Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Des Moines attorney and former Iowa Democratic Party chairman Gordon Fischer is asking for support to become the next U.S. Attorney from Iowa’s Southern District.
Former IDP Chair Gordon Fischer
In an e-mail sent to prominent members of Iowa’s Democratic establishment and obtained by the Iowa Independent, Fischer asks recipients to “reach out to Sen. [Tom] Harkin on my behalf, with either a letter, or phone call, or (preferably) both.”
In a letter to Harkin dated Nov. 17, 2008, Fischer officially requested to be considered for the position currently held by Matt Whitaker, a Republican from Des Moines appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004.
Fischer declined to comment when contacted this afternoon by the Iowa Independent.
The e-mail from Fischer to Democrats around the state came before an announcement by the U.S. Justice Department Wednesday that President-elect Barack Obama will not demand immediate, wholesale resignations of Bush political appointees and has asked all U.S. Attorneys to “continue to serve for the time being.”
Fischer is a partner with the Des Moines law firm Bradshaw, Fowler, Proctor & Fairgrave, P.C., where he specializes in employment law. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the Southern Illinois University Law School. He led the Iowa Democratic Party from 2002 to 2004.
Though Fischer initially endorsed former Gov. Tom Vilsack in the 2008 presidential campaign, he signed on to Obama’s campaign as an Iowa co-chair months after Vilsack withdrew from the race.
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