Free Republic

DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked up another high profile endorsement on Saturday in Iowa, where the party’s nominating contest kicks off in nine days, after U.S. congresswoman Cindy Axne said she was backing the former vice president. Axne, a freshman U.S. lawmaker and moderate, is the latest in a slew of big-name endorsements for Biden in Iowa which could have an impact on undecided voters as caucus day nears on Feb. 3. Two former Iowa Democratic governors, Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver, have backed Biden, as has another U.S. House member, congresswoman Abby Finkenauer.

Early last month after reading the I-JOBS report from Iowa Governor Chet Culver’s office I asked where are the jobs from I-JOBS? Governor Culver claimed that the program had created and retained 7502 direct jobs (jobs on the project site) out of 2091 projects that had been started. To find out where the I-JOBS jobs were located, I made an open records request with the Governor’s office late on October 7th which they then received October 8th asking for them to provide the number of jobs created/retained by project...

(In case you missed it and don’t have time to read the complete transcript.) Moderator: Welcome to the Coe College Gubernatorial Debate. Opening jabs, gentlemen.Chet Culver: Coe College is the best college in Iowa, except for the others. Terry Branstad: President what’s-his-name is best college president ever. Culver: Cedar Rapids has the best mayor in the Northern Hemisphere. Culver: Iowa was the 3rd best managed state in the US yesterday. Branstad: Was not! Culver: Was too! Moderator: Will you raise taxes or lower taxes?Branstad: Yes Culver: No, you won’t. (I was the 3rd best manager in the state somebody told...

owa Governor Chet Culver says he plans to use his State of the State address on Tuesday to "set the record straight." Allow me to translate. Setting the record straight for Culver means he will offer a complete distortion of his disastrous tenure. So, instead of listening to the lies he plans to unleash Tuesday morning, please read Chet Culver's real State of the State address, if he bothered to tell the truth.....

Cedar Rapids businessman and flood recovery leader Christian Fong has entered the race for governor, calling for new leadership to restore the Iowa dream. “Sadly, today I see the dream being ripped away from future generations,” Fong said. He’s seeking the Republican nomination to challenge first-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. “The dream has to be restored.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Chet Culver on Tuesday ended days of silence on the Iowa Supreme Court's decision allowing same-sex marriage, saying he disagrees with the ruling but is "reluctant to support" amending the state constitution to reverse it. Culver said in a lengthy statement that he hadn't changed his mind that marriage is between a man and a woman: "This is a tenet of my personal faith." However, Culver said the issue before the court in its unanimous ruling Friday involved only civil marriage, and that churches and other religious institutions do not have to perform them....

GNJILANE, Kosovo, April 17, 2008 – Thronged sidewalks and cafes, jammed roads and packed store shelves suggest progress in this former war zone where National Guard troops play a key role in an international effort to keep the world’s newest country on the path of peace. Army Maj. Gen. Larry Shellito, adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; and Army Brig. Gen. John Davoren, commander of Kosovo Force’s Multinational Task Force East, tour Kosovo on April 12, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill, National Guard Bureau   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...