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.
Calling it a “clear threat to national security,” Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn called on U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, to oppose a plan to house transferred Guantanamo detainees in Illinois.
A nearly-empty Illinois prison near the Mississippi River on the border with Braley’s Iowa district is among U.S. locations being considered to hold 100 detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
President Barack Obama has said he wants to close the Guantanamo Bay facility in January, and if that happens a U.S. facility must be found.
Strawn said Iowans should be worried about the possibility of the detainees being held so close to the Hawkeye State. The House voted to last month against bringing the detainees to the U.S., with Braley voting to support the move.
“These terrorists pose a clear threat to the national security of our nation,” Strawn said. “It is time for Congressman Braley to stand up for his constituents, admit he was wrong, and tell President Obama that these prisoners are not welcome in the Heartland.”
Supporters of closing Guantanamo Bay say the facility and the fact that many of the detainees have been held indefinitely without trial hurts the reputation of the United States. They also contend fears of bringing the detainees to the U.S. are exaggerated.
In a joint statement, David Keene, founder of American Conservative Union, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and former representative and presidential candidate Bob Barr called on Republicans to support the move.
“… The federal prison system has proven itself fully capable of safely holding literally hundreds of convicted terrorists with no threat or danger to the surrounding community,” the statement said. “The scaremongering about these issues should stop.”
A spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, told The Quad-City Times that there are already 350 inmates in U.S. prisons convicted of international or domestic terrorism, including 35 in Illinois.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said the prison, which has sat virtually empty since its construction in 2001, could bring more than 3,000 jobs to the region.
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