Jones Co. Republicans hear from Blum on current issues

     Former Congressman Rod Blum of Dubuque was the guest speaker April 15 at the Jones County Republican Dinner.

     The event was held at the Durgin Pavilion at Camp Courageous in Monticello.

     A full house welcomed Blum, state legislators, as well as Republicans from Dubuque, Linn, and Delaware counties.

     Rep. Lee Hein commented that while the vaccine in Iowa is widely available now, it was a slow start at the beginning of the year.

     “I think the Governor would do things differently if she had the opportunity to do it again,” Hein said. “But we’re moving forward. We’re getting to the point where we’re back to a normal life.”

     Hein spoke briefly about the House’s “Back the Blue” concerning support for law enforcement across the state.

     “We gave them (law enforcement) some immunity with lawsuits and also raised the penalty for protesters,” explained Hein. “If you’re going to destroy public and private businesses and property, you should pay. I think it’s a tremendous bill and it’s on its way to the Senate.”

     Sen. Dan Zumbach spoke to all of the things the Iowa legislature promised constituents.

     “You wanted a balanced budget. We’re going to get that done. We will not spend more than we’ll take in.

     “You asked us to pass pro-life bills. We’re passing pro-life bills.

     “You asked us to fund education. We added $15 million to our budget for education without raising taxes. And we also passed a school choice bill. We support whether that child wants to be educated somewhere else. That’s really important.”

     Zumbach has also been passionate about the voter integrity bill the House and Senate passed.

     “The media can say whatever they want about it, but it’s all about making it easier to vote and harder to cheat. The amount of fraud in Iowa was so minimal.”

     Rep. Steve Bradley thanked everyone for their support in the November election.

     “My campaign was the most expensive campaign ever for a state race for representative,” he said. “My opponent spent $850,000. Let that sink in for a little bit.”

     Camp Courageous CEO and former classmate of Rod Blum, Charlie Becker, introduced Blum. Becker shared that Blum came from nothing and ended up becoming a successful businessman and Congressman.

     “He is the American dream,” Becker said.

     Blum toured Camp Courageous several times while in office, and urged people to donate toward Camp.

     “This place started out as a very small operation,” he said. “With Charlie’s professional leadership and his servant’s heart, it’s now what you see today. It’s just amazing.”

     Blum praised Jones County for its strong Republican backing.

     “Thank you so much for sending me to Washington, D.C., ‘the swamp,’ for four years. It was very interesting.”

     Blum said he held his promises to the voters as well, standing up against President Barak Obama, standing up against the Democratic Party, and standing up against his own party when it was necessary.

     “And I did that,” he said.

     Blum shared the story about his very first vote in the U.S. House of Representatives for Speaker of the House. The majority of his party was voting for John Boehner for Speaker, but when it came time for Blum to stand up and verbally vote, he cast his ballot for Daniel Webster, a now-former representative from Florida.

     “I stood up against the Republican Party. It was really sweet,” he said. “There are more people in the establishment than there are who are principled and those who believe in the Constitution.”

     Blum said the country is in trouble; is at war. He urged the Republicans to organize like the Democrats did in 2020 during the election. He said more of a presence needs to exist on social media and in the media.

     “We need to get out there on social media and tell the truth. We need to be active in telling the truth,” he said. “Because where do you get the truth anymore? It’s hard.”

     He said the Republicans have Fox News to turn to for the real news, while the Democrats control the rest of the news media.

     Blum said the Republicans have to do two things in order to have a more representative republic: Have an unbiased media and an educated populous. He said the country isn’t doing so well when it comes to educating the young people.

     “What are they teaching these kids these days?” proposed Blum.

     He also pointed to two things the Democrats are doing to continue their fight. One, class warfare.

     “They believe in zero sub-gain,” he explained. “That means if somebody is wealthy than somebody has to be poor. That’s total hogwash. That’s not the way it works. Everybody can do better.”

     Two, identity politics.

     “I grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s when we were all Americans. Now we’re something hyphenated-Americans,” Blum said. “They’re lining us up against each other; putting us into groups of people.”

     Blum also thanked and praised President Donald Trump for the effort and work he did in expediting the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. He said Trump never got the credit he deserved.

     Blum also felt closing down the nation, as he put it, the wealthiest nation, during the pandemic was the wrong move for this country.

     “Never before in the history of the world, that I’m aware of, have the healthy been forced to quarantine. The healthy people were locked up,” said Blum. “It’s political power. Sure, COVID exists, no doubt. But for 99 percent of the population, it’s not an issue.”