Week #10: Iowa Republican Party Platform 2010

Fact:  In the October 12^th Maske-Latham Debate aired on KGLO Radio, Bill Maske asked Tom Latham the following question, “Do you agree with the Iowa Republican Party Platform?”

Fact:  Tom Latham responded by saying he agreed with the Iowa Republican Party Platform with the exception of the call for eliminating the Department of Agriculture.  He said it was important to keep the Department of Agriculture in place.

Fact:  In his rebuttal, Bill Maske said, “So, based on your response, you agree with all other aspects of the Iowa Republican Party Platform?”

Fact:  Tom Latham said he agreed with the substance of that document.

Fact:  The Iowa Republican Party Platform contains the following:

• Supports Term Limits of 12 years per office
• The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not to ensure equality.
• Opposes the “Bullying” Law
• Oppose unconstitutional “Hate” Crimes Laws
• Oppose teaching multicultural based curriculum
• Oppose duplication of educational programs for bilingual consideration
• Support deportation of undocumented workers
• Oppose the Dream Act
• Support repealing sexual orientation in the Iowa Civil Rights Code
• Abolish the Environmental Protection Agency
• Believe that claims of human caused global warming are based on fraudulent, inaccurate information and that legislation and policy based on this information is detrimental to the well being of the United States. 
• Oppose restrictions on Carbon Emissions
• Abolish the United Nations
• Support the continued use of Guantanamo Prison
• Abolish the Federal Reserve System
• Supports profiling
• Supports electronic surveillance
• Abolish Health Care Reform
• Repeal all mandatory minimum wage laws
• Abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Abolish the Department of Energy
• Abolish the Internal Revenue Service
• Eliminate the State and Federal Department of Education
• Oppose earmarks and “Pork Barreling”
• Support reinstatement of the original 13^th Amendment
• We believe that the term “assault weapon” should not be used as a term applicable to a semiautomatic weapon. 

Fact:  Tom Latham signed the Contract with America in 1994 calling for term limits of 12 years.  Now he agrees with the Iowa Republican Party Platform on term limits for 12 years.  Yet, he seeks a 9^th term which would give him 18 years in the House.

Fact:  Tom Latham agrees with the Iowa Republican Party Platform on earmarks and “Pork Barreling,” yet few members of the House of Representatives are more involved in earmarks and “Pork Barreling” than Tom Latham.

Fact:  He supports the reinstatement of the original 13^th Amendment which basically says that government officials are not for sale, yet, he accepts hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from Political Action Committees.  Check it out at www.opensecrets.org.

Fact:  Bill Maske finds almost all of the provisions of the Iowa Republican Party Platform to be radical and dangerous to the health and well being of our nation and its citizens.

Week #9: Omnibus Appropriations 2009

Fact:  After voting against the FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations, Tom Latham is taking credit for millions of dollars included in the legislation that will help local community colleges, health care clinics, and renewable energy producers in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.

Fact:  Latham keeps telling people he secured millions of dollars in funding for Iowa, but the fact is he voted against these investments. Latham’s voting record is clear for all to see by going to http://www.ontheissues.org/ or http://www.votesmart.org/. Counter to what Tom Latham would have you believe, these millions of dollars aren’t coming to Iowa because of his hard work; rather, these investments are being made in spite of his efforts to defeat this bill and the funding for Iowa.

Fact:  In press release after press release, Tom Latham has misled the voters of the 4th District by hiding the fact he voted against the Omnibus Appropriations 2009, and in fact made it appear he had championed its passage. In these press releases, he touted his commitment to community colleges, health care technologies, and renewable energy when he actually voted “no.”

Fact:  Latham voted against $1.4 million for equipment and supplies for programs at Des Moines Area Community College; $475,750 to Iowa Lakes Community College for a sustainable energy education center; $475,750 to Iowa Central Community College for laboratory equipment; $100.000 to North Iowa Area Community College to support the Regional Economic Development Organization; $500,000 to Iowa Valley Community College for the Iowa Valley Education and Training Center; and $333,000 to Iowa Central Community College for an Advanced Manufacturing Training Center.

Fact:  Latham voted against $1.4 million for the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities and the U.S. Department of Energy for a next generation wind energy production plant project.

Fact:  Latham voted against $95,000 for the Gunderson Lutheran Health System and the Gunderson Clinic in Decorah for the Newborn Monitoring Initiative.

Fact:  Bill Maske would have worked for and voted for passage of the Omnibus Appropriations 2009.

Fact:  As a member of the United States House of Representatives, Bill Maske will be honest and straightforward with the voters of the 4th Congressional District. He will never pass himself off as something he is not - that is called hypocrisy.