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. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., will make a second trip to Iowa later this year, speaking at a Des Moines event organized by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and the Iowa Christian Alliance in October.
The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition was founded and headed by Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and a veteran Republican strategist.
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. (LAUREN VICTORIA BUKRE/wdcpix.com)
Pence is considered by many to be mulling a run for president in 2012, and the attention he’s given the Hawkeye State has only fueled that speculation. Last July, he took part in a Linn County fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa and a Sioux City fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Steve King. Then in March, he participated via video in an Iowa City rally held on the eve of a visit by President Barack Obama.
Pence’s chief of staff told the Indianapolis Star that the trip was not due to presidential aspirations but rather as part of his duties as the third ranking Republican in the U.S. House.
While the Iowa Christian Alliance is well-known in Iowa, Reed’s group only began last year nationally. In a March speech in Des Moines, Reed told the crowd that for just $500,000, he could help take the control of state government back for Republicans. He called Iowa a “critical, all-important state for changing the direction of the country in 2010.”
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