National Review Online, NY
02-22-07
Retro-Dem
Tom Vilsack is a Democrat right out of the Seventies.
By Jennifer Rubin
Democratic presidential contender and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack
doesn’t get much respect from political consultants and analysts. Dan Gerstein, a
Democratic consultant, describes him as “ill-defined,” and Larry Sabato dubs him
“bland” and “unknown.” But is it too early to write off this two term governor of a
red state and the favorite son in the increasingly important Iowa caucus?
Vilsack has a personal history to rival John “Son of a Mill Worker” Edwards. Born
in Pittsburgh to an alcoholic mother, given up for adoption at birth to nuns at a
Catholic orphanage, and a victim of child abuse, he relates his hard-luck story in
compelling terms, sometimes leaving voters in tears. Iowa State University
political science professor and expert on state politics Steffen Schmidt
says that, unlike many politicians, Vilsack “knows who he is and tells his story
with genuineness.” Politicians of both parties acknowledge his personal sincerity
and integrity. Former Congressman Jim Leach says: “He is a decent man with
decent values.” Iowa Republican State Representative Jamie Van Fossen says
he is “detail oriented and serious, but also stubborn and a bit of a loner.”
His reputation as a moderate seems not a result of his own doing but of the
Republican state legislature, which kept his penchant for taxes in check. The
pattern became a familiar one: He would propose tax increases and the
legislature would reject them. As CATO put it in giving him a “C” rating in 2006:
“Vilsack was a chief executive who, if left to his own devices, would have been a
pro-tax Democrat. Vilsack included some sort of tax increase in almost every
budget he proposed as governor. The legislature refused to pass every one he
sent to it, and he in turn vetoed every income tax cut that the legislature sent to
him.” Gas and cigarette taxes were favorites, the later part of his commitment to
deter smoking. Vilsack called for an 80-cent per pack cigarette tax for two years
running only to be rebuffed by the legislature. Explaining his determination at a
March 2006 news conference, he said: “Every single member of my family died
as a result of complications from a smoking habit.” In mid-2006, Vilsack did agree
to a compromise with Republicans to grant retirees more than $100 million in tax
relief by phasing out a tax on Social Security over eight years while accelerating
an increase in other retirement exemptions over three years.
On spending he initially showed restraint, in large part because of the
Republicans in the legislature. Congressman Leach explains: “They understood
their obligation to hold the line on spending, and relative to their Democratic
counterparts who generally committed excessively to pro-spending interest
groups, they were willing to seem a bit curmudgeonly.” Deprived of tax increases
by the legislature and required by state constitution to balance the budget,
Vilsack weathered the three tight-budget years from 2001-03. Rep. Van Fossen
gives Vilsack credit for enacting a mid-year across-the-board cut of 4 percent in
2002 while the legislature was out of session. In recent years, as revenues
increased, he has discarded frugality. According to Americans for Tax Reform his
budget for Fiscal Year 2006 jumped 7.1 percent over Fiscal Year 2005 and
another 6.7 percent in Fiscal Year 2007. The reason for his big spending is
simple: Vilsack, unlike Ronald Reagan, truly believes government is the solution
to our problems.
Not enough economic activity and job creation? Iowa suffered from a stagnating
economy and an aging population when Vilsack took office. Rather than cut high
state-taxes Vilsack championed two major government initiatives. Vision Iowa
doled out state grants for construction of major community attractions. An
enormous economic development program called the Iowa Values Fund aimed to
distribute $500 million over 10 years with the goal of making Iowa a center for life
sciences, advanced manufacturing, and information technology businesses.
Although Van Fossen and some Republican legislators had reservations about
“picking winners and losers” in the Iowa economy, these programs generally had
bipartisan support. Vilsack claims that his efforts resulted in more than $7 billion
in new investment and more than 30,000 new jobs for the state with an average
wage of over $37,000, significantly higher than the average state-wage.
He was equally active on the education front. Professor Schmidt says Vilsack
has a “great passion” for education and came into office seeking “to raise
revenue and improve education.” Vilsack did get high marks from most observers
for improvements in Iowa’s elementary education system. He spent money to
hire more teachers and increase pay. During his tenure Iowa’s fourth-graders
improved in reading and also placed among the best in the nation in math and
science scores. In 2006 Vilsack also pushed for, and received, millions for
preschool programs as part of his “Strong Start” initiative. However, Republicans
felt Vilsack “pulled a fast one” in 2006 when the legislature gave him $210 million
in school funding only to see him line-item veto conditions tying the pay
increases to teacher performance.
Vilsack was not shy about exercising his powers as governor in support of liberal
causes. He vetoed the Republican legislature’s attempts to limit publicly funded
abortions and legal assistance and to enact eminent domain protection (which
the legislature overrode). His executive order prohibiting discrimination against
employees in the executive branch based on sexual orientation was declared
unconstitutional by a state court. Although he signed a bill making English the
official language of Iowa, he soon expressed buyer’s remorse. Blaming “hate
groups” that fueled “anti-immigrant” messages, he said he regretted signing the
bill, though he also claimed to have “improved” it — that is, made it less exacting
— by forcing several exceptions to the requirement that government documents,
proceedings, and publications be in English.
Vilsack’s infatuation with government was certainly on display in his energy
policies. In his January 2003 State of the State address, Vilsack set out goals for
dramatically increasing energy production from renewable sources by the end of
the decade and of making Iowa a net energy exporter. Vilsack pushed tax credits
for alternative fuel production and signed legislation clearing the way to develop
the largest land-based wind facility in the world. In April 2005 Vilsack signed an
executive order directing state agencies to generate at least ten percent of their
electricity consumption from renewable energy resources. Vilsack boasted in his
2006 State of the State address of his efforts to make Iowa the leader in the
nation in producing ethanol and biodiesel and third in the nation in wind-energy
production.
The list of his legislative “to do’s” runs on. His Hawkeye Extended Medicaid and
Iowa Cares Program expanded enrollment of both children and adults in state
health care programs. (He touts the statistic that 92 percent of Iowans have
health coverage.) Emblematic of his belief in government regulation, he angered
druggists and allergy sufferers by restricting the sale of over-the-counter cold, flu,
and sinus medications that contain pseudoephedrine ( a key ingredient in the
making of methamphetamine ).With all of this government activity, Vilsack soon
focused his energies on government itself. In imitation of Al Gore’s Reinventing
Government, Vilsack’s “Results Iowa” initiative set “benchmarks” for every state
agency and program and allowed citizens to monitor results on a government
website.
Turning his sights to foreign policy as he enters the 2008 campaign, Vilsack has
attracted attention by his calls for withdrawal of forces from Iraq and poignant
tales of Iowa National Guard and military personnel injured or killed in war. In a
Washington Post op-ed on February 10 Vilsack declared: “Congress has the
constitutional ability and the moral responsibility to pass legislation cutting off
funding for the status quo.” And if his pointed comparison to Hillary Clinton’s
cautious approach was not obvious enough, he ended by saying: “Those who
voted for the war, those who voted to continue to support the war and those who
voted to continue funding the war can all surely vote to stop the war and do
what’s right for our military personnel and nation. Not in 2008 or 2009, but now.”
So, in an election in which the most prominent Democrats seem to be vying to
see who can be the newest, the most innovative Democrat, it is perhaps
refreshing to have a traditional Democrat. Schmidt says succinctly: “He believes
in government.” Vilsack certainly has shown an unbounded faith in the wonders
of government to transform lives, a commitment to reform and fund the public
sector, and an empathetic ear for the pacifist wing of the Democratic party. It
would seem he’s the perfect candidate — for 1972. As for 2008, barring the
collapse of multiple better-known and -financed candidates, his true calling may
be a cabinet position in a Clinton or Obama administration where his passion for
government can run rampant.
— Jennifer Rubin is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.