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.
On Thursday, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that the all-important Ames Straw Poll will be held Aug. 13, 2011. The straw poll has traditionally been an early marker to gauge relative support for Republican presidential candidates in advance of the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses.
Former Republican Party of Iowa executive director Gentry Collins’ campaign to replace Michael Steele as chair of the Republican National Committee is off to a slow start, with only two delegates lining up to support him, according to a whip count from The Hotline. Of Iowa’s three delegates, only Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn has thrown his support to Collins.
The Senate Appropriations Committee released an omnibus federal spending bill on Tuesday. The bill essentially sets the budget for the federal government to continue operating into the next year, and Congress must take action on it or a similar bill before the end of the year in order for the federal government to keep its doors open after Jan. 1.
The U.S. Senate failed to file cloture on the National Defense Authorization Act, which included an amendment to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s ban on allowing openly gay service members in the armed forces.
Fred Karger is not your typical Republican presidential candidate. He has never held elected office, spending his life behind the scenes as a consultant for other candidates. When questioned on policy issues he will readily admit when he is unsure and needs further research. And there’s the 800 lb. elephant in the room that will define his candidacy: He’s running as an openly gay man in the Republican Party.
No one wants to come out and say it, but a number of Republicans have recently indicated that they plan to mount campaigns to seek the party’s 2012 presidential nomination. None of the statements come as a complete shock — each GOPer in question spent significant parts of 2010 engaged in behavior befitting a possible presidential candidate — but after the midterm election, politicians have been increasingly candid about their intentions.
D.C. newspaper The Hill tracked down former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats to take his temperature on the upcoming 2012 caucus campaign. After finishing second in the Republican primary in June, Vander Plaats organized a successful campaign against the retention vote of three State Supreme Court justices who voted for the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. After the midterms, Vander Plaats took leadership of a new conservative organization called The Family Leader, a group that he hopes will impact the next presidential cycle, he told The Hill.
U.S. Rep. Steve King appeared on MSNBC Monday and insinuated that people will decide to not extend life-supporting medical measures in order to die before the estate tax is reinstated.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) published an editorial on his Campaign for Liberty website Tuesday morning that called on his congressional colleagues to vote against an increase to the national debt limit. Paul, a longtime fiscal libertarian who typically votes against expansions of the federal government, voted against raising the debt ceiling to its current level in February, and was joined by all House Republicans when the party was in the minority.
Political activist and potential 2012 presidential candidate Fred Karger released an ad in Iowa Tuesday. The spot is part of his presidential exploratory committee, and is scheduled to run on local stations for a week.
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