Grassley warns past is prologue in new campaign attacks

CEDAR RAPIDS — Everyone knows the sequel is worse than the original, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's campaign is warning in a web ad that hits his Democratic challenger's record.

'A Patty Judge sequel would feature the horrific scandals, tears from lost jobs and heartache from out-of-control deficits that most Iowans do not want to relive,' Robert Haus, campaign manager for Grassley Works, said about the campaign's ad at www.therealpattyjudge.com that warns 'She's back.'

Judge was a state senator and Iowa agriculture commissioner before she was Gov. Chet Culver's lieutenant governor from 2007-11.

Before being voted out of office in 2010, Grassley Works says the Culver-Judge administration spent $1.14 for every $1 of revenue the state collected, was responsible for job losses and making flood victims wait for state help. Judge also refused to take even a token pay cut after she and Culver ordered a 10 percent across-the-board budget cut.

'The best way to predict the future is to look at a candidate's past,' Haus said, 'and Iowans thought they were done with Patty Judge in 2010 after voting her out of office.'

Judge's campaign turned that around quickly Monday, pointing out at www.CostlyGrassley.com, federal spending has increased by 1,010 percent, the national debt has increased by 3,510 percent, and there has been a budget deficit reported 37 years during the Republican's 41-years in Washington.

Monday's back-and-forth come on the heels of Judge calling on Iowa Democratic Party state convention delegates to join her in sending 'a clear message … that it is time for government to get back to work for us' by helping her retire Grassley.

'It's time to break up the old boys' club and get back to work,' Judge told more than 1,500 activists in Des Moines Saturday. 'It's time to change the way that Washington operates. That change begins right here, right now, in Iowa.'

Among the changes she wants to make are a $15-an-hour minimum wage, free community college and lowering the cost of a college education; and passing a ban on gun sales to people on the no-fly list.

Judge is 'lunging to the left in an attempt to unite the liberal wing of her party behind her sputtering candidacy,' Haus said. 'Her tired, old ideas didn't work in Iowa and they would be a disaster in Washington. Judge's 'solutions' always involve more government, higher taxes, and fewer personal freedoms.'

It's another Grassley term that Iowans can't afford, Judge campaign manager Sam Roecker countered.

'He's failing to take any responsibility for the past 41 years of dysfunction in Washington,' Roecker said. 'Not only did he support deregulating the financial industry, but he stood by as government spending and the national debt soared. He's too costly for Iowa families.'