Dave Loebsack for Iowa Second Congressional District

Background:

Dave grew up in poverty in Sioux City, raised by a single mother who suffered from mental illness. But through hard work and the help of many people in his life, Dave made it to become a well-respected and long-time college teacher who has been regularly called upon by local and national media to interpret political events in Iowa, nationaly and abroad.

At home, Dave has proven himself as a leader in the district -- as a grassroots activist and as a community leader in education, human rights and democratic values. Together, he and his wife Teresa have four grown children.

Dave's adult life has been dedicated to helping people find opportunity and hope. Smart, energetic, compassionate, and pragmatic, Dave will return effective leadership and representation to the district.

Goals:

I am running to return the U.S. House of Representatives to a Democratic majority and to halt the national government's march to the hard right. So long as Jim Leach, a Republican, remains in office, the House will be in the hands of the Republican Party and even worse, in the hands of the right-wing of the party. The right-wing control the agenda and the outcomes of the House. There is no doubt that winning the second district of Iowa will result in winning the U.S. House.

Issues:

I am concerned about the ballooning fiscal and trade deficits since so long as these continue, everything else will be difficult to accomplish.

Second, the pocketbook issues have too long been neglected in Iowa's second district. Here I talking about a host of issues including health care, jobs, education, social security and the environment.

Third, we need to manage more effectively America's role in the world, and not just regarding Iraq. In particular, we need to manage globalization to protect workers from the economic forces in the global economy. This should be done via multilateral negotiations at the WTO and beyond. Then, we need to ameliorate the effects at home of globalization. This means we need to invest more in our citizens as they are affected by the economic and political forces at the global level that are beyond their control.

Grassroots Support:

I am a part of the grassroots. My political involvement has been at the grassroots level.

This campaign will not succeed without the help of committed Iowans who are serious about taking back our national government from the right-wing. Indeed, I would say my greatest source of support at the moment is the grassroots.

DFA Values:

In November 2004, soon after the election, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, including IA-2's incumbent, voted to increase our country's national debt by nearly $800 billion. It was clear to those of us who were watching that this was designed to accommodate the short-run costs of George Bush's social security privatization proposals. This increase in the national debt is nothing less than a "birth tax" on future generations of Americans and ought never have been approved.

Second, our record annual budget deficits combined with unprecedentedly high trade deficits has put the very economic security of American at risk. The combination of these deficits and the resultant accumulating long-term debt means America increasing is being owned by entities outside our borders and has resulted in less control over our own fiscal and monetary policies.

Such deficits have also had significant effects on programs that constitute America's social safety net. This has occurred at precisely the time the right-wing of the Republican Party, through its control of all branches of our national government, has explicitly sought to reduce or eliminate programs that the working poor and increasingly the middle class have needed to make transitions from one job to another.

In addition, we have seen the right-wing do all it can to limit educational and cultural opportunities for all Americans. As we saw recently, only with a concerted grass-roots effort were we able to restore funding for public radio and television.

It is clear that we need a congress that will not simply cave in to the demands of the religious right in America. We need to maintain a clear separation between state and church, especially at a time when the right-wing of the Republican Party is doing all it can to inject elements of their agenda such as the teaching of so-called creation science in the public schools.

Finally, we need to be constantly vigilant that the rights of all are protected in America. Civil rights and civil liberties are always under threat. Discrimination on the basis of sex, race and sexual orientation must be checked whenever it occurs. And especially since 9/11, we must maintain our basic rights and never forget that at the moment we restrict civil liberties in the name of security, those who harbor ill-will against us have begun to win the war.