Top Stories

Open letter to readers: Today and tomorrow

By Lynda Waddington | 11.17.11

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.

ACS lockout continues; plan emerges to repeal sugar protections

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By Virginia Chamlee | 11.15.11

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.

Cain campaign: Farmers know more about regulations than EPA

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By Andrew Duffelmeyer | 11.15.11

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.

Mathis wins, Democrats maintain Senate control

Liz Mathis
By Lynda Waddington | 11.08.11

The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.

Press Release

PR: Nation should work to address veterans’ challenges

By Press Release Reprints | 11.11.11

BRUCE BRALEY RELEASE — As US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan ends, it’s more important than ever that our nation works to address the challenges faced by the men and women who fought there.

PR: Honoring veterans, help in hiring

By Press Release Reprints | 11.11.11

CHUCK GRASSLEY RELEASE — A difficult job market is challenging the soldiers, sailors and airmen who have protected America’s interests by serving in the Armed Forces.

PR: In honor of America’s veterans

By Press Release Reprints | 11.11.11

TOM LATHAM RELEASE — No one has done more to secure the freedom enjoyed by every single American than our veterans and those currently serving in the armed services.

PR: Honoring and supporting our nation’s veterans

By Press Release Reprints | 11.11.11

DAVE LOEBSACK RELEASE — Veterans Day is an opportunity to reflect on the service of generations of veterans and to honor the sacrifices they and their families have made so that we may live in peace and freedom here at home.

Iraq War Veteran Turned State Representative Endorses Biden

By T.M. Lindsey | 10.11.07 | 11:38 pm

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware received the endorsement of Iowa State Representative McKinley Bailey, D-District 9, a returning Iraq war veteran. Bailey, 26, is the youngest serving Democratic member of the Iowa State Legislature. Bailey appeared along with Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and explained why Iowans should support Biden for the Democratic nomination for President.

“After returning from serving in Iraq, I quickly grew frustrated by my impression that leaders in both political parties did not understand the fundamental challenges to ending the war in Iraq,” Bailey said in a press release. “When I first learned of Senator Biden’s plan, I realized that was the ticket – a political solution, not a military one. I am endorsing him because from day one, our next president must make decisions on the direction in Iraq and I am convinced Senator Biden has the knowledge and experience to bring our troops home without leaving a situation that requires another generation of Americans to return in a decade.”

Biden noted in a press release, “McKinley is one of Iowa’s most promising political leaders, and I am proud that he has pledged to support my campaign. I am in awe of all that he has already accomplished, including his exemplary work on behalf of his fellow veterans.”

Bailey is a veteran of five years of service in the United States Army. Bailey was a paratrooper with the elite 82nd Airborne Division and led his Tactical Signals Intelligence Intercept Team on more than 100 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the University of Iowa, where he earned a BA in International Studies, McKinley founded and served as President of the University of Iowa Veterans Association.Elaborating on his frustrations with the political parties, Bailey was quick to point his finger at the Republicans and their handling of the war in Iraq. “They did not understand the situation at all,” Bailey told the Iowa Independent. “The strategies they were using when they sent us over was to treat the civilians like a hill that you had to walk over to get to the enemy. That just doesn’t work. Iraqis are an extremely complex culture with lots of different religions, ethnic groups, and beyond that you have tribes, clans and lots of  other divisions. If you want to win, you have to understand that.”

“I work in military intelligence and we sent reports stating that we were going about this all wrong, but we kept getting ignored over and over,” Bailey said during a telephone interview. “I think that the Bush administration still does somehow think that they will one day kill all the bad guys and that will be the end of it. It’s far more complex than that.”

Despite being a Democrat, Bailey was not willing to let his party’s leaders off the hook so easily, in particular those members calling for a quick withdrawal. “Some Democrats are guilty of thinking we can just pack up and leave, and that’s just not feasible,” Bailey said. “There’s a lot of good people in Iraq who are on our side, and they and their families will be killed if we pack up and leave. They’ve trusted us and done everything we’ve asked of them, and we can’t abandon them.”

“We can’t stay there forever either. We have to have a rational and reasonable plan to get us out of there without leaving Iraq in a state of chaos, and that’s where I think Senator Biden steps in,” Bailey said. “When I first read Biden’s plan for Iraq over a year ago, I wasn’t thinking in terms of a presidential context, but I do remember thinking that somebody in D.C. finally gets what is going on.”

Asked what other reason, besides the Iraq war, as to why he’s endorsing Biden, Bailey responded that it’s too hard for him to separate the war from any of the other issues. “This is what really matters to me. I’ve been there, I’ve lost friends there, and ultimately the Iraq war was one of the guiding factors in my decision to endorse Senator Biden,” Bailey said.

Another important factor behind Bailey’s endorsement decision was Biden’s vote in March to supplement the funding in Iraq, which included Biden’s MRAP (Minde Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles) amendment. “When you’re running in a Democratic primary, that certainly was not the most popular vote, politically, and as a legislator, I genuinely appreciated Biden’s courage to vote for what’s right and not what’s politically expedient,” Bailey said. “With Biden as president, I think we will see this courage applied in lots of other areas. I don’t want to sound like a one-issue voter, but I think most of Democratic candidates share fairly similar stances on the issues. It’s Biden’s experience, leadership, institutional knowledge and ability to get things done that separates him from the rest of the pack.”

Elected in 2006, Bailey defeated three-time Republican incumbent George Eichorn by a 10-point margin and represents District 9, which covers all of Wright County and parts of Hamilton and Webster Counties. Bailey is the eleventh Iowa legislator to endorse Biden, including his leader, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines. “We are excited to have McKinley join the Biden team here in Iowa,” McCarthy said in a press release. “His work with veterans as well as his own service to our country will prove invaluable to helping Joe Biden win the Iowa caucuses.”

I’m with Joe: Rep. McKinley Bailey

Comments

  • Steve Fallon

    My Personal President There is but one person in this presidential contest who, though he has many of them, needs no endorsement, who needs neither riches nor popular fame, for these things are but pale substitutes for  a lack of intrinsic value in a candidate for the highest office in the land.  There is but one person whose accomplishments, whose record of leadership and whose core beliefs are greater endorsements of his qualifications than can be weighed in terms of donations given . . . or favors owed.

    The last presidential contest consumed nearly 700 million dollars of this nation’s treasure . . . and what did we get for it?  If things continue as in the past, the current presidential race is expected to consume as much as one billion dollars.  And, so, the question we must all ask is, will that additional 300 million buy us a better leader this time?  Or has throwing money onto the political bonfire become our way of easing the burden of our consciences as we make sacrifices to idols and  blind ourselves to our choices, casting ballots based on little more than gilded images and trembling hope alone?

    If we are to learn anything from the past two elections for president, it must be that the candidate with the most amount of money to throw around is the one to be avoided at all costs.  All that money, all those millions and millions, work as a powerful magnet of seduction,  attracting the glitter of leadership while repelling and excluding all those who cannot, or will not, allow themselves to be seduction’s prey.

    My candidate, my choice for my own personal president, is a man who has served this country with honor and distinction, and over his 34 years in the United States Senate, has gained the respect, admiration and, of most importance, the bi-partisan support of his colleagues and the respect of world leaders that entitles him to present to the American people at this crucial time in our history a set of accomplishments so great as to speak louder and more persuasively than any other kind of endorsement can.  Which, in my view, is the only justification for endorsing a candidate for president.

    My candidate saw the solution for the war in Iraq when others saw only opportunity to pander to those who share their lack of insight.  My candidate is a man who does not mince words, who does not respond to questions with the sort of answers he can later revise to suit a new audience.  He is steadfast in his opinions and  authentic in the ways in which he expresses those opinions.  And in the things he has to say, whether the topic be international or domestic, one can hear the comforting ring of truth as pragmatism tempers the passion and experience he brings to every issue.

    I would never vote for a president I would not treasure as a friend.  My candidate, my choice for my own personal president, is a man who deserves your full attention and consideration, a man who deserves to be called your friend. 

    I join Representative Bailey in proudly informing you that my candidate is named Joe Biden.

  • Mr Bean

    Huh? Is he the son of Mr Bean?

  • Steve Fallon

    My Personal President There is but one person in this presidential contest who, though he has many of them, needs no endorsement, who needs neither riches nor popular fame, for these things are but pale substitutes for  a lack of intrinsic value in a candidate for the highest office in the land.  There is but one person whose accomplishments, whose record of leadership and whose core beliefs are greater endorsements of his qualifications than can be weighed in terms of donations given . . . or favors owed.

    The last presidential contest consumed nearly 700 million dollars of this nation's treasure . . . and what did we get for it?  If things continue as in the past, the current presidential race is expected to consume as much as one billion dollars.  And, so, the question we must all ask is, will that additional 300 million buy us a better leader this time?  Or has throwing money onto the political bonfire become our way of easing the burden of our consciences as we make sacrifices to idols and  blind ourselves to our choices, casting ballots based on little more than gilded images and trembling hope alone?

    If we are to learn anything from the past two elections for president, it must be that the candidate with the most amount of money to throw around is the one to be avoided at all costs.  All that money, all those millions and millions, work as a powerful magnet of seduction,  attracting the glitter of leadership while repelling and excluding all those who cannot, or will not, allow themselves to be seduction's prey.

    My candidate, my choice for my own personal president, is a man who has served this country with honor and distinction, and over his 34 years in the United States Senate, has gained the respect, admiration and, of most importance, the bi-partisan support of his colleagues and the respect of world leaders that entitles him to present to the American people at this crucial time in our history a set of accomplishments so great as to speak louder and more persuasively than any other kind of endorsement can.  Which, in my view, is the only justification for endorsing a candidate for president.

    My candidate saw the solution for the war in Iraq when others saw only opportunity to pander to those who share their lack of insight.  My candidate is a man who does not mince words, who does not respond to questions with the sort of answers he can later revise to suit a new audience.  He is steadfast in his opinions and  authentic in the ways in which he expresses those opinions.  And in the things he has to say, whether the topic be international or domestic, one can hear the comforting ring of truth as pragmatism tempers the passion and experience he brings to every issue.

    I would never vote for a president I would not treasure as a friend.  My candidate, my choice for my own personal president, is a man who deserves your full attention and consideration, a man who deserves to be called your friend. 

    I join Representative Bailey in proudly informing you that my candidate is named Joe Biden.

  • Mr Bean

    Huh? Is he the son of Mr Bean?

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