Democrats attack Zaun comment about flood aid

A Republican congressional candidate is under attack for a four-month-old comment about personal responsibility that Democrats say suggest he opposes federal assistance to northeast Iowans who sustained damage in recent flooding.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, who is seeking an eighth term, called the remark by his challenger, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, “insensitive … especially as Iowans are experiencing widespread flooding across the state for the second time in two years.”

Zaun said his remark was taken out of context “by the liberal hit machine in D.C.,” a reference to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that launched the attack

“Shame on Congressman Boswell and his liberal friends for using people's recent tragedy to attempt to score cheap political points,” Zaun said.

The kerfuffle centers on a remark Zaun made in a March candidate forum in response to a question about the Federal Reserve and financial credit reform legislation.

“The fact of the matter is, is what has been forgotten is personal responsibility,” Zaun said. “We lost that as a country, we expect when there's a flood or something that's going on, the government to come in and help us.”

The remainder of his answer dealt with the need for federal financial credit reforms, but “not with more government red tape.”

Zaun, the former mayor of Urbandale, went on to say Tuesday (July 27) that he opposes “creating new government bureaucracies that have the same job description as a pre-existing agency. Natural disasters should not be used as a reason to create another layer of government that eats money.”

DCCC spokeswoman Gabby Adler said if Zaun had his way, “local communities, small business, and families would be forced to fend for themselves in times of disaster instead of receiving the assistance they need.”

The 3rd District includes Benton, Tama, Keokuk and Iowa counties.