Thursday, 8 September 2016
No Wages Are Not Living Wages

There has been a lot of talk lately about Minimum Wages
Quite a few people, with the best of intentiions favor raising them.
Their assumptions are that this will allow people who are now making
the minimum wage to have a higher income and that their lives will become
BETTER.
What if they are wrong?
At present we have the Lowest Labor Partition Rate in almost 40 years
That means a lot of people looking for jobs
Some of them were making minimum wage,
Some were making $10 to $15 an hour.
There are reasons for the difference
We all know these reasons so there is no need to go into them here,
The point is that in the past people making a minimum wage
were not competing with the people that an employer would offer
$10 to $15 and hour.
They will will be in the future.
So what does this mean?
For the people who were already making $10 to $15 an hour
There will be a lot more jobs out there for them,
Their Lives will get better,
For the people who were making the Old Minimum Wage?
Their Lives will get just a little bit harder.
I heard the County Supervisor vote on the Second Reading was 4 to 1.
I want to commend John Harris for his principled stand
To try to protect the ability of our lowest wage earners to find jobs,
But I do not expect him to suceed,
Thursday, 9 June 2016
Brother Third Party's Magical Revival and Political Healing Camp Meeting
Yes Brothers and Sisters Come on IN!
To Brother Third Party's Magical Revival and Political Healing Camp Meeting
Let the Hand of the Libertarian ease your brow.
If you have
FAITH
If you
Buh-LEEEV!
Your afflications will be lifted From You!
No longer will you have the burden of choosing between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton!!!!!!!!!
You can Vote for a Third Party
And a Candidate who
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Elections Are Binary

Or perhaps Trinary.
I have not figured out who will come out ahead on the Democratic side.
In any case there are a lot of upset people out there.
There are those on the Left who voted for Bernie,
There are those on the Left who voted AGAINST Hillary,
They are not however of the same mind,
There are those who used to be on the Left who plan to vote for Trump
UMW members are among that group. The Democratics insistence
that the Coal Industry be destroyed has had consequences.
There are those on the Right who do not like Trump at all,
Despite the FACT that the GOP nomination is all but over they still insist on explaining why he is not qualified to be President
I have no earthly idea what their goal is.
Third Party candidates in the past have only been a gift to the Left.
In fhe end to paraphrase the Highlander

Yes folks afer Tuesday, November 8, 2016
There can be only One
President Elect.
Maybe you did not get what you wanted,
You might get what you need
Or not,
I don't want to hear anything about Trumps qualifications from a Conservative
Just answer ONE QUESTION
Of the AVAILABLE choices?
WHICH
Would be the Worst outcome for the Nation?
If you truly believe that would be Trump
Then you have no Ethical choice but to do what you can to prevent that,
If you believe other than that?
What is your Goal?
If years from now my great or great great nieces and nephews ask me
What did YOU do Uncle Danny to try to prevent what would be the Worst Outcome for the Nation?
I do not intend to tell them
I stayed home and pouted
Because the person I wanted to get the nomination Lost
YOU have to decide what YOU will tell those that come after what YOU did,
Thursday, 10 March 2016
Letter from the chair/ The Rest of the Story

My Responce to some comments by our Chair to the New Members
To all new LCRCC members, I want to welcome you to the Linn County Republican Central Committee and introduce myself
My Name is Dan Kauffman. I understand the Chair sent out an email also welcoming you and made a few statements that
I believe concern me,
This is my response for those who think it is wise to hear more than one side of a Story
Let me put the Crux of the matter that the Chair sent here now
For too many years a small group has bullied and harassed the Linn County Republican Central Committee (LCRCC) body, and, in some cases, even the guest speakers who came to address the members. They have used the ruse of Roberts Rules to intimidate those who are trying to conduct the business of getting Republicans elected. They twist and manipulate the intent of Roberts Rules to the point that we must engage a parliamentarian at every meeting.
This process has repeated itself every two years for more than the past decade.
1) The first 2 meetings after caucus bring many new faces. This small band of detractors makes these meetings so unbearable that many leave.
2) The 2 months before the general election, they do something outrageous to either attract negative media attention to the Republican Party or to disenfranchise members of LCRCC who are volunteering to help elect Republican candidates.
3) They use blogging, anonymous emails, and fabricated infractions, attempting to destroy the reputations of those who dare stand up to them.
4) One of their group has threatened to sue the LCRCC executives, Republican Party of Iowa, and anyone else who tries to hold him accountable.
5) Well-intentioned volunteers who have dared attempt to lead this organization have left vowing never to return.
This cycle is now in the process of being repeated. It must be stopped or we all lose!
We need a change of attitude if LCRCC has any hope of being relevant in the effort to elect Republicans in Linn County. We need you to participate to help heal and move us forward.
I do believe I will fit under the Blogging, Parliamentarian and I feel like I may have been accused of "fabricating" infractions.
But First let us look at the "This process has repeated itself every two years for more than the past decade."
I first started attending meetings in the Fall of 2004 I have seen 5 Chairs, Abolons (sp?) Conklin, Palmer, Armstrong and Golding
To the best of my recollection the only administrations that had much controversy during meetings were that of Palmer and Golding
So IMO the claim that this problem repeats itself every 2 years is either a "fabrication" or an exageration
As for "They twist and manipulate the intent of Roberts Rules to the point that we must engage a parliamentarian at every meeting. "
The role of Parliamentarian was introduced by the Chair Before Ms Golding a Mr Armstrong
The Committee was emerging from one of the periods of controversy which did exist and there was a general feeling by some
that the previous chair had abused his power and used Roberts Rules of Order ---when we felt like it
Mr Amstrong made a commitment to the Body to follow the Rules of Order, the County Constitution and the By Laws
As an expression of Good Faith he appointed a Parliamentarian
ME
A Post I held for close to 4 years I have also bee Parliamentarian for Special Meetings, County Conventions and I have been Sgt at Arms
at Two State Convetions
I will also be Head Sgt at Arms at the County Convention Saturday
I wish to State categorically that I have never IMO "bullied and harassed the Linn County Republican Central Committee (LCRCC) body"
I HAVE pointed out those times when our Executive strayed from the path.
Which brings us to the charge that I " fabricated infractions
Our By Laws State that expenses above a certain amount, not budgeted must be approved by the Body they also State that all checks must
be Co-signed by EITHER the Chair or Co-Char AND must ALL be signed by the Treasurer
Sometime back the Chair came to the Treasurer to sign a check and was told the Body would have to approve the expense
Rather than do that she browbeat the Co-Chair into signing with her
This is NOT a fabrication there exists a check used by the Chair to pay an expense without the authorization of the Body or the signaturue
of the Treasurer., Violations of our By Laws
Our County Constitution States that the Executive Committee is under the ORDERS of the Central Committee and NO decision of the Executive Committee shall conflict with one of the Central Committee
Some time Back the Committee voted to reward volunteers for certain functions,. We had some young people who took that challenge
and ran with it
Then we discovered that the Chair did not FEEL like paying them and would not sign the checks,.
Our Treasurer at that time had the Co-Chair Sign the Checks this was brought up in a meeting
It is not a fabrication it happened
Some time later the Treasurer was asked to step aside while some issues were being dealt with the Temp Treasurer and the Chair thus
become responsible for the Rewards Program and
DID NOTHING
At a later time when it was brought up in a meeting that one of our Young Volunteers was owed a payment
The subject was stonewalled and the Chair did nothing
I and another member of the Committee later decided it was disgraceful that the Committee had not paid this young person
for their efforts dug into our pockets and made them whole
I could give other examples but that would make this too lengthy
I do not know anything about anonymous emails.
I myself have gotten a few emails ;-) they were not anonymous
I have also gotten mail from someone who cared enough to by stamps they are quite amusing
The last item I wish to discuss is the Welcome Package you may have gotten at the first meeting
In it there is a Roadmap to Victory in 2016
Part of it says "To accomplish this the Executive Committee moves to accept the following plan for 2015-2016
That is not completely True
This is the THIRD Version I have seen
There was the Version we DID vote on and pass,
There was another version where I guess they decided they did not like the Team Leader who was Voted by the Body and tried to change it
The Body rejected that attempt
Now this version where they have changed the wording
The Truth is all of the versions are the same EXCEPT for the Section Called Membership & Meeting Setup
The Truth also is that when presented there were something that in hindsight were not right
The Executives told the Committee that
ALL motions and decisions made before the Executives Election were VOIDED by that Election that Robert's Rules of Order said this
AND that they had been told this by a gentleman who is in Iowa Republican Circles one of THE Go To Persons for Parliamentary Procedure
The Problem is?
Neither of those two statements are TRUE
When asked by myself and others the gentleman denied ever telling them that,
Which is not hard to understand because? It is NOT in Robert's Rules of Order and in addition one of their circle
actually WENT to the Official Online Roberts Rules of Order Forum and ASKED that
question and was told NO
I can SHOW that online to anyone who really cares about the Truth
In Conclusion, I don't do Anonymous nor do I do Fabricate
If you want to look at more details the link to the Evil Blog is Below
You now have two narratives it is up to you to determine what the Truth is
The Truth is also the only person who can keep you from helping elect Republicans is YOU
In the last year I have actually supported the LCRCC monetarily more than any other Committee Person
I have also supported fund raisers in about 3 or 4 counties and donated to 7 or candidates in both
the 1st and 2cd Districts and I am not finished when I was preparing this missive I added everything
up and discovered to Conservative Orgs and Local Candidates I have for the last year donated
about 10% of my income
Thursday, 3 March 2016
But The Truth Can Be Positive
Recently the Republicans of Linn County Iowa were introduced to a concept on our Linn County Face Book Pages

Yes it is best to stay away from negativity.
The Truth however can be very Postitive and even Liberating
Todays lesson on truth concerns a document presented in the New Members Package purported to be the Team Structure Voted upon and passed by the Body of the LCRCC
The problem is that so far the Exectutives have presented 3 versions
They are identical in all respects EXCEPT for the portion which concerns the
Membership & Meeting Setup Team
There is the original version that was actually Debated, Voted upon and passed
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Justin Wasson, Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree)
Which had Justin Wasson as the Team Leader
There was a second one, where it seems the Executives decided THEY could alter and change what the Committee Voted on and Passed
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree, Justin Wasson uncommitted)
Then the final version in the New Members Package that did not have the members (not that important)
But DID have an alteration of the wording
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership attendence records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting
There being a difference between Membership records and Membership attendence records, that was rather important.
Call me funny but I think that when presenting what the Body Voted on and Passed one should restict oneself to what actually happened rather than what one would prefer to have happened
The Secretary has presented his case for his grab of power in the comments to the previous Post,.
I reccomend those reading this pull up another window and look through his claims
As to his claim about how things were done in the past?
That was voided by the vote establishing the Membership & Meeting Setup Team
As to his claim stated previously that Robert's Rules of Order lists Membership records as a Duty of the Secretary?
That is TRUE
Our By Laws however State
IX. RULES OF ORDER Robert's Rules of Order Revised shall prevail unless modified by these by-laws.
It is that last Clause Mr Ellis over looks
unless modified by these by-laws.
You see the By Laws are very specific about the Duties of the Secretary they state
3. The duties of the Secretary are to keep the minutes of the meetings and read them at the following meeting, unless waived.
They don't state
And all other duties listed in Robert's Rules of Order
The Body rejected the Secretary's claim of authority over the Membership & Meeting Setup up Team
And DESPITE the Section of the County Constitution which states
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
He keeps making the Claim
I just wish he would refrain from trying to rewrite history and work with the Team
They are willing to work with him
But his "Work together"
Seems to consist of them doing what He tells them to do.
Thursday, 18 February 2016
What It Doesn't Say

On the Linn County Republican Central Committee, there are times when we have trouble with what things say.
For instance, in the "New Member" handout, there was a document titled:
Roadmap to Victory 2016
2015 - 2016 Plan for the Linn County Republican Central Committee
Start Here:
Organize > Caucus>> Conventions >>>Primary >>>>2016 Election Victory
It was presented as a plan moved by the Executive Committee, and voted on and accepted by the Central Committee.
It is one of three versions I have seen so far.
The problem, however, is that none of them are the same.
The differences seem to occur in the section for the
Membership & Meeting Setup Team.
In the first two versions, the team leader was listed in bold type.
Version 1 said:
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Justin Wasson, Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree)
Version 2 read:
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree, Justin Wasson [uncommitted])
Version 3 is the version that was inserted into the yellow folder containing the new member handouts. It read:
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership attendance records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting
I suppose it does not make a lot of difference in Version 3 that they left off the names of the team members and Team Leader.
But if you are going to present something as an item of business that has been voted upon and passed,
Maybe you should not add and/or omit words.
Because if you do, you run the risk of appearing to be corrupt in your intentions.
We can also see that between the time of the 1st version (the one that was actually voted upon, and passed) and the second, they have evidently "reconsidered" who they wished to be Team Leader.
This attempt to"reconsider" was rejected by the Central Committee, since the Committee had voted for Justin Wasson to be Team Leader.
Then, they made the most interesting discovery.
They informed the Central Committee that in Robert's Rules of Order, it says:
It is the duty of the Secretary to keep a register or roll of the members.
So, by golly, it was, according to them, the SECRETARY who should be the Team Leader.
Notice how they discovered this only after their first attempt to displace Mr. Wasson failed.
This attempt by the Executives to usurp the authority of the Membership & Meeting Setup Team Leader was also soundly rejected by the Central Committee.
Now, we have a mostly NEW Central Committee.
And that might be why our Secretary kept making the claim that he is in charge of the membership records.
Now, I could point out that the Secretary also keeps the record of the minutes of the general meeting, but does not run the meeting.
This, however, is not necessary.
While our By Laws DO say,
IX. RULES OF ORDER Robert's Rules of Order Revised shall prevail unless modified by these by-laws;
Our by-laws, as it should happen, are also pretty specific about the duties of the Secretary.
3. The duties of the Secretary are to keep the minutes of the meetings and read them at the following meeting, unless waived.
Do take note that in our By-Laws, the duties of the Secretary do NOT say:
3. The duties of the Secretary are to keep the minutes of the meetings and read them at the following meeting, unless waived. and any other duties mentioned in Robert's Rules of Order.
So, despite the desires of our Secretary, Mr. Gary Ellis, and the rest of the Executives, the legitimate Team Leader remains the one elected by the Central Committee.
That Team Leader happens to be Mr. Justin Wasson.
To paraphrase the late Justice Scalia, the By-Laws
"Say what they say and don't say what they don't say."
And never should the past be altered to reflect what one should wish it would say.
Monday, 15 February 2016
The Caucus Behind The Curtain

We live in an era of Revisionist History.
Everything seems to be rewritten to fit an agenda.
Those of us who experienced the recent Linn County GOP caucus,
Came away with certain impressions that the Executive Committee do not share.
They have been broadcasting how excellent they were.
To quote our Chair:
"After our record-breaking Caucus, we are on our way to a successful 2016 Republican Election victory."
I must say it was record breaking, if the records you wanted to break were in: Chaos, driving people away in frustration, and total pandemonium.
If those are the records to break, then the Mega Caucuses at the Double Tree, and to a lesser extent, at Kirkwood, were roaring successes.
I have some video clips of the crowded conditions and a couple of opinions given by people who attended--and who don't seem to agree with our leadership.
Crowd 1 Crowd2 Interview 1 Interview 2
Just click on the link to download the clip and then open the file.
Sunday, 14 February 2016
From The Same People Who Brought You Mega-Caucus

The Founding Fathers were concerned about tyranny, that of the despot and that of the majority.
Which is why they set up our government with checks and balances and formed a constitutionally based Representative Republic.
Our Linn County Republican Central Committee is also set up with checks and balances, a constitution, and bylaws.
One of the foremost tools to prevent abuse of power is found in the section on the Executive Committee in the County Constitution:
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
Regretfully, we have an Executive Committee which is convinced that due to the purity of their intent.
If there is a section of the County Constitution, the By-Laws, or the Rules of Order which forbid their actions,
Such strictures are optional.
They are not adverse, either, in creating a faux crisis and engaging in what one might term "creative reality" to achieve their goals.
Last year, during the first meeting of the Committee after the officers' election they, breathlessly informed the body that
Robert's Rules of Order stated that all actions--motions, committees, etc., established before the officers' election were voided by it and had to be replaced.
THIS WAS NOT TRUE.
The also informed the body that a gentleman who is in Republican circles in Iowa, the "go-to guy" for parliamentary procedure, had told them this.
THIS WAS NOT TRUE.
And of course, all of this meant they we had to completely redo all these things they claimed that were NOT TRUE,
RIGHT NOW,
And that there was not time to think about it and debate it at a later month's meeting.
So, we adopted their motion, which contained a few poison pills.
The thriving sub-committees, including Finance, which handled all of the budgeting decisions; Communications, which included web activities and press releases; and Credentials, which ensured that the voting was consistent with the by-laws and limited to only elected committeepersons; were all eliminated, and replaced with "Teams."
Previously, anyone could join a subcommittee and have voting rights, but the "Teams" were limited to five voting members, including the "Team Leader." The "Team Leaders" had already been appointed by the Executives, and most of the voting members had already been chosen by the Executives, the Team Leader would decide who could be on a team.
Then at a later meeting, they presented their opinion that the Executive Committee Secretary should replace the "Team Leader" of the "Membership & Meeting Setup" team.
This was, of course, AFTER they tried to edit the original motion to replace the Team Leader voted in with someone else, and were called on it.
Did I mention they engage from time to time in creative reality?
I have a copy of the second version which includes the wording:
To accomplish this, the Executive Committee moves to accept the following plan for 2015-2016 Election Cycle: APPROVED BY VOTE OF THE LCRCC 3/17/15
The problem was this section:
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree, Justin Wasson uncommitted)
You see, the version that was actually VOTED on,
Had Justin Wasson as the Team Leader. Not Mike Dupree.
Now, they have found a section of Robert's Rules of Order which states that the Secretary keeps the records of the membership list.
So, they decided to replace the Team Leader again with someone else this time--the Secretary.
The Central Committee, by a resounding margin, rejected this and reaffirmed Mr. Wasson as the Team Leader.
This was almost a year ago.
Yet, it now seems they have decided upon a new tactic.
We had recent precinct caucuses, and the Form As have all the new committee persons listed.
The Executive Committee has not seen fit to deliver this information to the Membership and Meeting Setup Team, which was given the duty by the Central Committee to handle:
Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting
Recall that this is the wording of their own motion to the body, which was adopted, and now they do not wish to abide by it.
I head some muttering that the Form As need to be..."credentialed?"
Anything resembling "credentialing" is accomplished when the Caucus Chair and Secretary sign them.
No, this is yet another blatant power play by the Executive Committee, which chooses not to follow the County Constitution, where it says:
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
Friday, 12 February 2016
Is That The Ice Cracking I Hear?
I just got an interesting IM on Facebook
Xxxxx wants to know when the next GOP central
committee meeting is so he can go talk about caucus
fiasco. I showed him your blog this morning. I don't know
if he had time to read it thoroughly. Yyyy
So we have somone who has never read this blog and because they need to know when the Linn County Central Committee meet is, they have not much experience with the Committee meetings
I do not know how much experience they have had with Caucuses but from the wording of the message they are not pleased with what they have had.
I for one would be interested in they have to say, Shoud they attend.
Our meeting may be a tad like Fat Tuesday

Thursday, 11 February 2016
Byzantine Book Keeping

The Numbers associated with this Years Caucuses certainly were as convoluted as any complex book keeping in the Byzantine Empire
From someone associated with the last Caucus I got the news that this one only took in 12K which meant it was 10K below what was in the bank account when our Present County Chair took over
But then someone associated with the Present Caucus said No it was the 2012 Caucus which took in 12K.
Dan Lincoln bag donations increased about $7000 from 4 years ago and exceeded the 1.50 per person threshold. You may want to correct your recent post. I believe the Lincoln bag number from 4 years ago was around 12k. The number you are thinking of includes delegate fees that were collected caucus night 4 years ago.
What they had in common was each was wrong about the other Caucus
I did get some accurate figures on this Caucus from the Treasurer
Total funds depostited after the Caucus $27,503.17 and he
informed me the split in funds were about 19K for LCRCC donationa
and 8K for the Convention Fees.
My Correspondent for this years Caucus did provide me with the DR-2 forms for the 2012 Caucuses.
You can access them HERE
He also informed me there were more Cedar Rapids Sites than I mentioned in a previous article
Also there were 6 sites with Cedar Rapids precincts. In addition to the 3 you listed you have New Covenant, New Life Church, and King of Kings.
I stand corrected on the number of Cedar Rapids Caucus site, but in truth I do not think that has any bearing one the pandemonium and chaos of he Mega-Caucus sites and I recall NO ONE who was happy with the situation
As a matter of fact I was almost not elected to be a Central Commitee Person because one person made the claim that anyone who had been previously on the Committee should not be re elected
I told them I had nothing to do with the Disaster of the Double Tree Caucuses and had tried to prevent it.
A young friend who has been active in the Central Committee weeded out the information for the 2012 Caucuses from the DR-2s for me, for which I gratefully sprung for a steak dinner
The results from 4 years ago were
The following is information regarding financials from the 2012 caucus:
-
- Unitemized pass the hat money on caucus night - $16,113.26
- Itemized pass the hat money on caucus night - $2682
- Total contributions on caucus night - $18795.26
- Total paid on caucus night for conventions - $4950
- 25 people paid for convention at the following monthly meeting. Many paid shortly after that and we accepted payment at the door.
Also something worth noting, pass the hat in January of 2012 was $225.81 which was a fairly typical amount every month back then.
It would appear donations to the Committee were about the same. Pre-paid Convention fees were up
That latter point is very welcome because this time any unused seats of the 167 allocated for Linn County must be paid for,
I am however confused on what we will pay, I seem to remember the State figure for the District and State Conventions being $50 and what was collected for that Feb 1 was $60 .
So do we owe RPI $60 per seat or did our Executives just decide to charge our members an extra $10 for collecting the State's Fees?
We can find out how much we got stuck for at next weeks Central Committee meeting
It will also be interesting to see how close we come at the meeting to the bucket collection of 4 years ago of $225.81
That's about 3 times what the bucket has been collecting
And yes I know we have made the $125 dollar room fee for quite a few months.
But I also know there is a member of the Committee who each month writes a check to cover what the bucket does not and that is why I say $225.81 is about 3 times what the bucket has been collecting.
Still we need to keep in mind the real problem is not that we did not take any more money in than 4 years ago while we spent at least 10K more but it is the total chaos that ensued
And the number of people who got frustrated and left
If anyone needs to be reminded or was fortunate enough not to Caucus at a Mega site let me remind you.

And if a picture is worth a thousand words, I wonder that a video is worth
Newer | Latest | Older