Why?

Why don't we pay governors more like football coaches?

Now, I'm not saying I think Gov. Culver should take home $3 million like a certain 9-0 coach around these parts. But I do think there's one aspect of Kirk Ferentz's sweet, sweet comp package that could be applied to guvs – bonuses tied to performance.

Ferentz makes more loot if he wins the Big Ten, leads his Hawks to a BCS bowl, ends up the season ranked among the nation's elite teams, etc.

So why not pay Culver more if, say, Iowans' household income jumps substantially or the population increases faster than the 10-year average or Iowa‘s position in a selected index of economic/quality of life rankings rise. Better test scores for students or if the state's reserve funds are flush?

Maybe we could even cut a little scratch for the dang AAA bond rating he won't clam up about.

Start with base pay at $100,000 with $100,000 in possible bonuses. And if the state goes into the tank, we turn off the heat at Terrace Hill.

Kidding.

Why does everyone keep saying government has no money?

All you read lately is about big budget cuts and layoffs and furloughs and services being cut to the bone.

But there are green shoots in government. Yes siree.

Just look at the Linn County Board of Supervisors' 3-2 vote Wednesday allowing county department heads to give managers pay raises of up to 3 percent based on performance reviews. I smell recovery.

Super Vets Jim Houser, Lu Barron and Linda Langston voted yes. Super Newbies Ben Rogers and Brent Oleson voted no.

Oleson argued that department heads should use “zero-based budgeting,” which requires them to build budgets from zero and justify every dollar spent. Langston said these harried managers simply don't have the time between now and Dec. 18 to do something that difficult.

I certainly hope that's noted in their performance review.

Why does Gov. Culver's new campaign ad look to Fort Dodge for an attaboy on his flood response?

I raised this issue on Twitter earlier this week. The governor's latest TV ad shows  flood photos and uses a quote from the July 16, 2008, Messenger saying that “Culver deserves credit…” for his flood response.

I just wondered why you'd tout praise from Fort Dodge when the most severe, widespread flooding happened in Eastern Iowa. There was some flash flooding in Fort Dodge, but nothing like what happened here.

Just seemed odd.

Turns out the editorial quoted in the ad was praising Culver and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey for helping flood-impacted farmers.

Here it is, thanks to the kind folks at The Messenger:

Iowa's state government has done an excellent job thus far in helping the state's farmers cope with the aftereffects of this year's devastating floods. Gov. Chet Culver deserves credit for coordinating the response.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey also deserves praise for his tireless efforts to identify ways the damage to the state's farm economy can be alleviated.

While Northey now heads an important segment of the state government, he's spent most of his life growing corn and soybeans. As a fourth-generation Iowa farmer, the secretary has the kind of perspective on the rural economy that one only gains by living on a farm and being immersed in farm life.

That may be part of the reason Northey has shown great insight into the ways government can be of quick assistance in a world changed mightily by nature's fury.

A case in point was his call for Culver to open state lands for haying and grazing to assist livestock producers struggling with high feed costs.

"I understand that this isn't a silver bullet that helps all producers, but the more feed we have available the better," Northey said in a statement released by his office July 7. "Pork producers have been hurt badly by the record feed prices and while this won't necessarily help them directly ... if we can give cattlemen another option for their animals we can help prevent the two from competing against each other for feed."

Northey and Culver also joined forces to urge U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer to release Conservation Reserve Program acres for haying and grazing as well.

Schafer moved quickly to make those areas available for grazing in counties as designated Presidential Disaster Areas.

It's commonplace in our complicated 21st-century world to bemoan the failure of government to respond to real-world problems promptly and with flexibility. Sadly both elected officials and bureaucrats often let us down. Culver, Northey and Schafer are demonstrating, however, that government can be both innovative and speedy in responding to a crisis.

Actually, the editorial offers most of its praise to Northey. But Culver's campaign got the quote correct. Congrats.

Here's the ad: