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.
Republican state Rep. Dawn Pettengill of Mount Auburn was so upset to learn that “so help me God” is not in the oath of office taken by legislators that she has vowed to change the state’s constitution.
Pettengill noticed two new members of the Iowa House were sworn Monday in without the phrase. She told The Des Moines Register that she then asked her staff to research legislative records to find out how frequently over the last 120 years “so help me God” was used in the oath. She found it was used in almost 60 percent of the swearing-in ceremonies, inspiring her to ask for time to speak on the House floor Monday so she could restate her oath with the phrase tacked on.
From The Register:
When asked if requiring the statement from future lawmakers who might not believe in God could be seen as offensive, Pettengill responded: “Well, it’s potentially offensive to me not to have it there. No, not potentially. It is offensive. We can all vote on it and decide if it should be in our constitution or not.”
Civil libertarians quickly pointed out that mandating speech “violates the First Amendment just as much as censored speech,” setting up another constitutional question legislators could get bogged down with during a session that’s supposed to end early to save money.
The issue, as it turns out, is that the chief clerk of the Iowa House was using the Constitution to swear in new lawmakers.
From Radio Iowa:
Pettingill didn’t notice the change last year when all 100 newly-elected members of the Iowa House were sworn in using an oath without the words “so help me, God.” Mark Bransgaard, the chief clerk of the House, says there was no conscious decision to drop the phrase.
“I didn’t have a copy of the oath so I went to the constitution and copied it, unawares that we’ve said, ’so help me God’ in the past,” Bransgaard says. “I mean, we can go back to saying that if the members choose to do that.”
Pettengill has a long history of taking on spur-of-the-moment causes. Back in 2006 (before leaving the Democratic Party to become a Republican) she was inspired by a Christmas shopping trip to sponsor a bill banning the sale of sex toys to children. Under the legislation (which was never brought up for a vote), any person other than a parent would be prohibited from allowing a minor to even see “certain sexual devices designed for sexual stimulation.” A sexual device was defined as “any three-dimensional item designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter