Branstad criticizes Culver during visit to Decorah

Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, who is running for the Republican Party nomination for governor in 2010, told a town hall meeting at Luther College on Wednesday that the question he gets asked the most now is "Why would you give up a great job as president of Des Moines University to run for governor?"

But his one hour long speech to 70 people at Luther College on Wednesday afternoon showed Branstad's motivation. He criticized the budgeting practices of current Iowa governor Chet Culver, calling them "dishonest." Branstad pointed out the state had a $900 million budget surplus when he retired from being governor in 1999--and now is dealing with having to cut state spending by ten percent because of what Brandstad terms "a drastic deficit."

Branstad, who is now officially seeking election as the Republican candidate in the 2010 Iowa gubernatorial election, said Culver has not been willing to make the hard choices that the leader of state government should make. He called the current state budget "a house of cards" and says state leaders need to make drastic changes in the budget.

Branstad pointed out that he inherited a high state unemployment rate in 1983 when he became governor, but left office with the lowest state unemployment rate in 20 years. He says that was due to his "pro-business, pro-growth" attitude, which encouraged companies to locate in Iowa.

Branstad told the audience he would concentrate on supporting the state's eduction system and its economic development program and look to other programs for possible cuts. He said he would cut the size of state government by 15 percent over 5 years if he is elected governor.