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. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told the Louisville Courier-Journal Thursday that he is interested in seeking his party’s presidential nomination, but he would only run if his father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) decides to sit the campaign out.
From the Courier-Journal:
“Really, the biggest decision for me is whether my father runs or not,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview after a speech to the Rotary Club of Louisville.
He has said that he would not run against his father, a Republican congressman from Texas. But it could be another story if his father doesn’t run a third time, his previous campaigns coming in 2008 and 1988.
Whatever the case, the younger Paul said it is likely that either he or his father will seek the Republican presidential nomination.
Ron Paul has made several trips to Iowa in the past year, most recently addressing a gathering of home schoolers this week. Rand Paul will make his first Iowa trip next month, when he will headline the Republican Party of Iowa’s annual “Night of the Rising Stars” fundraiser in Des Moines.
In addition to his father’s past and potential future presidential aspirations, Rand Paul has another connection to Iowa politics. The Des Moines-based nonprofit American Future Fund spent heavily in the Kentucky senatorial primary in the hopes of defeating Paul. The group ran numerous TV and radio ads, and even launched a website hoping to discredit the tea party favorite.
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