Iowa’s businesses will pay $96 million less in unemployment insurance premiums in 2012, with over 50% of Iowa’s 81,000 businesses paying nothing into the fund.  See the entire article here: http://dmreg.co/tYiCZG

This morning, the US Supreme Court announced that it has decided to hear appeals on the constitutionality of the federal health care reform law.  The court agreed to hear three sets of issues – the first two related to the individual mandate, the last related to the maintenance of effort requirements on states for Medicaid funding.

The first issue comes from appeals by opponents of the law in NFIB’s appeal and the 26 state group led by Florida (which includes Governor Branstad).  It considers whether the issue of the individual mandate can be severed from the rest of the law, or must the entire law be invalidated if the individual mandate is not constitutional.

The second issue comes from the Obama Administration’s appeal of the Florida case.  The question is whether Congress has the power, under Article I of the Constitution, to enact the individual mandate.  The Supreme Court itself added another question on whether  a legal challenge to the individual mandate is barred by the Anti-Injunction Act.

The final issue again comes from the multi-state challenge to the law, but raises the issue of federalism.  The question is does Congress exceed its enumerated powers and violate basic principles of federalism when it coerces states into accepting onerous conditions, that Congress could not impose directly, by threatening to withhold all Medicaid funding, or does the limits on Congress’s spending power – set in South Dakota v. Dole (raising the drinking age to 21 or lose 5 % of federal highway funds) no longer apply?

The date for the hearing of the case has yet to be set.  Under the Court’s timeline for filing briefs and responses, it is likely that the case would not be heard until February or March.  The amount of time allocated for the hearing is significant.  The normal Supreme Court appeal is heard in 60 minutes.  So far, this case has been allotted 5 hours and 30 minutes for oral arguments.  Regardless of the outcome, this case is one of the most important cases to be heard by the Supreme Court in many years, and the result will dramatically impact our nation.

(BOONE) – With a record turnout for a Republican primary during a non-Presidential year, Chip Baltimore defeated opponent Bill Yewell by a margin of 62% to 38%, with all 17 precincts reporting. The victory sets up a race against incumbent Democrat Donovan Olson for the House of Representatives seat in District 48.

Everywhere I go, people tell me how fed up they are with expensive but ineffective government. They are eager for someone to bring common sense back to the Capitol and represent their interests, rather than those of the special interest groups.

I appreciate the many voters who believe that this campaign best represents those ideals and is the future of this District. Baltimore will waste no time before focusing on the November general election.

Families and businesses are hurting right now, and need better leadership than they are getting from their government. Real prosperity comes from the hard work and innovation of our people, not from government handouts and mandates.

We need a Representative who knows what it’s like to manage a payroll, balance a budget, and help businesses create jobs. We need a Representative who is willing to make hard decisions in hard times, and not just pass the problems on to future generations or local governments. I look forward to being that Representative.