Iowa Congressman Steve King will serve as moderator of a debate between Republican presidential candidates Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich tomorrow night (Saturday) in Houston, Texas. The event’s

(R) Congressman Steve King, IA

organizers have said the “gossip” about allegations that Cain sexual harassed former employees in the late 1990s will not be discussed and King doesn’t expect the topic to come up at all.  “Only if Speaker Gingrich brings it up. I don’t think Herman Cain will and I don’t intend to,” King said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “My view is…you’re innocent until proven guilty. We don’t even have the name of anyone who alleges this at this point.” King says the whole issue should be off limits until “responsible media” produce an “Anita Hill” — a reference to the woman who came forward during U.S. Senate confirmation hearings to say that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her.

“It may well be that these allegations, even if true, are so devoid of substance that the voters would decide they like Herman Cain a lot more,” King says. Cain and Gingrich have agreed to focus the debate on entitlement reform.  “It’s going to be really interesting to see how the two candidates interact with each other,” King says. Beyond Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, King is prepared to press the candidates to reveal their plans for dealing with the federal budget deficit and the interest on the federal debt.  “I want to see if we can get the presidential candidates, in this case Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich, to address the components of the entitlements and what they would do to slow the growth in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in such a way that we can get ourselves to a balanced budget again,” King says. The event is billed as a “Lincoln-Douglas” style debate. Earlier this week during an appearance in Pella, Gingrich described the format this way:

“Having two people sit down and have a serious conversation, not a Mickey Mouse debate, not a gotcha — but just talk.” Gingrich expects to present “three big” reform proposals.  “My guess is that Herman and I are going to have a very interesting conversation that’s very different than most political stuff,” Gingrich said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to is an interesting two hours of the American people seeing people talk about very large solutions at a time when we have very large problems , as opposed to: ‘In 30 seconds, what’s your position on X?’ which, when you think about it, is pretty silly.”

The debate — which will be 90 minutes long rather than two hours — is set to begin at 8 p.m. Saturday and will be broadcast nationally on C-SPAN. According to the agreed-upon format, King as moderator is to have a limited role, asking just three or four basic questions during the event. Iowa Democrats have criticized King for “chasing the limelight” and paying more attending to the presidential campaign than to the concerns of his Iowa constituents. King was a panelist at a South Carolina forum for the G-O-P presidential candidates and this past winter King hosted a candidate forum in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A man has been awarded $50,000 in winning his libel suit against the Iowa Democratic Party.  The Pottawattamie County jury ruled for Randy Higginbotham on Wednesday. He’d sued the state party over a campaign pamphlet mailed during a 2008 Iowa House seat race between Democratic incumbent Paul Shomshor and Republican challenger Scott Belt.

Higginbotham’s attorney, Mark Rater, says the pamphlet mentioned that Belt, in 1994, had bailed Higginbotham out of jail. The pamphlet said Higginbotham was a convicted sex offender. Rater says Higginbotham had been charged but had never been convicted “of any sexual-related offense.”

Party executive director Norm Sterzenback says the party had relied on an independent firm for the research, which proved to be inaccurate about Higginbotham’s court record.

(DES MOINES) – Gov. Branstad today (Friday) announced that he will withdraw Iowa as a member of the Missouri River Association of States and Tribes (MoRAST) effective immediately. Gov. Branstad has sent a letter to notify MoRAST Executive Director Michael Hayden of Iowa’s withdrawal.  In the letter,  Branstad said, “I do not believe that MoRAST is the best avenue to pursue Iowa’s interests and priorities.  Rather, I believe more direct discussions with relevant local, state, and Federal partners will allow for enhanced engagement on Missouri River management and better prioritization of flood control over recreational and other uses. 

“At the recent MoRAST meeting in Rapids City, South Dakota, MoRAST was not responsive to the perspectives of some states, including Iowa.  While seven of the eight Missouri River governors have called for a heightened focus on flood control, MoRAST did not actively pursue this goal at the recent meeting.  Moreover, there have been long-standing concerns that MoRAST’s by-laws are too narrowly constrained to adequately represent the diversity of key stakeholders and multiple uses of the River.” 

The Governor cited several examples in the letter of why states must improve the focus on flood control for Missouri River management. Those examples include: 

• Flooding caused an estimated $207 million in lost crop sales and related economic activity as over 280,000 farm acres were impacted, according to Iowa Farm Bureau estimates.
• 350 homes met FEMA’s definition of destroyed or major damage.
• Hundreds of miles of Iowa roads were impacted.
• 950,000 trees could die from over-exposure to flood waters, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources estimates.
• The flooding has severely hampered Western Iowa’s economy.  

Gov. Branstad concluded by saying, “The negative impacts of Missouri River flooding on communities in Western Iowa were immense, and impacted Iowans deserve a fresh approach to Missouri River management.”