The three bills each appropriate more money than President Bush requested, and Senate Democrats are happy with those totals, while Bush has threatened to veto the three bills should they exceed spending he has deemed appropriate.  Senate Democrats are hoping to use Nussle’s nomination as the upper hand in negotiations over these appropriations bills.  The outcome of the Democrats’ gambit will likely be seen later this week after Democratic leadership meet with Bush at the White House.

Last Tuesday’s and Thursday’s hearings indicated that the Senate is likely to keep challenging Bush on budgetary issues during his last 18 months in office, but the senators also seemed receptive of Nussle.  You can see the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing on Nussle here from C-SPAN (Real Player needed to watch video).

Iowa Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley have both announced their intention to vote in favor of Nussle’s nomination.

Should the Senate pass on voting on Nussle’s nomination until after the August recess, Bush could offer Nussle a recess appointment to the position.  That move would likely inflame tensions between Senate Democrats and Bush even more and could make Nussle’s job as budget negotiator between Congress and the executive branch even harder.

Nussle was the congressman from Iowa’s 1st Congressional District from 1994 until January 2007.  He left Congress to run for governor of Iowa and lost to Democrat Chet Culver in November 2006.

“Someone who works for local TV hardly ever covers a beat 100 percent,” Price said in a telephone interview with Iowa Independent on Thursday. Price said he and his station consider a full-time political beat an advantage over competitors.

Price has been with WHO-TV for almost 6 1/2 years. During the last four years or so, he has seen his political beat expand. Covering presidential candidates and their campaigns in Iowa of late has become his daily job.

Price hails from Belleville, Ill., a suburb of St. Louis, Mo., and home to about 45,000 people. After attending college at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he worked in radio for a few years before going back to school at the University of Missouri Columbia to receive his master’s degree in communications. After working in a few different cities, Price decided to move back to the Midwest and took a job with WHO-TV (Channel 13).

Although Price honed his reporting skills and interest in politics during his time in Columbia and when he worked in Montgomery, Ala., he still believes that reporting on politics can be especially arduous in the broadcast format.

“It isn’t necessarily fun for people to cover,” Price said. “It isn’t an easy beat to do, whereas some things might be easier like standing in front of a burning building describing the scene.”

The beat not only is challenging in and of itself but it’s also hard to make it work for TV, he said.

“It is especially challenging for television. It is especially numbers-driven. The details are hard to show in video,” Price explained.  “We try to tell the story differently so it’s a bit more visual than usual.”

Comparing print, television and radio reporting highlights the other challenges of Price’s job.

“TV also tends to be the most time-intensive medium of the three,” he said.  “Melding video and audio together, there just isn’t enough time to do it.”

Covering politics in Iowa has given Price a lot of memorable experiences and big stories. Former Gov. Tom Vilsack’s presidential run would have been his biggest — and most memorable — story if the campaign hadn’t been so short, he said.  Instead he chose a more widely known event as the biggest story he’s covered.

“The Dean scream is the number one story that sticks out at me since I was there,” Price said. “We got to choose who we were going to cover early on.  I thought it was going to be a big night for him but little did I know it would be for different reasons.”

Price has taken his political reporting beyond TV and into a blog as well.  He finds his “Price of Politics” blog time-consuming, and admits it’s challenging to do his day job and engage with the new medium.  Beyond writing his own blog, Price regularly checks out internet political features like MSNBC’s First Read, ABC News’ The Note, Politico, Kay Henderson’s Radio Iowa blog, the Des Moines Register’s columns and blogs by David Yepsen, and Lee Newspapers’ columns and blog by Todd Dorman.

Iowa Independent asked Price to offer some predictions about the caucuses but he declined, saying he doesn’t do predictions. Instead he offered some insights on the Democratic and Republican candidates’ campaigns in Iowa.

“On the Republican side I’ve been surprised by [John] McCain’s fall,” Price said, referring to the Arizona senator’s beleaguered national and Iowa campaign.  “Early on he was considered by the insiders as the front-runner and that he’d win. You’d be hard-pressed to find a lot of people who witnessed the implosion and didn’t think it was surprising.”

The Ames Straw Poll, the Iowa GOP’s regular caucus fund-raiser, is coming up in a little more than three weeks.  Price said that Romney appears to be the favorite.

“He would have the most to lose if he doesn’t win it,” he said.

Price was looking forward to covering a “true battle royale” of candidates at the straw poll, and is disappointed that major contenders McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have decided to skip the poll.

On the Democratic side, Price said it was expected that the competing campaigns of former Sen. John Edwards and Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be exciting. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has emerged clinging on the “fourth rung” of the top candidates’ ladder, he said, while Delaware Sen. Joe Biden and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd just haven’t caught on.

Even though Dodd has spent money on ads and traveled to Iowa a lot, Price said, the candidate is “really going to have to catch fire to get on” the top tier in Iowa.

Note: Iowa Independent has interviewed two other Iowa political journalists as well.  You can find our interview with David Yepsen here and our interview with Kay Henderson here.

At a Statehouse press conference, a security panel set up by Culver released its findings on arming campus police officers and improving campus security, but declined to offer a recommendation to the Board of Regents on the issue.  The Cedar Rapids Gazette provides a link to the full PDF of the findings here.

The issue arose after the April shooting massacre at Virginia Tech University, where a student gunman killed 32 students and himself.  In the aftermath it was revealed that the University of Iowa was the only school in the Big 10 athletic conference not to have armed campus police officers and that Iowa State University was the only school in the Big 12 athletic conference not to have armed officers.  The University of Northern Iowa also does not arm its officers.

The Board of Regents, which oversees the three state universities, announced in April that Culver and the board consulted with the leaders at the three universities and asked for a comprehensive analysis of campus security policies and a discussion about arming officers.

Also appearing at Thursday’s briefing were the three campuses’ security heads as well as state Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer.  Meyer and the security heads emphasized their desire for arming campus police officers.  The executive director of the regents, Gary Steinke, said the decision to arm the police forces would come from action on whatever the three university presidents recommend.

A recommendation is not likely to come soon as new University of Iowa President Sally Mason won’t take office until Aug. 1.

Thompson’s campaign has not officially been launched though a website to test the waters and garner early support has been launched, called I’m With Fred located at www.imwithfred.com.

Recent speculation has been that Thompson would push back an official announcement until September as he continues to assemble a campaign staff.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appears likely to win the straw poll but with Thompson’s name on the ballot it will be interesting to see how he does without an official campaign organization there to gather up supporters.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizon Sen. John McCain have both announced they will not be participating in the Straw Poll but their names will be included on the ballot as well in an attempt to truly measure their support as well as to convince them to truly participate in the Iowa GOP’s biggest caucus fundraiser.

The Obama campaign reported that since announcing his presidential candidacy earlier this year, Obama had received donations from 1,864 Iowans. Of those donations, 1,737 or some 93 percent were less than $200 each.

“Each donation to this movement is a show of commitment to the idea that we can change our politics and elect a leader who will inspire and unite this country,” said Josh Earnest, Obama’s Iowa communications director. “Senator Obama doesn’t accept contributions from Washington lobbyists or PACs, so small contributions from average Americans are the foundation of this effort. We are thrilled that thousands of people across Iowa contributed to this movement for change.”

Former Sen. John Edwards campaign reported strong Iowa contributions as well.

Dan Leistikow, Edwards’ Iowa communications director, told Iowa Independent that nearly 2,500 Iowans have donated to Sen. Edwards’ campaign for president.

He said 2,468 contributions came from Iowa in the first two quarters of 2007, and 2,355 are less than $200.  He also added that 2,004 donations or some 95 percent were less than $50.

“According to the FEC Iowans have given more to Senator Edwards than any other Democratic candidate.  But this is not a fundraising contest. It’s a contest of issues and ideas and who would be the strongest Democratic nominee for President,” Leistikow said.  “There’s a long way to go, but Senator Edwards is in a strong position and will continue to make his case to Iowans as they make this important decision.”

Tom Reynolds, the communications director for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s Iowa campaign, declined to release figures on Iowa donors.

“Our efforts in Iowa are focused on grassroots campaigning, not raising money,” Reynolds said. “We are talking to the voters about the issues and growing strong political support throughout the state.”

Obama’s campaign has touted itself as a grassroots movement with support from hundreds of thousands of Americans. The campaign reports that in the past five months it has received contributions from more than 258,000 Americans.

Obama’s campaign is unique in its fund-raising because it sells merchandise such as hats and keychains.

Tommy Vietor, Obama’s press secretary in Iowa, told the Des Moines Register that the campaign counts merchandise sales as donations but that there aren’t any tricks or gimmicks involved when it comes to the reporting of donors.

“The fact that we’ve sold so many items is a testament to the excitement we’ve generated,” he told the Register.

“This hearing will provide Mr. Nussle with an opportunity to address Members of the Budget Committee and answer questions about his nomination to this important post,” Conrad said in a statement.

Before his nomination to be director of the OMB, Nussle was serving as a senior adviser to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign in Iowa.  He lost to Chet Culver last November in Iowa’s gubernatorial race.

As T.M. Lindsey noted here on Iowa Independent, Nussle’s nomination was not well-received by all Iowans.

On July 11 Nicole Duran reported that an anonymous hold had been placed on Nussle’s nomination, which would prevent a vote on his nomination from coming before the full Senate.  There was no word today whether the hold had been removed or was still in place.

According to Rants, a recent Legislative Fiscal Committee meeting presentation by the Fiscal Services arm of the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) stated that cigarette and tobacco tax revenues were coming in about $3 million short of initial estimates.  For fiscal year 2008, if these trends continue, the revenue could be down by as much as $12 million.  The problem that Rants then foresees is in fiscal year 2008, which started July 1.

The first $127.6 million of cigarette and tobacco tax revenue is deposited into a new Health Care Trust Fund that was created in SF 128, legislation that raised the cigarette tax by $1 — from 36 cents per pack to $1.36.  Gov. Chet Culver signed the bill into law March 15, and the tax increase took effect immediately.  Rants says that if the tax revenue continues to decline there won’t be enough money to fund the new health fund, and that means cuts will have to come somewhere else.

However, there is reason to doubt that Rants’ nervousness is justified.State revenues continue to grow, and the state seems on a steady — if not optimistic — path toward growth.  Legislative Democrats, while increasing spending to meet campaign promises, have been efficient and responsible with their spending.  Some Democrats even argue that Rants is manufacturing problems that don’t even exist.  And Rants’ complaints are representative of many statehouse Republicans.

They’re wrong.

State revenues increased big time in fiscal year 2007.  The LSA reported that our state revenues topped $6 billion for the first time ever.  They told the Cedar Rapids Gazette earlier this month that “there’s no weakness” in state revenues.

And even if the cigarette tax revenue does decrease–as more people quit smoking, which is what Democrats wanted all along–then so be it.  The state had been taking in almost $100 million annually in revenue from cigarettes and tobacco.  The estimated revenues from cigarettes and tobacco next year are supposed to be more than $200 million next year, which is still enough to cover the deposit required for the new health care trust fund.

Rants’ problem seems to be a bit of jealousy.  Democrats in the legislature had a very successful session in their first time having unified control of the legislature and the governorship since the 1960s.  Rants lost his position as speaker of the Iowa House as a result of the power shift, and now he’s doing what a minority does: be vocal and complain about the way things are being run.

Sometimes those complaints are legitimate.  It is one of the reasons we protect the rights of minorities in our procedure and in our political system.  But sometimes it is just whining.

Rants thinks the sky is falling.  The facts seem to show that the sky is higher than ever.

As a result, Reid threatened that if Republicans continued to filibuster the Reed-Levin redeployment amendment Monday or Tuesday he would pull the Senate into an all-night session on Tuesday, using his power as majority leader to keep the Senate open and let the debate continue, essentially forcing Republicans to prove and show their filibuster.

“But now, Republicans are using a filibuster to block us from even voting on an amendment that could bring the war to a responsible end,” Reid said.  “They are denying us an up or down – yes or no – vote on the most important issue our country faces.”

Iowa’s Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin supports Sen. Reid’s move, said Harkin spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin in an e-mail exchange with Iowa Independent.

“Every day Republicans delay on changing course in Iraq, they are endorsing a failed strategy,” Mullin said.  “Through procedural maneuvering, [Republicans] have forced the Senate to waste hours upon hours debating meaningless motions, wasting Congress’ time and the American people’s time.”

Mullin noted that during the 108th and 109th Congress, which were under Republican control, there were only four total cloture motions filed on motions to proceed.  Since January, when Democrats took over control of Congress in the 110th session, there have already been 13 cloture motions filed on motions to proceed.

Only three Republicans – Sens. Chuck Hagel, Olympia Snowe and Gordon Smith – have said they will vote with the Democrats. A fourth Republican, Susan Collins, says she’s considering voting for the Reed-Levin amendment.

The authors of the amendment, Sens. Jack Reed and Carl Levin, recognize the vote on the amendment will likely fail but want to show the American people how Republicans are stymieing the efforts of Congress to bring American troops home and end the war in Iraq.

Rielly’s endorsement was made in a campaign stop last week.

Heckroth hails from Waverly, and Rielly hails from Oskaloosa.

Today’s endorsements mark the fourth and fifth legislator endorsements for Obama.  Heckroth and Rielly join fellow senator Bob Dvorsky and Reps. Elesha Gayman and Tyler Olson in supporting Obama.

Other legislative endorsements are listed below:DEMOCRAT JOE BIDEN: State Reps. Lisa Heddens of Ames, Mike Reasoner of Creston, Dick Taylor of Cedar Rapids and Jim Lykam of Davenport and state Sen. Joe Seng of Davenport.

DEMOCRAT HILLARY CLINTON: State Sens. Staci Appel of Ackworth, Black of Grinnell, Dick Dearden of Des Moines, Bill Dotzler of Waterloo, Gene Fraise of Fort Madison, Wally Horn of Cedar Rapids, Becky Schmitz of Fairfield, and Roger Stewart of Preston.  state Reps. Mark Kuhn of Charles City, Vicki Lensing of Iowa City, Mary Mascher of Iowa City, Roger Wendt of Sioux City, Cindy Winckler of Davenport and Paul Bell of Newton.

DEMOCRAT JOHN EDWARDS: Rep. Kurt Swaim of Bloomfield.

REPUBLICAN RUDY GIULIANI: State sens. Mary Lundby of Marion, Jeff Angelo of Creston and Thurman Gaskill of Corwith.

REPUBLICAN SAM BROWNBACK: State Sen. Mark Zieman of Postville.

“I’ve known Hillary for a decade and talked to her at great length about Iraq.  She is the one candidate who understands the need to get Americans out of harm’s way and end this war in a way that preserves some shred of our strategic position in this region,” Wilson said on a conference call with bloggers coordinated by the Clinton campaign and their blogger, Peter Daou.

Wilson is the husband of former clandestine CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose covert status was revealed by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak.  Novak learned of Plame’s identity from sources inside the White House, including the former chief of staff to the vice president, I. Scooter Libby.  Plame’s identity was revealed as a way to discredit Wilson’s criticism of remarks that President Bush gave in his 2003 State of the Union address.

Ambassador Wilson repeatedly emphasized the political process that is necessary in the Middle East once American troops are removed from harm’s way in Iraq.

“I want to see this war end and end soon,” Wilson said.

“On day one she can reach out to the international community” and begin the political process, he said.

The decision to announce the endorsement to bloggers and speak largely about Iraq might be seen as a way to reach out to a Democratic constituency that has been critical of Clinton’s position on the Iraq War.

A full transcript of the call will be provided soon by the campaign and will be provided in full to Iowa Independent readers as soon as it is available.