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.
The Federal Election Commission has officially cleared Leonard Boswell and his 2008 campaign treasurer on allegations that they coordinated with a 527 organization in violation of election law.
The 527, called Independent Voices, attacked Boswell’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Ed Fallon, with direct-mail fliers accusing him of being soft on sex offenders and an opponent of ethanol subsidies. The mailers, which were widely criticized, were just one part of an ugly primary campaign where Boswell focused on Fallon’s party loyalty, sending several mailers reminding voters of Fallon’s support for Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 2000.
Independent Voices was chaired by Red Brannan, an Ankeny Democrat and former member of the Polk County Board of Supervisors. Boswell’s campaign was accused of coordinating the attack ads with the group, which would have constituted excessive in-kind contributions from Independent Voices to Boswell for Congress.
Boswell flatly denied the allegations, and the FEC ruling supports his claims.
“The Commission found no reason to believe that Independent Voices made an excessive in-kind contribution,” the ruling said. “The Commission also found no reason to believe that Boswell for Congress and [Carl] McGuire, in his official capacity as treasurer, violated the Act by knowingly accepting and failing to report an excessive in-kind contribution.”
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