Former Governor Branstad Might Run Again, Hurray!! (Colo: real estate, car insurance)

[mustang84]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

People REALLY hated that guy and everything he did - or more so what he didn't do, at least in Eastern Iowa. Someone must have liked him granted he kept getting re-elected. All I remember is people freaking out that he refused to spend any money or stimulate the state's economy, and while he was cheering for not raising taxes or spending, the state sat in the background dying all around.

The thing about Branstad was that he tended to cook the books to make Iowa look fiscally better than it really was. He borrowed to pay off debts, which gave the state a horrible credit rating at the time. As much people don't like Culver, he did return the state's credit rating to AAA.

[mofford]

Another good thing about Branstad, he won't be standing at the podium throwing a hissy fit when the INS pays a visit to Marshalltown and hauls off a bunch of illegals. If anything he might actually provide assistance for the INS to help them perform their duty.

[zz4guy]

Originally Posted by mustang84

The thing about Branstad was that he tended to cook the books to make Iowa look fiscally better than it really was. He borrowed to pay off debts, which gave the state a horrible credit rating at the time. As much people don't like Culver, he did return the state's credit rating to AAA.

Soon to be trashed again thanks to Democrats spending.

I don't think Branstad has a chance. He wasn't a superstar. He was just an incumbant that never had a decent opposition.

[RonnieJonez]

Originally Posted by mofford

Another good thing about Branstad, he won't be standing at the podium throwing a hissy fit when the INS pays a visit to Marshalltown and hauls off a bunch of illegals. If anything he might actually provide assistance for the INS to help them perform their duty.

Right Wing King will start his own Gestapo to get them, even better.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Right Wing King will start his own Gestapo to get them, even better.

and bring Iowa back to the stone ages.

South Dakota had a conservative governor like Branstad, Janklow, and has not done the state any favors and the state stagnated during the governor's tenure. 1980s, especially early to mid, were also a very challenging time for South Dakota. I know of many people, including my family, who absolutely do not like Janklow and thought he was arrogant and hotheaded. I have relatives in Western Iowa that did not care for Branstad, and the part is that they were not left-wing hippie types-they were moderates who want their area to progress and prosper and less interested in the right-wing social propoganda. I vote both sides of the aisle but have problems with the right wing propoganda and find it very hypocritical to say the least and get annoyed with left wing's far out social ideas. Lets move forward and keep our books balanced.

Yes, our governments need be wise with the use of taxpayer dollars but are influential fostering a climate where businesses and individuals and grow and thrive. Quality of life is important. It is imperitive for Iowa, South Dakota, and other Midwestern states to take steps to better retain and attract younger people, since younger people are our future and these areas would shrivel and fold up with out the younger people carrying the torch.

[mofford]

Originally Posted by RonnieJonez

Right Wing King will start his own Gestapo to get them, even better.

Pretty much every developed country in the world feels the same way about their immigration policy as Steve King. IE they don't put up with illegal immigration and many european countries do not consider you to be a citizen just because you were born there. You can't get a job or social benefits in Europe or Japan by sneaking in there. Only the US allows that, but not if we were all wise like Steve King. If he were governor I would be happy to help Steve King round up all the illegals at gunpoint and usher them to the nearest train station. No problem with that at all, and if we need more workers the US can pick and choose from immigrants that want to come here the LEGAL way. There's no stortage of people that want to come here from Eastern Europe, Russia and East Asia.

[Chris19]

Very good point, mofford. Even though I think that Representative Steve King is too conservative for my views in certain areas, I support him on the immigration issue. The US needs to do something about the illegal immigration problem and the ancillary issues that go along with illegal immigration (increased crime, drain on our services, speaking English issue, etc.). If the immigrants come here illegally, they should be denied services and sent back to where they come from, period.

My ancestors came from Germany, Russia, and Denmark back in the late 1800s and had to learn English and came in legally and worked their way to a better life without being a drain on public resources. This is the case with my other people's ancestors, whether they came from Ireland, England, Netherlands, Sweeden, etc. Why cannot the ones south of the border and other areas get the hint.

Maybe our immigration policy needs to get reformed and have teeth. Our nation should welcome immigrants who are legal and want to contribute positively to our society but deal the illegal immigrants with a swift hand.

There are many people from other countries who are willing to come to the US legally and have to wait and wait for years and the clowns south of the border sneak in and some freeload off of our public service. That is not fair to those immigrants who come legally and is an insult to the ones who earned their way fair and square. I better stop now or I will get revved up about the issue and write a novel.

[mofford]

I agree with you Chris19, we should choose carefully who we let into the country. Background checks should be done to weed out criminals and troublemakers. Some thought should be given as to how well the second and third generation of the new immigrants might fair in our society. It's better to have a mix of immigrants that speak different languages so that no one particular foreign language is predominate. This will encourage their kids to learn english and assimilate into american culture at a faster rate.

I know that many of the first generation latinos come here and have a strong work ethic, doing some tough jobs that not many here want to do. But what happens to their kids that won't learn english and may not want to pick fruit or work in a meat packing plant ? Temptations to join gangs and engage in criminal activity become hard to resist. These are the wrong kind of immigrants for America, and if they do become somewhat successful such as the Cubans in Miami, they still refuse to speak english and tend to force everyone else out that might want to live there as english speaking americans. Thats not what we should expect from 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants.

[RonnieJonez]

Those same immigrants you hate are also building most of the new developments in your respective cities you people love to brag about. You can't just send them all home packing in a mass round-up, that will cause civil unrest, and seems inhumane considering a great deal of them are hard-working people.

Yes, they broke the law, but you know very well if they illegal Irishmen, it wouldn't be nearly the same amount of resistance towards them. This country makes it difficult for people to enter legally unless they have a PhD from India, Korea, etc. In all actuality, the US could use the labor, they could start by deporting if anything, but it's sad to see families be torn apart when neither parent broke any law here, and acted out of desperation for a better life.

They are human beings too. Some of you would rather see them gone than murderers, child abusers, drug dealers, etc. Yes, even the ones who have broken no laws other than entering illegally.

mofford, the US is a country built on immigrants, just because your corner of small-town Iowa has very few doesn't mean the rest of the country is that way.

One more thing, most 2nd generation immigrants do learn English, as they go through American schools and grow up here.

[Chris19]

The immigration policy needs to get reformed and streamlined to allow for more people in but allows the government to track the immigrants and lay down conditions to being in the country: learning English, following our laws, pay taxes like the rest of us, etc.

The current immigration policy is archaic and outdated (based on 1960s and 1970s framework which does not work nowadays) and is in dire need to be updated. An allowance for people south of the border doing work that other Americans refuse to do in addition to those from other areas, but some teeth and a stern hand to those who come illegally and non-US resident aliens who may cause trouble. An updated foreign policy along with laying the hammer on the drug gangs and smugglers (those in Mexico and else) will go a long way keep the issues with immigrants to a minimum. We need to reward immigrants who contribute and enhance our society but lay a heavy hand on those who cause trouble.

The illegal immigrant problem stems from an outdated immigration policy and Mexico and other Central American countries needing to reform their countries and governments by purging corruption by fat cat politicians and the overly pushy drug cartels.