Rural Farmers take heat for Reckless Trump Tariff Threats!

It's funny how rural Republican voters are okay with letting their politicians screw 'em over, because...their legislator isn't a Democrat?

Beijing imposed a temporary 179% tariff on American sorghum, a grain used by China to feed livestock and make baijiu, a popular liquor. So far, the United States has imposed tariffs on solar panels and washing machines in January, and aluminum and steel in March, all of which affect China. However, it wasn’t until President Trump began targeting Beijing specifically, with a threat on March 22 to impose sanctions on $50 billion of Chinese imports, that rhetoric quickly escalated into back-and-forth threats of tariffs in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Trump tariffs are one good example. These off-the-cuff typically mindless moves by Trump are nothing like the pasts more strategic tariffs. Trump's scattershot threats have swept in huge swaths of conservative voters, namely the farm community. The collateral damage, speculative or real, is taking its toll. Here are a few stories of Trump's victims:

Two important Wisconsin products won't benefit from a possible trade war. It will likely hurt them. The motives are political. But the effects trickle down to hurt local economies.

When it comes to growing ginseng, nobody does it quite like Marathon County. "Wisconsin ginseng is sort of the cream of the crop when it comes to American ginseng," said Hsu's Ginseng Enterprises Director of Operations Mike Klemp-North. 90 percent of the U.S.'s ginseng crop is grown in Wisconsin. Ninety-five percent of that crop is grown in Marathon County. "We're already selling the Cadillac version of American ginseng, and to add 15 percent is going to increase the price even more," said Klemp-North. China placed tariffs on many products, from scrap metal to pork.

Cranberries also got hit with the tariffs. Tom Lochner, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Cranberry Growers Association, said the state grows half of the world's cranberries. The market just began expanding to China, but high tariffs could stop that growth. "Opening up markets to cranberries is important to us, it's important to our growers and it helps improve returns as we increase demands for the product," said Lochner. But they ultimately have no say. Wisconsinites are caught in the middle of a political fight that doesn't show signs of ending soon. China placed these tariffs as retaliation to President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs. 

From PBS's Market to Market, agriculture and the effects of a 25% tariff on farm products, like beef, pork, corn, soybeans. This just a few of more than 100 ag targets by China. But hey, steel manufacturers got the tariff they've always wanted, what a win:

Republicans hope voluntary compliance will solve watery Dead Zones and Nitrate Laced Drinking Water.

Wisconsin Republicans don't seem to think we've got a water quality problem in the state.

Instead, they're always talking about "balancing" the cost of doing businesses against the cost of keeping Wisconsinites and the environment healthy. That's a false narrative and not really an open question.

The problems keep mounting up too. From the harmful effects on children exposed to blowing Koch Industry coal dust off freight cars in Green Bay, to watery dead zones in the bay itself, Republicans are just now starting to talk about. Perhaps they're waiting for things to get worse. How about preventing the problem? Nope, that would be a big government solution.

For example, here are a few lowlights of Republican Rep. Reid Ribble's do nothing word salad, for a problems that's completely out of control already. From Upfront with Mike Gousha:

"...now that it's lasted so long and is so large...we're starting to have some of our larger dairy farms talking in those same terms...we're getting to a place now where people are really beginning to take this seriously...first you start with awareness, you recognize you have a problem...create the awareness of it, which is what we're doing now...you begin to share best practices...where the agriculture community pulls themselves into compliance...it's all of us working together."

Yea, we've got all the time in the world. Ribble knows his voters don't want a government solution, so what the heck, talk is cheaper.

Here's coverage from WBAY about the growing nitrate problem in our drinking water, a problem many Wisconsinites may not even be unaware of:

An agricultural group is calling out the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, accusing the agency of not protecting the health of people in Kewaunee County. Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP) issued the 137-page report, saying in it there’s proof the DNR isn’t doing its job protecting Kewaunee County residents.

SRAP’s Scott Dye said, this report shows the DNR is letting industrial dairy farms pollute Kewaunee County by not checking to see if farms are following the rules for handling waste, not enforcing rules that already exist, and not taking community complaints seriously.

“We should not mince words about this. This is nothing short of a public health emergency. What we’re talking about are Third World conditions in America’s heartland. We have people in our community who cannot drink their water, brush their teeth, wash dishes, and are fearful of bathing in their water if they have an open cut. The Wisconsin DNR that has utterly failed its duty to properly regulate the 16 largest industrial-size farms and failed in its duty to protect the health and safety of the county’s residents and environment.” 

Walker's hollowed out version of the DNR continues to blow smoke (a media pollutant) about a problem they're not trying to solve. They might be waiting for a major environmental disaster to occur.

Dept. of Natural Resources spokesman Bill Cosh sent this statement to Action 2 News: Protection of groundwater and our drinking water in Kewaunee County and the entire state remains a priority for this agency.  To that end, we are working with citizens and other stakeholders of Kewaunee County to develop proposed actions and potential solutions to reduce risk to public health and groundwater quality that could not only be applied in northeast Wisconsin, but also be potentially applicable to other areas of the state. We are regulating within the full authority we have within the current laws and rules. However, we are continuing to work to come to potential suggestions for the legislature.

Voluntary compliance, a non-regulatory approach, is all the rage in Republican states. From PBS's Market to Market, Iowa is a little more proactive, but still, polluters are just shifting the cost of the problem onto taxpayers:

Get more on the DNR disaster playing out in Wisconsin at the Political Environment.

Big AG fighting for the "right to farm" unregulated, and Wolf Hunt advocates have a "common law right" to cruelty.

For years Republicans like Paul Ryan have been tossing off the Constitution as an irrelevant relic that takes a back seat to our “God given rights.” That leaves almost every law, regulation and societal norm up for removal if someone decides that’s not what God would do.

Watch for it next time, because Republicans never miss a chance to slip their natural God given rights right in there if the constitution doesn't cover it.

That said, our courts are now making similar arguments, spinning rights and “common law” behavior out of whole cloth:

AP: A state appeals court ruled Thursday that hunters can train dogs to chase down wolves … making Wisconsin the only state that allows dogs to track wolves.

Dane County Judge Peter Anderson said Wisconsin residents have a common law right to hunt. The freedom to use dogs extends from that right, not from DNR regulations.

No more rules and regulations here. “Common law” pretty much coverage it and everything else.

The Right to Farm? Big Ag is doing the same thing now in a bid to do whatever they want with animals and how they grow food. God never said anything about animal cruelty and food safety, did he?

Some powerful agriculture interests want to declare farming a right at the state level as part of a wider campaign to fortify the ag industry against crusades by animal-welfare activists and opponents of genetically modified crops. Animal advocates and other groups … goals include trying to curtail what they consider cruel methods of raising livestock and unsafe ways of growing food.

Supporters hope the wording provides a legal shield against initiatives that would restrict particular farming methods, such ... setting minimum cage space for hens … (or the) hope to pre-empt any proposals to ban genetically modified crops.

The "right to farm" comes from God, who sacrificed animals and never thought to post warning signs or list food ingredients.