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. Senate contender Tom Fiegen doesn’t discriminate by party when he attacks politicians he thinks are in the wrong. And Fiegen told The Iowa Independent he isn’t likely to lighten up on Democrats if he’s elected.
“Iowans in the Tea Party are also protesting that Democratic politicians who claim to stand with working people, but then switch sides and stand with their donors and big contributors when they get to Washington. Lying out of both sides of your mouth is not sitting real well with people anymore,” Fiegen said in a recent message to supporters.
Fiegen most recently took aim at Leonard Boswell, a Democratic congressman in Iowa’s 3rd congressional district, and his position on net neutrality.
Boswell recently signed a letter asking the Federal Communications Commission not to make efforts towards preserving net neutrality. Bowswell is joined in that stance with telecommunication companies, which have donated more than $50,000 to Boswell.
“On the issue of net neutrality, Leonard did not vote with working people,” Fiegen told The Iowa Independent.
Boswell is up for re-election in November, but does not have a Democratic primary challenger. Boswell is seen by many to be vulnerable in November and seven Republicans have stepped up for the chance to compete with him.
Fiegen declined to comment on who he would support in the general election.
Fiegen’s campaign for the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has been marked by attacks on primary front-runner Roxanne Conlin. He has said Conlin avoids talking about issues and is unlikely to beat Grassley.
But Fiegen has also recently turned on Bob Krause, the other Democrat in the Senate primary. Last week, Krause and Fiegen used Facebook and Twitter to debate ethanol subsidies.
“One of the things I said to Democrats is in order to change what’s going on we need to call out fellow Democrats,” Fiegen said in an interview. “What I said to them is that if they send me to Washington, one of the things I may do is I may highlight certain Democratic U.S. Senators and Congresspeople who are not keeping their word and who are not representing the people.”
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