Meyer critical of Latham’s voting record

By KEN BLACK, TIMES-REPUBLICAN
Kurt Meyer, a Democrat from St. Ansgar, visited Marshalltown Friday, announcing his candidacy for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.

The district is currently represented by Republican Rep. Tom Latham.

“When you are an incumbent, you will be graded on your record,” Meyer said. “One of the challenges of my campaign will be to point out what I would have done differently.”

For example, Meyer said concerning the country’s “misguided adventure” in Iraq, he would have voted differently than Latham, who has been an ardent supporter of the war from the beginning.

He also pointed out of litany of other differences he had with the congressman, noting that the last several years Latham has been in Congress the federal budget deficit has ballooned.

“The deficit is a very real problem,” he said.

Further, Meyer was critical of Latham’s voting record, which he said aligned the congressman with the Bush Administration 90 percent of the time.

All these issues, Meyer said, lead to a very real problem with Latham.

“His style of representation has not been advocating on behalf of Iowans, at least not Iowans in the 4th Congressional District,” he said.

Meyer, who describes himself as a pragmatic candidate who has the ability to work with various interest groups to get things accomplished, believes the upcoming election could be very momentous for the Democrats. But at the same time, he notes that Democrats also need to understand what they want to be accomplished may need to be done in small steps, no matter who is in the White House.

He pointed to the history of health care reform as an example. Many say Hillary Clinton passed up the potential for meaningful health care reform early in the Clinton Administration because she favored a grandiose plan.

“We should not let our desire for a really good plan mean we don’t get anything done,” he said.

Regarding immigration, Meyer said he salutes Marshalltown for how the community has worked to integrate its immigrant population into the larger community. He said that the lessons learned in Marshalltown could be of benefit to many different communities, but ultimately a solution to the problem must come from a broad collaboration of all levels of government.

As a consultant for non-profit firms and projects, he said he has the ability to build such collaborations.

“If there was an easy solution, we would have found it,” he said.

Meyer also favors exploring many different forms of alternative energy and believes ethanol is just the first step — and likely a transitional one.

Meyer has lived in Mitchell County for much of his life. He is married and has three children.

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Contact Ken Black at 641-753-6611 or kblack@timesrepublican.com