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.
Four of Iowa’s federal lawmakers took cash from for-profit colleges in 2010, but their totals are relatively meager during a push by the for-profit college industry to gain more influence in Washington.
Most notably, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa — likely the industry’s biggest foe in Congress — took $1,000 from DeVry Inc., which owns eight colleges in the U.S. He also took $1,000 from the group in 2002, when he was up for re-election. Harkin’s call for more oversight on private-sector higher education lead the U.S. Department of Education to propose a new plan which would take federal student aid eligibility away from schools like DeVry if their graduates can’t pay off their federal debt.
DeVry spend donated almost $30,000 to federal campaigns last year, mostly to Democrats. The Illinois-based corporation also spent more than$300,000 on lobbying in each of the last two years.
U.S. Reps. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, each took $1,000 in 2010 from California-based Bridgepoint Education Inc., which owns Ashford University in Clinton.
The for-profit college industry has boosted its lobbying efforts since Harkin held oversight hearings last year. Ten of the industry’s top companies spend $4 million on lobbying in the first nine months of 2010, up from just $1.5 million for the same span the year before.
Some politicians raked in thousands from those companies in the last election cycle. ProPublican lists 16 U.S. House members who took cash from for-profit college corporations and who oppose proposed regulations on the industry. Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, was perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the industry’s donation push. He took in more than $30,000 from employees at two higher education corporations.
Follow Adam B Sullivan 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