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.
While he understands why Democrats in the Senate made the changes they have to health care reform legislation, including dropping the public option, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, said their version of the bill is unlikely to pass in the House.
In an interview with Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich, Braley said the bill would have to “improve significantly” in order to garner enough support in the House for passage.
I asked him if the bill has to have a public option to pass the House. He said it has to have “a difference-maker in terms of increasing competition in the insurance market.”
He also said they need more leadership from President Obama and the White House: “I think there’s been great frustration about when the White House and the president are going to set their clear expectations about what it is going to take for them to have a health care bill that meets their criteria for meaningful and comprehensive reform.”
Braley’s comments came after U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told reporters that even if the Senate bill isn’t perfect, it’s a good start and should be abandoned.
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