Governor spotted “double-fisting”

The gossip column at Politico — in a post identified as the "hang-over edition" — suggests Governor Chet Culver's dance-floor moves were noticed in Washington, D.C. at an Inauguration-related bash. According to that valuable on-line source The Urban Dictionary, it is likely Culver was spotted "double-fisting" two drinks — one drink in each hand, er, fist. It is possible Culver had just visited with the friendly barkeep, acquired two drinks and was carrying a drink for himself and a drink for a companion elsewhere in the room.

In other UNRELATED statehouse developments, Senator Paul McKinley used phrases like "bankroom deal" — "the fix is in" — and "cronyism" this morning.  Read the story, focused on the potential sale/lease of the Iowa Lottery, here.  At the bottom of that page/story, you'll find a 16-minute-long mp3 of the news conference McKinley and House GOP Leader Kraig Paulsen held this morning, covering many subjects.

If you want to listen to the news conference Democratic legislative leaders held this morning, you can find it here — at the bottom of the page/story about a Linn County tax issue related to flood recovery.

During that news conference, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs said a bill which would put the state budget on-line so the public could surf through the details was a "great" idea.  "I think the more accessible we make government, the better off we are," Gronstal said.  Here's a blog post about the bill (advanced by Iowans for Tax Relief) and here's a link to the Radio Iowa story about a news conference yesterday, during which a handful of GOP legislators — along with ITR president Ed Failor, Junior — talked about/touted the bill. 

If you have about half an hour to listen to the two news conferences partisan leaders held this morning at the statehouse, you will notice the disdain legislators from both parties have for a $77,000 lobbying contract Susan Judkins signed to serve as "director of intergovernmental affairs" for the Rebuild Iowa Office.  The Rebuild Iowa Office was created by Governor Culver this summer to oversee flood and tornado recovery efforts.