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 Republican Party should steer clear of infighting and focus on the fiscal issues that unite them, former New York Gov. George Pataki told the Associated Press on the eve of a speech in Iowa.
Pataki was the keynote speaker at the Scott County Republican Party’s Ronald Reagan Dinner Tuesday night, where he attacked Democratic positions on foreign policy, health care reform and the economic stimulus plan.
But in an interview shortly before his address his focus was on fiscal matters and keeping a party struggling with its identity together.
Pataki said too much attention was being given to a congressional race in northern New York, where a Democrat won a seat this month held by Republicans for decades. The Democrat beat a Conservative Party candidate endorsed by high-profile Republicans, including Pataki, who said the GOP candidate was too liberal. She quit the race before Election Day.
That kind of rancor can be avoided, Pataki said, by keeping the focus on pocketbook issues.
“Those are issues that are at the forefront of people’s minds and on which Republicans are united,” he said.
Pataki’s message is similar to that of Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who told a GOP fundraiser Saturday that internal debate is healthy but ultimately Republicans must support Republicans in order to regain political majorities. Pawlenty also endorsed the Conservative Party candidate in the New York House race.
Pataki also made it clear to the AP that it is too early to tell if he will run for president in 2012, a rumor that picked up steam when he announced he would be speaking in Iowa.
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