Thoughts from the Recent Candidate Forum
October 15, 2008 by dannycarroll
Several candidates for state and local office participated in a forum last recently sponsored by the Oskaloosa Herald and KBOE radio in Oskaloosa.
Many of the questions dealt with jobs and the economy. As a candidate for the Iowa House I am very concerned with the business environment in Iowa. Many jobs are created by local well established businesses. I visited one such company yesterday in Oskaloosa. The President of that company told me that the legislature’s effort to undermine Iowa’s Right to Work law, that has been on the books since 1947, will drive jobs and investment out of the state. This opinion is shared by the Wall Street Journal when it said lawmakers in Iowa could not chose a better way to discourage job creation, than to undermine the Right to Work law.
Representative Eric Palmer said “I have never voted to eliminate the Right to Work law.” He is technically correct. However, he did vote to force Iowans to pay union dues even if they do not want to join a union, which does the same thing. The net effect is to drive jobs from the state and say to businesses looking at Iowa to go elsewhere. I disagree and if elected will work hard to protect the Right to Work in Iowa without being forced to pay union dues.
A citizen in attendance last evening asked Representative Palmer about the out-of-state donations to his campaign by homosexual activists. Representative Palmer said he had no “litmus test” for donations to his campaign. He will accept money from anyone who wants to donate. That is a reasonable response. It is fair to say, however, that the reason homosexual activists donate to Representative Palmer’s campaign is that he supports their agenda. He refused to support a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage in Iowa. In August 2007 a Polk County judge ruled Iowa’s law on marriage as unconstitutional. The people should have the chance to vote on the matter and Representative Palmer would not allow that to happen. I disagree. If the district court says our law is unconstitutional then let the people vote on the matter. Ours is a government by the people not by the judges.
The forum last evening was spirited exchange of ideas and philosophy that I hope will inform the voter in these last few weeks before the election.
Respectfully,
Danny Carroll, Candidate
Iowa House District 75