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.
Jim Ross Lightfoot
Former western Iowa Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot says GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin makes an authentic rural connection. She comes off as someone who could be easily forking out a pork chop at a dinner table in any Iowa home, says Lightfoot, a Republican.
In an interview from Texas where he now lives, Lightfoot said Palin, the Alaska governor tabbed as the running mate of GOP presidential candidate John McCain, will resonate with voters in western Iowa. He said she was the “shot of adrenaline” that McCain’s “faltering” campaign needed.
“She identifies as closely with western Iowa as she does to Alaska; a hard-working mother that loves her kids and husband, is not afraid to speak out what she believes is the truth but leaves that sense that she and her husband might just come over for supper some time,” he said.
Lightfoot looks for her to rally pro-life voters that made up a significant part of his base. Lightfoot was a Shenandoah Republican who served in the U.S. House for 12 years (holding true to a belief on term limits).
“Pro-life voters, whether Republican, Democrat or independent have been looking for someone that represents their beliefs and in my humble opinion, Sarah Palin fills the bill,” Lightfoot said. “Her record shows she walks the walk as well as doing the talk.”
Lightfoot also thinks Iowans will be drawn to her “maverick” attitude about government.
“Their are a lot of us out here fed up with the self-serving that has been plaguing Congress for too long,” Lightfoot said. “The place needs shaking up from top to bottom and that includes all the bloated, inefficient agencies that are soaking up money like a desert floor in a rainstorm. To get our government house in order would be the biggest contribution to this country that any president could ever make.”
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