Live Blog with Kevin Miskell IA-4!!!

Join us over at the EENR Blog for a live blog with IA-4 Democratic candidate Kevin Miskell! At 4pm pacific time Kevin Miskell will be at EENR to answer any questions you have about his run for Congress in Iowa’s 4th district. Hope to see you there!

Kevin Miskell is a fifth generation Iowa farmer from Story County, Iowa. When family farmers were facing an economic crisis under Reagan, Miskell became very involved in his community working to help save family farms. Here’s a snippet from Miskell’s website about his backround as a family farm advocate:

For the past 21 years, he has been active in grassroots politics across the state, promoting sustainable agriculture and fighting to protect the environment. During these past two decades, Kevin has worked with elected officials on both the state and national level on legislation relating to agriculture, rural economic development and renewable energy.

During the past four years, Kevin served as Vice President of Iowa Farmers Union, a grassroots organization that promotes the viability of small family farms and sustainable agriculture.

Since 2003 Kevin has worked on the staff of three presidential campaigns. In 2003, he worked for Senator Bob Graham. When Graham dropped out of the race, Kevin was hired by Senator John Edwards’ campaign to serve as his Midwestern Director of Rural Policy and Outreach and worked again in this capacity in 2008.

More below the fold….

A Fighter for Family Farms

As a family farmer, Kevin Miskell has focused much of his campaign on protecting family farms, promoting sustainability and protecting the environment. Just as we hope for a blue/green alliance that will create a new green economy in America, we also need to help farmers align with the green movement to provide longterm economic stability to small family farms. Here’s a snippet from the Mid-Iowa Newspaper about Kevin’s focus on getting farmers to go green:

“As a member of Farmers Union, I saw small producers get on the power grid,” said the 49-year-old Stanhope resident, who will run in the June 3 Democratic primary for the right to oppose Republican Tom Latham this November in the contest for Iowa’s 4th District Congressional seat.

“Unfortunately, it’s been harder for local folks to get into green energy, though.”

“If you build a wind turbine, the payoff (with tax incentive) is about four years,” he said. “The turbines generate about $275,000 a year. Two or three turbines could be property tax relief … and … a heck of a local industry. These are the oil wells of the future.”

Working for family farms, promoting sustainable agriculture and returning economic benefits to grass roots landowners has been a large part of Miskell’s professional and political life. His resume includes more than two decades of work with lawmakers on the state and federal level.

Miskell on Iraq

Kevin Miskell believes we need to start bringing our troops home from Iraq and end the war. Here’s a snippet from his website:

When elected to Congress, I pledge to bring home America’s troops from Iraq as quickly and safely as possible. The war in Iraq, from its inception, has been poorly planned and poorly executed by George Bush and his administration.

Rather than secure Afghanistan and capture Osama Bin Laden as he so publicly promised, George Bush chose to plunge into an unnecessary war that has cost the United States the lives of over 4,000 American soldiers and more than 60,000 wounded.

Miskell has pledged that his first priority in Congress will be to end the Iraq War. I don’t know about you, but we sure need more Democrats who are 100% committed to ending the occupation in Iraq.

Miskell on the Economy

In the past couple decades Iowa family farmers have been struggling to compete with the corporate agri-business. Here’s a snippet about what Kevin will do for the economy:

I promise, if elected, I will help return America to an era of fiscal responsibility, making sure that the Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy are repealed and that U.S. tax policy favors the average American and not just those at top.

By cutting taxes in a time of war, Bush has done the unthinkable and driven our economy to the brink of disaster. The best thing for Iowa’s economy would be to get out of this war as quickly and safely as possible and start investing that money in building our state’s infrastructure and doing what Iowa does best.

Here’s a snippet from Miskell about why he’s running for Congress:

I am running for Congress because I want to help create an America where all can share in the prosperity of the American Dream and have equal access to quality education, affordable health care and economic security.

For too long I’ve seen people run for office say one thing to get elected and then abandon those principles once they are in office. Today, America needs leaders who have a track record of working for the good of their neighbors and will keep their word once elected.

For the past twenty-one years I have been active in grassroots politics here in Iowa, fighting to preserve the viability of the family farm, protect the environment, promote sustainable agriculture and expand the rights of all Iowans.

In entering this race I am dedicating myself to representing the values of Middle America, where hard work, integrity and a person’s word are as strong as the land and common sense of community that holds us together.

To learn more about Kevin Miskell you can view his website here. I also came across this great interview Miskell did with the Ames Progressive to give you more insights into what kind of candidate Miskell is.

Get Your Questions Ready!

In just two hours, Kevin will be joining us for a live blog. I hope you’ll come by and ask Kevin any questions about the upcoming June 3rd primary and where he stands on the issues.