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.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the GOP’s 2008 Iowa Caucuses, seems to have maintained his interest in the opinions of Iowans. Previous calls from perceived 2012 Republican presidential contender have focused on socially conservative issues, and this one may have been as well, since it asked questions about the supreme court and abortion.
At the beginning of the call, Huckabee provides an introductory statement. The person answering the call is then asked if he/she is a registed voter. In the second question, call receivers are asked if they are aware that Pres. Barack Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court.
From this point the call moves to a more social conservative bent as listeners are asked whether or not they are “pro-life.” Those reporting this information to The Iowa Independent all provided a negative response to this question, so there is no way of knowing if further anti-abortion questions or commentary (or a donation pitch) would result from an affirmative response.
The final three questions are primarily demographic in nature. Listeners are asked if they are over the age of 50, if they are male and if they have ever contributed to a religious organization, a non-profit or a political campaign. In each known case, however, the calls ended without asking for money.
Exact caller ID information varies with some showing “Washington, DC” while other show “Fedrsrch09″ or “unknown.” The number listed remains consistent as 202-461-3454. Although no further details are yet available about who owns this auto-dial service, it does appear to be a different company than the one Huckabee used to phone Iowans in November 2008.
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