locust street liar article
above is a puff piece yammer found the other day... they boobing about $1500 here and there... do you have any idea how much the ISSDA (iowa state sheriffs and deputies association) spends annually working AGAINST your right to keep and bear arms?
they average about $55K alone... all with your tax dollars. so, you're paying for the tiny handful of people on the issda board that disagree with all the other iowans (officers and joe blow alike) to step on your necks...
i wrote the think piece below nearly two and half years ago. IFC was then "Iowa Carry":
Your taxes pay a lobbyist to remove your right to carry a weapon. That’s right. You read correctly. Let me make this clear for you. Your taxes pay a lobbyist to remove your right to carry a weapon. Your doctor would probably be unhappy with me for managing to raise your blood pressure 15 points in five seconds. However, your doctor’s unhappiness aside, you need to consider a few things.
As IowaCarry has worked to change the Iowa Code we’ve run into about as many obstacles as you can imagine. Some that were evident from the start and some nobody could have seen. It seems as if making a change that honors Iowans is something nice to think about, but in actuality much harder to accomplish. I happen to subscribe whole heartedly to the Sun Tzu ethic and I reread “The Art of War” at least once a year. Many of you are thinking “know your enemy” at this point and you’d be right on the money. Through years of watching, reading, and participating on various forums I noticed a pretty high rate of questions and answers regarding the law in Iowa. While some of this takes interpretation from a lawyer, the vast majority of the questions I noticed were those of simple Iowa Code. I began combing the legislature and reading Iowa Code to familiarize myself with the layout, the content, the means to look up and search for various code, etc. I also began researching activity within the legislature. I started following lobbying while reading and digesting lobbying reports.
The ISSDA (Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association) came to forefront this past session as an opponent to our legislation. The ISSDA is comprised of many county sheriffs and deputies. Of the 99 Iowa counties, seven counties don’t belong. The 92 counties that are members all pay membership dues in some fashion. The board of the ISSDA speaks on behalf of their membership. They have various committees one of which is their Legislative Committee. They employ a lobbyist. Sounds pretty normal, right?
How is the ISSDA funded? There are several ways. The members which include the Sheriffs and Deputies pay membership dues much like most organizations. Some members pay out of their pocket, some counties organize pancake breakfasts and local fundraisers to fund their dues. Primarily, most forecast their dues into the county budget and your taxes pay for the membership to this organization. Did the hair raise on the back of your neck a little? If it hasn’t, it soon will.
Let’s delve into the numbers a bit with documentation via the state’s legislative website. According to the copy of client data 2008-2009 the ISSDA spent $51,063.29 in lobbying and expenses with their registered lobbyist, Susan Cameron. To most of us that sounds like quite a bit. To others, it may just be a number. I decided to compare for myself what the ISSDA spent on lobbying against others during the same time period. Some of the names I found and the amounts they spent are surprising, so I looked specifically at some local companies many of you may know as examples. Have you ever bought gasoline? Casey’s spent $23,350.00. Do you ever gamble? Diamond Jo Casinos spent $20,000.00. Do you buy groceries? Hy Vee spent $55,401.33. Do you use a computer? Microsoft spent $13,394.25. Do you have insurance? Principal spent $22,404.97. Have you ever crossed a set of train tracks? Union Pacific Rail Road spent $7,000.00. Do you use a bank? Wells Fargo spent $44,500.00.
If you haven’t noticed a trend here, I’ll spell it out for you. The ISSDA is spending massive amounts of money to lobby against your right to bear arms – and you’re paying for it…
I have researched the monies spent that Susan Cameron reported. Of the $7400.00 Susan Cameron contributed to campaigns in 43 separate disbursements, 28 were spent with Democrats at a total of $5350.00. The other 15 disbursements of $2050.00 were spent with Republicans.
This brings me to some reasonable conclusions. The ISSDA board obviously doesn’t speak for all Iowa’s sheriffs as many counties don’t belong as members. Of those counties that do belong to the ISSDA, the cross section of sheriffs is about 50/50 with Democrats and Republicans. Did the ISSDA board report to their members how much they spent with Susan Cameron as compared to other entities? I doubt it. Did the ISSDA board mention how heavily weighted it was toward Democratic Legislators? I doubt it. Over one thousand entities were able to lobby last year and many did. Of the largest monies spent on lobbying the ISSDA managed to rank near the top. If I were an ISSDA member I’d be questioning their motives and their expenditures a bit. After all, it appears as the ISSDA lobbyist efforts have taken this on as a partisan issue, when it is simply an issue of freedom.
IowaCarry fights this fight throughout an entire year on one quarter what the ISSDA spent for a portion of the year. Unlike the ISSDA we speak for all our members, as they volunteer to be part of our group. Most of all we fight this fight with ethics and morality. While Iowa Code section 68A.505 prohibits use of public resources for political purposes, it does not apply to lobbying. Your taxes pay a lobbyist to remove your right to carry a weapon. Are you ready to join the fight yet?
don't you all find it ironic that a handful of the people who swore to uphold the constitution of the u.s. and this state are taking money out of your back pocket to build the law against you instead of enforcing it?
Now, as we all know, the constitution is a living breathing magical document, like in a cartoon where the piece of paper talks to you, and it can mean whatever the government feels it should mean at the time. Also, the government is only looking out for your best interests, because they care deeply about each and every one of us in the most compassionate way possible. We really need to sit back and let them do what is best for us, because they know better.
</sarcasm>
Also, you should post that comment there.
