Congressional Candidate Makes An Oskaloosa Swing

Second Congressional Candidate John Archer made a stop in Oskaloosa to visit with residents and to observe Eggs and Issues

Oskaloosa, Iowa – A run for any office takes many hours of commitment and hard work. John Archer (R- Bettendorf), candidate for the Iowa Second District took the time to visit Oskaloosa and our Eggs and Issues political forum, held every other weekend at Smokey Row.

Archer, has worked for John Deere for the past 12 years as Senior Counsel at Deere & Company and he is also part owner of The Schebler Company, a manufacturing company located in Bettendorf. He is also a member of the Pleasant Valley Community School Board of Education and also serves on the Bettendorf Family Museum Board of Directors.

The first and foremost question I posed to Archer was why he would want to run for Congress. Archer said that looking out for his two young children’s future was a priority of his in making his decision to run. “I’m certainly looking out for their future. The current path where we are spending trillions of dollars more than we are currently bringing in. The annual deficit coupled with the national debt, that the path is not sustainable.”

Archer said that unless something is done immediately, his kids will not know the America he wants them to know.

Archer stated that, “We’re working on a contract with the people of the 2nd District. One of the big issues that face American’s today is spending. So when elected, I’m going to immediately cut my congressional budget by 5% and give that money back to the Treasury. We need leaders in Congress and the White House and we need to lead by example.”

“I will work harder than any other candidate. If Senator Grassley can go to all 99 counties once a year, John Archer can go to all 24 counties that currently make up the 2nd District 4 times a year, and have town hall meeting just like we’re having today [Eggs and Issues] where constituents, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians can come and ask hard questions of their candidate.”

Currently, Archer has one primary challenger in fellow Republican Richard Gates, but Archer says “there are three main distinguishing features why somebody would and should vote for John Archer.”

1. “Global Perspective. Having worked for John Deere for the last 12 years, I have been to Brazil, Russia, India, China. My wife and I had the opportunity to live in Germany with John Deere for one year. As you know, we are connected globally and that is one aspect that I bring to the table. I can see the macro picture whereas a competitor of John Archers might be able to see that having worked solely in southeast Iowa.”
2. Being a part owner of The Schebler Company, I also have the micro perspective. We currently employ 160 individuals, have about 160,000 square feet under roof. So from a micro perspective, I know what the burdensome regulation, the tax structure, I know the perspective from a small business as well.
3. Having served on the Pleasant Valley School Board, we’ve made the tough decisions that are going to be necessary to move this country forward. When Chet Culver cut our budget 10% across the board a couple of years [ago], that really put us in a precarious situation, and we had to make those really, really tough decisions. Do we cut here? Do we cut there? The priorities in other words. We have a certain amount of money available, and we have to use that money most efficiently and effectively.

Every candidate as they come along speaks about how they are going to make a difference. I wanted to know he was going to make a difference as just one person in the group of many that makes up congress.

“One of 435 United States Representatives exactly.” Archer explained his plan for his time in office if he was elected. “I will not be a back bencher. I will not sit in the back row and be quiet for the first two years of my term. I will be actively involved. Experience matters, and that’s what I’ve done on the Pleasant Valley School Board. I hit the ground running; we made some changes. We opened up a new elementary school just this year. We purchased about 16 acres of land to build a new school in the future. It’s the hitting the ground running that will make a difference.”