“Why is Terry Branstad so down on Iowa?”

My old friend K.C. posed that question last week when our paths crossed in the 2300 block of Grand Avenue in the shade of tall oak trees. 

“What do you mean when you say ‘Branstad is down on Iowa?’ ” I said. “I’m sure the governor considers himself Iowa’s No. 1 booster.”

“I’m sure he does,” K.C. said. “But look at his record. He won’t work with anybody.

“He treats most of his appointees like cannon fodder; won’t defend them, even when they’re doing what he wants them to do. He’s ruined the careers of several public servants, including that state policeman who caught the governor’s car speeding on Highway 20 two years ago.

“Plus, he has no respect for other elected officials,” K.C. continued. “Look at how he threw his fellow Republicans in the Iowa House under the bus on the school funding bill. He led them to think he would approve it, but then turned around and vetoed the part they’d worked on long and hard to find a compromise with the Democrats.

“Where was he earlier in the session when school boards were begging lawmakers to pass an appropriation so they could make their own budgets? He said it wasn’t his job to interfere. So why did he screw things up at the end?

“He’s made it clear that he positively hates public employees, which is ironic given that he’s spent nearly all of his adult life working for state government and draws one of the biggest public pensions in Iowa.”

“Are you done?” I asked as K.C. caught his breath.

“Not really,” he said. 

“The way Branstad closed the state home for troubled girls in Toledo was Machiavellian, and he doesn’t care that he’s breaking the law by shutting down the state mental health hospitals in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant.”

“But,” I interjected, “he says he’s doing that to improve the way those services are delivered. He says those institutions are out of date and a new model is needed.”

“Fine,” K.C. said. “Then, he should at least find a new model that works before he gums up the works.”

“He says he’s trying to teach state government to live within its means,” I said.

“Well, he’s doing that and then some,” said K.C. “To hear him talk, you’d think Iowa was Appalachia or some Third World country with no resources. Everything to him is cut, cut, cut.

“The really sad thing is that the Iowa economy is as healthy now as it has ever been. But if he keeps cutting and doesn’t invest in the future, we’ll be right back to where we were when he was governor before,” he said.

“If the economy is healthy,” I said, “shouldn’t Branstad get credit for that?”

“Not really,” K.C. said. “Government controls the economy through tax policy and by investing in things like infrastructure and education,” he said.

“The truth is there is very little immediate return on any of that. Changes in tax policy and investments in the future take years to have noticeable impact.

“The economy you see today is largely the result of political decisions that were made a decade ago or more.

“When Branstad returned to office in 2011, Iowa was in pretty good shape. We came through the 2008-09 recession a lot better than most states.

“But rather than continuing that upward momentum, Branstad came back into office thinking he had to cut, cut, cut. And he’s been doing just that,” K.C. said.

“Cutting is fine if you have a workable plan to replace the damage you do, but Branstad doesn’t.

“So, I ask: Why is Terry Branstad so down on Iowa?”