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.
Religious and social conservatives are proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish in the Hawkeye State, especially the ouster of three Iowa Supreme Court justices and their perceived influence in advance of the straw poll. Now they’re poised to take what they’ve learned here and turn it into a national strategy.
In his book “Fed Up!,” Rick Perry called Social Security a Ponzi scheme and said it was unconstitutional, but now that he’s got his eye on the White House, Perry and his campaign are distancing from those statements.
Gov. Terry Branstad’s chief spokesman lashed back Wednesday afternoon at union assertions that a special session was a necessity, asking where such concerns were years ago when state government was controlled by Democrats and undergoing budget cuts.
Republican 2012 frontrunner Mitt Romney has added more Iowa staff, including Gov. Terry Branstad’s former chief and a former president of the Iowa Senate.
Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen will have some competition for his seat come fall. Cedar Rapids attorney Mark Seidl, who unsuccessfully pursued a different House seat in 2008, has thrown his hat into the ring.
Come next fall, there will be more than just television ads pitting red against blue, liberals and conservatives. Activist groups on the both sides of the aisle are expected to battle it out over a judicial bench position up for retention — a position not typically politicized.
A petition continues to demand an apology from Bob Vander Plaats, head of The Family Leader. A gay-rights advocacy group has initiated a boycott of a past campaign contributor. And, if that wasn’t enough, they are being told by a Republican House leader that they’ve jumped the political shark.
Though Gov. Terry Branstad considers Texas Gov. Rick Perry “likely” to enter the 2012 fray, he and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will decline an invitation to Perry’s “The Response” event, which is a day of prayer for the nation predominantly sponsored by one of the groups that funded a push to oust Iowa Supreme Court justices.
When it comes to his 2012 reelection campaign, Mike Gronstal plans to “do what I always do: Reach out the the people I serve, make phone calls and knock on doors.” The strategy stays the same, he says, regardless of his opponents and whether or not their names will be alongside his own on the ballot.
A campaign finance law passed unanimously by the 2010 Iowa Legislature in response to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision has survived legal challenge from the Iowa Right to Life Committee.
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