Farmers and ranchers cant afford a trade war
By Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
When people in rural Kansas talk to me about a farm crisis or economic depression, they unfortunately aren’t talking about the dust bowl of the 1930s or farm credit crisis of the 1980s – they’re talking about the ongoing crisis in farm country today where low commodity prices and severe drought have pushed many agricultural producers to the edge of an economic cliff. America’s trade relationships are, now more than ever, tied to the success of rural America, and we must make certain we negotiate responsibly so that our farmers and ranchers can continue to make a living by feeding and clothing the world.
Farm commodity prices have hovered at or below the cost of production for nearly half a decade, wiping out farmers’ savings and forcing many producers to take on more debt to keep family operations alive. Each morning, my office posts daily commodity prices from across Kansas for visitors to see, such as the price of wheat in Colby and price of soybeans in Hiawatha. The prices show what farmers receive per bushel of grain at the local elevator, but they also reflect the financial lifeblood of these towns and the thousands of rural communities across the country that are suffering due to the current farm disaster. These commodity prices are often a topic of conversation between visitors to my office, and more often than not, these Kansans have personally felt – or know someone who has – the strain of this recession.
In addition to alarmingly low prices, we’ve received little to no rain across much of the high plains for months. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 24 Kansas counties as primary natural disaster areas so far due to severe drought conditions – and I’m working with my colleagues to extend and expand these designations as conditions don’t seem to be improving. While above-average yields the past several years have helped farmers and ranchers survive low commodity prices, I fear low prices, plus a drought, may be more than many producers can withstand.
Recently I was in Kensington, Kan., when I drove past such a large grain pile on the ground waiting for mouths to feed that I was compelled to pull over and take a photo. I’ve kept the photo with me ever since and have used it as a visual reminder of the reality our Kansas farmers face. In meetings with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, USTR representatives and numerous Kansas farmers, the reaction has been the same: How do we fix this?
First and foremost, we must have a solid path toward an end result in our trade negotiations with China. We cannot escalate a fight between a significant purchaser of what we produce in Kansas with no real end goal. My hope is that this is a negotiating tactic, but the efforts we see now suggest more than that, as they keep being ramped up by both countries: the United States imposes tariffs, China responds. The United States imposes tariffs, China responds. Then United States responds to that, and so on. In addition, we ought not forget about recent ill-advised tariffs on solar cells, washing machines and steel and aluminum that have resulted in our farmers and ranchers – through no fault of their own – being caught in the middle of an escalating trade dispute with China and other global trading partners.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/382224-farmers-and-ranchers-cant-afford-a-trade-war
It's your party pushing this, dipshit.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Maybe they shouldn't have voted to elect Repukes, eh? 
and they also can't afford you anti-immigrant racist bastards' deporting their workers.
Leave the orange gop and go Independent if you care so much about your farmers and ranchers. 
They were constantly sold to us in Kansas as one of the great things in the state. A large, successful business. The brothers supported so many things, quite a few here you would not expect like they do now in other states and in New York with their support for the Opera and Ballet and the arts in general. Those things are used to sell them to people and it worked so well for so long, too long for an easy fix now. Between what you just mentioned and the PR they had that I just mentioned they had it made.
I have personally seen Charles sitting in with the legislature. On big bills that he wants he meets with them personally before they go to vote. It is disgusting and not hidden at all.
I am not surprised that they did that on the Front Range and in Arizona. It is so odd what they hit when they go somewhere. They get you on social issues (wasn't that the same time that they started all the anti gay stuff in Colorado probably to hide their snooping around and buying?) and I have to wonder if they even really care about those issues. IMO they do not but they LOVE them for distraction and to pull people to their side. It is so well done, brilliant actually. Dumbing down the schools in Kansas then making the schools seem like they are stealing from the people with the taxes. It actually worked. I know there are a lot of dumb people, uneducated and insulated but how on earth you can live a life and not walk off a cliff if you cannot think better than that I do not know.
The solution here is really up to the Democrats who, at least here, simply never go out of the eastern 1/4 of Kansas. They do not spend the time to go to the people that are so entrenched now with the R's. When we actually had the 50 state strategy they still did not use the money to do that. Quite frankly I blame the party here for leaving out most of the state thinking they did not have to bother with them out there. Though I am no political strategist I have paid a lot of attention and been involved. I don't see a change soon in this state. We almost had one develop the last few years but it looks to have been shut down again.
It would be wonderful if the news tonight about Trump and all that might come out would solve the Koch, Mercer etc. problem. With all the stuff they raided, perhaps.....a girl can dream. 
