"War's Stresses Take Toll on Military's Chaplains"

The New York Times reports from Killeen, Texas that, "War's Stresses Take Toll on Military's Chaplains." We share this story as a reminder ... Monday was Memorial Day and a time to honor our nation's soldiers. As the story reports, there is much more to appreciate, to learn about and to change so that we truly honor our soldiers and those who take care of them as they return, including how we:

1. Manage health care services to our Veterans.
2. Make decisions about going to war and/or staying in war.
3. Understand the difference between war, occupation and "giving" people democracy.
4. Move forward to repair the damage done to our economy by borrowing money from China.

We can expect it to be a continuing challenge about how to take care of our veterans when they return. PTSD and unprecedented serious injuries will require both patience and resources. A related continuing challenge will be how to rebuild a new, strong economy that includes both good jobs and the resources necessary to take care of our soldiers and our nation's other needs, too. As we approach the November elections, it also becomes increasingly important to consider the trade-offs about how our nation spends our money, e.g.,

• OHIO's taxpayers paid $4.4 Billion for the Bush tax cuts benefiting the richest 10 percent in FY2009. For that kind of money, they could have paid for:
• One year's health care for 1,555,685 people.
  
• For more Ohio trade-offs, go here.
• NEW MEXICO's taxpayers paid $397.7 Million for the Bush tax cuts benefiting the richest 10 percent in FY 2009. They could have paid for:
• 92,839 scholarships for NM's kids to go to college.
• For more New Mexico trade-offs, go here.
• IOWA's taxpayers paid $841.2 Million for the Bush tax cutes benefiting the richest 10 percent of US citizens in FY 2009. They could have paid for:
• 946,483 homes to have renewable electricity for one year.
• For more Iowa trade-offs, go here.

Clearly, Memorial Day is only one day a year, but for those of us who want to honor our veterans, we must find a way to make the wise decisions necessary to honor our returning veterans and also their families with jobs, health care and more opportunities.

Minnesota Caregivers Fight Against Proposed Bush Medicare Cuts

Medicare cuts proposed by the Bush administration would be most damaging to rural providers and caregivers, prompting caregivers and providers in Minnesota to fight back this week. Minnesota’s rural nursing homes would lose $11.57 per patient day – or $3.7 million annually – under the administration proposal, according to the American Health Care Association (AHCA).

AHCA data shows that the proposed regulatory action, introduced May 1 to correct a “forecasting error,” would slash $133 million nationally in Medicare Part A funding for rural seniors during the next fiscal year. This comes at a time when rising energy, food and labor costs combine to hit rural providers particularly hard, threatening care for rural seniors and endangering the jobs and employment bases of rural communities.

Besides Minnesota, other rural states that would take the biggest hits – based upon loss of per-patient-day cuts – include Ohio, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois and Texas.

With a decision on these proposed Medicare cuts to be determined within the next several weeks, long term care advocates in Minnesota are urging their federal lawmakers to ensure that these cuts that would hurt seniors and the facilities which care for them are not an option.

“We plan on ensuring federal lawmakers are acutely aware how spiraling costs, in conjunction with these proposed Medicare cuts, will undermine nursing homes on an operational basis, and jeopardize seniors’ care needs on a clinical level,” said Alan Rosenbloom of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care. “On virtually every front, America’s skilled nursing facilities are facing budget cuts and cost increases, and it is time to sound the alarm.”

"The Traveling Taps Bridgade"

Memorial Day. Remember how we used to call it "Decoration Day"? It was a time of true remembrance and honor for our nation.

But times change. Now, the Department of Defense (DOD) policy calls for keeping the deaths of our soldiers, lost in the Afghan War and the Iraq Occupation, a secret. No pictures are allowed at Dover, DE's airbase, the place that our fallen sons and daughters first touch soil in their caskets.

It's a very sad thing, certainly because of the loss each family and our country faces when we lose an individual soldier and also a loss for our democracy as a whole, i.e., it's also a sort of "catch 22", i.e., our sons and daughters are sent to war, or volunteer to go to war, to defend democracy.

But DOD's secrets, as required by President Bush and supported by John McCain, actually result in a weakening of our democracy, since voters ... in order to make wise decisions at the polls ... must arm themselves with all kinds of information about how our nation is doing, including why the wars began, why they continue and more. Without accurate information or at a minimum the ability to access both the good and the bad, it means that voters have a tougher time making the wise decisions necessary to protect our great democracy.

One person who has felt the call to make the news public and to honor our almost 4000 lost soldiers is Joe Baldo of Maryland:

"At the age of 71 ... retired and in the twilight of his life, he shuttles from cemetary to cemetary across Maryland. And
everywhere he goes, he takes three pairs of white gloves, his meticulously pressed Air Force uniform and, in the back seat of his car, his 1933 Bach Stradivarius trumpet. For 27 years, Mr. Baldo devoted his trumpet to his country ... day after day sounding taps at Arlington Memorial Cemetary for soldiers funerals. "

Now, every day -- all across Maryland, he spends his days driving from funeral to funeral, playing his trumpet for our nation's fallen soldiers. Read more of the Washington Post's story here.

We each need to do our part, too. One way to do it is to make your own personal pledge to learn more about the decisions that paved the way to more than five years of war for our nation and the undue burden our rural sons and daughters are carrying in the war, so today -- Memorial Day 2008, in honor of our rural soldiers, we share the following "extra" reading.

• "Rural Death Rate Higher Among Soldiers from Rural Areas" -- by the Carsey Institute, University of New Hampshire. Also available in podcast from the Center for Rural Strategies.
• George Bush's Deep Reasons for War in Iraq: Oil, Petrodollars and the OPEC Euro Question
• Reasons Not to Invade Iraq by George Bush, Sr.
• US Military to Probe Propaganda Effort
• Honoring OurVeterans on Memorial Day by the Center for American Progress

This last story is a critical read. It tells the story by the numbers -- who our veterans are, how many new veterans we have, and more about how they live with disabilities and how our nation meets their challenges on mental health and homelessnews.

Bush Vetoes Farm Bill

George Bush vetoed the Farm Bill today ... just like John McCain wanted. Bush -- McCain ... always the same. Meanwhile, we've been getting some comments that skipped our usual blog system, so this is to share one whose perspective by "MRA Reader, Nelson" seems particularly relevant since it makes clear the difficulties of trying to talk budget sense with the White House.

"President Bush's threat to veto the Farm Bill because it is too expensive is ironic.

"Why ironic ? Well, not just because the President's motives are really political. After seven-and-one-half years, no one is going to buy the argument that this President is concerned about the cost of anything that he sticks the taxpayers with. Compare, for example, the cost of this Farm Bill to the price that Americans are paying for the Iraq War.

"Rather it is ironic because the threat of a veto actually raised the price tag that the Farm Bill must carry.

"Quite a few months ago a Congressional majority (mostly democrats, but plenty of Republicans, also) more or less had the outline of a Farm Bill that they believed the country needed. But, plenty of Republicans (and more than a few Democrats) were denied goodies for their constituents. So, these "exclude-niks" sent their constituents' lobbyists to the White House to ask the President to please, please, pretty-please threaten a veto. The effect that a veto threat would have would be to force the Bill's managers to go back to the excluded Members and
agree to add costly goodies, thus "buying" those Members' votes.

"How many votes did they have to buy ? Why, the difference between a ordinary majority (50% plus 1 vote) and a super majority (two- thirds). That's a lot of votes -- and a lot of dollars. But, what's a few billion more or less to this President.

"So, after successfully jacking up the cost of the Farm Bill by a bag full o'billions (by issuing the threat during the negotiations), why did this President actually go ahead and veto the porker of a Farm Bill that he prodded Congress into creating when he knew that they would override the veto in a heart beat?

"Who knows ? Maybe the boy just wanted to have some fun!"

Nelson

The Need for a New GI BIll

Although most of the talk this week is about the Farm Bill, there is news on other subjects, too. In this case, we think its pretty cool that the people of Virginia did our country a great favor when they elected Jim Webb (D-VA) to the U. S. Senate two years ago. Webb, a former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, is the junior Senator from Virginia and his bill -- the 21st Century GI Bill, is one to be treasured. An easy way to find it is to click on Webb's Senate web page.

See below for what various news sources are saying about it.

• "Michael's Mind" -- The Need for a New GI Bill, Houston Chronicle -- Texas
  
• Georgia Democrat's criticize McCain on GI Bill, -- Georgia
  
• GI Bill Is Long Overdue for Expansion, The News Tribune -- Washington (state)
• CBS' Smith: Senator Jim Webb "the least political person I know", Newsbusters
  

An excerpt from Webb's new book also appeared in Sunday's PARADE magazine. We found it worth reading and we hope you do, too.

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_05-18-2008/1What_It_Takes_To_Be_a_Leader?prnt=1

Webb and co-sponsor Senator Chuck Hagel's (R-NE) 21st Century GI Bill offers our sons and daughters who are soldiers in the ongoing Afghan War and Iraq occupation the same kind of educational benefits that our WWII and Korean War veterans got. Once again, it's another thing that Senator McCain and President Bush oppose.

McCain does have an alternative bill which -- no surprise here -- is supported by President Bush. Essentially, the difference is that the McCain/Bush bill sweetens the pot for keeping our GI's in the military but opposes benefits that might make it easier for our soldiers once they exit the military.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and our soldiers have now fought in ongoing wars for longer than WW II. If you think our soldiers should get the same kind of benefits as they leave the military that our previous veterans did, we would suggest you let your representatives know.

Find your Representative.
Find your Senators.
Contact the White House.

Poll: Rural Voters Not Reliably Republican in 2008

The Center for Rural Strategies, a Kentucky-based rural think tank lead by Dee Davis, has partnered with Greenberg-Quinlan Research and Greener-Hook Research to poll rural voters on how the presidential candidates are doing. The result showed Clinton and McCain tied, with each getting 46% in the poll. Obama did less well, running nine points behind McCain.

However, Alan Abramowitz, a political scientist at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, says "This poll is more good news than bad news for Obama, because he's only losing rural voters by nine points. ... He's pretty well-positioned to do very well in these swing states."

NPR reports that the survey took place the week of May 13-15 with 682 phone call to citizens in non-metropolitan counties in 13 "battleground" states (New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada).

54% of those surveyed agreed with the statement: John McCain has served his country honorably but he does not seem to understand my economic problems.

Farm Bill Passes Senate -- Again with Veto Proof Margin

The Senate has passed the conference report, 81-15 -- a margin comfortably above the two-thirds majority needed for an override. The bill is expected to go to the White House next Tuesday.

Senate Ag Chair Tom Harkin said his priorities for the bill were not just his but also national priorities,

"including ensuring strong farm income protection, investing in nutrition, ramping up renewable energy production, supporting conservation, and promoting rural economic development."

More detail on these priorities is available here .

Whew!! 318 Votes for the Farm Bill

Tonight the Farm Bill passed with 318 votes and strong support from both sides of the aisle. 318 votes is a veto-proof margin. Tom Buis, President of the National Farmers Union, said more than 500 organizations advocated for the Bill.

Recognizing that the Bill isn't a perfect one, Buis admitted that this has been the most difficult time in which to write such legislation, saying, "The budget rules reflect higher commodity prices, which gives you less money to write a farm bill with, and number two, the federal government is in a sea of red ink."

Buis also told the the Public News Service that the bill "benefits rural communities, urban communities and everyone in between, with record increases in nutrition, conservation, specialty crop, rural development and renewable energy programs." The bill goes to the Senate next where Senator Tom Harkin chairs the Ag Committee.

Supporters of the Bill include: ACORN, Agricultural Retailers Association, Agri-Mark, Inc., Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Alliance for Children and Families, Alliance for Rail Competition, America's Second Harvest, American Agriculture Movement, American Agriculture Movement of Arkansas, American Association of Crop Insurers, American Beekeeping Federation, American Commodity Distribution Association, American Corn Growers Association, American Sheep Industry Association, American society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, American Soybean Association, Annunciation Church Food Pantry (NY), Arizona Community Action Association, Association of Arizona Food Banks, Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, Blue Mountain Action Council (WA), Bradley Food Pantry (NJ), Bread of Life Ministries of AR, Inc. (AR), California Association of Food Banks, California Food Policy Advocates, Campaign for Contract Agriculture Reform, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Stockton (CA), Center for Civil Justice (MI), Center for Public Policy Priorities (TX), Central Utah Food Sharing, Channels Food Rescue (PA), Children's Alliance (WA), Children's Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (MA), Collaborative Center for Justice (CT), Colorado Anti-Hunger, NetworkColorado, Anti-Hunger Network Community Action Partnership (DC), Community Action Services and Food Bank (UT), Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Community Services of Moses Lake, Inc. (WA), Comstock Community Center (MI) ,Congressional Hunger Center, Connecticut Association for Human Services, Connecticut Food Bank, Connecticut Food Policy Council, Conquer Hunger And Needy Together (CHANT), (NJ) Corporation for Enterprise Development, Covenant Soup Kitchen (CT) ,CT AIDS Resource Coalition (CT), CT Association for Community Action (CT) , Daily Bread Soup Kitchen (NY), Dairylea Cooperative Inc., Dare To Care Food Bank (KY), Denver Urban Ministries, Desert Cities Hunger Action (CA), East Side Soup Kitchen (MI), Emergency Food Bank Stockton/San Joaquin (CA), Emergency Food Network of Tacoma/Pierce County (WA), End Hunger Connecticut! EOC Direct Services (CA), FACES NY Inc. (NY), Families USA, Family Promise of Monmouth County (NJ), FareStart (WA), Farm Credit Council, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, FB of Northeast Louisiana, Feed My People (MO), Ferris Counseling Services (MO), First Presbyterian Church (LA), Florida Impact, Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo Co. (CA), Food Bank Council of Michigan, Food Bank For New York City, Food Bank of Alaska, Food Bank of Central New York, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Food Bank of North Alabama, Food Bank of Northeast LA/Americas Second Harvest Food Bank of San Luis Obispo County (CA), Food Lifeline (WA), Food Research and Action Center FoodChange (NY), Forgotten Harvest (MI), Fremont Public Association (WA), Georgia Rural Urban Summit Gleaners, Community Food Bank of SE Michigan, Good Samaritan (MI), Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Harvest Hope Food Bank (SC), Hope-Net (CA), Houston Food Bank, HRC Food Bank, Serving Calaveras County (CA), Hunger Solutions, Minnesota Hunger Task Force (WI), Illinois Hunger Coalition, Imperial Valley Food Bank (CA), Independent Community Bankers of America, Independent Cattlemen's Association of Texas, Interfaith Council of Amador (CA), Iowa Farmers Union Iris House, Inc. (NY), James Weldon Johnson Head Start (NY), Jewish Community Council of Washington Heights (NY), Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Family & Children's Service (MO), Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes (MI), Kansas Farmers Union, Kenai Peninsula Food Bank (AK), Kingsley House (LA), KY Task Force on Hunger, Let Justice Roll (IL), Lifelong AIDS Alliance (WA), Local Food Dude (CT), LUNCH Program (LA), Lutheran Office of Public DE, Advisory Committee (DE), MACC Charities (CT), MANNA (TN), MANNA FoodBank (NC), Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers, MAZON--A Jewish Response to Hunger (CA), McClendon Center (DC), Mel Trotter Ministries (MI), Mercer Street Friends Food Bank (NJ), Michigan Farmers Union, Midwest Dairy Coalition, Migrant Legal Action Program (DC), Minnesota Farmers, Union Minnesota, FoodShare, Mississippi Contract Growers Association, Missouri Association for Social Welfare, Montana Farmers Union, MSUE Oakland County (MI), National Association of Counties, National Association of Farmer Elected Committees, National Association of Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, National Association of Social Workers (CT), National Barley Growers, Association National Biodiesel Board, National Bison Association, National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NY), National Center on Poverty Law (IL), National Council of Jewish Women, National Farmers Organization, National Farmers Union, National Milk Producers Federation, National Priorities Project, National Sunflower Association, Nebraska Farmers Union, New Mexico Voices for Children, North Dakota Farmers Union, Northeast Dairy Farmers Cooperatives, Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship, Northwest Harvest (WA), Northwest Settlement House (DC), NYC Coalition Against Hunger, Oceano Community Center (CA), Office of Kentucky Legal Services Programs (KY), Operational Emergency Center (WA), Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force, Partners in Ending Hunger (ME), Pennsylvania Association of Regional Food Banks, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Pennsylvania Farmers, Union Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center, Protecting Arizonas Family Coalition (AZ), R-CALF, USA Redwood Empire Food Bank (CA), Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, Ricebelt Warehouses River Bend Food Bank (IL), Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Room at the Inn (MO), Rural Coalition/Coalicion Rural Rural Community Insurance Services, San Luis Obispo County YMCA (CA), San Luis Obispo Food Bank Coalition (CA), School Nutrition Association, Second Harvest Food Bank of Lehigh Valley and NE Pennsylvania, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, Seward Senior Center (AK), Share Our Strength (DC), Shriver Center on Poverty Law (IL), Slow Food Utah Solid Ground (WA), South Dakota Farmers Union, South East Dairy Farmers, Association Southern Peanut Farmers, Federation Soybean Producers of America, St. Albans Cooperative Creamery Inc., St. Mary's Food Bank (AZ), St. Vincent de Paul Society (NJ), Statewide Emergency Food and Anti-Hunger Network (NJ), TEFAP Alliance (TX), The Center in Asbury Park (NJ), The New Mexico Center on Law & Poverty, The Salvation Army, Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group (CT), Thurston County Food Bank (WA), Tobacco Valley Food Pantry (MT), Transitional Food and Shelter, Inc. (CA), Transitions Mental Health Association (CA) ,U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Cattlemen’s Association Union for Reform, Judaism Union for Reform Judaism (DC), United Dairymen of Arizona, United Egg Producers, United Way of New York City: Emergency Food & Shelter Program, University District Food Bank (WA), Upstate-Niagara Cooperative, USA Dry Pea and Lentil Counsel, Utah Community Action Partnership Association, Utahans Against Hunger, Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, Village Community Resource Center (CA), Virginia Poverty Law Center, Voices for America's Children, Walsh & Weathers Research and Policy Studies (UT) , Washington Farmers, Union West Side Campaign Against Hunger, NYC, WIC at West Central Community Center Spokane (WA), Wisconsin Farmers Union, Women Involved in Farm Economics, Worldwide Missionary Movement Inc. , Food Pantry Program (NY), Xaverian Brothers USA.

Gas Prices too high? My Rural America Speaks for You

On May 8th, Senators Carl Levin, Jack Reed and Amy Klobuchar invited citizens to come to the U.S. Capitol to tell their experiences with how skyrocketing energy prices are affecting everyday life. The Senators, with Levin in the lead, got it right when they talked about their bill, the "Consumer-First Energy Act" which is designed to limit excessive speculation and impose a windfall profits tax on Big Oil, with Reed emphasizing the need, " ... experts suggest that up to 25 percent of the premium of petroleum products is a result of speculation."

Klobuchar further emphasized,

"With oil soaring over $120 a barrel and oil companies making record profits by drilling into middle-class pocketbooks, it's time American families had someone looking out for them. This legislation would provide families the short-term relief they need, and help America achieve energy security by investing in the farmers and workers in America instead of the oil cartels of the Mideast."

At My Rural America, we were glad to take advantage of the Senate invitation to speak for rural voters. Barbara Leach, My Rural America's president, emphasized that, "This season family farmers are enduring an almost 100 percent increase in farm inputs -- gasoline, fertilizer, diesel fuel -- costs that already are being reflected at the kitchen tables of Americans everywhere. Rural families in general are having a tough time too because they drive 15% longer distances to get to their jobs, get the kids to school, and even to get their families to church on Sunday morning."

Jim Hoffa, General President of the Teamsters Union, spoke up for both companies and truck drivers, too. His concern: "More than 600,000 Teamsters earn their living driving vehicles that run on petroleum-based fuel. These exorbitant prices are hurting their employers, whether they are freight or parcel delivery companies, airlines, police departments, grocery chains or school bus companies companies."

Josephine Powe of Maryland spoke for the Alliance for Retired Americans, saying, "An extra dollar or two per gallon may not seem like a lot of money to a big oil executive, but to a senior on a fixed income it is everything. When our costs go up and our incomes does not, that dollar means you don't know if you're doing to have enough money to buy food after you fill up the tank."

--Picture left to right: (front) Klobuchar and Levin; (rear) Powe and a Colorado truck driver; (not pictured) Reed and Leach.

Pragmatic Politics -- Rural Voters to Play Key Role in November

The Republicans long ago wrapped up their decision making as to who would be their nominee, so of course, by now we all know that John McCain -- U.S. Senator, war veteran, age 73, from Arizona -- will get the nod.

Now, Democrats are very close to confirming their nominee, too. Today's NY Times which previously endorsed Hillary Clinton, gave front page, above the fold coverage to Barack Obama -- U.S. Senator, raised by a single parent, President of Harvard Law Review, community organizer, age 47, from Illinois -- who has all but wrapped up the nomination. Read the story at The Long Run: Pragmatic Politics, Forged on the South Side.

The New York Times also identified key electoral battleground states as follows:

• McCain targets – Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
• Obama targets – Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin and Virginia.
• Hispanic voters key to both – Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico
• Other states recognized as competitive – Oregon
• (and not mentioned by the NY TIMES, but states still possible to be competitive races – Arizona, Missouri and North Carolina)

NOTE HERE -- Rural voters will play a key roll in 12 out of 16 of these states (see underline), all of which have significant rural populations – average 28.7 percent. These states have a total 107 electoral votes in which rural votes can be expected to significantly impact each statewide victory. Readers can expect this blog over the next month to take a serious look at both candidates' records, comparing how McCain and Obama policies would impact rural citizens in their every day life.

Senator Salazar Calls Bush Veto Threat a "Slap in the Face"

On Friday, May 8th, Senator Ken Salazar called the promise of a Bush veto a "slap in the face", saying,

I am very disappointed in President Bush, who has announced that he will veto the Farm Bill. That decision is a slap in the face to those who care about America’s food security and to America’s farmers and ranchers.

It was Thursday, May 7th, that the Congress' Conference committee agreed on the Farm Bill package. See ConferenceOnePager for more details.

Senate Ag Committee Chair Tom Harkin also gave strong warning, saying "the President's veto would destroy the harvest just as the seeds are being planted. "

The Bill, called The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, does make real progress. Among the many steps forward ... Finally! ... is the requirement for Country of Origin Labeling, consumers will be able to tell where the food they buy was originally grown, and good for kids -- is $1B in funds for fresh fruits and veggies for school lunch. This Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Program" was originated by Senator Harkin, and comes at a time when more financially troubled families are signing up their kids for reduced price lunches, so this is particularly good news.

There is much more, including investments in renewable energy and conservation, international food aid, micro-enterprise loans and emergency disaster loans. The farm program safety net has been extended and modernized, with an updated adjusted gross income means test for commodity programs, too.

Overall, this is a good bill ... about 70% of the funding will go to nutrition, food safety, food security, renewable energy and conservation ... better than we had before!

McCain in Iowa: I'd Veto the Farm Bill

Could we make this up? I don't think so ... Apparently John McCain is proud of wanting to veto the Farm Bill since he picked Iowa ... a major part of the food basket of our nation ... to make his announcement. To veto the Farm Bill is to veto conservation, nutrition, crop insurance, school lunch, food stamps, food safety -- yes, even all the inspections necessary to make sure our meat packing plants and other food processing systems remain safe and clean so that contaminated food doesn't enter our supply system. It's also to veto research -- research about new kinds of biofuels and how to make our country energy independent.

Read the story by Thomas Beaumont, Des Moines Register staff writer here.

Food Politics & the Farm Bill

I wish ... you wish ... we could say the Farm Bill had passed, but no. Think two week extension this time. Apparently one of the complications is that last time President Bush signed the Farm Bill, he got criticism from his old conservative buddies who have consistently pushed for smaller government and at the same time have supported the skyrocketing deficits caused by Bush's earlier tax bills.

Meanwhile, escalating food prices are becoming more and more of a worry. Everywhere in the world that is a "hot spot" ... whether Pakistan or Africa, Afghanistan or Iraq, higher food prices result in more unrest. People get desperate when they can't buy food, and that's pretty understandable. Desperation ... hunger ... bad temper ... looking for someone to blame. Too often it is "only" us they blame -- "us" as in the United States of America, and "us" as in U.S. food producers.

There is a tendency for news analysts to hold only farmers responsible -- never mind that for decades the cost of production for almost every grain was lower than market prices. Never mind that if you took out the corn used for ethanol, i.e, a good start on energy independence for our nation, most analysts would agree it would only lower the price of corn about 26 cents. Never mind that all of us -- rural, urban, suburban -- have a responsibility to make sure that our family farms remind stable and that we citizens of a rich nation do need to share in feeding the world.

Clearly, more compromises are coming, but first see below for this weekend's news coverage -- serious perspectives on this growing problem:

• Food Politics -- The old ways no longer cut it. Washington Post editorial.
• They're Global Citizens. They're Hugely Rich. And They Pull the Strings. By David Rotherkopf, author of Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They are Making.
• As Farm Bill Nears Vote, Bush Presses for Fewer Subsides. By Dan Morgan, Special to the Washington Post.
• World Hunger Map. United Nations.
• Where Every Meal Is a Sacrifice. Washington Post.
  

How America Looks to the World

Aaaaghh. Remember all those "ugly American" stories from back in the 1970's and before. Americans were considered rude, insensitive and perhaps, simply oblivious to the local mores and culture of the various counties we had begun to travel in.

Things changed in the late 1980's and continued through the 1990's. Now, it's back to the future ... and it's not a pretty story. In Sunday's Washington Post, Josef Joffe, publisher of a German newspaper, wonders whether the "free and the brave" have lost it. The "free and the brave" is us ... rural, urban, suburban ... all of us together! Of special note is his detail regarding the "fear tax."

That "fear tax" is driving our economy downward. Read about it here.

Facts on Iraq: Five Years after President Bush Declared “Mission Accomplished”

Special Staff Report from My Rural America, May 1, 2008:

Congressman John P. Murtha (D-PA) honored our men and women soldiers today by offering hard facts on the Iraq War to members of the media and other concerned citizens who gathered at the Center for American Progress, five years after the war in Iraq was declared over by President Bush. Murtha is the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee on Defense, and a veteran of the Vietnam War. The following summaries his comments.

To date, there have been over 4,050 Americans killed in Iraq; over 3,900 since President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished.” The U.S. has sustained more than 30,000 casualties. Because Murtha visits our military hospitals frequently, he has seen first hand the horrific burn injuries, amputations, and blindness to our service men and women. These are injuries they will “have to live with the rest of their lives.”

Murtha is particularly concerned about Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD. Just two weeks ago, a Rand study concluded that nearly 320,000 military personnel who have been deployed to IraqAfghanistan reported probable traumatic brain injury during deployment. Murtha said, “The U.S. Military did not dispute the figure.”

Murtha described an Iraqi government riddled with corruption and incompetence. While the Administration claims “progress is being made,” he said that of the 18 Iraqi provinces, only 8 are under Iraqi control with a combined population of 6.5 million people, less than 25% of the total population of 27.5 million Iraqis. “This is a fact the Administration fails to mention,” Congressman Murtha stated.

Since 2005, the number of allied troops in Iraq has decreased 60% and the U.S. troops have increased to fill the gap. In Basra, 1,300 Iraqi soldiers and policemen deserted or refused to fight against Moktada al-Sadr’s popular and well-armed Mahdi Army. Our goal was to train 350,000 Iraqi security forces. We reached that goal in June of last year, yet today we have more American troops on the ground in Iraq than we did two years ago.

The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates more than 4.7 million Iraqis have left their homes. Of these, 2.7 million have been internally displaced, and more than 2 million have fled for neighboring states. For the past two weeks, the U.S. military has been actively cordoning off sections of Sadr City, home to 2.5 million Iraqis. Residents interviewed said the U.S. barriers were creating city-like prisons.

Unemployment is as high as 50% in certain areas, and electricity production remains widely unreliable. Baghdad receives less than 9 hours of electricity per day, and just seven of the 18 provinces receive more than 12 hours per day.

Oil production remains below pre-war levels, while world crude oil prices have climbed to over $100 per barrel. Congressman Murtha said, “Before the invasion you remember the Administration said that Iraqi oil revenues would pay for reconstruction. American taxpayers have spent approximately $47 billion on Iraqi reconstruction while Iraqi oil revenues are expected to now reach $70 billion in 2008. Because there are no reliable figures, we don’t know how much the Iraqis have spent on reconstruction, but we do know that American taxpayers are picking up most of the tab.”

Murtha continued, “We’re going to change that in this next war supplemental spending bill, if the United States has a $410 billion budget deficit, why should we be paying out of our pocket to rebuild a country with a significant budget surplus?” He described the President’s war as being funded on credit and every day American taxpayers borrow $343 million to pay for the war in Iraq.

Murtha is concerned that the U.S. military is distracted by Iraq, and that the reputation of the United States worldwide is falling dramatically. When questioned by a reporter about what he would put in his appropriations as recommendations, Murtha gave the following list:

(1) Recommend a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq;

(2) No torture – Torture did more to hurt U.S. reputation than anything;

(3) Cost would support fully equipping and fully training U.S. forces.

Murtha hopes to have a supplemental that looks beyond Iraq. “We’ve spent so many resources and so much attention on Iraq that we’ve lost sight of what’s to come down the road. We need a national strategy to identify both near-term and long-term threats to this country. Look what’s happening around us because of Iraq – a faltering economy, skyrocketing energy prices, rising food costs, a significantly weaker dollar, and a considerable rise in influence of both Russia and China.”

“The country needs a national security strategy, one that focuses our attention on the future. This must be our mission, and this is something that our nation’s next President and Congress must accomplish,” said Murtha.

No Yachts in Waseka, MN

Kevin Kerr writes today in his column From Field to Fork that "The New Reality for Food Costs is Here." We've been sharing the big stories from national newspapers with you, but this article caught our attention in specific because Mr. Kerr deliberately, and accurately, points out that,

"Farmers feel that the average consumer blames them and think the farmer is getting rich off these food costs; when in reality there are no yachts in Waseca, Minn., only farmers trying to grow their crops and take care of their families."

Of course, Kerr is right. The reality is that what farmers do is raise crops and feed their families -- no yachts, no trips to Paris and in fact, all too often a couple days at the State Fair is all the vacation there is.

So once again, there is a conuldrum. Profit margins have narrowed because of rising costs of diesel fuel, higher technology in seeds and more. As Kerr reports, crop input costs are up as much as 100%. The Wall Street Journal reports that "Grain Companies' Profits Soar as Global Food Crisis Mounts."

And the world's poor is becoming more hungry. But let's not blame it on farmers. Instead, let's get into the "WE" mode, i.e., WE ALL need to take responsibility. Certainly for all the reasons that add up to compassion and caring, but also for a few selfish reasons too. For example, take a look at northern Africa ... look at the Middle East, look at where famine, war, and all kinds of "hate the western world" and "hate each other" actions take place. Note that these regions of the world pretty much are the same places -- different lists, but the same locations for the difficulties. In short, the bottom line -- where people lose hope, see their children hungry, see their friends' and their own hopes disappear, it doesn't matter how sensible the risks are -- to start a war, to hate the U.S. and/or the whole Western World -- even when the risks are 99% likely to fail. If you're really, really hungry, you'll try just about anything.

As far as solutions, perhaps the best one would be for everyone -- rural and urban together -- to start sharing more resources rather than to be so quick with the guns in foreign, hungry lands.