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. Bruce Braley
The American Future Fund, a conservative nonprofit group based in Des Moines, tells the Quad-City Times it plans to spend “six figures” attacking incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley.
The group — whose leadership includes prominent Republican activists at the state and national level, including two media consultants who played key roles in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads in 2004 and the Willie Horton ad in 1988 — plans to highlight Braley’s support for cap-and-trade legislation and health care reform.
American Future Fund (AFF) and its sister organization, Iowa Progress Project, are organized under tax code as 501(c)4 nonprofits, meaning they do not have to disclose donors but also cannot expressly advocate for or against a political candidate.
In 2008, the group spent millions on ads attacking Democrats in Senate campaigns around the country. Last year, the group focused its efforts on ousting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and attacking health care reform legislation. Earlier this year, AFF ran ads in the Massachusetts Senate race, and according to a study by by Wellesley College researchers, they also used “Twitter Bombs” to attack the Democrat in that race. Most recently, the group turned its attacks on Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Rand Paul during the GOP primary in Kentucky.
Most of the group’s Iowa leaderhip have close ties to the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Terry Branstad (and previously the 2008 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney). A spokesman for the group said AFF plans to be active in 30 to 40 Congressional races this fall.
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