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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Rob Hubler
If you don’t like what you see with your mutual funds or retirement investment portfolio these days, take out your anger on the Republicans — and specifically Congressman Steve King — says his challenger Rob Hubler.
“Where we find ourselves in the market is directly accredited to Steve King’s philosophy,” Hubler said Friday in Carroll.
“People are no longer confused. They are just angry as heck,” he added.
Hubler held a mock debate at the Carroll Depot in which a child’s Burger King crown and an empty chair — complete with a bottle of water — were used to represent the absence of King, R-Kiron, who has refused to debate Hubler, citing both media bias and what King says is Hubler’s penchant for personal attacks.
King spoke elsewhere in Carroll Friday.
For his part, Hubler hit on an array of topics but focused most of his time on the economy. The Council Bluffs Democrat says the “total free market” and “deregulation” approach to governing from the Republicans has resulted in the current financial crisis.
“Hopefully it won’t be worse than the Depression,” he said.
Hubler thinks western Iowans should be particularly troubled by comments from Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who said in the first general election debate that he would cut ethanol subsidies.
“That would be an utter, total disaster for the Fifth District and Iowa,” he said.
Hubler contended that McCain is also hostile to wind power – a charge also leveled against McCain by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Iowans should factor this heavily into their voting, Hubler said. “We truly have a way to rebuild rural America through renewables.”
He said he agrees with more oil drilling but wants the focus of the national energy strategy to be on sources in Iowa. “The answer is not drill, baby, drill, it’s grow, baby, grow.”
The Hubler campaign has been using props at campaign events to mock Congressman Steve King for not debating.
With a troubled stock market fueling anxious times, Hubler said, senior voters can be thankful that Democratic members of Congress killed a plan to privatize Social Security so that money is not now in the stock market – diving with other investments.
Moving to other issues, Hubler said he supports a partitioning plan in Iraq advanced by Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. That plan would divide factions into autonomous regions, held together by something of a confederation.
On immigration, Hubler said the United States should strengthen the borders. He also supports a path to citizenship for those illegal immigrants who are gainfully employment, learning English and staying out of trouble with the law.
He added that internal polling for his campaign indicates that western Iowans support such a plan for the immigrants in their communities.
“Our meat industry depends upon immigrant labor,” Hubler said.
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