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.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, says he’s proud of what he believes the federal economic stimulus package will provide, but believes more should be done to improve school facilities.
“Thousands of schools across the country run the gamut between ‘in need of repair’ and ‘crumbling as we speak’ and the long backlog in construction needs of local school districts have not been addressed because of tightening budgets,” Harkin said in a prepared statement. “As the president said in his speech last night, funding for education construction is a wise long-term investment and meaningful economic stimulus.”
Harkin cited recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reports on the loss of 613,000 construction jobs between December 2007 and December 2008 while pointing out that school construction, estimated at $16 billion, would create between 270,000 and 400,000 jobs for idle workers.
The Senate’s version of the stimulus bill was passed today in a primarily party line vote of 61 to 37. Three Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats and provide a filibuster-proof majority.
“With this vote today, Americans will know that help is on the way,” Harkin said.
“In empowering ordinary working Americans to take charge of their economic destiny, this package gives people in communities all across America the tools to help pull them out of this recession by their own initiative, their own hard work, their own grit and determination.”
Harkin, as chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies and a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, will remain a part of the process as the House and Senate stimulus packages go into a conference committee. The two packages vary significantly in the area of education, and Harkin has vowed he will work to restore the $16 billion for school construction.
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