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By BILL SHEA
bshea@messenegrnews.net
Dave Muhlbauer, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, can quickly describe the approach to government that he and running mate Rob Sand share.
"It's about people," he said Saturday morning during a visit to Fort Dodge. "It's about public service, and not politics. It's about trying to really bring people together to find solutions."
Muhlbauer, a Crawford County supervisor, came to Fort Dodge to rally Democratic Party volunteers who were heading out to spend the day knocking on doors to meet voters.
Fixing what he called Iowa's "broken political system" is the top priority for himself and Sand, who is the state auditor.
"Once we get it working again for the people then we're in a so much better spot to tackle so many of the crises in Iowa and other things that we have going on whether it's the cancer crisis, the crisis of cost, water quality, getting our schools back to the top again," Muhlbauer said.
The first step, he said, is “realizing it's public service and people first."
He said a Sand administration would take these steps to address the soaring cost of living:
Cut red tape and streamline application processes for small businesses
Eliminate interest costs on down payment assistance for first time home buyers
Regulate pharmacy benefit manager plans to bring down the cost of prescription drugs
Reverse the privatization of Medicaid in the state
"The MCOs are lowering our quality of health care and not saving us any money," he said of the managed care organizations that now run the state's insurance program for poor and disabled people.
He said the Sand administration would create a new Office of Rural Prosperity which he said "would really put the spotlight on the needs of rural counties and communities."
He said the office would include an accountability component that would help to ensure that its programs actually work.