Author Archives: Ed Fallon

My St. Pat’s Day reflection on fairies and fracking

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Stopping the abuse of eminent domain has become the defining issue in Iowa this year. A recent Des Moines Register poll found 78% of Iowans across the political spectrum oppose using eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines. That’s an astounding preponderance of opinion on one side of a very important issue.

Seventy-eight percent oughta be way more than enough to compel politicians to take action. To quote Senator Zaun from our conversation, “If Republicans don’t protect property rights, they’ll be on the road to being in the minority.”

Zaun believes the House and Senate will pass eminent domain legislation this year. That’s encouraging. Still, it’s remarkable that Senate Republicans were unable to push an eminent domain bill through committee before last week’s “funnel.” At least a promising bill is alive in the House, though it may take every ounce of public pressure and political courage to pass it.

I believe Zaun is correct when he says that if Republicans don’t rein in the abuse of eminent domain, they’ll probably lose seats in 2024. Continue Reading →

Why going vegan won’t solve climate change

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Veganism. I have nothing against it, nor any other diet, for that matter. Raw. Paleo. Carnivore. Breatharian. Bring it on. It’s your call. Why? Because I believe in freedom (unlike the Republican majorities at the Iowa Statehouse, it seems).

What I have trouble with is the occasional “vegangelical” who calls me a climate hypocrite because my Locavore diet includes meat. Even my favorite mouthpiece of the Mainstream Media, The Guardian, has an entirely lopsided take on the role of animals in agriculture and dining.

The main problem is that many vegan and vegetarian arguments against meat lump large-scale industrial production in with sustainable alternatives. That’s unfair, disingenuous, and actually harmful. Continue Reading →

Just give Iowa to China

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(Come meet long-time advocate for the homeless, Carla Dawson, at the annual Bishop Dingman Peace Award, March 4 at 6:00 p.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 2926 Beaver Ave in Des Moines.)

The growth-at-all-costs crowd never ceases to astound me. Take Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Durham has proposed HSB 147, a bill that would allow foreign corporations to own up to 1,000 acres of contiguous farmland.

Iowa used to have strong provisions against foreign ownership of farmland. But the proverbial camel’s nose found its way under the tent in 2017, when foreign entities were allowed to purchase up to 320 acres of contiguous farmland for commercial purposes.

As often happens, the camel now wants to shove its entire head under the tent. Given the money and power behind this trend, is there any doubt that corporate interests will try to continue to erode limitations on who controls our farmland? Continue Reading →

Our Presidents Day celebration: Goldman lauds Trump’s greatest hits

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A few highlights from this week’s radio program and podcast:

BROOKINGS VS STEVE BANNON. The Brookings Institute recently published a study of 79 prominent political podcasters (darn, I didn’t make the cut). After analyzing 36,603 episodes, Brookings concluded that ten conservative podcasters were responsible for 60% of all “unsubstantiated and false claims.”

The study focuses mostly on election denial and COVID (incredibly, researchers ignored the blatantly false statements on climate change prevalent in conservative podcasts). Steve Bannon’s War Room finished a decisive first. From the Brookings study: “Bannon’s podcast alone accounted for nearly three-quarters of all conspiracy-related content on political podcasts and more than one-quarter of all COVID-related claims.”

Placing a distant but still respectable third was the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. They’re Rush Limbaugh’s successors, and they now dominate commercial radio for three hours each weekday. It was, in fact, during a Clay and Buck episode that I learned of the Brookings study. You know the mainstream media isn’t covering your story when I have to find out about it from a program the study critiques. Continue Reading →

War in Ukraine: No easy answers

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CO2 PIPELINES. Rep. J.D. Scholten and I discuss legislation to restrict eminent domain. That conversation starts at the 30-minute mark of this week’s program. Legislation is moving in the Iowa House, and if you’ve got an opinion, now’s a great time to contact your rep and senator.

UKRAINE. There are no easy answers when it comes to ending the war in Ukraine. The predicted “new phase” of the war could even increase the risk of a nuclear exchange. Jeffrey Weiss and I discuss that.

I also ask Jeffrey how seriously we should take the resolution proposed by congressional Republicans to cut off military and financial aid to Ukraine. My own take: not very — though it probably won’t be retracted as was the letter from House Democrats to President Biden last October.

As Jeffrey sees it, there are a couple big-picture issues to keep in mind: “The US is spending close to a trillion dollars for the military-industrial complex and has a permanent war economy. The only people in the world who don’t know this are the people of the United States. Regarding this war specifically, one of the key questions we have to ask is what’s in the best interest of the people of Ukraine.”

MONOPOLIES. J.D. Scholten is tackling a problem that needs a bi-partisan fix. We discuss how Ticketmaster, Smithfield, Major League Baseball, and other corporate monopolies get away with gouging consumers due to weak anti-trust laws. Unless we do something, “the wealthy are going to get more wealthy and they’re leaving the rest of us behind,” says J.D. Continue Reading →

Eminent domain bills on the move at the Iowa Statehouse

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If you live in Iowa, please contact your state rep and senator immediately regarding eminent domain legislation.

Several bills are on the move at the Statehouse, and now is a critical time to contact lawmakers.

Yesterday morning, I reached out to four Republicans and four Democrats about the issue, including the House and Senate minority leaders. I immediately heard back from three of the four Republicans, but not a single Democrat. (UPDATE: Two Democrats, Rep. Austin Baeth and Sen. Janet Peterson, have since responded.)

Yesterday, one Republican lawmaker shared this with me: “Today, for the third week in a row, we had dozens of landowners at the Capitol seeking legislative relief and protection. SF 101 has received registered support from the Iowa State Association of Counties and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. SF 104 addresses the 90% threshold and is supported by the Iowa Farm Bureau. House companion bills are being drafted, and there’s an even stronger 90% threshold bill in the works in the House that might stand a decent chance of movement.” Continue Reading →

Canceling Gandhi

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This week marks the 75th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, who in recent years has joined the legions of leaders lesser minds love to cancel. 

Yes, move over George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln. Make room for the Indian who toppled the British Empire. Make sure you ignore the big picture and only focus on what you consider his shortcomings.

To be clear, there are politicians and celebrities who do dumb, hurtful, or even illegal things. They absolutely need to be called-out and held accountable.

But cancelling the dead because they don’t stand up to modern standards? Continue Reading →

One day, a robot will be president

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About this notion that Americans might one day elect a robot as president … When I was a child, grownups would tell us that anyone could become president. I never bought it until 2016, when a narcissistic billionaire named Donald Trump came along and convinced me that all things are possible.

Given the rapid ascendency of Artificial Intelligence (AI), I got to wondering if Americans might one day decide the best “person” to lead the country might be a robot. Seems far-fetched, I know, but with the right robotic candidate, the hashtag “VoteBot2028” could be a winner. 

But seriously, there’s so much we need to learn about the rising phenomenon of AI. The discussion (argument, really) Charles and I have during the first segment of this week’s program won’t be the last time we tackle AI on the Forum. If you’ve got guests or angles (pro or con) to suggest, please send them my way.
Continue Reading →

Des Moines: Free-Range Egg Capital of America?

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To be clear, the rules in Des Moines on urban farming are way better than most cities. We are grateful for that leadership. Also, we’re grateful that the Council embraced a proposal Kathy and I made in 2020 to establish the Food Security Task Force. Out of that came a promising set of recommendations on how to move the City forward toward greater food self-reliance.

But the momentum has ground to a halt. Perhaps public concern over the increasing price of eggs will change that.

Much needs to be done — and now! More community gardens. Edible plantings in public spaces. Dedicated land for urban farmers. Incentives for urban agriculturists.

For today, let’s focus on chickens, with a goal of making Des Moines the Free-Range Egg Capital of America. This requires thinking out of the box, so bear with me while I crunch some numbers. Then tell me what you think. Continue Reading →