Culver, Branstad talk economic, flood challenges in final debate

Democratic Gov. Chet Culver pledged Thursday to build on progress Iowa has made despite daunting economic and flooding challenges while GOP challenger Terry Branstad preached change in their final gubernatorial debate, telling Iowans “the status quo is not good enough.”

Branstad, 63, a former governor who served from 1983 to 1999, and Culver, 44, a first-term incumbent facing a tough re-election battle, carved up each other's records and charted strikingly different courses for the future in their third face-to-face meeting sponsored by Iowa Public Television and the Des Moines Register.

Branstad said he would reduce taxes on corporate income and commercial property, ease burdensome regulations and better manage the state budget if voters grant him a fifth, four-year term on Nov. 2. By contrast, Culver pointed to past Branstad campaign promises that went unfulfilled in warning Iowans they can't trust that the GOP nominee won't raise taxes again over the next four years.

“Iowans want the real deal,” Culver told reporters after the hour-long debate. “The bottom line is you just can't go back to the future with Terry Branstad.”

During the debate, Branstad said he would create a more favorable climate for private businesses to create jobs by cutting the corporate income tax rate in half, reducing property tax burdens for new business startups and offering phased down relief for existing commercial enterprises, and implementing a “rolling sunset” on state rules and regulations with an eye on purging unnecessary requirements. He also pledged to reduce the size and cost of state government and end the “whip-saw budgeting” that forced Culver to cut programs across the board by 10 percent last year.

“Gov. Culver, I know you've tried, but status quo is not good enough,” Branstad said.

“I've been traveling all over the state, I've been to all 99 counties and there are 114,000 people out of work in this state, there a lot of people hurting in this state. I know we can do better. I will focus on it day in and day out, year in and year out, not just before the election.”

Culver countered that Iowa currently has a balanced budget with a surplus of $750 million and has been rated as the third best-run state in the nation – compared to similar measures that put Iowa at third worst during troubled years of Branstad budgeting. He also pointed to major companies that have decided to bring high-paying jobs to Iowa – a trend he pledged to double if given a second term.

“We're getting great economic news. We're not out of the woods yet, but we are outpacing every state in America. Why would we want to turn the clock back on the progress that we're making?” he asked.

Culver said he has held the line on tax increases despite having to deal with the state's worst-ever natural disaster and a worldwide economic recession while Branstad repeatedly signed tax increases – including two sales tax hikes in 1983 and 1992 and three gas tax increases – despite making campaign pledges not to do so.

“Terry Branstad will raise your taxes. He's done it before and he'll do it again,” said Culver, who has proposed $120 million in middle-class tax relief. He also noted that Branstad pledged to increase the population in all 99 counties in 1994 but fell woefully short – trends Culver urged Iowans to consider when weighing his latest promises to create 200,000 jobs, increase Iowans incomes by 25 percent and cut the state budget by 15 percent over five years.

In response to a question during the debate, Branstad said he has “reinvented” himself by becoming an entrepreneurial investor in an ethanol plant, serving six years as president of a private university and holding other positions outside of his expansive political career – experiences that has broadened his abilities as a leader and policy maker.

After the debate, Culver noted that Branstad once supported eliminating federal deductibility on state income taxes but changed that position and previously opposed bonding before borrowing more than $3 billion to weather a cash-flow crisis, saying “he certainly has reinvented himself. He's reinventing himself in this campaign.”

Branstad defended his record as governor, saying he was proud that during his time in office there was a net reduction in taxes of $150 million – including the elimination of the state inheritance tax and the property tax on industrial machinery and equipment. He also said he began the state's commitment to renewable energy that has been carried on by his successors and he said he established a successful film office that attracted major movies before the program fell in ill repute due to “goofy” tax credit program enacted during Culver's watch.

Culver responded that Branstad had 20 scandals in 12 agencies during his 16 years as governor that Culver's campaign has documented at a web site, telling his opponent “you need to look in the mirror before you start throwing stones.”

After the debate, Branstad said he felt “really good” about his performance, saying he laid out his goals and specific ways he plans to accomplish them while Culver “wants to spend his time attacking and focusing on the past.”