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.
Gov. Bill Richardson not only pointed to his successes in New Mexico while discussing cancer at the LiveStrong Presidential Forum in Cedar Rapids but called past, broken promises onto the carpet.
“Richard Nixon, in 1971, declared a war on cancer,” he said. “We’re not doing too well in that war. This president wants a surge in the war on Iraq. I want a surge in the war on cancer.”
Citing how the entire national budget for cancer research is roughly spent during a two-week period in Iraq, Richardson described current budget priorities “pathetic.”
“I’m going to talk to you about not only what I would do as president,” he said, “but what I’ve done as a governor.”
During the course of his opening remarks, Richardson pointed to increases in stem cell research, removal of junk foods from schools, requiring physical education for students, providing children with healthy breakfasts and implementing comprehensive smoking bans as a few of his successes in New Mexico. Following his public appearance, Richardson stated that, as president, he would continue steps he began in New Mexico to increase access to the human papillomavirus vaccine.
“Access was increased by providing additional funding to the New Mexico Department of Health, which provided the vaccine on a voluntary basis,” he said.
Additionally, in Richardson’s state, all insurance companies are required to cover the costs associated with the vaccine, the first developed to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases in women.
“[As president] I would focus on an America that is fully committed to bio-medical research,” he told forum participants.”… the American people need to have an president who is on their side.”
In order to find money for what he views as essential research, Richardson says he’d use a multi-faceted approach.
“Nobody asks how much we’ve spent on the war in Iraq,” he said. “That’s $450 million dollars that could go to domestic needs — health care, education and cancer research. I would also make sure that pharmaceutical companies negotiate for lower prices on prescription drugs. I would mandate cost controls on insurance companies that would say 85 percent of your activity has to be direct care. Although I get booed when I say this, I would mandate a Constitutional amendment to balance the budget.”
Corporate welfare, a line-item veto and tying congressional salary increases to progress on reducing the deficit were also on Richardson’s short list of ways he would find money to pay for additional cancer research.
Richardson says the war on cancer should be renewed, however, only if we have competent leadership.
“It should be a war that is not just more research funds, but a war that involves presidential leadership — a war that says let’s end the bureaucracy,” he said. “We need to have a cancer czar or a cabinet-level leader that will lead that fight. That’s the bully pulpit of the president.”
Richardson remains in Iowa over the next few days and returns to Cedar Rapids Tuesday night for one of his patent job interviews at Coe College.
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