Running for Congress!

Dear Friends,

As some of you know, I’ve decided to run for Congress.  Lynn and I will continue to publish I’M for Iowa updates and maintain the I’M for Iowa website.  Through those tools, we’ll encourage your involvement with key state issues, including campaign finance reform, hog confinements, climate change, eminent domain, health care, and improving the integrity of our voting system.

Through my congressional campaign organization, I’ll share with you once each week an update on how the campaign is unfolding.  (Please let me know if you do not want to receive that update.)

Last summer, after much thought, I decided I could best make a difference in the world as a member of Congress.  In 2006, Americans said they were tired of Bush’s policies, so we elected a Democratic Congress.  Yet on key issues, congressional Democrats have let America down.  Simply stated, too many of them, including Leonard Boswell, vote too often with President Bush and against the priorities of the American people. 

As the Iowa Caucuses made abundantly clear, people are ready for change.  While Leonard Boswell is an honorable man who has served with dignity, I feel his positions on many key issues are wrong. 

Boswell accepts donations from PACs and lobbyists.  Of the $600,167 he raised between February and September 2007, 73% came from PACs.  During my 14 years as a state representative and when I ran for governor, I refused donations from PACs and lobbyists and won’t accept them in my congressional campaign either.

In 2003, he voted for the Iraq War and has continued to support additional funding with no timetable to bring the troops home.  I opposed Bush’s war from the start and believe we need a more diplomatic approach to foreign policy, not just in Iraq but throughout the Middle East.

In 2005, Boswell voted to provide $14 billion in tax breaks and incentives for oil and gas companies.  He also supports greater use of coal.  I have been a leader in the fight against government handouts to big business.  I support a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants and have helped lead efforts in Iowa to fight global warming.

Boswell voted for No Child Left Behind.  I have always spoken against this unfunded, ineffective mandate, and believe NCLB should be repealed, or at a minimum severely overhauled.

Boswell supported the Patriot Act, and in August 2007, voted for a bill to increase unwarranted surveillance on the American people.  Iowa’s other Democratic Congressmen, Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack, voted against it.  I have a long track record of fighting for civil rights and personal liberties.

In November 2007, Boswell joined Congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham – both Republicans – to vote for a NAFTA-like trade agreement with Peru.  I am a vocal opponent of NAFTA and other so-called “free” trade agreements and believe in fair trade that protects American jobs, our environment, and workers’ safety.

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.

Thank you for your interest, and if you’d like to contact our campaign team, we can be reached at fallon@fallonforcongress.com, (515) 277-0424, or 2715 Cottage Grove Avenue, Des Moines 50311.

Ed Fallon