Alan Grayson for FL-8 - U.S. House of Representatives

Background:

Alan Grayson is a candidate in Florida\\\'s 8th Congressional District, in Orlando. For four years, according to the Wall St. Journal, Alan has waged \\\"a one-man war against contractor fraud in Iraq.\\\" Reviving a Civil War-era law, Alan has filed and litigated numerous lawsuits against Iraq contractors cheating the troops and the taxpayers. The national organization Taxpayers Against Fraud named Alan \\\"Lawyer of the Year.\\\" The Florida Civil Rights Association named him “Humanitarian of the Year.” Alan has testified in Congress four times about contractor fraud in Iraq. CNN called him \\\"a leading critic of the War in Iraq.\\\" Alan won a $10 million jury verdict in a case that the Bush Administration refused to prosecute. Alan is the prosecuting attorney in every fraud case now pending against contractors in Iraq. Alan has been featured on 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News and NPR, and profiled in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and the Wall St. Journal.

Alan also has been active in community affairs. Alan is a director of Florida Senior Programs, and he also serves on the Board of Fair Districts Florida. Over 20 years ago, Alan founded the Alliance for Aging Research, and he has served as an officer of the Alliance ever since. During that time, the Alliance has increased federal funding of aging research by 600%. And Alan has had a very successful business career, being the founder and first President of IDT Corp., a Fortune 1000 telecom public company. Alan lives in Orlando with his wife Lolita, and five children.

Goals:

Alan Grayson is running for office for three reasons: justice, equality, and peace. In his \\\"one-man war against contractor fraud in Iraq\\\" (WSJ), he has promoted all three of these goals. He has advanced justice by holding war profiteers accountable for the harm that they have caused to taxpayers, the troops, and the war effort. He has advanced equality by going toe-to-toe against the biggest corporations in the military industrial complex, including Halliburton, KBR and Custer Battles, for the sake of ex-employee whistleblowers and the taxpayers. He has advanced peace by exposing the fecklessness of the Bush Administration, and its tacit cooperation with contracting con artists and thieves.

Issues:

(1) Ending the War in Iraq, and using the funds that are being wasted there for human needs and progress in America.
(2) Health care and pensions for all.
(3) Sustainable energy and environmental policies, including higher fuel economy, renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions.

Grassroots Support:

Alan Grayson is taking on a four-term incumbent, who has the benefit of all the perks of office. To counteract those advantages, he needs grassroots support. In a previous political campaign, Alan emphasized the \\\"ground war.\\\" Alan had 40 canvassers working full-time, spreading the word.

DFA Values:

Alan Grayson is the winner of the Florida Civil Rights Association\\\'s Humanitarian of the Year Award. Through his own work, he has advanced civil rights, employee rights, the welfare of seniors, and improved health for all.

Alan Grayson also supports the health care for all, improved labor standards, the right to organize, more resources for schools, and justice for all.

Alan has contributed heroically to fiscal responsibility, by holding war profiteers in Iraq accountable for ripping off soldiers and taxpayers.