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.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moodys.com, told reporters on Friday that if the U.S. Senate fails to pass an extension to unemployment benefits soon, the chances the country could slip back into a deep recession become “uncomfortably high.”
Thursday, Senate Democrats once again failed to garner enough votes to overcome a potential GOP-led filibuster and pass a $34 billion bill that would have extended federal unemployment insurance benefits until November. Republicans said they could not support the measure unless it was deficit neutral, saying they would be unwilling to add any more spending to the national deficit.
Zandi said the bill can be paid for when the economy is in better shape. Right now, an extension is just too important to let die.
It would be ideal if the funds for extending [unemployment insurance] benefits were made available, not this year, not next year, but when the economy is back in full swing, unemployment is moving lower. Then, I think it would be prudent that this would be paid for. But, I believe, given the risks, paying for it should not be a necessary condition for passing [the extension] … The risks are just too high.
The economic recovery “remains very fragile,” Zandi said, and not extending the unemployment benefits would “hurt recovery at this critical juncture.”
The Washington Independent’s Annie Lowrey has more from Zandi and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who joined him on the conference call.
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