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.
While pitching his plan for energy independence, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson called for Americans to sever the umbilical cord to Saudi Arabia. “I would rather create wealth in America and be pro-American than send money over to OPEC countries that don’t like us,” Thompson said.
One problem that has been maddening Thompson is high gas prices and U.S. dependency on foreign oil. “Did you know that every time you go down to the gas station and fill up your tank at $3.25 a gallon in Iowa City, some of that money goes over to Saudi Arabia? And some of that money goes to the sheiks in Saudi Arabia that don’t like us,” said Thompson. “And some of that money that he or she receives ends up in the jihadists’ movement, and they buy bombs, guns and ammunition and put terrorists in war against us in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re funding both sides of the war.”
To help solve this problem, Thompson recommends investing in ethanol, bio-diesel fuel and alternative energy sources. “I would rather send a check to an Iowa farmer than a sheik in Saudi Arabia, who’s going to use this money against us.” Thompson, however, was not willing to completely sever America’s umbilical cord with the Saudis.Iowa Independent: You mentioned that some of our gas money is going over to the Saudis and we need to cut the umbilical cord with Saudi Arabia. What about the exportation of weapons? Right now there’s a $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia in the works; do you think in order for us to become independent, we need to sever this relationship with the Saudis as well?
Thompson: No, I don’t think so. The Saudi government is one of our allies in the Middle East, and we have a military base over there.
Iowa Independent: So how would we keep these arms from falling into the wrong sheiks’ hands, which in turn, may fall into the hands of terrorists?
Thompson: We’ve go to do a better job of using RFID’s (Radio Frequency Identifiers). There’s just too much being lost, not only in Saudi Arabia but in Iraq as well. Some of our troops are getting shot at by our own ammunition and our own weapons that we’ve turned over to the Iraqis. Now they’ve turned them over to the terrorists, so we need to be a much better job of controlling our weapons.
During his stump speech, Thompson also called for a major transformation of the health care system, ci
ting his credentials serving as secretary of Health and Human Services as an indication that he is the best qualified to help make this happen. “I want to make health care more affordable and accessible to all Americans, and I’m fearful if I’m not the nominee and another Republican that doesn’t understand health care is nominated, Hillary Clinton will take them to the woodshed,” said Thompson. “And I don’t want to see Hillary Clinton get elected, and I don’t want to see a nationalized health care which will end up rationing our health care.”
To help make this transformation, Thompson would focus on wellness and prevention, claiming 90 percent of our health care treats people after they get sick. “Our health care in America is based on sickness, illness and disease.” Furthermore, Thompson would focus on better management of people who are severely sick, raise the academic standards for medical school admissions, emphasize e-prescribing, cut down health care administrative costs, and set up a system that would discourage uninsured people from going to the hospital emergency rooms — the most expensive health care system we have in America.
Asked about the current health plan adopted in Wisconsin, Thompson responded, “The health care plan in Wisconsin is `Hillary Lite’ and will cost the taxpayers $15 billion. I want to fix the problem and not defer it to our grandchildren or Hillary Clinton. I want to fix it as a Republican and use the free-enterprise system in order to do it.”
Using his pro-life stance, Thompson took a shot at his GOP rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. “I’m committed to pro-life and have been my whole life,” said Thompson. “As governor of Wisconsin, I signed a bill eliminating partial birth abortion. I’ve always been pro-life my whole career. I didn’t change last year to run for president.”
The implicit jab at Romney resonated with Jim Dane, a Johnson County farmer, who is leaning towards Thompson. “I’ve heard Mitt Romney and although he’s appealing, I’m a little leery about Romney because of some of his conversions on the major issues,” said Dane. “I like what Thompson is saying on the key issues. He has a plan for our troops in Iraq and he knows health care, but I still need to listen to all the other candidates before I completely make up my mind.”
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