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.
State Rep. Kent Sorenson, R-Indianola, officially endorsed the gubernatorial campaign of Bob Vander Plaats Thursday, but in doing so he took the opportunity to explain exactly why he wasn’t supporting former Gov. Terry Branstad.
Branstad and Vander Plaats are considered the front runners for the Republican nomination.
State Rep. Kent Sorenson, R-Indianola
“To a lot of you out there in the grassroots, nothing smacks of elitism more than thinking anybody ought to be governor for 20 years,” Sorenson said of the four-term former governor. “I fear that by nominating someone viewed by many as a career politician who hasn’t run a race in 15 years, the Republican Party may end up snatching defeat from the jaws of victory next November.”
Sorenson, a first-term lawmaker who is giving up his seat to run for the state Senate, pointed to comments Branstad made about the “confrontational right” as simply “country club nostalgia for a bygone era.”
“You’re darn right we’re confrontational when our freedoms, traditions, and liberties are being taken from us,” he said. “We need a governor that understands that and will fight the good fight with us.”
He went on to attack Branstad for signing into law “the highest tax increase in Iowa’s history” and for growing government while Iowa’s population remained the same. Ultimately, Sorenson believes Branstad is not different than the current incumbent Democratic governor, Chet Culver.
“Branstad had a lieutenant governor who was for abortion-on-demand, just like Culver,” he said, referencing his choice of Joy Corning as his running mate. “Branstad appointed judges to the courts that take away our freedoms, just like Culver.”
Sorenson garnered headlines numerous times in 2009, first for writing an open letter to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the senior-most Republican official in Iowa, criticizing several of his positions, then for using his Twitter to disseminate false information about national health care reform.
While he is a relative newcomer to state politics, Sorenson has managed to attract lots of support from within the Tea Party movement and other anti-government groups. Last November, Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, held a fundraiser for Sorenson in Des Moines.
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