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.
In order for Iowa to become the “economic engine of the Midwest,” the Hawkeye State should phase out its income tax, according to GOP gubernatorial hopeful Christian Fong.
It’s a theme he’s returned to repeatedly over the last few weeks, first in a series of town halls, then in a blog post on the conservative Hawkeye Review. And with Fong competing with a crowded field of candidates that includes a former governor, a former House speaker and a two-time gubernatorial candidate, it is quickly becoming the biggest distinction between Fong and his rivals.
“[My father] said, ‘High taxes are wrong because they inhibit personal freedom.’ Done,” Fong told the Sioux City Journal last month. “For an immigrant from China who’s bottom line is about the American Dream, taxation is really a freedom issue.”
Fong promises to eliminate the income tax and pay for the reduction in revenue with “spending reductions, the closing of special interest tax loopholes and the growth of our economy over time.”
Retired Des Moines Register Editor Richard Doak argued against the “taxes make a recession worse” meme in a Sunday column, saying the arguments made by supply-side economists have fallen flat over the years. Government’s provide a service, and cutting that service to the bone in order to avoid taxes is short sighted.
The conclusion isn’t that tax increases are good. It’s that the economy is too complex to be governed by any single factor. Taxes aren’t the be-all and end-all of the economy. Sometimes tax increases are necessary, and those that are won’t necessarily harm the economy. They didn’t in the past. …
… This isn’t an argument for raising taxes. There might be good reasons for Iowa to avoid raising taxes now, but the supposed ill effects of a tax increase on the economy isn’t one of them.
Fong’s position goes much further than any of his GOP rivals. Bob Vander Plaats simply calls for “simplifying the income tax system” and lowering the tax burden on corporate income. Chris Rants’ focus has so far been on reducing property taxes.
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