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.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said Wednesday that he will vote for President Barack Obama’s $900-billion economic stimulus bill if an amendment providing low-interest mortgages is added.
“We have an alternative of 4 percent mortgages for 30 years, fixed,” Grassley said, adding: “If this is adopted, I will vote for it, regardless of what else is in the bill.”
Grassley has said the bill is too loaded down with long-term, wish-list spending. However, an emphasis on housing, like the 4 percent mortgage rate plan, would sway his vote.
Iowa’s senior senator has been targeted, along with handful of other Republican senators, by an ad campaign by a group of progressive and labor organizations asking voters to contact him to urge him to support the Obama plan.
The bill passed the U.S. House last week without a single Republican vote. It is currently being debated in the U.S. Senate.
“People at the grassroots see it as a lot of spending and not very much stimulus,” Grassley said. “Somebody thinks they’re fooling the people of this country with this package, but they aren’t.”
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