Fiegen

The following is a statement from U.S. Senate candidate, Tom Fiegen regarding the recent attacks by the Iowa Republican Party against one of his fellow Democratic primary opponents that called into question a multi-million dollar fee she received from a lawsuit settlement.

“Roxanne Conlin has been a candidate for a little over a month and the GOP attack machine is already picking away at her record and her personal baggage. The concerns of Iowa working families have already been delayed by the political games that Senator Grassley plays in Washington. The last thing we need is for another politician’s personal problems taking the focus off the needs of working families and that is exactly what Ms. Conlin’s candidacy is unfortunately doing to this race. For the good of all Iowa working families, I am asking Ms. Conlin to reconsider her troubled candidacy.

“We need to keep this campaign focused squarely on the fact that Sen. Grassley is part of the problem and not part of the solution for working Iowans. We need to get Iowans access to affordable health care and back to work. And we need to make sure this campaign is about building a better Iowa for working families now and for years to come. Iowa families can’t afford any more distractions. It is my hope that Ms. Conlin is sensible enough to recognize that her personal issues, raised this early in her candidacy means she has also now become part of the problem and not part of the solution for working Iowa families.” (more…)

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Released by Tom Fiegen
Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Tom Fiegen, today responded to Senator Chuck Grassley’s prepared statement on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  (Fiegen is a former state senator from Cedar County and a bankruptcy attorney in Cedar Rapids. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2010 election.)

“When we are faced with a problem, like 47 million Americans without any insurance coverage, and the rest of us one pink slip away from losing our health insurance, we have the choice of doing something or doing nothing,” said Fiegen. “Senator Grassley’s statement clearly shows that he is favor of doing nothing.”

(more…)

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Fiegen

Democratic Senate candidate Tom Fiegen on Friday blasted Senator Chuck Grassley after the release of the September 2009 unemployment numbers, with unemployment jumping to 9.8% and the loss of an additional 263,000 jobs.
 
“In Cedar Rapids alone, we have seen the announced closure by Terex, Sealed Air and Midland Forge.  All of them were major long standing employers in the community.   Other major Iowa employers like John Deere, Alcoa and Pella have announced major layoffs this summer and fall.  Yet, Chuck Grassley has not lifted a finger to retain or replace these jobs.  He has truly lost his way,” Fiegen said.
 
“Every day, I meet with Iowa workers and small business owners who can’t pay the mortgage or their insurance premiums while Mr. Grassley has been paid a federal salary of over $4,000,000.00 and collected millions more in campaign contributions from insurance, pharmaceutical and Wall Street fat cats.  He has been one of the insiders in Washington so long that he can’t hear the voices of the thousands of Iowans who have lost their jobs.”
 
“We need to immediately look at a second stimulus bill which focuses a on job creation.  We need to re-examine our trade agreements and we may even need to consider creating a new civilian conservation corp to restore our historic landmarks and national parks to create jobs, “ said Fiegen.
 
“Working Iowans need somebody in Washington who knows their problems firsthand and will work to create jobs for them, like me, not somebody who has been in Washington so long that big money has drowned out the voices of unemployed Iowans.”
 
Fiegen is a former state senator from Cedar County and a bankruptcy attorney in Cedar Rapids. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2010 election. (Information provided by Tom Fiegen.)

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Previous coverage

Democratic Senate candidate Tom Fiegen today issued the following statement following Senator Grassley’s votes against a public health insurance option:
 
Senator Grassley’s votes today are a huge disappointment for many thousands of Iowans who have no hope of having health insurance without a public option.
 
His off the wall comments today are just more of the same distortions and scare tactics that earned him national ridicule when he talked about unplugging Grandma.
 
With a public option, not only will Grandma keep her Medicare, but her kids and grandkids will have a better assurance of health care.

Fiegen

Over 45 million uninsured  Americans and almost 270,000 uninsured Iowans are counting on Congress and the President to provide them with a public option for health care. By his votes and comments today, Senator Grassley is telling those people he’s not on their side. He’s on the side of the big insurance companies who have stuffed his pockets with campaign contributions.
 
Health insurance is also often too expensive even for those who have it, and they’re not getting enough coverage for their money. These “underinsured” Americans need the competition that a public option would bring to the market. Right now, it’s not a real market. Senator Grassley, get out of the way of the market.
 
Health care for all should be part of the social fabric of America. Senator Grassley’s comments show that he is confused about who the predators are in America. It is a shame that Senator Grassley would allow predatory insurance companies to threaten the financial security of so many Iowa families.
 
Fiegen is a former state senator from Cedar County and a bankruptcy attorney in Cedar Rapids. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2010 election. (Information provided by Tom Fiegen.)

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Tom Fiegen

Democratic Senate candidate Tom Fiegen today called upon Senator Charles Grassley to “come clean” with Iowans on his position on health care reform, following revelations that Grassley privately told big contributors that he would work to defeat President Obama’s plan.

“Will the real Chuck Grassley stand up?” Fiegen said. “First we heard about the Grassley fundraising letter asserting his pledge to ‘defeat Obama-care’ which was not the same message Mr. Grassley had been stating publicly. That letter came at the same time the President has tried to keep an open door to negotiating with him.

“Now we learn of his secret fundraiser in Miami where he made the same pledge. What good are Mr. Grassley’s town meetings in Iowa when he’s telling Iowans one thing and telling something else to the big-money contributors from out of state? Whom does he work for? He needs to come clean with the people who sent him to Washington 30 years ago.”

Word of the fundraiser began spreading online during the Labor Day weekend. See http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/05/grassley-secret-fundraiser/

Fiegen said Iowans are increasingly seeing that they have a choice in 2010 — for affordable, quality health care access for Iowans, or for continued big profits for the insurance industry while millions go uninsured. Fiegen also noted President Obama will be speaking to the nation about the issue Wednesday night.

“It might be a good idea to listen to the President before deciding you’re against him,” Fiegen said of Grassley’s position.

“We know Iowans need reform — real reform — to make sure their families can get health care when they need it. We also know that Senator Grassley has given a lot of different signals to different audiences — even to the President of the United States,” Fiegen said.

“The President will know that when Senator Fiegen tells him that he is for or against the President on a given issue, his word will be true. On health care, Tom Fiegen will be there for a plan that assures better access to health care for uninsured Americans and doesn’t break the bank. That’s what the President wants, that’s what Iowans want, and Senator Grassley is blocking it.”

Fiegen is a former state senator from Cedar County and a bankruptcy attorney in Cedar Rapids. He is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2010 election. For more information, see www.fiegenforussenate.com. (Information provided by the Fiegen Campaign)

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Fiegen

Clarence, IA — U.S. Senate candidate Tom Fiegen today said threatening comments against President Obama and other elected officials must stop immediately.

“We don’t threaten the lives of our public officials in America. Period,” Fiegen said in response to an incident at a town hall meeting in Pocahontas hosted by Sen. Chuck Grassley.

At the meeting, one member of the audience took the microphone to denounce and threaten the President. His comments have received widespread publicity today.

“I am appalled at the threat on the life of the President and the intolerance shown by the comments of this person in Pocahontas. All Iowans and all Americans must confront such behavior with the courage and the decency that have made us the great nation that we are. Our leaders must denounce hate speech at every turn, if we are going to solve the many challenges that we face. Senator Grassley showed a lack of backbone when he failed to denounce the man’s hate speech and instead allowed it to fester in the town hall meeting.

“The future of our children, and our nation, depend on civil, truthful and honest discussions.”

Fiegen, a bankruptcy attorney and former state senator from Clarence, is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Grassley in the 2010 election.

“I am running for the U.S. Senate because if we are ever going to achieve health care reform or make any of the other necessary changes needed to rebuild our economy, we have to be willing to stand up and do the right thing instead of kowtowing for votes.”

Story from the Fort Dodge Messenger on the event.

Previous coverage: Tom Fiegen to Formally Announce Bid for Grassley’s U.S. Senate Seat

(Information released by Tom Fiegen)

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Related: Tom Fiegen to Formally Announce Bid for Grassley’s U.S. Senate Seat

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Tom Fiegen

Tom Fiegen will formally announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Friday, August 14, 2009, at news conferences in Tipton, Davenport, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. 

Fiegen, a former state senator, is an attorney and economist who represents family farms and small businesses in bankruptcy court. He is making jobs and financial security for families the priority of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the seat held for almost 30 years by Chuck Grassley.

In his prepared remarks, Fiegen will make the economic issues of full employment, health care for all who need it, and a ban on financial piracy the centerpieces of his campaign.  Fiegen has labeled his economic platform as “Fiegenomics.”

“Before we can solve our other problems, we need to create enough new jobs in America that everyone who wants to work can get a job,” Fiegen said, who is calling for a renewal of the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act.

Fiegen believes that based upon his bankruptcy practice this past year that the incumbent U.S. Senator is disconnected from economic reality, and is more concerned about Wall Street than working Iowans. 

“The incumbent Senator has made the claim that 10 percent unemployment is not really that bad,”Fiegen said. “That might be true if you are worth a couple of million dollars and have had a good-paying federal job since 1975, like Senator Grassley. It is not true for the struggling and unemployed Iowans that I represent.”

Fiegen defeated a five-term incumbent for the Iowa State Senate in 2000. Fiegen, 50, resides in Clarence and practices bankruptcy law in Cedar Rapids. Fiegen has his law degree and masters degree in economics from the University of Iowa, and has also taught college-level economics. 

Fiegen has four grown children and is a member of St. Mary’s Parish and the Lions Club in Tipton. (Information provided by Tom Fiegen)

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