Local GOP Watch

Local GOP Watch

Groundhog Day is coming up, and like the elusive critter the Johnson County Republicans are emerging from what conservative blogger Mike Thayer of the Coralville Courier last week called "hibernation." And like Bill Murray they seem to be living the same day over again.

The JC GOP is electing officers for the next two year term on Monday, Feb. 7, and a largely incumbent slate is running:

Candidates nominated include Bob Anderson, Chairman; Dave Yansky, Co-Chairman; Cyndi Michel, Secretary; and Debra Stannard, Treasurer.

These are all incumbents in their current positions except for longtime activist Michel.

This won't make Thayer, a frequent critic of the local GOP organization, happy. He's frequently attacked the "progressive" (sic) party leadership for, among other things, failing to recruit candidates locally. And the party's big February event won't please him either: a fundraiser for twice-defeated congressional candidate Mariannete Miller-Meeks. The newly named state health department head needs to retire over a half million dollars in campaign debt to herself, and Steve King is the big name they're bringing in.

Thayer has a unique take on events in the Middle East:

All these riots and protests have a common thread.... An anti-government connection. In these cases it's not about a lack of food, or disease, or being war torn.... It boils down to government mismanagement.

So is America next?

Half of the people in this country are upset with government for its callous, unwise and unconstitutional spending, putting the U.S. on a path to bankruptcy and burdening our children and grandchildren with unprecedented debt. The other half of the people in this country are upset with government for not giving ENOUGH handouts, be they Nanny State gimmes like food stamps, two years of unemployment checks and housing subsidies or be they luxury items like bike trails, theatres and *free* internet. These people WANT new 'entitlements' and government largesse, it's about 'stuff'.

Something is going to give folks, and that's why I've been encouraging you to buy food, guns, ammo and gold.

That was Friday. Saturday Thayer got into the details of warehousing:

Are you paying attention to the expiration dates of your food stock? It's important to rotate your canned goods, jar goods, dried goods, medicines, etc. Did you know that something as everyday as aspirin has an expiration date? How many bandages and wraps do you have?

Most canned goods stocked on store shelves these days have an expiration date of the years 2012, 2013, depending on the food type. Things like vegetables and fruits are likely to be in the 2012, 2013 range. Meat based items such as canned soups, chili, ravioli, chicken breast, that kind of thing - probably 2012. Canned fish like tuna, salmon, sardines, those typically have a stamp for 2013, 2014 or even 2015.

Jar goods don't go quite so far out...

Handy and thrifty advice regardless of your politics, if you're stocking up at Aldi's. But I don't think we'll be retreating to our bunkers quite yet.

My team is also electing officers soon, on March 3. Current JC Dems chair Dennis Roseman is not seeking another term.

Also noted over the weekend: While all six local Democratic legislators attended the League of Women Voters forum, the four Republicans were no-shows. Reps. Jarad Klein and Jeff Kaufmann showed up for a members-only Chamber of Commerce forum, held immediately before and one block away from the LWV event. Senators Sandy Greiner and Jim Hahn didn't attend either. (Klein's newsletter notes he attended a Jefferson County Farm Bureau forum Saturday.)