a fabulous example of those special Republican values

On October 4, 2004, President Bush signed the Working Families Tax Relief Act, and turned it into a political tool by signing it not at the White House, where bills are typically signed, but by making a public spectacle in Iowa (a battleground state, and, as it turned out, THE battleground state).

He chose to introduce an Iowa couple, Mike and Sharla Hintz, as an example of a traditional couple who had benefitted from the tax cuts.

It’s a special day for Mike and Sharla, not because they’re with the President or with Chairman Grassley, but because it’s their 13th wedding anniversary. (Applause.) Theirs is a typical story. See, last year they received a child tax credit check for $1,600 for their four children. And under all the tax relief we’ve passed, they saved about $2,800 last year. With this extra money they bought a wood-burning stove to reduce their home heating costs. They made a decision for their family.

They also made home repairs and improvements. They took the family on a vacation to Minnesota. Next year when you get your check, you may want to come to Texas. (Laughter.) Without the tax bill I’m signing today, the Hintzes would have paid $1,200 more in federal taxes next year. Think about that. Here’s a family of four, working hard to raise their kids, the money would have been going out of their pocket. I believe they can spend that $1,200 better than the federal government can. (Applause.)

Mike Hintz was later quoted as saying, among other pro-Bush sentiment, “Where we are in this world, with not just the war on terror, but with the war with our culture that’s going on, I think we need a man that is going to be in the White House like President Bush, that’s going to stand by what he believes. The American people are starting to see what kind of leader President Bush is. People know where he stands.”

Then, on December 7:

Pastor Fired Over Sexual Exploitation Charges

First Assembly Of God Church Fires Reverend

DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines youth pastor is charged with sexual exploitation by a counselor.

KCCI learned that the married father of four recently turned himself in to Johnston police.

Rev. Mike Hintz was fired from the First Assembly of God Church, located at 2725 Merle Hay Road, on Oct. 30. Hintz was the youth pastor there for three years.

Police said he started an affair with a 17-year-old woman in the church youth group this spring.

Church officials fired Hintz immediately after hearing the allegations.

“They did acknowledge with their congregation that Mr. Hintz had made apparently some admissions to his inappropriate activity, and they took a proactive approach and immediately terminated him from his position,” Johnston police Sgt. Lynn Aswegan said.

Neither Hintz nor his attorney returned KCCI’s calls.