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.
Two days after praising U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., to Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich, U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, released a statement attacking the lawmaker for an abortion compromise in health care reform.
In order to garner Nelson’s support, Senate Democratic leaders included a provision in their version of health care reform that would allow states to ban abortion coverage for women receiving federal subsidies on proposed government-organized private insurance marketplaces, dubbed exchanges.
The provision also forces women seeking abortion coverage to write two separate premium checks to their insurance company, ensuring that no federal funds pay for abortion services by separating the insurance payments.
Democratic leaders also increased federal Medicaid payments to Nebraska by $45 million over the next decade, which King labeled as Nelson selling out the anti-abortion movement.
“Ben Nelson has traded innocent unborn human lives, a fundamental moral principle, for a monetary concession – set aside exclusively for Nebraska,” King said.
King said allowing states the decision on whether to ban abortion coverage will eventually set up a perpetual battle within the states to “first pass bans on abortion funding, then fight off efforts to repeal or modify the ban.”
And because federal money will go to states that don’t ban abortion coverage, taxpayers in every state will be funding abortion, King said.
“If states opt out, their citizens, through federal taxes, will still be compelled to pay for abortions in other states, just not in their own states,” he said.
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