Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley like to brand themselves as being a part of the “party of jobs.” But when push comes to shove, they seem to do everything in their power to ELIMINATE jobs, cut vital services to communities and businesses and push a social agenda that makes Leave it to Beaver look like Jersey Shore.

Iowa Democrats last week unveiled a jobs plan that would empower small businesses to hire more workers and expand. It calls for a $200,000 increase in state grant money to rehabilitate worn and damaged buildings, further tax credits for small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees and today House Democrats introduced legislation to increase the minimum wage.

Today Governor Branstad announced his plan to transform the Iowa Department for Economic Development into the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress, a public/private non-profit partnership where, according to Branstad, contributions to the organization may not be public. So much for transparency.

The budget Governor Branstad is proposing moves money around (this sounds familiar) in a way that House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy called “irresponsible” and would wipe out the state’s premier economic development program. HF45, I know I’ve been harping on it a lot but it’s THAT bad, would eliminate preschool and make cuts to higher education. ISU economist David Swenson told the Iowa Independent:

“When a state government cuts away at funding to education — particularly to higher education — it sends a very strong signal to businesses, saying education is a lesser concern in that state, rather than a primary one. When a business looks for somewhere to set up, they look at the education of the people there, not tax cuts,”

Iowa economy is one of the strongest in the country. We have weathered the storm of this recession far better than the majority of other states. As I type this, President Obama is announcing the creation of “Startup America,” a White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. Iowa Democrats and Democrats nationally support our small businesses and want to do all we can to see them thrive and their owners and workers achieve their American Dream.

Photo credit: Nait on Flickr. Used under a creative commons license.