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Grassley Unhappy with Culver Rainforest Ad

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"I think it's important that we do not waste the taxpayers money," Culver says. "You wonder how we have $260 billion of debt. We've had a lot of pork barrel spending. Congressman Nussle has supported bridges to nowhere in Alaska, a world toilet summit in Ireland, a rainforest in Iowa."

Culver points to a group that recently labeled the EarthPark grant the worst example of pork barrel spending in Washington. After years of negotiations with over a dozen Iowa cities, the EarthPark's board of directors announced last month the facility is to be built in Pella, once they've lined up the financing. Pella has committed 25 million to the project.

Culver says he's not suggesting that the 50-million from the feds be returned, but Culver says he would never have voted to give the grant in the first place. "They can still move forward. There's nothing stopping them. In fact, they will try," Culver says. "My point is that it is one of the projects that received national attention and contributed to the debt." EarthPark backers estimate five-hundred construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs will be created with the facility, which is scheduled to open in 2010.

EarthPark backers are hoping to win a 20-million dollar state grant to finance construction. Nussle's campaign points out that not only did Republican U.S. Senator Charles Grassley champion the rainforest grant, but Democrat Senator Tom Harkin voted for it, too.

Republican Senator Charles Grassley is not happy with the subject matter of a new campaign ad from the Democratic candidate for governor.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver and his runningmate Patty Judge appear in a new television commercial. The two are wearing rain gear. You can hear the water drops hitting Judge's rain hat and Culver's baseball cap. "Jim Nussle thinks it's raining money in Washington," Culver begins. Judge continues: "Like wasting $50 million to build a rain forest in Iowa."

The ad attacks Culver's rival, Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle, for voting "yes" on a bill that included the money for the rain forest. But Republican Senator Charles Grassley is the one who fought to put that $50 million federal grant in the bill in the first place.

Someone emailed Grassley the ad and he watched it on Wednesday. "It gets back to a real key thing that my mother always reminded me. She always referred to some people who didn't know enough to come in our of the rain," Grassley said during an interview Thursday, dragging out his pronunciation of the word rain. Grassley then took a dig at Culver and Judge's appearance in the ad: "They were standing in the rain, weren't they?"

Grassley said plenty of Democrats, including Governor Tom Vilsack and Mike Blouin -- the director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, have lauded the EarthPark project which is now to be built near Pella. "It happens that I've had communication with Vilsack. I've had communication with Blouin (and) I believe other Democratic leaders who have felt very strongly that the rain forest was going to add to the educational stature of Iowa, to the environmental stature of Iowa and most importantly, to job creation through tourism," Grassley said. "Is Culver for economic development or isn't he?"

Former Iowa Governor Robert Ray, a Republican, chairs the board that's been touting the rain forest project. David Oman, Ray's former chief of staff, is the EarthPark board's executive director.