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In reply to the discussion: If The Dems Made A Concerted Effort To Appeal To Rural Voters What Would You Recommend They Do?.... [View all]OmahaBlueDog
(10,000 posts)281. My response is to cite many other responses I've made
Please don't "More aggressively push ag exports to the EU." Or elsewhere.
Just to be clear: I'm not pushing anything. I was asked how Dems could reach out to farmers. That said, have you seen the balance of trade lately? I have to say, as a Midwesterner, that I like seeing the box cars of pork headed for West Coast ports and the Chinese soybean contracts.
F*** Monsanto and generally subsidies system to factory farms and neocolonialist global structures. More local and healthier food, sustainable agriculture. Human scale policies, not corporate scale. That's what the little guys want everywhere, in US and elsewhere.
In this post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2265993 I wrote the following in response to a question about how farmers like "Big Agra."
They like Big Agra -- especially if they are corn farmers. Corn farming is simple (I won't call it easy). Round-Up and GMO seed have made for big harvests. Modern farm machinery makes it easy for 2-3 people to farm anywhere from 500 to 2000 acres. Ethanol has created a huge guaranteed market for that corn, so $5-7 a bushel looks to be around for the foreseeable future. High corn prices help soybean farmers, because so many farmers are growing corn, that it reduces acreage planted in beans and creates price support..and the beans help the land for planting in corn the following year. And the same mechanical advantages apply for beans as well -- 2-3 guys farming 500-2000 acres...They dislike the Government and particularly despise the EPA and the Interior Department... They shake their head when, on one hand, they are told to "go organic" and, OTOH, get citied by EPA and state DNRs for too much coliform bacteria in streams on their property when there is excess manure on their property. They are nervous that the government is coming to take their Round-Up along with their guns. Unless one is in honey production, one generally thinks GMO seed is swell.
More local and healthier food, sustainable agriculture. Human scale policies, not corporate scale. That's what the little guys want everywhere, in US and elsewhere.
No - that's what people who see the downsides of corporate agriculture, or who are fans of organic want. The little guys -- everywhere, but especially in the US -- want a pipeline of consistenly profitable commodities that they can sell to hit certain price points at WalMart, Target, Kroger, and other major grocery chains. There is a percentage of people that want and will pay for sustainable and organic. There are a bigger percentage that just want to get themselves and/or their families fed for the least amount of money possible.
Rethink also the ethanol subsidy. Biofuel policies as currently done ain't working, EU and others have found out and accepted.
The ethanol subsidy will probably go away eventually, but I'd advise against holding your breath. As I wrote in the post I cited above:
Ethanol has created a huge guaranteed market for that corn, so $5-7 a bushel looks to be around for the foreseeable future... What about the ranchers? Back in 2006, they HATED the ethanol plants. That was before they discovered that cattle love WDGs (the bi-product of ethanol distilling), and gain fast eating it. Faster gaining cattle mean faster cycles through the feedlots and more trips to the packing house...Pretty much everyone is happy with things as they are.
And thanks for remembering the immigrant question!!! <3
Thanks for the thanks. I'll point to two other posts on this topic. The first is in this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2266148
About the fear...one of the more interesting phenomena in the Midwest is the growth of pockets of non-white population. Let me explain. In many Midwest towns, you'll see strictly white people; in others, you'll see a mix of whites and Native Americans. This is not terrily different than it's been for 150 years. However, as packing plants and food processors and renderers have moved out of big urban areas, an interesting thing has started to happen. Towns like Fremont, NE and Denison, IA and Gibbon, NE have developed substantial Latino populations, and in some cases Somali populations. They are sometimes uncdocumented (less common now than 5 years ago) but most often are on work visas. It's caused a lot of resentment. Partly this is fueled by simply being unlike the people who've grown up in these towns. However, it's also fueled by resentment. English speakers complain they can't get promoted to crew lead jobs because they don't speak Spanish. "Why" they ask" should I have to learn their language?" This is what has caused much of the anti-immigration backlash in places like Fremont, NE.
Note, I edited the original wording slightly
So that leads to my second post, which is from several months ago. It's a NYT article on the effects of the now infamous immigration raid in Postville, IA at Agriprocessors. It is a perfect example of poor thinking and tragic, unintended consequences resulting from poorly thought-through laws. http://www.democraticunderground.com/101635515
NYT: Postville, Iowa, Is Up for Grabs
By MAGGIE JONES
Around 10 on a clear May morning in 2008, two black helicopters circled over Postville, Iowa, a town of two square miles and fewer than 3,000 residents. Then a line of S.U.V.s drove past Postvilles main street and its worn brick storefronts. More than 10 white buses with darkened windows and the words Homeland Security on their sides were on their way to the other side of town. Postvilles four-man police force had no forewarning of what was about to happen. Neither did the mayor.
The procession of S.U.V.s, buses and state-trooper cars were descending on Agriprocessors, the largest producer of kosher meat in the United States and Postvilles biggest employer, which occupies 60 acres on the edge of town. Several silos clustered together like old, overgrown tin cans behind the plants chain-link fence. Low-slung, rusted metal buildings one with a 10-foot menorah mounted on its top contained hundreds of workers, chickens and cattle.
The early shift at Agri, as Postville residents call it, had been under way for several hours when dozens of agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, dressed in black flak vests, stormed the plants buildings. Workers shouted, La migra, la migra (immigration police), dropped their butcher and boning knives and fled from their jobs at the cutting and grinding machines. A group of women ran to a bathroom and locked themselves in the stalls before I.C.E. agents forced them out. A couple of men scaled Agris fence and hid in the cornfield across the street, where they remained until the next morning. Others climbed onto the roof near the smokestack of the chicken-processing building. From there, one man called a friend from his cellphone: Take care of my children, he pleaded.
Fermin Loyes Lopez, a 27-year-old father from Guatemala who had been living in Postville for five years, found his wife, Rosa Zamora Santos, who worked the same shift, cutting chicken meat off breast bones. One of their daughters, a toddler, was with a baby sitter; the other, a 5-year-old, was in kindergarten. After a quick call to the baby sitter, Lopez counseled his wife: Tell them the truth, he said, referring to the I.C.E. agents, just before he was arrested. Tell them your real name. Tell them we have children.
Around 10 on a clear May morning in 2008, two black helicopters circled over Postville, Iowa, a town of two square miles and fewer than 3,000 residents. Then a line of S.U.V.s drove past Postvilles main street and its worn brick storefronts. More than 10 white buses with darkened windows and the words Homeland Security on their sides were on their way to the other side of town. Postvilles four-man police force had no forewarning of what was about to happen. Neither did the mayor.
The procession of S.U.V.s, buses and state-trooper cars were descending on Agriprocessors, the largest producer of kosher meat in the United States and Postvilles biggest employer, which occupies 60 acres on the edge of town. Several silos clustered together like old, overgrown tin cans behind the plants chain-link fence. Low-slung, rusted metal buildings one with a 10-foot menorah mounted on its top contained hundreds of workers, chickens and cattle.
The early shift at Agri, as Postville residents call it, had been under way for several hours when dozens of agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, dressed in black flak vests, stormed the plants buildings. Workers shouted, La migra, la migra (immigration police), dropped their butcher and boning knives and fled from their jobs at the cutting and grinding machines. A group of women ran to a bathroom and locked themselves in the stalls before I.C.E. agents forced them out. A couple of men scaled Agris fence and hid in the cornfield across the street, where they remained until the next morning. Others climbed onto the roof near the smokestack of the chicken-processing building. From there, one man called a friend from his cellphone: Take care of my children, he pleaded.
Fermin Loyes Lopez, a 27-year-old father from Guatemala who had been living in Postville for five years, found his wife, Rosa Zamora Santos, who worked the same shift, cutting chicken meat off breast bones. One of their daughters, a toddler, was with a baby sitter; the other, a 5-year-old, was in kindergarten. After a quick call to the baby sitter, Lopez counseled his wife: Tell them the truth, he said, referring to the I.C.E. agents, just before he was arrested. Tell them your real name. Tell them we have children.
Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/postville-iowa-is-up-for-grabs.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
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If The Dems Made A Concerted Effort To Appeal To Rural Voters What Would You Recommend They Do?.... [View all]
global1
Jan 2013
OP
One can get a quality education in rural places. Yours is the kind of bias that hurts the party.
Scuba
Jan 2013
#3
tarring every rural voter with the broad brush won't help your war; you need allies & there are
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#168
MN has the particular history of the DFL to thank for that, but don't fool yourself.
JVS
Jan 2013
#370
Urban school districts are the worse performing in RI while rural areas have excellent schools.
hack89
Jan 2013
#4
Rhode island has half the area of my *county*, much higher incomes, and 15 times as many people.
lumberjack_jeff
Jan 2013
#86
I'm annoyed by people who extrapolate their own experience into whatever topic is current.
lumberjack_jeff
Jan 2013
#320
I spent my first 7 years of education in a 1-room rural Wisconsin country school.
Jackpine Radical
Jan 2013
#57
Give them a "DU" & then tighten rules about being polite & avoiding gratuitous insults.
patrice
Jan 2013
#2
He, he, they'd probably like that!, but maybe we should make that a Rural Underground instead.
patrice
Jan 2013
#348
Not sure what you're referring to there, but I will try to check. & I was actually just thinking
patrice
Jan 2013
#357
Good points. In many places in Colorado there is no cell phone service or cable.
MissMarple
Jan 2013
#138
There is an issue of infrastructure being in place for the type of communications you refer to
Skidmore
Jan 2013
#179
Iowa was incredibly strong for the Union during the U.S. Civil War. One of its
coalition_unwilling
Jan 2013
#213
You must think that rural people are interested only in guns and social conservatism if you say that
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#229
Emphasize values like freedom, liberty, equality. Hammer hard about how Repubs are screwing them.
LonePirate
Jan 2013
#10
A $20/hr minimum would appeal to people who hire much low-skill low cost labor? nt
dmallind
Jan 2013
#137
Did you know that the U.S. imposed land reform on Japan and Taiwan after World War II?
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#41
The Dem power structure is overwhelmingly urban and coastal, and too many of the Beltway types
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#225
Urban and commungardens are becoming increasingly common. There is a whole movement promoting them.
MissMarple
Jan 2013
#139
Bank bailouts, "free trade" with Korea, mandatory insurance. Those would be my top priorities. nt
Romulox
Jan 2013
#17
Start kicking republicon asses up one side of the back forty and down the other
madokie
Jan 2013
#31
Maybe they care about guns so much because their other needs are not being met
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#44
One thing the Dems need to make clear is that no one is talking about hunting rifles.
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#66
And yet, almost all the school and other mass shootings have taken place in rural or suburban areas
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#114
The Beltway yuppies and Wall Street types are big reasons why so many rural people...
YoungDemCA
Jan 2013
#290
Bonus question for all you high information voters; What is the state motto of Wyoming?
lumberjack_jeff
Jan 2013
#50
#1 Ask rural people themselves what they want & need. #2 Use the 50-state strategy.
Hekate
Jan 2013
#63
Run an old, white candidate who loves guns and hates abortion and teh gay.
geek tragedy
Jan 2013
#69
Posts like this are one of the biggest reasons Democrats lose rural America
YoungDemCA
Jan 2013
#291
I live in rural PA. The only thing that would work is change party. Rural would vote for a skunk
appleannie1
Jan 2013
#85
As a Liberal and Progressive rural Voter I say give the people a clear choice
Lesmoderesstupides
Jan 2013
#87
Yes, if Democrats think they have to act like Republicans to get elected, they'll lose,
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#115
It only takes one bad apple and sadly there are too many with D's after their name
Lesmoderesstupides
Jan 2013
#145
For real. I've actually witnessed climate change changing rural voters.
raouldukelives
Jan 2013
#373
Massive reform in agricultural subsidies, or even better, free farmers to farm.
Egalitarian Thug
Jan 2013
#107
Sure! There can be alt energy in rural areas. Part of my friend's solar array in Roanoke VA
rightsideout
Jan 2013
#129
"no government intervention" except cities like NY are subsidizing their way of life.
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#174
If there is no homeless population in Cattaraugus County, you should inform these services that
Bluenorthwest
Jan 2013
#208
Focus on economics, stop trying to ban guns, cease supporting controlling individual behavior,
TheKentuckian
Jan 2013
#119
remind them that the democrats are the only party to guarantee social security
spanone
Jan 2013
#127
over and over again the myth of "self sufficiency" and concern about taxes, when blue cities pay
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#181
their big concerns are about the govt taking their taxes, but they're actually getting handouts
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#188
Tama said something about SS not being something we shld bother talking about.
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#224
Rural folks understand the distinction between "handouts" and "insurance". n/t
lumberjack_jeff
Jan 2013
#245
those obsessed with "redistubution of wealth" in the US are the largest beneficiaries
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#301
democrats are seen as the party for colored folk, gay folk and feminists
La Lioness Priyanka
Jan 2013
#130
we're actually pretty accepting of "brown immigrant workers" here in the big cities, but thanks!
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#178
or just the reality of being a melting pot. we actually take meetings with brown people here!!!
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#183
well, i wasn't talking about nationwide institutional racism in the prisons, but rather diversity
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#230
Bloomberg has had an awful effect on the NYPD, I agree. But I'm sorry- rural cops would likely
bettyellen
Jan 2013
#227
Start with reminding them that the GOP congress left town without passing a farm bill
OmahaBlueDog
Jan 2013
#132
Rural schools are pretty good, as far as I know. Better than many urban schools. nt
Honeycombe8
Jan 2013
#154
I don't know how much I qualify as an expert on the rural mindset, but.......
socialist_n_TN
Jan 2013
#147
Dude...seriously, they are never going to vote Dem as long as threaten to take their guns away
davidn3600
Jan 2013
#161
By the way, at most larger state and county fairs, the local Democratic party generally does have a
OmahaBlueDog
Jan 2013
#284
+1. I don't think so many urban dwellers really get how 'nightmarish' some of this stuff can be.
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#172
Talk to the average urban resident and see if their contacts with the government are so positive
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#205
(1) Quit bashing rural people & rural culture (2) Listen to the issues that are important to rural
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#170
yes, there's cultural considerations, but access to factual information is the biggie
procon
Jan 2013
#240
that's not the case in all rural areas. nd the fact remains, even if there were a 'liberal fox,'
HiPointDem
Jan 2013
#241
Being from a rural state and having grown up in a small town here I have some insights for you:
RBInMaine
Jan 2013
#186
Kerry and H. Clinton only managed to look stupid trying to be "just plain folks"
Lydia Leftcoast
Jan 2013
#271
So, getting together weekly with a group of people is the only acceptable way
ohheckyeah
Jan 2013
#354
" Dial-up only access tends to limit using the Internet as an information source."
ohheckyeah
Jan 2013
#350
Drop the poisonous alliance with Wall Street and other corporate interest groups
YoungDemCA
Jan 2013
#250
Start by making sure they graduate from high school, a mind is a terrible thing to waste & hatred
mother earth
Jan 2013
#256
I'm not making that claim, just that it all begins with education, city & rural folk alike. :)
mother earth
Jan 2013
#315
True. Though I'm thinking the OP was about reaching over to the other side, probably more geared to
mother earth
Jan 2013
#319
Yep. The idea that all rural people are rightwing Republicans is wrong, too.
OnionPatch
Jan 2013
#297
Maybe Democrats don't really "stand for" many or all of those things, in practice?
YoungDemCA
Jan 2013
#288
Is Otis as exotic as the Somali workers that are working in the processing plants in Tennesse?
SQUEE
Jan 2013
#318