Watch House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, on Iowa Press (January 22, 2010)

“Unlike former Governor Terry Branstad, who raised taxes on all Iowans to balance the budget, I know Governor Culver will show bold leadership and act decisively with a swift and serious cut to keep our budget balanced. We will continue to work with Governor Culver and take whatever legislative action necessary in January to ensure the state budget remains balanced.”

Sorenson’s [...] decision, however, is bad news for House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, who already has to deal with some key retirements. Paulsen and House Republicans already have their work cut out for them in needing to win seven seats to wrestle control away from the Democrats in that chamber.

In addition to Sorenson leaving to run for the Senate, Representatives Rants and Roberts are running for governor, and Jodi Tymeson isn’t seeking re-election. That means House Republicans would have to elect 11 new members to gain control, a difficult task even in the best of political environments.

“The flood peaked at nearly 15 feet higher than it ever had before, and it completely inundated its downtown,” says David Swenson, an economist at Iowa State University. Damage estimates were more than $6 billion.

Somehow, though, the city’s housing market has been more stable than other parts of the country. Houses are being built in a different part of the city, and businesses are reopening.

“Even in the face of the disaster, some people are rebounding,” says Cherokee Render, president of Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors.

Republicans can’t rewrite history after, for weeks, taunting Democrats that they would win Tuesday’s special House race and mark the beginning of their comeback, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said today.

Democrats ultimately retained the seat, which was vacated by John Whitaker to head the Iowa Farm Service Agency.

Democrat Curt Hanson won by 107 votes over Republican Stephen Burgmeier, according to unofficial results.

McCarthy noted remarks such as those made by Jeff Boeyink, executive director of the Iowa Republican Party that he’s confident in a win as well as those by Matt Strawn, the GOP Chairman, that the race “is a pivotal election and could set the stage for even more victories in 2010.”

“This was built up by Republicans and allies of the Republicans as World War III,” said McCarthy, D-Des Moines.

Iowa Republicans have lost seats in the state House and Senate for four general elections in a row, giving Democrats a majority in both chambers. Democrats have 56 of the 100 House seats and 32 of the 50 Senate seats are held by Democrats.

Since the loss, Republicans have said just coming close was a victory.

“The fact that Republicans nearly won a solid Culver-Obama legislative district shows that Iowans are not pleased with the status quo and one-party rule in Des Moines,” Strawn said after the election.

But the most recent past House District 90 election with no incumbents was even closer than Tuesday’s. In 2002 Whitaker won against Republican Connie Boyer in a 5,255 to 5,200 vote, according to state election records.

The past history of close races in the district erases the Republican argument that Tuesday’s election is an indication of voter discontent with Democratic leadership, McCarthy said.

“Now they’re trying to rewrite history like they never said anything. Now the fact they got close they’re saying they’ve got momentum,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy has generally said that House elections are mostly about local issues and not reflective of larger political content or discontent with a particular party. He repeated that thought today.

“I’m not a poor winner and somebody who likes to rub it in people’s faces,” McCarthy said. “It’s fun to do a little poke in the eye but I still believe these races are decided locally on an individual by individual basis.”

(Image from Huffington Post)

Thirty-three Iowa companies, including nine from central Iowa, are included in Inc. magazine’s new list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies.

Hy-Vee Food Stores of West Des Moines was the largest private company on the list, both in terms of 2008 revenue, $6.2 billion, and number of employees, 52,152. The company’s 2005-08 revenue growth rate, 25.6 percent, was one of the lowest, No. 4,606, among the 5,000 businesses.
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Startups had the highest growth rates. The largest percentage growth in revenue by an Iowa company was by Charles F. Day & Associates, a Davenport consulting company that does work for the Department of Defense. The company’s revenues grew 1,678 percent between 2005 and 2008, to $8.6 million.

Central Iowa businesses on the list and their 2008 revenues: GeoLearning of West Des Moines, $29.1 million; LightEdge Solutions of Des Moines, $27.1 million; DES Cos. of Des Moines, $19.8 million; Alliance Technologies of Des Moines, $14.9 million; Ultimate Nursing Services in Waukee, $8.1 million; ICE Technologies in Pella, $6.4 million; Spindustry Interactive of Des Moines, $3.9 million; and Corporate Contracts in Urbandale, $1.6 million.

A new report from University of California, Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez details the problem. The problem was exacerbated during the years under the Bush Adminstration:

Beginning in the economic expansion of the early 1990s, Saez argues, the economy began to favor the top tiers American earners, but much of the country missed was left behind. “The top 1 percent incomes captured half of the overall economic growth over the period 1993-2007,” Saes writes.

Despite a rising stock market, largely growing employment and a historic housing boom things were not nearly so rosy for the rest of U.S. workers. This trend, according to Saez, only accelerated during the George W. Bush’s tenure as President:

“…while the bottom 99 percent of incomes grew at a solid pace of 2.7 percent per year from 1993-2000, these incomes grew only 1.3 percent per year from 2002-2007. As a result, in the economic expansion of 2002-2007, the top 1 percent captured two thirds of income growth.”

Click here to view the embedded video.