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.
State Sen. Kent Sorenson (R-Indianola), a favorite of Iowa’s evangelical conservatives and tea partiers, told CNN’s Peter Hamby that he will support U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann if and when she decides to the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Bachmann, who is in New Hampshire this weekend and Iowa later this month, is apparently getting serious about a 2012 presidential run, according to sources close to the Minnesota Republican. Hamby reports that her advisers are quietly laying the groundwork for a campaign that would kick off in late spring or early summer.
Sorenson, who garnered headlines recently for introducing so-called “birther” legislation, said he’s firmly in Bachmann’s camp.
From CNN:
Already, Bachmann’s few months of spadework have paid dividends in Iowa. Republican state Sen. Kent Sorenson, a leading Tea Party figure in the state, told CNN he plans to support Bachmann if she runs.
“There is a void out there that needs to be filled,” Sorenson said. “I hope she decides to run. She is somebody that has the credentials to fire up the grassroots. She would be someone who could unite different factions of the party. She is a strong fiscal and social conservative.”
Bachmann is also close with another prominent Iowa conservative — U.S. Rep. Steve King. The two regularly work together on issues, most recently repealing health care reform. And Bachmann even floated King’s name as a possible 2012 contender last year.
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