By Emily Geiger

There has been a lot of talk about the best way to finance flood/tornado recovery in Iowa and about what role the state should play in that recovery. The argument in the blogosphere has turned into a debate about how much money the state will be expected to provide, which no one knows yet.

That’s just the point. No one knows yet. Unfortunately, some have tried to steer the argument in this direction and away from the true focus of my posts last week. The real issue we need to look at right now is this:

Why make a major change in Iowa law by allowing the state to openly go into debt when we don’t even know yet how much money the state will need? Why is Gronstal even suggesting such a drastic measure so early in the recovery process?

The answer is simple. It’s a blatant power grab. And Gronstal is devilishly smart to try it now while everyone’s emotions are running high and so many people are still suffering the effects of the flooding. He’s trying to take advantage of our sympathy for our neighbors.  But what happens after the floods?  Does anyone seriously think Gronstal will willingly give up the right to go into debt when it could fund so many of his nanny-state pet projects?  Since when does government ever voluntarily relinquish power and get smaller?

We can debate all we want about what the total numbers are going to be, but all that is really a diversion, a distraction to take our attention away from someone using this tragedy to his own advantage in an effort to make himself much more powerful than he already is.

It’s shameful, and we should see it for the ploy it is.