Haterade of the Day

Good news everyone!  Amendment 1 to SB 4 was narrowly defeated last week!  I know I promised to blog about this earlier, but I wanted to have all my facts straight.

I realize that I often blog about issues facing farmers in America, and yet many of my readers aren't farmers and therefore may wonder why they should care, other than a sudden increase in the price of their Corn Flakes. Amendment 1 to SB 4 is a perfect example, and this is why:

Amendment 1 was also known as the "Agricultural Production Sales Tax Exemption Sunset."  In layman's terms, this amendment would have required sales tax to be charged on basically everything a farmer purchases for his/her business, including but not limited to: animal feed, seed, semen to inseminate livestock, tractors, breeding horses and fertilizer.  Take a minute to think about that. 

Fertilizer and chemical bills are coming due soon.  It's not unheard of for a mid-sized family farmer to spend upwards of $45,000 on fertilizer/chemicals in ONE YEAR.  Though I will not share what we spend, it's important to note that those of us who farm crops such as green beans, which have shorter growing cycles, and therefore are planted twice a year...well, they get fertilizer twice a year too.  So there you have it folks, what would have been a $45k bill, suddenly becomes a $49k bill JUST for fertilizer and JUST because of sales tax.  Don't forget, that doesn't include the tax that would've been added to the price of your new planter/combine, seeds and more.  Oh, and one more thing, not only would we suddenly be charged sales tax on literally EVERY THING we purchase for our business, we also would lose almost 100% of our tax deductions.  Who could afford that?! 

I know, I know.  Evvvvvvvveryone could care less if the farmers don't get a break from the government.  After all, the media wants each and every one of you to know about the government subsidies, how ethanol is causing the food crisis and therefore the price of both food AND gas to rise, how corporate farms abuse their livestock and force animals to live in inhumane conditions.  Except none of those things are true. 

Sure, some farmers get government subsidies...because the government programs are set up in such a way that if you don't accept subsidies on "good" years, then they aren't available when you actually need them during a "bad" year.  I've already blogged about how this manufactured idea that ethanol causes both the food and gas prices to rise is factually inaccurate.  And, yes, there are corporate farms that abuse livestock, however, over 90% of farms are FAMILY farms and, if nothing else, we can't afford to mistreat our livelihood (livestock). 

IF this bill had passed, our family could not afford to stay in business.  Period.  And we have a decent sized farm.  Think how the world would change if this bill had passed and hundreds of Illinois farmers had to go out of business.  That's one reason non-farming families should care.  Because I can guarantee you, there would be a REAL gas/food price crisis if the farms suddenly disappeared. 

Hey non-farmers!  Need another reason to care?  This unimaginably STUPID amendment would also have eliminated most tax exemptions, deductions and credits for ALL businesses.  Do I have your attention?  If you own a business, this affects you.  If you frequent a business of ANY KIND, this affects you. 

Everyone in Peoria, please imagine the following scenario:  Caterpillar recently began re-hiring some of its workforce.  However, should this idiotic amendment have passed, they would no longer have any deductions on things like WD-40, steel or, gee, I don't know, YELLOW PAINT.  You know, the little things.  How many people would lose their jobs over that alone?  Do I have your attention NOW? 

Anyone out there go to the dentist?  God knows we do!  Imagine how much your bill would be if dentists no longer had tax breaks for all the toothbrushes, floss, gauze, fluoride and mouthwash they use or give away! 
The list goes on and on. 

Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, this bill was shot down...by a 4-4 vote.  That's a close call, ladies and gents.  And as we all know, nothing ever truly goes away in the Senate.  I'll be keeping my eye out for more news on this government-induced insanity, and you can be sure if and when it comes up again, you'll be reading about it.

Healthcare for everyone?

I already had a lengthy facebook discussion on this topic, but I really want to expand and hear everyone's thoughts.

As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to healthcare, politics should be the least of Americans' concerns.  First and foremost, our concern needs to lie with the actual HEALTH and CARE of our fellow Americans.  It should not matter which side of the political spectrum you fall on.  So far, choosing sides has accomplished nothing...unless you count arguments, bullheadedness and a blatant refusal to consider anything the other side has to say, simply because the "other side" said it. 

I heard a joke recently that, while amusing, ended up making me sad.  The joke is: What's the difference between politicians and infants?  Infants eventually grow up and stop crying.  The "funny" thing is, it just goes to show you what a joke our political system really is. 

(Side note: The same joke was made regarding kU basketball players.  Now THAT is funny.)

Healthcare reform is definitely offering change.  I don't think you have to choose a political side to want change.  You don't have to pick a "team" to want the best for everyone, even if they don't agree with your particular values.  Whatever happened to compromise and working together for the COMMON good, not the Democrat/Republican good?

I don't pretend to know everything about the bill that passed, but let me tell you what I do know: how it affects me and my family.

Maybe people with company health insurance don't realize what goes on when you actually own the company.  Let me tell you, it's not pretty!  The idea of providing incentives for small businesses to offer healthcare to their employees is a great one.  I guess a lot of people don't necessarily think of farmers as "small business owners," but that's the reality.  We reorganized our insurance last year and the result was less coverage for employees and paying for our own coverage rather than being covered by a corporate plan.  Do you guys even know how much coverage costs for a young, healthy married couple who isn't covered by a mass corporate plan?  I do!  Over $400 a month.  I thought those kinds of prices were reserved for the elderly and sick!  And if you want to have maternity coverage, which you better--just in case, you can go ahead and tack on almost $100 extra.  It's outrageous!

I also believe mandating that insurance companies cannot deny infants born with "pre-existing" conditions coverage is a fantastic idea.  I can't believe an infant can have a pre-existing condition to begin with, but if the insurance companies say they can, I say insurance companies need to have some regulations.  Most people have no idea what it costs to care for someone with even a "mild" pre-existing condition (like asthma) but I can tell you that it would make our current insurance plan look like a drop in the bucket.  If you want more details, Heather from Dooce.com has some excellent blogs regarding her personal experience with paying for children's health insurance once they have been deemed "high-risk" based on their "pre-existing conditions."  Scary!

On a mostly related note, I also think the part of this reform that bans insurance companies from kicking you off your plan just because you are unlucky enough to have recurring cancer or other extremely expensive medical issues, is a FANTASTIC one.  Maybe I'm missing something here but that just seems obvious.  And to be totally honest, I didn't even know insurance companies could do that, prior to this reform being passed.  What a disgrace!  As if you don't have enough problems dealing with a little thing like recurring cancer, they could kick you off your insurance and you could go bankrupt paying for treatment that may or may not work and could, in fact, kill you?  What an excellent idea!  Just in case anyone in the entire universe didn't know insurance companies were a-holes, that ought to clarify things.

So let's review my version of the new reform bill:
-Incentives for small business owners to offer healthcare to employees
-Mandatory coverage for people w/ pre-existing conditions (which, btw can include allergies)
-Insurance for people w/ recurring and expensive medical conditions

Is there anyone on Earth who doesn't think that sounds reasonable?  Look it doesn't matter what side of the spectrum I'm on...those things just make SENSE!  And isn't common sense the one thing Washington is missing?  Duh.

Granted, there are a lot of things I don't like about this bill.  I think everyone should have access to health care at a reasonable cost, with the same quality of treatment and doctors.  I don't think the government should require you to pay for health care...I just think you shouldn't be treated if you don't have it.  Why should the government be responsible for your poor judgement?  Most of all, I don't like the cost.  We are already trillions (that's TWELVE zeroes, people) of dollars in debt and this plan costs trillions more.  I understand better than most that you have to spend money to make money, but this is ridiculous. 

Instead of focusing on why everyone who doesn't agree with you is wrong and what you don't like about this plan, focus on coming up with concrete solutions and then DO SOMETHING about it.  Don't like how it went down?  Don't re-elect your representatives who passed it.

This bill isn't perfect.  We can ALL agree on that.  It's a start though. 

Soapbox, completed. 

Yellow Tail: Epic Fail

(In case anyone on Earth missed my Facebook rant on this subject)

Before I begin, I should recuse myself.  My husband is a 3rd generation farmer.  We support the IL Farm Bureau. 

I don't side with all farmers on all issues (political party is a big one)...but when the story about Yellow Tail wine came to my attention, I don't see how you could side with anyone but the farmers.  In case you missed it, here is a short summary of the situation, as unbiased as I can be...with my thoughts below.

Yellow Tail is currently the #1 selling wine in America.  They are based in Australia.  They decided to donate $100,000 to The Humane Society of the United States.  Lest a "good deed" go unpunished, rather than just donate the money and go about their business, they announced their donation.  What they (I'm guessing) did not realize (and neither did I) is that The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and local humane societies are not one and the same.  Local humane societies' goals include finding homes/caring for stray kittens and puppies.  The main goal of HSUS, however, is the elimination of animal agriculture.  They are fighting against cattle farmers in particular.  Once this story hit the news, Yellow Tail tucked its tail and tried to recover, but the backlash has been enormous.  Local Farm Bureaus are accepting bottles of Yellow Tail wine to dump out, and some are even entering you into a drawing for prizes...should you turn in a bottle. 

My feelings on the matter range from total outrage that a company would support such an organization, to sadness that this will (once again) bring out all the farm-haters, to personal satisfaction that complete idiocy is not being rewarded.

My thoughts.
1. Why did a company in Australia feel the need to donate to a group, any group, in the US?  Surely there are charities, especially animal charities, that need donations in Australia.  It's not as if Americans would've been outraged that a foreign wine company donates in their own region... not like we would if American companies donated on foreign soil.
1A. If you did need to donate in a foreign country, maybe for tax reasons, I think Haiti needs the money more than a stray cat.  I love animals, but not as much as I love people.

2. Did the person in the research department get fired over this?

3. I disagree with some of the practices of factory farms.  What many people don't realize, however, is that 90% of farms participating in animal agriculture are family farms.  Many people don't understand that local family farmers are being driven out of business because they don't want to be factory farmers raising chickens for Purdue or Tyson, but they can't compete if they don't work for the big boys.  That's not a choice!

4. If you have issues with animals being fed antibiotics, and I suspect many people do, keep this in mind: the horror stories you see and hear in the media about animals being fed antibiotics in their food daily are stories about FACTORY FARMS not family farms.  And it may interest you to know that in Denmark several years ago, they passed a law banning even low grade antibiotics for their animals.  The result?  The Danish are more antibiotic-resistant than ever, the animals are even more sick, and they had a huuuuuuuuuge salmonella outbreak recently. 
4A. A local hog farmer recently commented that he used to raise hogs outdoors, without antibiotics, and his death and cull rate (% of hogs too sick/small for slaughter or died before they could be slaughtered) was 7%, and antibiotics cost him $7/hog, to treat them when they were ill.  He built a state-of-the-art indoor hog facility and his death and cull rate is now 2% and the cost per hog is $2.05 for vaccines they are given early on (similar to an infant). 
4B. One argument the HSUS likes to make is, (again) against factory farms, that the cows are unhappy because they never get fresh air, never walk around outside, and are cramped in over-crowded feed lot facilities.  Frankly, I don't care about cows' feelings.  I don't want animals to be hurt or tortured...but I'd rather an unhappy cow be slaughtered than a happy one!

Overall, I hope that the general public starts to understand that when you hurt farmers, you hurt America.  It is no more logical to think that all farmers abuse animals than it is to think all police officers abuse people or all teachers run off w/ their students. 

Look at where most farmers are located...not exactly the hub of media activity.  They often don't get the chance to tell their side of things to the media.  All I ask is that you please research and/or ask questions of people who KNOW, not the media, before you form your opinions.