Ed Fallon was on Iowa Press tonight (replay on Sunday at noon)

[pstans]

Ed Fallon was on Iowa Press tonight. I caught the last half of it. They grilled him on taxes for the most part. I caught the tail end of then questioning on the Iowa Values Fund. If the Iowa Values Fund and corporate welfare becomes a big issue in the campaign then Fallon is going to jump ahead of the pack. He is against it, he has solid reasons for being against it, and he has always been against it. The format of the show with Yepsen and that other guy firing questions didn't really mesh well with Fallon's soft spoken style, but you get a feel for his message.

The show will be replayed on Sunday at noon on IPTV. I will post a transcript when it is put up.

[justgamma]

1. I watched it today.

I like him. He didn't back down on the hard questions. I like the way he thinks.

[pstans]

2. Here is the transcript

http://www.iptv.org/iowapress/transcript_detail.cfm?ipShowNum=3306

Fallon: WELL, FIRST OF ALL, WHEN IT COMES TO THE STATE'S CURRENT APPROACH TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, I'M VERY STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THE IDEA THAT WE CAN TAKE $700 MILLION, PUT IT INTO SOMETHING CALLED THE VALUES FUND, AND DRASTICALLY AND MIRACULOUSLY CURE OUR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. I DON'T BELIEVE IN TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS. I DIDN'T BUY IT UNDER RONALD REAGAN, AND I DON'T BUY IT NOW. AND THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ME AND THE OTHER CANDIDATES, PARTICULARLY MIKE BLOUIN. ALSO BETWEEN MYSELF AND MIKE BLOUIN, I'M PRO-CHOICE, HE'S NOT. CERTAINLY HAVE SOME DIFFERENCES WITH SECRETARY JUDGE ON WAYS THAT -- WAYS THAT SHE'S INTERACTED WITH AGRICULTURE. I GUESS THOSE ARE SOME KEY DIFFERENCES. PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT IS THAT I DON'T TAKE ANY MONEY FROM PACS OR PAID LOBBYISTS OR ANY LARGE DONOR. I'VE NEVER DONE THAT AS A STATE LEGISLATOR. I WILL NOT DO THAT AS A CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR. WHEN YOU START TAKING BIG DONATIONS FROM BIG DONORS, THAT'S NO LONGER A DONATION, IT'S A BRIBE.

Yepsen: ALL RIGHT. WHAT ABOUT THE NOTION THAT IF YOU DON'T PLAY THIS GAME OF HELPING COMPANIES LOCATE, WELLS FARGO PICKS UP AND GOES, WELLS BLUE BUNNY PICKS UP AND GOES TO SOUTH DAKOTA, THAT WE'RE FORCED TO PLAY THIS CORPORATE WELFARE GAME, AS YOU CALL IT?

Fallon: YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT WE HAVE TO CALL THEIR BLUFF BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WE'VE SAID ANY BUSINESS THAT IS THINKING OF LEAVING IOWA SHOULD LET US KNOW AND WE'LL GIVE THEM SOME MONEY. AND CHEMIN INDUSTRY, WHICH I THINK IS THE MOST SHAMELESS, THEY SAID, YOU KNOW, "WE WANT TO DO A $10-MILLION INVESTMENT IN OUR BUSINESS TO CREATE 40 JOBS." I'M THINKING THE MATH ON THAT ISN'T VERY GOOD, 40 JOBS FOR TEN MILLION, AND THE TAXPAYERS HAVE GOT TO PUT UP FIVE MILLION OR THEY'RE GOING TO LEAVE. AND WITHIN A WEEK AND A HALF, WE HAD THEM THEIR FIVE MILLION. I THINK THAT'S EXTORTION, DAVID. AND I REALLY THINK -- WE HAD A GUY COME TO OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH COMMITTEE LAST YEAR, AND HE SAID -- OR THIS YEAR, RATHER. AND HE SAID -- HE HAD JUST TAKEN A $5-MILLION GRANT. AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, "THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO ME IS THE FACT THAT IOWA'S WORK FORCE IS SECOND TO NONE." SO I'M THINKING, OKAY, WE'VE GOT A GREAT WORK FORCE. HE ALSO MENTIONED HOUSING. HE MENTIONED EDUCATION. LET'S FOCUS ON THAT BECAUSE I'LL BET A LOT OF THESE COMPANIES WOULD STAY OR EVEN COME IF WE HAD THAT KIND OF INVESTMENT AS OUR TOP PRIORITY.