointing out, leave a comment and let me know.

Nussle contributors

I've just finished a nice look through the individual contributors to Jim Nussle over the past few years. I'm tired now, but expect an interesting post on some of the contributors and some of the problems he hasn't solved for them.

New article on Nussle

The Des Moinest Register has a feature article today on Jim Nussle and how he intends to defend his budget role in the 2006 race for Iowa governor.

Defend his role? HAH! It really is indefensible.

The man has declared himself a budget hawk and fiscal conservative over and over again while completely neglecting those duties as House Budget Committee Chairman from 2001 to the present.

Part of that lack of principle can be explained by the Register:

"Nussle's transformation from the youngest member of Congress in 1991 to a confidant of President Bush and chairman of an influential committee is the product of a conscientious effort, said Norm Ornstein, a scholar with the independent think tank American Enterprise Institute."

Confidant of President Bush explains it all. Nevermind that AEI isn't independent, either.

The fact his, he compromised his so-called principles the minute he got a hold of the President's ear.

Look, there are lots of reasons why the people of Iowa don't need Jim Nussle as governor. The biggest one is his lack of committment to his principles when it comes to budgeting. When you've got the ear of a big politico and higher aspirations, you get bogged down with those nifty dreams in your head and you forget what you came to do.

Nussle tries to point out in the interview that the deficit is decreasing thanks to revenue increases thanks to the Bush tax cuts, which he supported. The fact is, that no matter how much extra revenue we'll get in tax income it will never be enough to get us out of the debt that the unwise spending President Bush (with the tacit assistance of Jim Nussle) has engaged upon.

The fact is, Nussle is just the wrong man for the job.