Blum: Holding office is a calling, not a career

CEDAR RAPIDS - There are two reasons people run for public office, according to Republican U.S. House 1st District candidate Rod Blum.

There are those - like his opponent state Rep. Pat Murphy, he told the Cedar Rapids Downtown Rotary Monday - 'who view politics as the family business.”

'They start out at a certain level … and when an opening occurs, they run for that office. At the end of the day, they've been in office for 30, 40, 50 years,” Blum said.

The other reason - the reason he's running for the open House seat - is because of love of country and a calling to public service.

'I'm not doing this to have cocktails with John Boehner. I'm not doing this to be on Fox News. I am not doing this for the money,” he said. 'I'm not interested in a career.”

The Dubuque native's career has been in business, including starting two of his own - a software company and a property development firm. Blum, 59, has confidence that if the federal government would give business some rein the economy would rebound with a surge of job creation that would increase personal income and household net worth, and would lessen dependence on government assistance.

Blum told Rotarians that one out of every two households in this country is receiving some type of means-tested federal assistance. They people on the receiving end, he said, would prefer a good-paying job.

To make that happen, Congress needs to rein in spending and pay down the national debt, which he said is costing the nation $232 billion in interest this year, and enact a five-year moratorium on new regulations.

The greatest enemy to business is uncertainty,” Blum said. 'There's an unbelievable amount of uncertainty in this country. That's why people are holding back hiring decisions.”

American entrepreneurs are the best in the world and they can thrive under and adjust to regulations 'as they are within the right of way lines.”

'We need to get the government off their back, get out of their pocketbook and get out of their way and we'll all grow our businesses,” he said. 'Take a vacation Washington and let us do our thing with some certainty and this economy will boom once again.”

Republicans offer a better plan for an economic recovery, Blum said, but he's willing to work with anyone who has a good idea.

'I t could be Nancy Pelosi - if it's a good idea I'm voting for it. I'll co-sponsor it,” he said.

'Let's get Americans working again. Let's become an opportunity society again,” Blum said.

Next Monday, the Rotary will hear from Blum's opponent, Democratic state Rep. Pat Murphy of Dubuque.

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