What Branstad doesn’t say about unemployment

At The Gazette/KCRG-TV9 debate on Oct. 7, Terry Branstad continued to argue the drop in Iowa's unemployment rate from when he took office to when he left office proves he creates jobs, and that Iowa's 6.8 percent unemployment rate proves Gov. Chet Culver can't.

Branstad never mentions the corresponding national unemployment figures, or that he was lieutenant governor, Bob Ray was governor, and Republicans controlled the Legislature before Branstad was elected in 1982.

Under Branstad's logic, if Culver's to blame for Iowa's 6.8 percent unemployment rate, which is 2.8 percent lower than the national average, then Branstad shares blame for Iowa's 8.6 percent unemployment rate in January 1983, when the national unemployment rate was 10.4 percent. During Branstad's first term, the national economy improved faster than Iowa's.

When Branstad was sworn into office in 1983, Iowa's unemployment rate was 1.8 percent less than the national average, but when he left office in 1999, the gap between Iowa and the national unemployment rate narrowed to 1.6 percent.

Branstad's criticism of Culver for Iowa's 6.8 percent unemployment rate (eighth lowest nationally) is the height of hypocrisy. Under the leadership of Govs. Ray, Tom Vilsack and Culver, Iowa's unemployment rate always has been lower than the national average.

The same can't be said for Branstad. Not only has the gap between the national rate and Iowa's unemployment rate been less under Branstad, for 16 months beginning in Branstad's third year in office (January 1985-April 1986), Iowa's unemployment rate exceeded the national average.

Sara Riley

Cedar Rapids