someone, and having a specific day for it really helps some folks (like me) to remember to do just that. If it
weren’t for my wife and kids, I’m sure I’d be a wholly different person, and I’m thankful for my loved ones.

Valentines Day is named after St. Valentinus. There were several of them, as a matter of fact, and they were
from different areas in Europe and Africa, but the common theme amongst them was that they were martyred for
their faith in God. I hope and pray that we never lose our religious freedom on this side of the pond because
we let our guards down and let tyranny raise his ugly head.

And speaking of martyrdom, like ole’ Benjamin Franklin said, there’s two things for sure in this world, and
that’s death and taxes. But here in the Iowa Senate, they tend to want to use the one till you get the other,
if you know what I mean. And simply being dead doesn’t get you a free pass anymore, either!

The issue sitting on the hot button seems to be this whole proposed gas tax increase. Some folks seem to think
that our roads and highways are in utter disrepair, and that the way to deal with these “critical needs” is to
raise taxes on the gas that you put in your car by the paltry sum of ten cents per gallon.

Now, as a state senator who campaigned and won his election by promising no new taxes, the thought of trying
to justify to you why I have to break my promise is about as appealing to me as getting a root canal. And my
next thought is how someone can justify INCREASING taxes when our economy is in the condition it is? My thought
is that something like this would be detrimental to a recovering economy, wouldn’t you? Should we raise our taxes
on fuel by ten cents a gallon? How about eight? Should conservatives be raising taxes period? Should we pursue
other solutions, such as trimming the fat in the existing budget and use our existing revenue? Has anything changed
since the 2010 elections? Is the economy recovered so much that we can certainly afford such an increase in taxes
right now? Send me an email and tell me what you think!

On the surface, I’d say not. And when you stop to think about it, who would bear the brunt of this increased
tax? The way I figure, it’ll hurt the lower income families the most. If a guy makes $500 a week and has to pay
an additional two or three bucks a week to fill up his pickup, that adds up to a couple hundred bucks in new
taxes every year. NEW, INCREASED TAXES.

I don’t know about you, but with times the way they are, a couple hundred bucks can mean a heck of a lot to a
housewife trying to make ends meet with less than she needs. Or a couple hundred bucks could mean a nice getaway
with your honey over Valentines Day.

Personally, I think the idea should be hauled out with the rest of the trash from the cafeteria at the capitol, and
certainly NOT put in the recycling bin. 

There’s a couple of other issues that the Senate is facing right now as well. Let’s say you owned a company
which manufactured agricultural equipment that you sold through a sales team. And let’s say your business is
growing and that you’ve decided that your sales team needs to be able to market and sell your equipment to pork
producers, and to do that you need to hire a salesperson for that position.

In order to sell more pieces of equipment to pork producers, you decided that you would like a prospective
salesperson to have a good work ethic, previous pork producing experience and of course, salesmanship. It’s ideal,
right?

Now, we all know that there are some lines that can’t be crossed when hiring employees such as race, religion,
national origin, age, etc. But you will have standards, and probably wouldn’t get all excited about someone who
got fired a year ago from their job selling baby clothes at a store in the mall, right? You’re looking for just
the right person!

Never fear, Senate Democrats are here to help! In what would likely result in an explosion of lawsuits in Iowa,
Senate Democrats are trying to equate the failure to hire an unemployed person with racial discrimination. Eleven
Democratic senators have introduced a bill, Senate File 2028, which prohibits employment discrimination based on
an individual’s status as unemployed, meaning someone without a job, available for work, and searching.

This bill would specifically prevent an employer from advertising for positions but stating that the unemployed
are disqualified from applying, failing or refusing to consider someone for a job because the person is unemployed,
or directing an employment agency to do any of the above. The bill allows for actual damages, court costs,
attorney fees, and fines for violations of the advertising prohibitions. In addition, the bill calls for the Iowa
Civil Rights Commission to administer the law, which could turn into nightmare in caseload work for the Commission.

This is what it boils down to. Democrat leadership practiced unsustainable spending policies for years. Through
the bully pulpit of their senate and former house and governor’s office majorities, they increased spending,
restricted small business’ ability to make their own decisions, increased regulation and jacked up taxes.

Now they think it’s a good idea to further restrict a job creator’s ability to hire whom he thinks is the best
person to get the job done and successfully grow his or her business!

Worse, the so called “plaintiff” only needs to do to get a few general “facts” established, like the fact that
they are unemployed and are looking for work and were rejected by so and so, and all of a sudden the burden of
proof is on the “employer.” We’re talking retaining legal counsel, additional costs and headache and possible
damages and fines!

You know, I couldn’t dream this stuff up if I was paid to do it. But more important that the surface ridicule,
it begs the question of whether or not status of employment is an immutable characteristic like race, religion or
nationality!

Hardly! With all the rules and regulations these folks want to cram down our throats, you’d almost have to be
insane to TRY to grow your business and create jobs. And from what I’ve heard in talking with business owners and
job creators, it can truly be a nightmare.

It’s regulatory and litigation burdens just like these that make Iowa’s economy suffer. Just last week I heard
about a company called Bel Brands USA. Bel Brands USA had narrowed its search for the placement of a new $100
million dollar cheese factory down to Iowa and South Dakota. They were expected to employ 400 people and have an
annual $500 million economic impact on their state of choosing, and they chose South Dakota!

So why did Iowa lose out on such a great opportunity? You don’t have to guess, folks. In announcing their
decision to locate the new facility in South Dakota, Bel Brands USA stated the state’s “pro-business” environment
as one of the major reasons. With no corporate income tax, it’s hard to argue against their decision.

You and I know that two of the key components in a company’s decision-making process are what a state’s
long-term tax and regulatory implications will be on the business. Problem is, the only idea liberal bully puppet
masters like Mike Gronstal can come up with to turn our economy around is just more of the same ole’ “tax and
spend” and “lets grow the size of government even more” ideas that got us where we are today!

Sincerely,

State Senator Kent Sorenson
Serving Warren, Madison and SE Dallas Counties

Please join us for what will sure to be an exciting event with Congressman Ron Paul of Texas who enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency.

This will be a great opportunity to come and support Kent for his Senate Bid!

The Event itself will be a free will offering.

Host Committee Spots Available (includes private meeting with Congressman Paul)

Please Contact
Susan Geddes
515-202-3733

Please RSVP to sgeddes0@aol.com (sgeddes zero)

Date:         Saturday November 14th 2009

Time:        9:30am – 10:30am

Place:        Des Moines Airport Holiday Inn – 6111 Fleur Dr, Des Moines, IA