Coralville Courier

The Latest Scoop On The Coralville Courier

 

 

Following Jobs Reports, Consumer Confidence Drops Five Points Overnight

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures consumer confidence on a daily basis, fell five points on Saturday to 88.6. Consumer confidence is down five points from a week ago, up one point from a month ago, and little changed from three months ago.

Advertisement

Another look at the dishonor that exists at iowaliberal.com

By Mike Thayer

The bloggers over at iowaliberal.com seem incapable of telling the truth.  Virtually everything they post is flawed, half-truth, misinforming or just flat out lies.

The latest example is a post titled,

Bain is endless fail for Romney.

It's liberal parrot talking point stuff, complete with total misrepresentation of reality. Iowa Liberal perpetuates the lies from liberal pundit Paul Begala as if it was factual information.

False iowaliberal.com claim #1:  When Romney drove GST Steel into bankruptcy, he and his partners made $12 million in profit and another $4.5 million in consulting fees.

Reality:  With Romney at the helm of Bain Capital, Bain and its partners decided to buy Kansas City based GST Steel for $75 million in 1993.  Bain itself put up about $8 million to gain majority control of the company and renamed it to, GS Technologies Inc.  That name change and company umbrella is important to remember.  Other steel companies were brought into the fold as a part of the Bain Capital investment.

NOTE:  Mark Essig, GS Industries’ former CEO - this is the big umbrella company now - never met Romney. Essig came aboard in January 1998, the year before Romney left in 1999 to run the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

"His name never came up in conversation," Essig told PolitiFact. "In my tenure at GSI, he wasn't involved at all."

So Romney wasn't involved in the day-to-day operations of GS Technologies (to include GST Steel in Kansas City).  Look how Paul Begala and the liberal parrots at iowaliberal.com try to falsely paint Romney with, "When Romney drove GST Steel into bankruptcy...."

Here are the parts of the story liberal Paul Begala and Iowa Liberal intentionally LEFT OUT:

After Bain Capital and partners bought GST Steel in 1993 and put it under the umbrella of GS  Technologies, the company started generating some big time revenue.  Let me repeat that, what had been a struggling company prior to Bain's involvement, generated big time revenue.  The company generated $1 billion in revenue  in both 1996 and 1997.  Then the downturn of the entire steel industry took hold, GST Steel was one of 31 companies nationwide that went bankrupt in the '90's through 2003.  GST Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001, two years after Romney left Bain Capital and remember, he wasn't even involved in the day-to-day operations of GST Steel.  

Why did the steel industry suffer in the late '90's?    Prices for electricity and natural gas skyrocketed.  According to GST Steel company reports, the power bill in September 1998 for example was more than double what it had been in 1997.  For those of you not familiar with the steel industry, say, like iowaliberal.com (but they sprewed nonsense anyway), GST Steel depended heavily on electrical equipment to produce product.   Paul Begala and iowaliberal.com didn't tell you that.  Meanwhile, a flood of cheap steel imports from Asia drove down steel prices in the late ‘90s.  Paul Begala and iowaliberal.com didn't tell you that either.  Paul Begala and iowaliberal.com also didn't tell you that Kansas City based GST Steel was a union mill.  Specific to GST Steel, the United Steelworkers Union went on strike at the company in 1997, making pension and other benefit demands.  Operating income for the company fell to just $9.6 million in 1999.  Meanwhile, costs to cover the severance pay, health insurance, life insurance and pension supplements that had been negotiated during the 1997 strike became unsustainable.  Paul Begala and iowaliberal.com also doesn't tell you that GS Industries employed 3,500 and that the Kansas City plant (with 750 workers) a.k.a., GST Steel was the only part of the company shuttered.  Meanwhile, Indiana based Steel Dynamics for example, a non-union steel company purchased by Bain Capital, profited during that same period and continues to do so today.

Without Bain Capital's investment in 1993, GST Steel would have gone belly up in 1993.  

Related story:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303360504577410573651845802.html

Bogus misinforming iowaliberal.com claim #2:  This one is all iowaliberal.com, not parroting of liberal liar Paul Begala here:   Is it really such a surprise Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts with that same Bain record and ended up 47th in the nation in job creation?

Romney served as the Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007.  The newly elected Republican Mitt Romney entered office facing an all liberal legislature and inherited a sour state economy that was losing jobs every month.  Romney had to deal with a hostile legislature that overrode 700 out of the over 800 line-item vetoes he made.   The unemployment rate when Romney took office was 5.6 percent.  By the time he left, Massachusetts was gaining jobs every month and the bay state's unemployment rate at the end of Romney's term as governor was 4.7 percent.  It's no wonder the 47th in the nation in job creation came to be, the all liberal legislature held Romney back.  

FACT:  Romney established a net gain in jobs during his term as governor. 

BET ON THIS:  In contrast, Obama will have a significant net loss in jobs during his term as president.

Related story:  http://coralvillecourier.typepad.com/community/2012/06/unemployment-up-in-may-as-job-growth-falls-off.html

Campbell making best of tough situation

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Tumbling down the depth chart into a backup role, Chicago Bears reserve quarterback Jason Campbell recognizes the difficulty associated with humbling himself to accept the current situation.

It's all run through his mind: the fact he's started 70 games over the last six years, the broken collarbone suffered in 2011 in Oakland that may have led to the current situation, whether Peyton Manning's seemingly inconceivable availability in free agency affected his ability to find work as a starter.

Read on....  http://bleacherreport.com/tb/d7Dhh?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=chicago-bears

Liberals think 50% of Americans are a small radical minority!

NewsBusted:  The green light for conservative laughter!

Road Construction - Morningside Drive

Weather permitting, beginning on Monday, June 4, 2012, Morningside Drive will be closed to through traffic from Court Street to High Street. This road closure is necessary to facilitate repair work to the street pavement and to sanitary sewer in the area. It is anticipated that Morningside Drive will reopen to normal traffic by the end of the day on Friday, June 8th.

Motorists are to seek an alternate route during this time period. As always, caution should be exercised when traveling in construction areas.

For updated information on road construction in Iowa City, visit the City of Iowa City's website at http://www.iowa-city.org/works/roadconstruction.

Road Construction - Whiting Avenue

IOWA CITY, IA. -- Weather permitting, beginning on Wednesday, June 6, 2012, Whiting Avenue will be reduced to one lane of alternating traffic at various locations from Forest Glen to Northwood Drive. These lane reductions are necessary to facilitate pavement replacement in the area. It is anticipated that regular traffic patterns will resume by early evening on Thursday, June 7th.

Motorists are encouraged to take note of this construction work and to allow extra travel time during this time period as delays may be possible. As always, caution should be exercised when driving through all construction areas.

For the updated information on road construction in Iowa City, visit the City of Iowa City's website at http://www.iowa-city.org/works/roadconstruction.asp

Ill. 'gays' not content with civil unions

Homosexuals have gone to the courts to obtain the right to "marriage" in Illinois -- in spite of the legislature approving same-gender civil unions last year.  

The homosexual activist group Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the Cook County clerk in Chicago on behalf of 25 same-gender pairs who were refused a marriage license. Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute tells OneNewsNow the legal action was initiated despite the fact the state now allows civil unions, which grant the same rights as heterosexual marriage.

Read on....  http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1607080

Road Construction - Benton Street

IOWA CITY, IA. -- Weather permitting, beginning on Monday, June 4, 2012, Benton Street will be reduced to one lane of alternating traffic from Emerald Street to Denbigh Drive. This lane reduction is necessary to facilitate repair work to the street pavement in the area. It is anticipated that Benton Street will reopen to normal traffic by the end of the day on Tuesday, June 5th.

Motorists are to allow extra travel time as delays may be possible. As always, caution should be exercised when traveling in construction areas.

For updated information on road construction in Iowa City, visit the City of Iowa City's website at http://www.iowa-city.org/works/roadconstruction.

instead of focusing on job creation, King Obama is attending six fundraisers

By Mike Thayer

More people are filing first time unemployment claims, the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2% and just 69,000 jobs were created last month.

Is the President at his desk?  Nope.  Is he working with legislators to create a more positive job environment?  Nope.

He's campaigning.

You the taxpayer are footing the bill for Obama's fundraising by the way, which is being done under the guise of "official business."  Make no mistake, his photo op at a factory is about lining his campaign coffers, nothing else.  

From ABC News:

President Obama Hosts 6 Fundraisers Friday on Minneapolis, Chicago Visit

President Obama will jump-start what looks to be a major June fundraising push with six money events today in Minneapolis and Chicago – the most fundraisers he’s held in a single day since launching his bid for a second term.

Obama is expected to raise more than $7.2 million total for the Obama Victory Fund (OVF), according to figures provided by the campaign.

Read on....  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/president-obama-hosts-6-fundraisers-friday-on-minneapolis-chicago-visit/

Iowa City playing home builder, an improper role of government

Editor's Overview:  The following is a press release from the city of Iowa City, which taxpayers also funded....  Issuing press releases for things the government isn't supposed to do, paying a city employee to do marketing, forgiving loans......  Never mind these aren't proper roles of government, money grows on trees right?

Applications being accepted for Round 4 of City's New Homes Program

The fourth round of the City's Single Family New Home Construction Program, in which 33 new homes will be built throughout Iowa City and subsequently sold to income-qualifying individuals and families, is now ready to launch. The program, which began in 2009 as an effort to replace some of the housing stock lost in the 2008 floods, will contribute to the variety, availability, and affordability of housing in Iowa City. Prices of homes will range from $135,000 to $150,000. Construction will get underway this summer, and at least some of the homes should be available for occupancy by this fall.

People who are interested in submitting an application to purchase one of the homes must meet income guidelines set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that are based on the number of people living in the household. For a family of two, gross income cannot exceed $51,400; for a family of four, the maximum income allowed is $64,250. Applicants must also qualify for a mortgage loan and borrow the funds from a local bank that is participating in the Single Family New Home Construction Program. A pre-approval loan letter will need to be submitted with the application.

Those who qualify for the program will be eligible for down payment assistance totaling 25% of the sale price of the home. The assistance will be set up as a five-year forgivable loan, which means that homebuyers who stay in the home for five years or more will not have to repay the down payment loan.

Because there are likely to be more applications than available homes, the City will repeat the selection process it has used in the past two rounds. First priority will be first-time homebuyers, with second priority being Johnson County residents. Within these two groups, a random drawing of names will be held to determine the order in which applicants will make their housing selections.

Applications must be submitted to the Planning and Community Development Department in City Hall by 5 p.m. on June 29, 2012 in order to be included in the drawing, which is scheduled July 6 at noon in Emma Harvat Hall in City Hall, 410 E. Washington Street. Applications will continue to be accepted after the deadline has passed, to ensure that there will be enough qualifying applicants to purchase all of the homes. Post-deadline applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis for the homes that remain available, until all homes are sold.

For an application or for more information on the program, design plans, addresses, builders, or income level requirements, visit www.icgov.org/newhomes, or contact Community Development Planners at 319.356.5230 or e-mail doug-ongie@iowa-city.org or david-purdy@iowa-city.org.

In the first three rounds of the program, a total of 108 homes were built or are under construction, and all but six have been sold. The program is funded by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and is being administered by the City's Community Development division.