More fun with campaign mailers

'TODAY, IOWA IS BOOMING…” proclaims a mailer from the Republican Party of Iowa, promoting Gov. Terry Branstad's re-election bid. Unlike four years ago, when Iowa as all bleak and sad and grainy black and white.

But just as I prepared to dance an Iowa's booming jig, right there at my mailbox, one claim caught my eye.

Back in 2010, the mailer says Iowa was facing '$100 million in misspent flood aid.” That was a new one. Seems like something that would have made big news around these parts.

There was a March 2010 dispute between the Culver administration and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, with HUD asserting that $10 million in Jumpstart assistance was granted to 300 or so flooded Cedar Rapids businesses without proper procedures and paperwork. Feds said the state didn't verify whether the businesses had received other assistance that should have been subtracted from HUD help. That's the infamous 'duplication of benefits” phrase that so many local flooded-out folks know all too well.

Locals were trying to hand out help fast, with many flooded businesses deep in debt and hanging by a thread. The feds insisted that safeguards be followed to stop money from being wasted.

A significant story, to be sure. But it wasn't $100 million.

'Yes, it was a typo,” said Jeff Patch, communications chief for the RPI, in an email. 'It was not intentional. We apologize for the error.”

Just your typical $90 million oops. I'll be watching my mailbox for the correction.

Refusing a pay raise, pre-emptively

In another mailer to my humble family abode, a very serious looking Rep. Daniel Lundby, D-Marion, delivers a very serious message.

'We can't afford to waste a single dollar. That's why I refuse to take pay raises from taxpayers,” Lundby says in the text.

'When it comes to fiscal responsibility, Daniel Lundby puts his money where his mouth is,” says a headline on the mailer's flip side.

'He takes fiscal responsibility so seriously that he refuses pay raises at taxpayer expense,” another paragraph asserts.

But during his two years in the House, Lundby concedes that he didn't have to vote on a pay raise.

'It always gets talked about by someone,” Lundby told our editorial board, pointing to the flap last year over pay for Linn County Supervisors. 'I wanted voters to know I'm very comfortable with what I get paid.”

But can you claim credit for refusing to take a pay raise that wasn't offered? In the magic world of legislative campaign mailings, the answer is clearly, 'As far as you know.” Tossing in a 'will” or a 'would” might have been smart.

Beyond pay, Lundby said he thinks it's a waste that the state provides a laptop computer to every lawmaker, along with allowances for stamps and other mail costs. But this mailer was paid for by the Iowa Democratic Party.