Politics At Its Worst

Dear Friends,

I’M for Iowa focuses primarily on state-level issues.  When the Legislature is in session, we help you let your voice be heard.  We give kudos and criticism to Democrats and Republicans alike.  We’ve had good things to say about Secretary of State Michael Mauro.  We’ve had both praise and criticism for Governor Culver.

Regrettably, we haven’t been able to say much good about the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate this year.  On so many key issues – including campaign finance, hog confinements, and eminent domain – they have done nothing. 

Yet, there’s a price to be paid for being vocal.  At least for me there is.  (I’ve also discovered there’s a price to be paid for running against a sitting Democratic congressman!)  Although lawmakers certainly have better things to do, it seems I have become a legislative issue this year.

The other day, Rep. Rick Olson announced a bill that would prevent a candidate from being paid to work on his or her campaign.  They’re calling it a bill to close “the Fallon loophole.”   They refer to my campaign for governor.  After I lost the primary, we paid the bills and still had about $30,000 in the bank.  I am always careful to finish campaigns in the black, but so much money came in toward the end of the campaign that we were left with more than expected.

Though the campaign was over, there was still plenty of work to do with data entry, file drawers, computer files, and office equipment.  I also wanted to make sure the key issues in my campaign continued to receive attention through the general election.  So, three staff and I stayed on part-time.  I worked about 30 hours per week from June through November, earning $13,750.  I spent much of my spare time campaigning for Chet Culver, Denise O’Brien and a handful of other Democrats.  Between the money I earned from my campaign and my legislative salary, my total earned income in 2006 was about $35,000.

The truth is, this is a non issue.  I spoke with Charlie Smithson at Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board and he assured me that I, along with other staff, could be paid to work on campaign related tasks.  The real loophole that needs closing is the one that allows legislative leaders to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from PACs and lobbyists, funnel it to special funds, and then ship it to targeted candidates.  Successful candidates are then reminded by leaders that they won because of the money funneled into their campaigns.  Those leaders are then re-elected to their positions of power, the PACs and lobbyists continue to pour money into their coffers for the next round of campaigns, and everybody’s happy.

Everybody, that is, except you and me.  Sometimes I feel like shouting, “How dumb do we look?”  Is it any wonder that Rep. Pam Jochum’s excellent campaign finance reform bill dies for lack of leadership support?  Or that Rep. Mark Kuhn’s efforts to better regulate hog confinements are shot down year after year?  Or that Rep. Tymeson and Rep. Kaufmann’s efforts on eminent domain this year go nowhere?

 So, here’s what I’ll ask you to do, and to do it right away since this legislation may come up as early as tomorrow.  Call or e-mail your representative and senator.  Tell them that, instead of wasting their time taking pot shots at me, they should do something meaningful for clean elections.  Tell them that if they have time to close “the Fallon loophole,” they certainly have time to close the soft-money loophole.  And they certainly have time to pass Jochum’s campaign finance reform bill as well.

The sad part is the Democratic Party has so much to offer.  Rank-and-file democratic activists are, by and large, passionate people who care deeply about issues.  There is so much good the Party could do in both Iowa and Washington, DC, if only leadership would free itself from the shackles of corporate cash.  If Iowa House and Senate Democrats fail to do that, if they fail to put the public interest ahead of special interests, they may well lose their majority status this year.  And that would be a shame. 

Thanks,

Ed Fallon