Pulling Out the Stops

Grafton state senator Merlin Bartz is using the the state Towa Senate Republican Caucus website to encourage voters to petition county recorders to "appeal directly to you, our county recorder, to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples on April 27th, 2009, and every day after, until such conflict between the Supreme Court’s opinion and the law is addressed by a VOTE OF THE PEOPLE OF
IOWA." On the website supporters are asked to distribute the petition to "anybody you feel who would be inclined to help in this endeavor" and to "send a copy for accountability purposes to the Iowa Family Policy Center, 1100 N. Hickory, Ste. 107, Pleasant Hill, IA 50327."

In response, former State Representative Ed Fallon and his wife Lynn's group I'm for Iowa "plan to deliver to Secretary of the Senate Mike Marshall at 11:15 this morning their formal ethics complaint against Senator Merlin Bartz for encouraging county recorders to break the law by refusing to grant marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples."

"For a state senator to use his office and public resources to encourage other elected officials to disobey a unanimous ruling of the Iowa Supreme Court is unconscionable, and possibly a violation of state law,” said Ed Fallon. “Thus, Lynn and I have filed a complaint with the chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, Senator Jack Kibbie, inquiring as to whether Senator Bartz’s action is a violation of his oath of office.”

Meanwhile likely gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats will have a press conference at 11:30 today to pressure governor Chet Culver to use an executive order to stay Iowa county recorders from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning next Monday.

Climate For Change

Below is a message from I'M Iowa's Ed and Lynn Fallon. Hat's off to them, Physician's for Social Responsibility (Micki McCue) and others for their leadership on this (this means you, Mike Carberry).

Dear Friends,

We heard a cardinal sing on February 1st, heralding the first sign of spring in our neighborhood. Five days later, daffodils pushed through the thawing soil about a mile from our home. The Des Moines River has been ice-free for a week, and the ice on the Raccoon River is on the verge of breaking.

On February 2nd, Punxsutawney Phil announced (through interpreters, of course) that America should expect six more weeks of winter. Here in Des Moines, after signs of an early spring and eight days with high temperatures ranging from 42 to 62 degrees, some have called into question our most famous groundhog’s credibility.

Face it: America needs a new groundhog. More to the point, we need new mechanisms for assessing and understanding what is happening to our climate and, as a result, our planet and our civilization.

To be clear, isolated warm-weather “events,” such as the ones we note above, cannot be cited as evidenc e of climate change. Conversely, neither does unseasonably cool weather dismiss climate change. We have to look at the big picture, the global picture. Despite what some skeptics say, the consensus is in. Global climate change is a reality. How we monitor it and, more important, how we respond to it, will determine the viability of our future.

Across the globe, a new generation of climate-change groundhogs is rising to the challenge. One website that’s been very helpful to us is http://www.realclimate.org/. Another is http://www.idealbite.com/.

In Iowa, two activities over the next week can help educate us about climate change. The first is this weekend in Iowa City, sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility. The second is Monday in Des Moines, where experts will summarize the work of the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council. See below for details.

We hope you can attend one or both of these events, and please spread the word. Thanks.

Ed & Lynn Fallon

February 13 & 14 – Power-lines to the Future

A conference organized by Physicians for Social Responsibility at the
International Center, Old Capitol Town Center Mall, Iowa City. PSR hopes to encourage Iowans, especially those involved in the health professions, to become more informed and actively engaged in confronting the gravest health challenges of our time. For more information, visit www.iowa-psr.org/pl/pl_home.html.

February 16 – Iowa Climate Change Briefing and Discussion

Sponsored by about twenty organizations and agencies, this meeting will present the highlights of the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council’s recent report. It’s at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust, Des Moines, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Contact Senator Joe Bolkcom at joe-bolkcom@uiowa.edu or (319) 353-2681.

Ed Fallon and I'M For Iowa

In case you missed it, former legislator and gubernatorial candidate, Ed Fallon has been busy with the Independence Movement in Iowa and it's good that he is. He also had this to say to Des Moines Register

Hansen: Even out of office, Fallon never fails to dissent
Tuesday, June 5, 2007

(Des Moines Register)

By MARC HANSEN
REGISTER COLUMNIST

June 5, 2007

"Rep. Ed Fallon, D-Des Moines, cast the sole dissenting vote."

I miss reading that sentence in the paper. It still holds true, though.

The Democrats are flexing their muscles in Iowa and beyond, but Fallon is still dissenting. For instance:

He's disappointed in his friends at the Statehouse. They aren't going far enough to further the progressive cause. Where's the campaign finance reform? Where's the health care legislation? What about those corporate hog confinements?

He thinks the field of Democratic presidential candidates might be the best ever, with John Edwards at the top of the class.

He wishes the media would get off Edwards' back and away from Edwards' hair.

Fallon gets in his car maybe once a week anymore and seems to believe bicycles and high-quality trails are the answer to many of the nation's problems.

He believes government planners at all levels blew a golden opportunity by not making light rail an integral part of the I-235 expansion.

Fallon doesn't have a day job per se, unless you count committing his life "to improving our community and our world," which has a way of cutting into a person's free time.

Having lost to Chet Culver in the gubernatorial primary, he's not holding office - for the first time in 14 years.

He isn't running for anything, but he's keeping busy - attending meetings, giving lectures, pushing populist causes, working for Edwards.

At the beginning of the year, Fallon unveiled "Independence Movement for Iowa" (I'M for Iowa). The idea was to "build a progressive majority in Iowa, one that puts people before profit."

He's still casting dissenting votes. He could hardly wait to dissent when I called Hillary a freight train barreling down the tracks to the party's nomination.

OK, she has a pocket full of negatives that could doom her in the general election. But she's disciplined, tough, organized and flush. The nomination is hers to lose, and she ain't losing it.

Fallon shook his head. Not buying. He'd vote for Hillary in November, but ...

"Something about her character and her history," he said, "is a flashpoint to independents and Democrats of various persuasions. She lacks clarity and specifics more than any other candidate."

In Fallon's mind, Barack Obama poses the greatest threat to Edwards. The former senator from North Carolina will prevail, though, because he's the go-to guy when it comes to health care and campaign reform, protecting the environment and challenging the corporate culture that controls our lives.

Then there's Edwards' plan for his first 100 days in office.

"He's going to travel around the world, re-establish alliances, make friends and decrease the notion of empire building."

And something else, Fallon said. Edwards is the only one talking seriously and specifically about poverty.

Now it was my turn to dissent. While that might be true, doesn't he lose points for talking about two Americas and living in the one with valet service?

Fallon was more than happy to respond: Huh? Edwards is supposed to apologize for having made a lot of money? He earned it himself. He gives a ton of it away. FDR had money, too, but historians rarely call him a hypocrite.

"Let's take the one guy who's talking seriously about poverty," Fallon said, "and blast him for doing what nearly every candidate does."

And while we're at it, let's blast him for wearing out his comb.

"Nonissues," Fallon said. "People are tired of hearing about haircuts and speakers' fees. John and Elizabeth have done a tremendous job giving back to the community. They've done a tremendous job articulating what they propose to do about poverty in America."

When Fallon was running for governor, he talked to every serious candidate except Obama and Bill Richardson. Joseph Biden, for instance, is a sharp guy and a good pool player. "Joe isn't a listener, though. When you're with him, it's all Joe."

Dennis Kucinich is there on the issues, but what's a guy doing getting 1 percent of the vote in 2004 and trying again? Is that what his constituents had in mind when they sent him back to the House of Representatives?

Though Richardson was off his game Sunday night, Fallon likes his experience and thinks his TV ads are fun.

The white-haired fellow from Alaska in the corner of your TV screen should take a hint.

Edwards, meanwhile, "was head and shoulders above the other candidates. His position on the issues and his sincerity resonate."

Disagree with Fallon if you want. Somebody always does.