Maybe George Bush Doesn't Eat?

Now that there has been a bit of time since SOTU, have you noticed what was missing?

Think now. After all, why are we here? .... and now that your thinking cap is on, we'll bet you remember R U R A L.

Not one word did George Bush have to say about rural, Farm Bill, rural development, school lunch, food safety, agriculture or the Bill's many other related subjects on Monday night. We might remember that rural Americans gave George Bush a +19 vote margin over John Kerry in 2004. But we guess he just forgot ... just forgot all 55 to 60 million of us.

Read what some Farm State members had to say at "Bush Silence on Farm Bill Draws Fire," on Politico. Our favorites:

• "To stymie a Farm Bill has real consequences ... The Farm Bill is our (economic) stimulus," reminded Representative Earl Pomeroy (ND).
• "The Farm Bill is the single most important legislation for rural communities," Senator Tom Harkin (IA).

Succinctly, Tom Buis, President of the National Farmers Union said, "I was appalled."

At My Rural America, we are appalled, too. Maybe George Bush doesn't eat?

RFD-TV Gaining in Popularity

Since Patrick Gottsch put RFD-TV back on the air in 2000 from Fort Worth, Tex., the popular television cable network has begun to offer everything rural: farm reports, cowboy poetry, country cooking, classic tractors, traditional country music, polka, trains, rodeos and programs on rural heritage. The network now serves 30 million households in all 50 states and another 20 million homes in Brazil enjoy selected programming via a sister network, Terraviva.

Gottsch, a Nebraskan who was reared in Elkhorn just outside Omaha, actually started the network in 1987, the same year he became the nation's largest private satellite retailer. The network left the airwaves four years later when Gottsch moved to Fort Worth to become sales director for Superior Livestock Auctions.

Since returning to the airwaves, Gottsch's Rural Media Group empire includes RFD-TV, RFD HD that operates from Nashville, RFD-TV The Magazine with 140,000 subscribers, and RFD-TV The Theatre, a venue in Branson, Mo., that features a weekly lineup of popular country and western entertainers from Willie Nelson to Loretta Lynn. The nation's only 24-hour network serving the needs and interests of rural America, RFD-TV pays homage to Rural Free Delivery, the U. S. Postal Service's 19th century mail program for country folks.

"It's always been our goal to connect rural and city," said Gottsch. "It's important for urban-centered people to reconnect with the country. We're targeting an area that's been ignored and our viewers tell us we're right."

According to COO Ed Frazier, a pioneer of local televised sports and founder of Home Sports Entertainment, a large portion of the network's viewers are urban dwellers. "At first, we thought most of the viewers would be from rural areas but, to our surprise, we found 20 percent of them are in the city," he said. "People who have never had an interest in rural America are tuning in and becoming attracted to what we have to offer."

On Feb. 2, the network will broadcast the Fort Worth Stock Show's Sale of Champions, when young entrepreneurs sell their steers, barrows, lambs and goats, according to an article in the Fort Worth Business Press http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=6978

"RFD-TV continues to grow and change broadcast TV as we know it," said Jim Kelley of Superior Livestock Auction. More people are tuning in each year to find out what's new and fun in the country.

New Secretary of Agriculture Sworn in Last Night

Just so you know ... it's official. Vice President Cheney swore North Dakota Governor Edward T. Schafer in as Secretary of Agriculture last night, almost immediately after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moved his confirmation up. The rush was on so that Schafer could attend last night's swearing in as a member of the President's Cabinet.

Everything Old is New Again

One of the best pieces about President's Bush's State of the Union last night begins with "Everything old is new again. In the final year of a two-term presidency, the commander-in-chief travels to the Middle East for a last, legacy-burnishing push to forge a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He reaches out personally to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il to close an elusive deal on the dismantlement of the Hermit Kingdom's nuclear weapons program.

"Archterrorist Osama bin Laden and his Qaeda henchmen continue, meanwhile, to plot attacks against the United States from sanctuaries along the Afghan-Pakistan border. At home, a familiar nemesis from a competing political dynasty is running for president, promising to seize the reins of American foreign policy and dramatically alter the country's post-Cold War course yet again.

"The eerie parallels between 2008 and 2000 ... are striking." The complete story "State of Disorder", by James Kitfield, can be found on National Journal's website.

First Impressions -- State of the Union

President Bush gave his last State of the Union speech tonight. As I watched it, I thought about all the missed opportunities these last years -- missed the boat on global warming, waited around too long on the housing/mortgage mess, didn't seem to even notice our lagging economy until Speaker Nancy Pelosi went personally to the White House to lay the cards on the table ... and sadly, I simply had to laugh about the President's promise to veto what he identified as excessive earmarks.

My laugh ... falling into the category of "Not a laughing matter but doesn't matter if you laugh" ... was because I remembered how the growing number of earmarks never bothered him before -- not last year, not really ever. You can check the record for yourself at the Congressional Research Service, but first, see below for samples of the growing number of earmarks these last seven years. It started with defense but the reality has been that earmarks under Bush have been for literally everything.

• FY 2000 ... 997 earmarks in defense appropriations and 491 in the domestic spending bill
  
• FY 2002 ... first defense bill -- 1409 earmarks (a 40% increase) and 1606 in the domestic spending bill
  
• FY 2004 ... 2208 earmarks (56% more than 2002) and 2036 in the domestic bill

In 2005, there were 3014 earmarks ... a 500% increase in earmarks during just the first term. and that didn't count the Transportation Bill that year (6,371 earmarks) —50 percent higher than all previous years combined. There are also many more these last years and this year ... for the first time, the Congress has begun cutting back the numbers, while this year -- during the cutbacks, the President has chosen to complain.

However, there were bright spots. We're happy that the President has given his word so very publicly that he will support the economic stimulus package that Speaker Nancy Pelosi negotiated. It also seemed like the President was at least a little more willing to work with the Congress on other matters, too. Our country needs a new spirit of bipartisanship, and maybe ... hopefully ... tonight be part of a new start. Over the next several days, readers may expect us to share various national viewpoints on how the President did. We'll talk about the ongoing wars, too ... just $1,000,000,000 a day.

New Secretary of Agriculture -- Official Soon

On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture held a hearing on President Bush's appointment of former North Dakota Gov. Edward T. Schafer for Agriculture Secretary. It can be expected that Mr. Schafer will be confirmed soon but meanwhile, we thought you might get a kick out of Senator Saxby Chamblis' comments, “Ya’ll don’t grow many of these in North Dakota,” said the ranking Republican on the Committee with a laugh as he pulled out a small bag of peanuts.

“And I hope you don’t start growing any of these in North Dakota,” Chamblis continued, his voice trailing off with a long list of crops the state already produces. As the Jamestown Sun reported the story, Mr. Chamblis was more than just a little "sarcastic" but you can judge for yourself at Humor Part of the Process.

Senate Ag Chair Tom Harkin officiated over the hearing, but Rep. Earl Pomeroy had the last laugh when he tried to emphasized Shafer's understanding of disaster assistance. "We call him the disaster governor," he said, "Not because he was a disaster, but because during those eight years, North Dakota seemed to have nothing but."

At My Rural America, we hope that disaster won't follow Mr. Schafer to Washington.

TImely, Targeted and Temporary

My Rural America congratulates House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her leadership ... for taking things in her own hands ... and going the extra mile to negotiate with President Bush. The result -- a $150 billion package which will put immediate (think May or June) money into the people who need it the most, should be considered a very serious step in the right direction toward right-ing an almost backwards economy whose symbols have been the sinking dollar, a shrinking middle class, and a big rise in everyday household needs as well as business inputs.

On our list of good things about the stimulus package:

• The package meets the three "T's" ... timely, targeted and temporary ... all essential requirements for effective economic stimulus actions that economists say are the most effective short term tools for starting up a stalled economy.
• Ms. Pelosi's actions have put the Republicans to abandon their push to make Mr. Bush's 2001 tax cuts permanent.
  
• Her action also stopped the rebates ($600 per individual, $1200 per family) from benefiting high income households.

Perhaps best of all is the fact that this stimulus tax package is simple. It really is a compromise not only by the President but also by some traditional Democrats who would have liked to add more items, and more cost, to the package, so NO--permanent tax cuts for the President and NO--extra food stamps or lengthened unemployment assistance for Democratic supporters.

Monday night -- January 28th, is the President's State of the Union. We're glad he's agreed to the tax stimulus package but it will be interesting to watch him talk about the economy, i.e., our economy that has so long been ignored by this President.

Note here: The economy has been more that just "a little bit" stalled for quite awhile. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and many Democrats in both the House and the Senate have publicly worried about the direction the economy has been going for almost a year now. Among the warning signs: people balancing multiple jobs to make ends meet, the ever increasing cost of oil, the up-and-down stock market and the home mortgage crisis.

There are many good stories available about the tax stimulus package and actions leading up to it, but three of our favorites are the following: "Tax Stimulus Package May Come by Mid-May" by Julie Hirschfield Davis (Washington Post 1/27/08); "For Speaker, Calculated Stimulus Steps" by Carl Hulse (New York Times 1/27/08), and; "Bush's Legacy - Weak Economy Moves Up Front" by Sheryl Gary Stolberg (New York Times (1/27/08).

Iraq -- Progress or Not?

This is to share with you two recent news stories that feature perspectives on the war. The first is "Surge to Nowhere" by Andrew J. Bacevich. He's got a new book coming out soon that will be called The Limits of Power.

Bacevich says, "As the fifth anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom nears, the fabulists are again trying to weave their own version of the war. The latest myth is that the "surge" is working."

Long story short, Bacevich makes it clear that once again, the President's press people are better at spinning tales about "winning" than they are about solving the Iraq situation. And the only real result of this surge is likely to be extending the war so that the next President can deal with it.

Since rural soldiers are dying at a 60% higher rate (Carsey Institute Study) than are soldiers who come from urban areas, we've got an especially high stake in this war ... so we urge you to read carefully about the surge.

On a more political note, see also "War, Meet the 2008 Campaign" by Michael R. Gordon. In short, we see Republicans in favor a long slog ... McCain even has said that slog might last as long as 50 years. In contract, we see Democrats promising carefully ... all with a goal of getting our men and women home while giving the Iraqi's responsibility for their country.

Meanwhile, the war is costing $1 billion a day ... yes -- one billion dollars per day! Meanwhile, our economy continues to become more troublesome.

So What's an Oversight Hearing? And Why Should I care?

The easiest way to define "Oversight Hearing" is to say that it is a meeting called by a House Congressional Committee to review or investigate a problem or program. Often, a hearing is called to evaluate a law's implementation after citizens have complained to their locally elected officials.

Congress writes the laws. The President signs them into law and then the Executive Branch of Government (which the President is in charge of) implements each piece of legislation. Afterwards, the Congress is charged by the United States Constitution to make sure that the laws ...written and passed by Congress and signed and administered by the President ... are implemented as intended.

My Rural America's Blog is here in part because we know these are difficult issues for local "low resource" news media to keep track of, so if you're a new reader .... you can expect us to draw your attention to "Oversight" fairly often since at My Rural America we believe that citizens who take the time to educate themselves become the most responsible voters.

For example, in 2007 we highlighted problems at the Veterans' Administration (VA) as it failed to take care of veterans "coming home" issues during this time of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. One of the more recent hearings covered the VA's failure to deal with the rising rate of suicides from soldiers returning from the wars. The record can be found at the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Officially, the "Oversight" system is a "check and balance" created by our U.S. Constitution to make sure that all three branches of government watch over each other to make sure that our government works properly and that our government remembers it is there to serve us -- its citizens and voters.

A quick way to learn more about the "jargon" that Congress and the President use when they talk about legislation is to click here: Glossary of Terms. It's a companion piece published by the New York Times to assist its readers watch our government more closely.

Could Congress Be Waking Up?

Could Congress Be Waking Up? The New York Times Op-Ed section has asked this question and so should we.

The Times' evaluation shows that this new Democratic Congress has made some serious progress in its first year, but still public opinion polls have registered the Congress almost as low as they do the President. In terms of measurable progress, House and Senate Democrats count ethics and lobbying reform and reining in earmarks as two of their best accomplishments.

In fact, earmarks have dropped by half -- from $29 billion to $14.1 billion. The reform bill has passed and is implemented. Perhaps more important to this writer ... and to citizens all across the country, Congress is again using its Oversight Authority to keep a watchful eye on the Executive Branch.

Although some would say the Times' article is just a little bit boring, it's worth reading and really belongs in our arsenal of information to prepare us for decisionmaking on Election Day '08.