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.
Two leading conservative Iowa blogs are calling for Idaho Sen. Larry Craig to step down in the wake of revelations that he was arrested in a Minneapolis restroom in June and pled guilty to disorderly conduct charges in August.
As the national scandal builds, the Mainstream Iowan writes:
“Senator Larry Craig Should Resign Because Cruising Johns For Sex Is Unbecoming Of A Married United States Senator.”
Blog Hawkeye GOP focuses on the hypocrisy angle:
More stunning than the stupidity, is the hypocrisy. Craig has been known as a family values guy. He is a married father of three who has been an outspoken opponent of the homosexual agenda. He has a 100% ratings from the American Family Association and the Christian Coalition. (Both organizations are calling for Craig’s resignation.)Rumor also associated Craig with the 1983 Congressional page scandal. Craig was never charged in the incident but it brought down another Republican, Dan Crane. (But not Democrat Gary Studds who continued to be re-elected by his district.)
Apparently there were other allegations about the senator. The Idaho Statesman reports that a gay man claimed to have had sex with Craig in a men’s room at Washington DC’s Union Station in 2004. The paper only published the allegations after Craig’s guilty plea in Minnesota.
At this point, the best thing that Craig could do is resign and let Idaho’s Republican governor, Butch Otter, appoint a replacement and set up a Republican incumbent for the next term. Craig’s problem is not that he is gay – it is that he is a hypocrite.
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