Democrats, Republican clash over root causes of voter anger

DES MOINES – Legislative partisans clashed Tuesday over the root causes driving voter frustration and anti-incumbent sentiment as the 2010 election cycle gears up.

Two Statehouse Republicans said Iowans are angry and scared over majority Democrats' appetite for spending money and expanding government's reach, while a pair of Democrats said the angst stems from an economic crisis started during the Bush administration that has forced extraordinary measures to stoke an economic rebound.

Speaking at a forum sponsored by Iowapolitics.com and Mediacom, Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton said state spending over the past four years has increased more than any time in Iowa's 164-year history and the fiscal 2012 budget is “heading for a cliff” because one-time reserves and federal aid will finally run out on unsustainable spending practices.

“We are on the wrong path and I believe that this is what is compelling Iowans who have never been involved in their lives in politics to stand up,” he said. “They may not be the most politically sophisticated group in the world because they see things in bright lines and, if ever there was an election where bright lines are evident, this is that election.”

However, Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, an assistant majority leader, countered that much of the anger being vented publicly is coming from an internal battle within the Republican Party and is being “enflamed and stoked” by national cable television networks and their commentators that can no longer go unanswered.

“We've got to take them on,” he said.

One thing that is lost in the political rhetoric, Hatch said, is the fact that the economic crisis was ignited by Bush administration policies that used debt financing to cover the cost of waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and employed lax in regulation that festered the economic collapse in housing and banking arenas – leading to massive government bailouts to head off a worldwide depression.

“That's what created the economic instability and it came crashing down the year before he left, and to try to deliver a message that it's the Democratic fault, that it was Democrats that led us into this abyss is not only wrong, it's politically unethical,” Hatch said. “They're talking about this cliff we're driving to,” he added, “they've been in the driver's seat for much of that time.”

Rep. Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner, a House minority whip, said Iowans are upset that they are losing their choice in the Obama administration's national health-care overhaul and frustrated that elected officials have stopped listening to their concerns that government is growing too big and taxing too much.

“The fact that we're not listening to that message, frankly, I think jeopardizes all incumbents,” she said.

“It's not going to bode well for any party to simply blame someone else. I think people are getting tired that it's Bush's fault for everything that goes on in the state,” Upmeyer added. “I'm not saying that he did everything perfectly. But I think we have to stop blaming him. He's gone, he's past and we need to look forward.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said majority Democrats and Gov. Chet Culver worked hard the past session to streamline state government and hold the line on tax increases. He said he expected more work would be done during the interim to set the stage for another round of government reorganization during the 2011 session.

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