Fallons Criticize Culver & Lawmakers

Former Iowa state representative and gubernatorial candidate, Ed Fallon (and his wife), is criticizing his former Democratic colleagues for their actions in the past few days. The Fallons head a group called I'm for Iowa, which pushes progressive causes in exchange for contributions.
The Fallons just sent this out:

Dear Friends,Yesterday, an article in The Des Moines Register reported that Obama’s people told Culver’s people to stop soliciting “sponsorships” from corporations for a health reform summit in Des Moines. A letter from the Governor’s office requesting $5,000 from each corporate sponsor said it was important that corporations “show their commitment to health care reform through a monetary gift.” In exchange, corporate attendees would be given extra seats and public recognition at the conference.Incredible! What part of health care reform doesn’t Culver understand? Obama, to his credit, has been passionate in his long-time criticism of insurance and drug company money in politics. It’d be nice to see some of that passion trickle down to the leadership at the Iowa State Capitol.Speaking of leadership at the Statehouse, we Fallo ns were the subject of debate this week. (Even an article in The Chicago Tribune picked it up.) Running for office is often like having two full-time jobs. Lots of candidates of modest means, including Ed, have received compensation from their campaigns (in Ed’s case, on just one occasion in 2006). But SF 50 prohibits this, and even prevents family members from working as paid campaign staff.Here’s what Ed has to say: “The Legislature seems intent on making politics the domain of the rich and powerful. Low-income and middle-income people who want to run for office are already at a huge disadvantage. If a candidate is paid by his or her campaign, what business is that to state government? It’s between the candidate and the donors.”Here’s what Lynn has to say: “I was paid a modest salary as campaign manager for Ed’s congressional campaign, but I would have done it without compensation even though it would have been an economic hardship. I made approximately $10 an hour (based on a 60-hour work week), or less when I worked more hours, which was most of the time. We never heard any complaints from our donors.”If legislative leaders were really concerned about money in politics they’d pass Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections (VOICE). But apparently, they’re more interested in making it even harder for low- and middle-income people to run for office.Ed and Lynn Fallon