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.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) reportedly met with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) this morning to tell him and other Finance Committee members that the bipartisan compromise they have been working toward on health care reform may be a non-starter if it ends up losing Democratic votes.
As Roll Call reports this morning:
Grassley’s meeting with Reid comes the wake of the Majority Leader’s decision to more directly insert himself into the health care reform negotiations. Reid on Tuesday strongly urged Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to stop chasing Grassley’s vote on a health care bill, saying that the price for the Iowa Republican’s support was too high because it would cost critical Democratic support.
CBS News picked up the story and, under the headline “Health Care Bipartisanship Falling Apart?”, added some context:
The change in strategy also corresponds with stepped-up efforts from progressives in Congress to put their foot down on what they consider to be critical components of reform, like the public option. Liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has gone so far as to say he will start a “Coalition of the Unwilling” — a group of progressives unwilling to compromise on the public option – formed in response to Baucus’ bipartisan-minded “Coalition of the Willing.”
Yesterday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus sent a letter to Mr. Obama restating that “its members cannot support final passage of any health care reform bill that does not include a robust public plan option, akin to Medicare, operating alongside the private plans.” The CPC is the largest non-party caucus in Congress and has nearly 80 members.
The letter was sent in response to questions that arose yesterday as to whether the Obama administration would be willing to negotiate on the public option, after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel indicated as much in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Obama, however, quickly put out a statement — all the way from Moscow — reaffirming his support for the public option.
The Roll Call story also reports that Reid opposes any plan to tax employer-provided health benefits in order to pay for a public health insurance option. That’s one idea Grassley and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) had mentioned as a possibility to help pay for reforms, but other Democrats in the senate are reportedly wary of anything that could be perceived as a tax increase, especially since President Barack Obama used the idea against Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on the campaign trail last year.
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