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.
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat and outspoken anti-abortion activist, appeared Thursday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America to announce that he and 11 House members would not support the U.S. Senate’s version of health care reform due to their belief it offers a taxpayer subsidy of abortion services.
Iowa Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin shot back on his morning conference call with reporters, instructing Stupak to read the Senate bill.
“Mr. Stupak is, sadly, totally misinformed,” Harkin said. “I hope he reads the bill, and I hope he talks with people here. We have plenty of people who share his philosophy on that who voted for our bill in the Senate. … There is no provision in the Senate bill that allows the federal government to subsidize or otherwise pay for abortions. It is simply not so — and saying it doesn’t make it so.”
Stupak was the author of the Stupak Amendment, which was ultimately folded in the U.S. House’s version of health care reform. That amendment limited access to reproductive services, including abortion, for people who would receive federal subsidies or purchase health insurance through proposed marketplace exchanges. The exact language of the Stupak Amendment was considered by the U.S. Senate, and failed on a 54-45 vote.
Although Stupak is adamant that the language could still be included in the bill if the reconciliation process is used to place it on the president’s desk, Harkin says that process is limited to fiscal concerns.
“You can’t deal with that in reconciliation. Reconciliation can only deal with money matters — saving money and that sort of thing. You can’t deal with policy,” Harkin said. “Abortion is a policy position, not a money position.”
Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services also appeared on ABC and said the current national climate regarding abortion should not be allowed to derailed health care reform.
“This is about changing the health care system to ease the burden on [the] families and small businesses facing skyrocketing insurance premiums,” she said.
Calling the Senate bill “totally unacceptable,” Stupak told George Stephanopoulos that he does not believe there is enough support in the U.S. House for passage. Harkin, however, points to the apparent waning support of the Stupak language and promised that reform would pass — hopefully by March 26.
“I don’t know if Mr. Stupak is right on his 11 votes,” Harkin said. “He had more than that before… but, if he is down to 11, he’s losing.”
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