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.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, called on congressional leadership Wednesday to step in and resolve the disputes that have stalled the progress of the farm bill.In a conference call with agriculture reporters, Harkin said the two main obstacles for the farm bill involve disagreements on the source of $10 billion in funding for the bill and a “very sharp disagreement between the Senate and the House on whether to include a tax package of several billion dollars.”
“I’m not focused on simply kicking the ball down the field with another short-term extension,” said Harkin.
“We need to chart the course, set the schedule and wrap up the bill. We all know the main sticking points of the farm bill at this point. It’s time for people to come together and get the solutions and get this bill done. In order for that to happen it will require the leadership of this Congress to break the impasse over the farm bill.”
Harkin noted the fact that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., have been working on a resolution to the funding and tax disagreements. “Resolving this $10 billion in funding and the tax issues are really in their court, not in mine,” said Harkin.
Later Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., officially appointed the House members of the Farm Bill Conference Committee. The committee held its first meeting Thursday morning.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, quickly criticized the House proposal brought forth in the conference committee meeting. Grassley issued a statement early Thursday afternoon noting that the House proposal leaves out a tax provision that would benefit young and beginning farmers, as well as a provision that would provide tax relief for disabled and retired farmers.
“If the House really wants a farm bill, they didn’t start out very well today,” stated Grassley. “The Senate made investments in nutrition, energy and conservation all while providing important agriculture tax relief. Not only did the House leave out important tax provisions for young and beginning farmers, they also neglected to include relief from the self-employment tax on CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) payments for the disabled and retired.”
Grassley stated that the House proposal would result in some farmers seeing their Social Security or disability payments being slashed.
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