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. Steve King appeared on MSNBC Monday and insinuated that people will decide to not extend life-supporting medical measures in order to die before the estate tax is reinstated.
“I am very concerned about midnight Dec. 31 with the estate tax. If the taxes aren’t addressed before the end of the year, will the people that are on their death bed, families gathered around the death bed making life and death decisions by looking at tax liabilities, and that is cruel,” King said.
As part of the deals surrounding the Bush tax cuts, there has not been an estate tax in 2010. On Jan. 1, the tax is set to return the Clinton-era level of 55 percent on estates worth more than $1 million if Congress takes no action. Democrats have proposed raising the amount to $3.5 million before the tax kicks in (effectively, $7 million for couples). But many Republicans have insisted that the estate tax should be completely abolished.
[h/t TPM]
Patrick Caldwell covers Iowa for The American Independent.
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