A Des Moines Democrat challenging Gov. Chet Culver in a June primary said rural Iowans will overlook the fact that he didn’t know the prices of corn and beans when asked this week in Carroll because his tax plans will benefit farmers.
Jonathan Narcisse, 46, a former controversial school board member from Des Moines and publisher of independent newspapers who has pledged to run as an independent should he fail to make it out of a Democratic primary, told the Daily Times Herald that he understands rural issues and economics.
That said, when asked directly the prices of corn and beans, roughly, he could not answer.
“I have no idea what the price of corn and beans is today,” Narcisse said. “I’m not even going to take a shot.”
Can he come within a couple of dollars?
“No,” Narcisse said.
Narcisse said the fact that he doesn’t know the prevailing numbers on the state’s major commodities doesn’t matter.
“The governor doesn’t need to know the price of beans,” Narcisse said. “People in the private sector do.”
Narcisse said rural Iowans would be more interested in his solutions for their tax concerns than his lack of knowledge on basic commodity pricing.
He would link taxation to purchase price of property instead of randomly assessed property values.
“That means when you fix your barn you don’t get killed by the assessor,” Narcisse said.
But two local leaders involved in agriculture think Narcisse’s ignorance of farm commodity prices reveals a lack of basic understanding or even curiosity about rural issues, as those figures are liberally sprinkled throughout basic coverage of agriculture.
“If he doesn’t know the price of grain within $2 he has no idea what the ag sector is going through,” said Carroll County Supervisor Gene Meiners, a Democrat and retired manager of a cooperative.
Meiners said grain prices affect the totality of the Carroll-area economy — and anyone who would dismiss the importance of knowing where they stand “is so wrong.”
Wayne Seaman of Seaman Enterprises, said Narcisse’s answer on commodity prices adds up to one conclusion: “He’s toast,” Seaman said.
“If you don’t know the value of commodities that are produced here in Iowa you’re not going to be able to understand the rest of agriculture,” said Seaman, who is a strong supporter of State Rep. Rod Roberts’ (R-Carroll) run for governor.
As of press time today the price of corn was $3.53 and soybeans $8.97.
For his part, Narcisse pressed the case that he has the best ideas on taxes, and that rural voters would see that.
Narcisse said he would reduce the state sales tax to 4 percent after two years and to 3 percent after four years. He would end sales-tax exemptions except for food and medicine.
There would be no state tax on income after more than 40 hours of work a week under his plan, Narcisse said,
Narcisse wants to phase out Iowa’s corporate tax using a zero-percent option that allows a company to reduce its tax by a dollar for every dollar reinvested in its Iowa operation or spent on goods and services purchased from an Iowa company. He would eliminate all business tax credits.
Narcisse spent much of an interview criticizing Culver, saying one his of his chief concerns is that he doesn’t believe Culver is a skilled appointer of personnel — and that state government is too large.
Narcisse said he would dramatically reduce the ranks of state employees.
“When I got done Donald Trump would be asking to be my apprentice,” Narcisse said.
Narcisse said he would not be running if U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a former Democratic governor of Iowa, were still at Terrace Hill instead of Culver.
“I thought Vilsack was a great governor who became a better governor as time passed,” Narcisse said.
While he’s running as a Democrat, Narcisse takes traditionally conservative positions on two leading social issues.
“I’m pro-life, and I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Narcisse said.
But both issues, he said, should be decided in statewide referendums, not by governors and legislators.
“I think that where we end up misguided in politics is when we have individuals that are so focused on peripheral issues, we don’t get to the core issues,” Narcisse said.
While he said “I believe life begins at conception,” Narcisse declined to answer whether victims of rape or incest or pregnant women whose lives are in jeopardy as a result should be able to have abortions because his “ballot is private.”
Narcisse said Iowans can call him and ask his private position on abortion, but he wouldn’t tell a reporter while running for governor.
“This is not a governor’s issue,” he said. “This is a voter’s issue. This is a legislator’s issue.”
Narcisse said there’s a reason for focus on abortion and marriage issues.
“People like these kind of issues because it doesn’t force them to do the heavy lifting of actually running a society,” Narcisse said.
His publications won’t take ads for gambling, tobacco, liquor or from Planned Parenthood Narcisse supports the death penalty and would vote for it as a citizen were it on the ballot, but he wouldn’t trust government to kill the right people.
“I’m a strong supporter of the death penalty,” Narcisse said. “As a private citizen and as a voter I would vote for the death penalty. But as a person who has a serious chance of being governor I had to step back and say, ‘Whoa, wait a minute.’ I need to look at the mounds of empirical evidence that are being provided to me by opponents of the death penalty. And you know what they were able to show me? That government is not competent to have the power of life and death at this point in time in American history, in Iowa history.”
Moving back to economics, Narcisse takes issue with the Iowa smoking ban. He says smoking shouldn’t be allowed in restaurants and generally public places. But if ventilation and adults-only policies are in place, there should be smoking venues, besides casinos, which have unfair exclusivity on indoor smoking.
“Consenting adults should be able to have smoking clubs,” he said.
He added, “The law right now is not only inconsistent but to me it’s dubious. You take people with addictive personalities and you tell them the only place they can go in public to have a drink and smoke is a casino. Are you kidding me?”
Narcisse also has thoughts on Rod Roberts’ campaign for governor.
“Rod Roberts, I think, is clearly the most electable Republican,” Narcisse said.
That said, Narcisse described Roberts as a “nice guy” who isn’t ready to be governor and doesn’t understand the issues.
“He looked like a deer in the headlights,” Narcisse said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, June 19, 2010
Article comment by:
Nan Heidt
Actually, I disagree about Vilsack - he did some pretty stupid things - like raising the speed limit because people were already going over it - that said, I listened to Mickelson's program (June 18). If Narcisse doesn't get elected, I don't see any hope for Iowa at all.
