Thursday, November 12, 2020
Senate News
By State Senator Julian B. Garrett
julian.garrett@legis.iowa.gov
U. S. Economy Shows Record Growth
The Wall Street Journal and many other news
outlets have reported that the US. economy grew
at a record pace in the third quarter of 2020. The
WSJ reported “The economy grew at a record pace
in the third quarter — increasing 7.4% over the prior
quarter and at a 33.1% annual rate — recovering
about two-thirds of the ground it lost earlier in the
coronavirus pandemic.” This is so different from the
doom and gloom predictions last spring and summer
of a depression. Something that I have noticed in
the last few years is that the so-called experts have
often been very wrong in their economic predictions.
For example, Nicholas A. Bloom, a Stanford
University economist, was quoted in an April 8, 2020
article as saying: “People may end up calling this
the Greater Depression,” Bloom says. “I think the
drop will be comparable to the Depression. The only
question is about the rate of recovery.” The article
goes on to state that “Indeed, economists at the
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis have warned that
47 million people could be thrown out of work and
that the unemployment rate could hit 32% by this
summer or fall.” In fact, the national unemployment
rate was 7.9% in September. Iowa’s unemployment
rate was 4.7%.
Republicans Win in Iowa
Iowa Republicans did very well in the election last
week. President Trump carried Iowa by just over 8
points. In 2016 he won by about 9'points. Joni Ernst
won the US. Senate seat by just over 6 points.
President Trump carried Warren County by nearly
17 points, compared to 15 points in 2016. He carried
Madison County by 34%.
Democrat Cindy Axne won the our congressional
seat over David Young in district 33, by about 1%
pOints. A Libertarian candidate iwon about 3 1/2
percent of the vote. It could be that David Young
would have won if the Libertarian candidate was
not in the race. Of course, we cannot be sure of that,
however. Republicans won the 1st and 4th districts.
As of this writing Republican Marianette Miller-
Meeks leads Rita Hart, in district 2, by a razor thin
margin. ‘
We maintained our margin of 32 Republicans
compared to 18 Democrats in the Iowa Senate. In
the House the we picked up a net of 6 seats for a
total of 59, compared to 41 for the Democrats. One
of the new Representatives is Brooke Boden who
will represent District 26 in Warren County. Of
course, Stan Gustafson handily won re-election in
District 25 that includes all of Madison County and
most of western Warren County. The old ratio was
53 Republicans to 47 Democratsi’This should make L
it easier to pass some legislation, because with only-
53 Republicans, if the Democrats oppose afbill, 3 or .
4 Republican House members can block it.’
Republican Joe Carico was elected ihe new Warren»
County Sheriff. '
‘ Registered Voters ‘ g ‘ .
There were'1,697,102 ballots .ca‘st here .in'Iov’va
out of 2,243,758 registered voters fora turnout‘rate
'of 75.64%. This was the most voters ever for an Iowa
election according to Secretary of State Paul Pate.
Registered voters include 719,591 Republicans,
699,001 Democrats and 659,488 No Barty voters and
17,501 Other. i- .
In Warren County there are 13,567 Republicans, '
11,169 Democrats, 11,088 No Party and 301 Other. .
In Madison County there are 4,912 Republicans,
2,874 Democrats, 3,587 No Party and 90 Other. The
party registrations of office holders in both Warren
and Madison County have changed a lot over the‘
years. After the 2020 election, next year-there will
be only 1 Democrat office holder in Warren County,”
and 1 Democrat office holder in Madison County.
The rest are all Republicans.
Polling
We should all take note of the poor job most of
the polling organizations did when it came to polling
for the presidential election. Many polls purported
to show Biden winning by double digits. They did
the same thing 4 years ago. How do they maintain
any credibility? The Economist, Quinnipiac and
CNBC had Biden winning by 10 or 1 1 points in polls
released the day before the election. Give credit to
the Register’s Iowa poll for being very close to the
actual outcome for the Presidential race and the US.
Senate race in Iowa. They also did very well on the
congressionalraces.
As always. please feel free to contact me with your
ideas or concerns.
N/Warren Town and County News
Page Five
Quilts of Valor Presented
Submitted by Rena King
Quilts of Valor began in 2003 by Catherine Roberts,
whose son was deployed to Iraq. Since that time, over
260,000 Quilts of Valor have been awarded
nationwide. The mission of Quilts of Valor is to honor
service members and veterans with comforting and
healing quilts. They honor service members for
leaving all they held dear to serve, whether in time of
crisis or in time of peace. These Quilts of Valor
unequivocally say, thank you for your service,
sacrifice, and valor in serving our nation.
A Quilt of Valor presentation was held on Sunday,
November 1st, 2020 at the Cumming American Legion
Post #562, to honor the following two gentlemen, and
to thank them for their service.
Thomas Hansen
Staff Sergeant E5 Thomas Hansen enlisted in the
Air Force 1968, serving 4 years. Basic training was at
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, then schooling in
Chanute AFB, Illinois. Thomas was stationed at Castle
NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES
~News From Our College Students~
Upper Iowa University is pleased to announce its
August 2020 graduates. The honored students include
Kourtne Klocko, Master of Business Admin degree
in Corporate Financial Mgmt Empha'sis‘,f of Norwalk.
*****
I More than 240 University of Iowa ‘students are
. members of the 2020 Hawkeye Marchiiig Band this
fall. Grace Hart of Norwalk is a member of the
ensemble.
Degrees were conferred by Mercy College of Health
Sciences on August 29, 2020. Local students include
Bailey Duncan, with a Bachelor of Science in
Nursing, andKristin Turk, with an Associate of
Science in Nursing, both of Norwalk.;
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AFB, California in Strategic Air Command training
B52’s and KC 135’s. Thomas served at Utapao AFB,
Thailand 13 months on B52 launch crew. He returned
stateside to Offutt AFB, Nebraska, Strategic Air
Command Headquarters, working on Looking Glass
Airborne Command Post and Reconnaissance Aircraft.
Thomas also had a temporary mission to Alaska. He
was selected as Airman of the Quarter at Offutt AFB,
being discharged in October 1972.
Gary Marker
Sp5 Gary Marker entered the United States Army
in May 1966. His basic training was at Ft. Lewis,
Washington, then serving in Vietnam in 1967-68.
Gary received the National Defense Service Medal,
Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal,
and also the Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged
in 1968.
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