Live Blog w/ Ed Fallon IA-3 just minutes away!!!

In just a few minutes, Iowa state legislator and candidate for Congress Ed Fallon will be joining us for a live blog at 1pm et over at the EENR Blog. Get your questions ready and let’s get the conversation going!

One of the first candidates the bloggers of EENR decided to endorse was state legislator Ed Fallon running for Congress in Iowa’s 3rd c.d. It wasn’t a difficult choice. Ed Fallon is a progressive’s progressive. In his 14 years as a legislator in Iowa’s House, he never accepted PAC/lobbyist money. Fallon had his values in place long before it was the progressive thing to do to refuse lobbyist/PAC money. Here’s a statement from Fallon about why he’s running for Congress:

Our country needs and wants change.  I’m ready to take on the corporate interests who have corrupted our federal government.  I’m ready to give working families and the poor a voice in national politics.  I’m ready to do what I can to see that environmental issues are taken seriously inside the beltway.  I’m ready to apply what I’ve learned during 23 years of public service in Iowa and be a part of the solution in Washington.

More below the fold….

Ed Fallon v.s. Leonard Boswell

June 3rd is just around the corner and no one knows who is going to win the primary. There is a ton of daylight between Fallon and Boswell, and that’s why we EENR bloggers are so adamant about ousting Boswell and replacing him with fightin’ progressive Ed Fallon. Here’s a little backround on what these two candidates have done in Government and what kind of Democrat they are.

I can’t help but have personal benchmarks for what makes up a real progressive candidate. Fallon passes my test with flying colors. Fallon opposed the Iraq War from the start and supports passage of a timetable for withdrawal. Here’s a snippet from Fallon about his opposition to the war:

It is now clear to nearly everyone that President Bush lied to Congress and to the American people when he spoke of weapons of mass destruction as the premise to go to war in Iraq.  I was among the tens of millions of Americans who opposed the war from the start, and who did not believe the President’s justification for invasion.

Fallon is a huge advocate of UHC, which is incredibly important considering we may have a chance to vote on a UHC bill next year. Fallon supports publicly financed elections and has pledged to champion the issue in Congress. Here’s a snippet from Fallon about his support for publicly financed elections:

The real solution is voluntary public financing of elections.  I support the Fair Elections Now Act (S.936) currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate. As a member of the U.S. House, I would introduce or cosponsor companion legislation. When we take the corrupting influence of money out of campaigns we will have a President and a Congress focused on the needs of people rather than demands of specials interests.

Ed Fallon has a long history of fighting on environmental and conservation issues. While Boswell cuts taxes for oil companies, Fallon will always put environmental interests above the CEO’s of big oil. Another refreshing thing about Ed Fallon is that he’s honest about our economic woes and the recent economic stimulus plan. Here’s what he had to say about our tax rebates:

While I always support giving taxpayers some of their money back, let’s be honest: this proposal will do nothing to fix our economy. At $600 a person, the package will be as effective as, say, giving a cup of coffee to someone who is seriously sleep-deprived…. To pay for the rebates, the federal government will borrow more money from China, give it to consumers, and recommend they go buy something – something probably made in China.

Fallon is right. We will achieve no long term stability by way of tax rebates. It’s nice to see a politician be frank for a change. If you’d like to learn more about where Ed stands on the issues go here.

In the Iowa legislature, Ed Fallon has championed many issues we progressives care about. Fallon has fought against corporate farm takeovers and tried to protect the small family farms in Iowa. Fallon worked hard against HF 519 which led to the expansion of massive hog farms. Fallon introduced and passed legislation requiring voting machines to produce a paper trail. Fallon helped push through a 6% increase in public education funding and fought hard to increase teacher pay and reduce class sizes. Ed Fallon has always been a good friend to Iowa workers. He’s pushed for minimum wage increases, stood in the picket lines with union brothers and sisters and introduced legislation to ban the hiring of replacement workers. If you’d like to take a closer look at Fallon’s record in the legislature, go here

What about Fallon’s Record v.s. Boswell’s Record?

What about Leonard Boswell? Why have we chosen to support Fallon over Democratic incumbant Leonard Boswell? It’s really no contest. Boswell lines his pockets with lobbyist/PAC money. In just one year’s time, over 70% of Boswell’s donations were from PACs. That’s a lot!! Boswell voted to invade Iraq and continues to vote to fund the war. Boswell voted to allow electronic surveillance without warrants back in 2006 and voted to allow overseas wiretapping without a FISA warrant just last year. Boswell also voted to make the Patriot Act permanent back in 2005 and voted to ban flag desecration. Boswell voted for the Bankruptcy bill in 2005 and for the repeal of the estate tax. Boswell has continued to support the Bush/Cheney energy policies and even voted against raising CAFE standards back in 2001. Boswell also supports building a fence along the Mexico border. The truth is, Boswell is not the kind of Democrat I want representing the brand. Our party has been hurt over the years because of conservative Dems abandoning the values the party is supposed to represent. We need strong Democrats like Ed Fallon fighting for what’s right and ensuring that we progressives have a voice inside the halls of Congress.

It’s Time to Help Elect Fallon

The primary is just around the corner and no one knows how this race is going to turn out. The bloggers of EENR have set up an Act Blue page and we’d love it if you could throw him some change in the final weeks of his campaign. If you live in Iowa, please consider volunteering for Ed Fallon. We need to do everything we can to send him to Congress!!

Ed Fallon will be here to talk to YOU

In just minutes Ed Fallon will be at the EENR Blog to have a conversation with us. I hope you’ll join us and give a warm welcome fellow progressive Ed Fallon.