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.
Retired pilot Dave Funk fired the first shot of the 3rd District Republican congressional primary Thursday, calling out one of his rivals for aligning himself with “the ‘earmark king’ of the Republican Party.”
Former Iowa State University wrestling coach and GOP candidate Jim Gibbons announced Thursday that former Speaker of the U.S. House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will headline a fundraiser for him in March. The announcement came on the heals of another milestone for the Gibbons campaign — the unofficial endorsement of the National Republican Congressional Committee, who placed Gibbons in their “The Young Guns” program.
There are currently five men actively seeking the GOP nomination to take on incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell. Several other men are also considering a run.
Funk called Hastert’s support of Gibbons a bad omen for Iowa taxpayers. He said while Hastert was the House’s highest ranking Republican the party “lost its way with excessive spending.”
“To be honest, Dennis Hastert was the ‘earmark king’ of the Republican Party,” Funk said. “And now Jim Gibbons has aligned himself with Dennis Hastert and the very philosophy and actions that resulted in our party losing control of Congress, the Senate and the White House.”
Funk has aligned his campaign closely with the Tea Party movement. In fact, one of the key figures in his campaign is Ryan Rhodes, the leader of Iowa’s branch of the Tea Party Patriots.
Gibbons has been embraced by more so-called “establishment” Republican, earning early support from longtime GOP donors like ethanol businessman Bruce Rastetter, real estate developer Denny Elwell and gaming executive Gary Kirke. At the Hastert fundraiser, former U.S. Rep. Greg Ganske will also speak.
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