One of the big questions of the week was how did former Gov. Terry Branstad’s support of Republican Rep. Joe Mitchell play into Mitchell’s vote against a bill prohibiting eminent domain from being used for the CO2 pipeline projects from being used until March 1, 2023.
Mitchell is president and founder of Run GenZ. Branstad is chairman of Run GenZ’s advisory board. Branstad also endorsed Mitchell early in his primary against conservative House member, Rep. Jeff Shipley. And Eric Branstad spoke on Mitchell’s behalf during caucus night.
Terry Branstad is senior policy advisor for Summit Carbon Solutions, a company that stands to gain big time from the CO2 pipeline project it is working on here in Iowa.
The Iowa Standard reached out to Mitchell on Wednesday as to why he voted against the bill to protect Iowans’ private property rights. He said:
“As gas prices are at record highs and our agriculture industry is under attack, it’s extremely unfair to switch up the rules in the middle of a process that will support biofuels and benefit everyday Iowans. This is not about politics. This is about a fair process, supporting agriculture, and alleviating the energy crisis that is hurting our communities.”
“You talked about people not wanting to do business in the state because of rules being changed in the middle,” Williams said. “Imagine owning a piece of property for 100 years and then having the rules change or somebody taking it from you. So I’m just going to state that I’m not appreciative of some of the comments that you just made.”
Mitchell did not elaborate further on his no vote to The Iowa Standard, however he did tell another Iowan that he assures them his friendship with Gov. Branstad did not affect his vote “in any way.”
“In my opinion, this was a bill that hurt our community more than it helped,” he said. “After looking into the actual chance of eminent domain being used against farmers, I believe this bill would hurt farmers more than it could possibly help them.”
Mitchell acknowledged others may disagree, but urged patience in the process.
“I was not a swing vote on the committee,” he said, referring to the 12-10-1 final vote. “I think that you would be surprised with the true effects of the bill if it were to come to fruition.”
The true effect
Is that farmers would be paid fairly to permanently sell a strip of land, however narrow or wide, with permanent easement to the other side, only if the price is right to them, the seller.
Plus, take the taxpayer guaranteed profits out of the equation and the welfare corporation can either take it or leave it.
They’ll assuredly leave it, and everyone wins, except for the scammers colluding to exfilitrate our money and property.
Shame on these politicians who won’t uphold their fidelity to the Constitution.