ChetChase 2010 - The Week

Iowa's race for governor. Just try pulling it from our cold, dead hands.

BUDGET BALANCE BINGO-- Like a proud papa, Gov. Chet Culver proudly showed off a bouncing budget surplus this week. It's roughly $335 million and answers to the name "Fiscal Year 2010 Ending Balance."

Sure, he's going to get beat up a lot with a moniker like that. Still, good news for Chester, right? And worth all the painful labor.

But, as Graham Gillette deftly points out, the delivery could have been better:

But Tell the Truth Terry is aliterative, which is the whole key to politics.

Meanwhile, the real party of tea, the GOP, was even less impressed. Speaking of liquids, Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, went all Red Bull on Chet:

When the buzz fades, there are still significant budget problems.

Medicaid is underfunded this year and faces a $600 million shortfall next year. It's true one-time dollars that were used to patch programs will run out, leaving holes to fill. Rising built-in expenses for education and other big-ticket programs must be dealt with next year.

Culver does deserve some credit for manipulating the various fiscal levers in such a away that resulted in an ending balance instead of a shortfall. He grabbed, scooped, cut and reinvented into the black.

And he's down 19 points in the polls, so let him have a moment, will you?

Republican criticisms are also valid. But how would they do things differently? McKinley took a weak swing Friday:

2. Secondly, Senate Republicans propose requiring a two-thirds supermajority vote of both houses of the Legislature to authorize new state debt.

3. Next, we propose a systematic process wherein every program funded by state government will be sunset (de-authorized) by a date certain unless the governor and Legislature take action to reinstate it.

Sounds swell. But hardly comprehensive. There is nothing here about what Republicans would actually cut, what the state would stop doing in the interest of savings. These guys are all mechanism and no action.

They're all tea and no finger sandwiches. Because that would mean cutting the crusts.

But hey, you know what's funny?

The ending balance is a sign the budget situation is improving. When a panel of budget experts meet this month and in December, I bet they'll upgrade revenue projections, at least a little. And that will increase the size of the ending balance projected for the fiscal year we're living in right now. There will be a little more money coming in, which could help shrink the projected shortfall to a more manageable size.

So Branstad, who has run a campaign based largely on Culver's fiscal mismanagement, may actually take over a state government in realtively good fiscal shape. Ironic, huh?

And sad, in a way, because we once again dodged having a real debate over the size and scope of state government. We can go back to the binge-purge cycle while leaving big, long-term structural issues to fester.

Branstad can talk about 2-year budgets and 5-year plans, but I have zero confidence he's going to make major changes with a real impact. Ditto the Lug.

Now, when do I get to hold the surplus? I love that money smell.

GUNS DON'T ELECT GOVERNORS, VOTERS DO-- Culver and Branstad traded high-caliber endorsements.

Culver, in camouflage, accepted the backing of the National Rifle Association, or NRA. He signed the long-sought "shall-issue" law that makes it a lot easier to get a permit to carry in Iowa. So consider yourself endorsed, Lug Gun.

Republicans, who like the NRA when it's fawning over them, immediately saw this as a sign of the group's fading relevance. Then the NRA endorsed GOP AG hopeful Brenna Findley, and the earth returned to its axis.

Moments after Culver's coup,  Branstad swiftly brandished an endorsement  from Iowa Gun Owners, a group that believed the shall-carry law signed by Culver did not go far enough.

IGO wanted legislation that would allow all law-abiding Iowans to carry a gun, openly if they like, with no permit. The group also lobbied against legislation that denies gun permits to people who are subject to a no-contact order in domestic abuse situations. Branstad got a "100 percent" score on the group's survey. Culver didn't fill one out.

Despite these new developments, we have decided against adding a marksmanship portion to Thursday's debate.

TWO DAYS, TWO CANDIDATES-- Branstad and Culver will each be meeting with our editorial board next week as we get ready to do some endorsing.

Branstad stops by Monday at 1:30 p.m. and Culver arrives Tuesday at 2 p.m.

If you have a question you'd like asked, drop it in the comments section below. Otherwise I'll just ask the usual, like if you could be any flavor of ice cream, what would you be, etc.

Please, give.