Sorry, Chet; I couldn't pass it up.
The New Guv was talking tax yesterday:
Culver set a target date of Jan. 30 for submitting his budget proposal to the 82nd General Assembly and said "very likely" will include a cigarette tax increase that could generate $80 million to $150 million to reduce smoking among teenagers and to help fund health-care initiatives. Currently, Iowans pay 36 cents per pack in state tax and Culver has indicated he favors boosting that by as much as a dollar per pack.
"We're the lowest in the region right now except for Missouri," said Mike Gronstal, the Senate Democratic leader. "I think it's pretty likely that the cigarette tax will go up."
Culver said he would not include a proposal to raise the state's tax on a gallon of gasoline, but he expected the Legislature would consider ways to cover an anticipated shortfall in road-use tax revenues to finance needed transportation projects.
Too bad; as we found out this year the one thing that actually makes people change thir habits is $3 gas.
John Edwards makes an interesting hire:
Ex-Rep. David Bonior (D-MI) has come aboard as a senior adviser for policy and politics. But Bonior's role on a presidential effort will be far greater than simply "adviser." According to a source close to Edwards, Bonior (a former House Min. Whip under Dick Gephardt) will likely assume the role of "campaign manager" should Edwards decide to run in '08.
Bonior -- currently the chair of American Rights at Work -- served in Congress for 26 years and was Whip for 11 years. In '02, Bonior left Congress to run for MI GOV; he finished second in a 3-way Dem primary. Bonior graduated from the University of Iowa (a convenient alma mater for WH '08)...
Dave Bonior was part of the giant Watergate class of `74, winning tough turf in suburban Oakland County, Michigan for a quarter century until he got gerrymadered out of office. Hence the odd run for governor; his heart never really seemed to be in it. (Kind of like Nussle running for governor because he was term-limited out of his chairmanship?) One of two tragedies of Michigan in `02, the other was the loss of progressive Lynn Rivers in a primary battle with old-school John Dingell. Anyway Bonior's exit created a vacancy on the leadership ladder that was filled by Nancy Pelosi in that great battle with Steney Hoyer that no one outside DC really heard about until last month.
Bonior made it out here to his alma mater once in my years here but fore some reason I missed it. By the way, I find the literal meaning of "alma mater" as either "nurturing mother" or, oddly, "foster mother."
Apparantly I'm not the first to think of the phrase "Brownback Mountain." Googling it I found some great descriptions:
Probably the only senator who is more "George Allen" than George Allen and more "Rick Santorum" than Rick Santorum... he's very good at combining bigotry, ignorance and incompetence.
Anyway here's yesterday's local coverage of the guy who wants to be the evil anti-Dean of the GOP. I sooooo want this guy to get nominated; Fifty. State. Dem. Landslide.
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