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.
If former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson lobbied for an abortion rights group while still claiming to be personally opposed to abortion, it would be an obstacle to gaining support among the anti-abortion community, according to Kim Lehman, president of the Iowa Right to Life Committee.
The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that Thompson was hired by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association in 1991:
His task was to urge the administration of President George H. W. Bush to withdraw or relax a rule that barred abortion counseling at clinics that received federal money, according to the records and to people who worked on the matter.
Thompson’s campaign has denied that Thompson ever lobbied for the abortion rights group.
Lehman said she was not familiar with the potential controversy and so declined to comment on the specific situation but said if true, it could pose a problem for Thompson. “I think it’s always a problem if they say they are pro-life if they work against life. That’s hypocritical,” she said. “If he was working against life, if that is the case, it would naturally cause us concern. Our goal is to save lives, not to pretend to save lives. If what you’re saying is accurate, then of course that would be a problem.”
Lehman said Iowans who oppose abortion, including members of her organization, will play a large role in next year’s Iowa Caucuses. “Our mission in the caucuses is to help people put a pro-life plank onto the platform and to mobilize pro-life people to the caucuses,” she said.
Lehman said the Iowa Right to Life Committee will not endorse a candidate in the race for the Republican nomination because there are multiple anti-abortion candidates. The organization does, however, oppose former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s candidacy because of his support for abortion rights.
Candidates that drop previous abortion-rights views, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are able to receive support, she said. “It only becomes a problem if [Romney] ends up not following through on his commitment. We support people that turn to the right side. We don’t discourage that at all. … People do become pro-life and that’s our ultimate goal.”
Lehman had previously endorsed Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback for president, and though she had made personal endorsements in the past, the committee recently told her not to support him publicly, she said.
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