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.
Former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad stopped in Sioux City Friday as part of his “Comeback Tour,” and several conservatives took the opportunity to press him on issues he’s caught flak for since re-entering politics last year.
Bret Hayworth of the Sioux City Journal reports Branstad faced tough questions about his stance on same-sex marriage, his choice Joy Corning as lieutenant governor and his past support of Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Each of the issues has been used over the past few months to attack the former governor’s conservatives credentials.
The fact that Branstad didn’t mention overturning the 2009 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought same-sex marriage to the state displeased two area Republicans — a middle-aged guy who wouldn’t identify himself other than being a Sioux City Republican and Woodbury County Republican Party Chairman Brian Rosener of Bronson. The first man said Branstad should have included his stance on marriage in the list of priorities. He added that when voters have the chance to vote on gay marriage, it has unanimously (31 times) been cast aside in support of traditional marriage by a man and a woman.
Branstad reiterated that he supports a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and thinks it’s wrong Democratic legislative leaders have refused to let lawmakers vote on the issue.
In an interview with a conservative blog, Branstad upped the rhetorical ante by voicing support for calling a constitutional convention to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling. Every 10 years, Iowans get the opportunity to vote on whether to hold a constitutional convention. In 2000, the last time Iowans voted on whether the state should convene a constitutional convention, only about 32 percent supported it.
Some same-sex marriage opponents have advocated for the idea, saying it is the quickest way to reverse the court’s ruling. But most have concluded that since Democrats will likely control the legislature beyond 2010, Democrats would also control any constitutional convention.
From The Iowa Republican:
Branstad said that as governor, he would offer to preside over such a convention. While groups like [Iowa Family Policy Center] are afraid to explore the constitutional convention option because they concede that Mike Gronstal will remain in his leadership role, Branstad thinks the idea is worth exploring. He also added that, no matter what comes out of the constitutional convention, the people of Iowa still must vote on each proposed change to the state’s constitution.
Branstad also said that while he would not criticize the Iowa Family Policy Center for publicly pledging not to support his candidacy should he win the GOP nomination, he did say he was disappointed in Danny Carroll, IFPC chairman and a former lawmaker from Grinnell.
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