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.
Conservatives and tea party activists around the country should be concerned that former Gov. Terry Branstad could return to Terrace Hill this year, Des Moines Christian radio host Steve Deace wrote Tuesday in an OpEd published in the Washington Times.
After ticking through a list of issues from Branstad’s four previous terms as governor that his opponents have repeatedly attacked him for since re-entering politics last fall — from raising the sales tax to legalized gambling — Deace warned that another Branstad administration could have huge ramifications on the GOP’s next presidential nominee.
From the Washington Times:
However, if a big-government Republican like Mr. Branstad wins the GOP primary and is governor during Iowa’s first-in-the-nation 2012 caucuses, just imagine the message that would send to prospective Republican presidential candidates coming to Iowa next year. Remember when moderate Charlie Crist helped moderate John McCain in the crucial 2008 Florida primary that likely delivered the nomination to the “maverick?”
Do you want the moderate establishment that could help elect big-government Mr. Branstad to a fifth term as Iowa governor, giving the advantages of incumbency and organization to a similar presidential candidate in Iowa next year as Mr. Crist did for Mr. McCain?
Deace is outspoken in his support of Branstad’s chief rival for the GOP nomination, Bob Vander Plaats. He also supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. Many observers see the 2010 gubernatorial primary as rematch of sorts from 2008, with Vander Plaats playing the role of Huckabee and Branstad in the role of Mitt Romney.
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