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. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has signed on to an amendment to health reform legislation that would make it legal for U.S. consumers to buy prescription drugs from other countries.
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa (Lauren Victoria Burke/WDCPIX.COM)
“I’ve always considered this a free-trade issue,” Grassley said. “Imports create competition and keep domestic industry more responsive to consumers. If Americans could legally access prescription drugs outside the United States, then drug companies would be forced to re-evaluate their pricing strategy. The pharmaceutical industry would no longer have free rein to force American consumers to pay more than their fair share of the high cost of research and development.”
Grassley joined a bipartisan group of 19 senators in sponsoring the amendment, which could be debated Wednesday. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the legislation would save $19.4 billion over the next 10 years.
The Associated Press reports that President Barack Obama’s administration is raising safety concerns about the idea, which could be a roadblock to its passage. Opponents argue that unsafe or ineffective drugs could find their way to American consumers.
Grassley said the legislation contains safeguards to prohibit counterfeit drugs from entering the system or other practices that would put the consumer at risk, and applies only to FDA-approved prescription drugs produced in FDA-approved plants from countries with comparable safety standards.
As a senator, Obama supported an earlier version of the bill, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was a leading advocate of drug reimportation when he was in the House.
Pharmaceutical companies also stand in opposition to the plan, which some predict could cost them billions of dollars.
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