Washington County Democrats gather for their annual dinner and fund-raiser.
The group attending the event had a wonderful time enjoying the company of fellow Democrats and other visitors. The great food provided by the committee in charge of the food, included pork loin, pasta, salad, deserts, and beverage.
Our Congressman, Dave Loebsack gives an important update on the issues developing in Washington, D.C. Of course the important efforts that he and fellow Democrats are trying to make, including the inclusion of a Public Option in the Heath Reform Bill, were of interest to everyone.
Francis Thicke, attended the event and spoke about his desire to be a candidate on the Democratic ticket in 2010 as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. Mr. Thicke is a farmer in the Fairfield area and gave us an interesting presentation on the State of Iowa and agriculture and its role in Iowa.
Bob Krause, who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2010 against Charles Grassley talked about his past work and his efforts so far in his bid to defeat Senator Grassley in 2010. Bob is from the Fairfield area and has a long history in the Iowa legislature and working in Iowa.
Ryan Crane of One Iowa and Louise Frakes are attending the event. Louise acted in her capacity as the Chairperson of the Washington County Democrats orchestrating the event and introducing speakers.
A number of our members have the opportunity to talk directly with both candidates and elected officials. Tom Fiegen is seated on the left across from Ferd Marie. Tom Fiegen is running in 2010, for the U.S. Senate seat, now held by Charles Grassley. Tom talked about his history and indicated that we would be seeing more of him in Washington County in the future.
Larry Marek spoke about developments in the Iowa House and changes in agriculture. Larry is on the Agriculture Committee in the Iowa House. He has indicated that the State of Iowa is going to have to tighten its belt further with the new 10% across the board cuts recently announced.
Becky spoke about the difficult decisions that would have to be made in the upcoming session. Both the House and the Senate will have to develop plans for reducing the budget and incorporating greater budget cuts due to recent revenue short fall reports.
