Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Inheritance Tax did not destroy the American Family Farm. Costs in operation did.

Trump's Inheritance Tax is about the wealthy and has nothing to do with the loss of the American Family Farm. Below is an article from "The Washington Post" defining the TRENDS in farmland in the USA. Careful, one or more of the big farms might be owned by the Russians or the Chinese. We know the Chinese send the American produced pork bellies to China.


September 10, 2017
By Roberto A. Ferdman

"Today’s farms are fewer and bigger." (click here)

That's how the United States Department of Agriculture put it in the agency's new Agriculture and Food Statistics report. It's also, pretty clearly, what the chart above — which was included in the report (p. 6) — shows.

Peak farm, as it happens, happened almost 80 years ago in the United States. The number of farms in the country has fallen by some 4 million between then and now — from more than 6 million in 1935 to roughly 2 million in 2012. Meanwhile, the average farm size has more than doubled, and the amount of total land being farmed has, more or less, remained the same....

The facts are very clear and have been very clear for decades; the moderate size farm of the USA is disappearing if not already gone. The large corporate farms have taken over that land. Interestingly though, the small family farm catering to consumers, including the Non-GMO, have grown and continue to grow in number. Below an accounting by "Dakotafire Media:"

July 14, 2012
By Heidi Marttila-Losure

The tractors and planting rigs that were out in the fields this spring were double the size they were a generation ago; a farmer can cover hundreds of acres in a day. The rows of emerging corn, planted very accurately with GPS, stretch far into the distance. The majority of the farmsteads that housed the families that settled on the land in the late 1800s and early 1900s have long been vacant, and some are being cleared to give a few more acres of farmland.

Simply put, there are bigger farms, and fewer farmers.

The percentage of the workforce employed in agriculture in the United States declined from 22 percent to 2 percent from 1930 to 2002, and since then it’s fallen still further, to something less than 1 percent. Through about 2000, the trendlines of farm size and the number over farms over the last century neatly mirror one another: As the number farms went down, the size of the average farm went up.

Another trend starting in 2007 is not as obvious in the rural Dakotas: Nationwide, the number of very small farms has also increased. Many of these farms are located closer to urban markets and do not support a family just on the farmwork; the people living there also have off-farm jobs elsewhere....

...The larger farms tend to be vertically integrated, growing bulk commodities for vast supply chains, and the small farms have found a niche selling their products directly to consumers. That leaves the mid-sized farms without an obvious role: “They are too small to compete in the highly consolidated commodity markets and too large and commoditized to sell in the direct markets,” according to the Ag of the Middle white paper....

So, the issue is about "The Death Tax." The Trump Death Tax has nothing to do with the American Family Farm. NOTHING. The corporate farm doesn't care about The Death Tax and the smaller family farm just doesn't meet the requirement for The Death Tax.

I will say this, there are many smaller family farms that have found great success in the Non-GMO markets, including, consumer LOYALTY. These farmers do little more than farm. They don't work off the farm. They are very conscience of the fact their products are valued because they are overseen understand by their consumers.

I don't doubt some of the smaller farmers might have an income from off-farm activities, but, I that model is shrinking. As a matter of fact, there are some of the small family farms that have gotten rid of the tractors and plows and use horses and a sixteen inch bottom plow. These families find the lack of diesel and engines make their enterprise far more profitable. I don't want to hear from PETA the farmers are mean to the horses. That would be a lie. These farm families treat their animals, especially working horses, as part of the family. Oddly enough, horses are very good at work and do not suffer doing that. It is interesting to see the farmer and his plow team taking a break together under a healthy, big tree with plenty of water and hay if green grass is not readily available.

The Death Tax is not going to save any farms. The damage is mostly already done. Interestingly, the radical farm movement of the 1970s predicted it. No one listened because the Nixon administration was telling farmers to plant fence post to fence post. Oh, and make it corn. The USA government promised all the corn would sell for the production of "High Fructose Corn Syrup." 

The only reason Ben Carson is in HUD is to find all the money he can to channel to the Kushner Chinese millionaires coming to the USA on the HB5 visas.

October 24, 2017

Various civil rights organizations (click here) joined to sue the Department of Housing and Urban Development over its decision to delay a housing policy Monday.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and four other groups filed the lawsuit against the department and its secretary, Ben Carson, for halting the implementation of the Small Area Fair Market Rule, the groups announced in a press release.

“The new rule gives families the purchasing power to move to higher-opportunity neighborhoods instead of being confined to segregated and impoverished ones”  said Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF President and Director-Counsel. “But the rule doesn’t just open the door to a wider variety of housing choices. Families would also be able to choose better schools, jobs, healthcare, and even better grocery stores. HUD’s delay will needlessly deprive families of access to these staples of stable communities.”

The Small Area Fair Market Rule, part of the Housing Choice Voucher program, would allow poorer families to be able to move into richer neighborhoods. Under the rule, the government would pay more money for those with vouchers to live in higher income neighborhoods and pay less to those who went to live in poor neighborhoods....

US Senator Jeff Flake made an eloquent and important speech today on the floor of the Senate.

He is a growing number of Senators that are holding the lie on "loyalty and extremism." They need support from the American people.

The apprentices of the Republican Party are taking over. Joe Arpaio represents the southern border, but, he also decries discrimination against the elderly and their ability to work. It seems as though Sherrif Joe thinks the USA seniors should abandon Social Security and work to death.


August 28, 2017
By Steven Nelson


After receiving President Trump's first pardon, (click here) Joe Arpaio's plans have gone from possible prison to book-writing, speeches and potentially another run for office in Arizona, with Sen. Jeff Flake's seat one opportunity he is eyeing.
The former Maricopa County sheriff told the Washington Examiner he's upset at negative reaction to the Friday pardon, and that he feels Republican politicians are insufficiently supportive of the president, who he calls a great man.
"I could run for mayor, I could run for legislator, I could run for Senate," Arpaio said Monday. One particular race, however, is likely to gain significant attention: the GOP primary next year facing Flake, R-Ariz., a forceful Trump critic....

What war?

October 24, 2017
By Richard Wachman

Dubai: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (click here) on Tuesday unveiled ambitious plans for a new city state that would also straddle Jordan and Egypt in the kingdom’s northwest with up to $500bn in investments.

Called Neom, the city will be powered by solar and wind energy, and is likely to have more robots than people living there.

The business zone, spanning 26,500 square kilometers, would be a showcase for modernity, Saudi ingenuity and new technologies, the Crown Prince told a panel discussion at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh....


During Hajj (click here) everyone receives medical care. I suppose one can call it "International Health Care."

October 25, 2017

Riyadh: Saudi Minister of Health Tawfiq Al-Rabiah (click here) stressed that the Kingdom is one of the leading references in the area of mass gatherings medicine and management, with its well-known experiences in this field.

His statement came during the inauguration of the third International Conference for Mass Gatherings Medicine on Tuesday, which was held under the auspices of King Salman, and organized by the Ministry of Health at Al-Faisal University in Riyadh.
Al-Rabiah said that the ministry and its officials give their utmost attention to providing the best health care services during Hajj season according to an annual plan implemented in different stages, which begin well before the start of Hajj season.
He added: “This scientific gathering is of utmost importance because it coincides with the policy of making public health a priority in all laws and regulations for fighting preventing diseases.”...


Pakistan has an illegal immigrant problem. Could be the end of extremists harboring there to hide from justice.

Pilgrims can travel to a country and then stay beyond the holiday. These pilgrims are called "over stayers." It is a problem for the countries. It is difficult to police over stayers.

October 24, 2017

Jeddah: Pakistan topped the list of over-stayers (click here) in the last 2016-2017 Umrah season with the number reaching 6,905 out of total of 1,453,440 Umrah pilgrims, according to Al-Hayat daily.


Nigeria came second with 1,629 over-stayers, followed by Egypt with 1,081. Indonesia and Sudan came in the fourth and fifth place, respectively, with the same number of 592 over-stayers from each country.


On the other hand, Indonesia came second on the list of top 10 countries for the number of Umrah pilgrims last season, with the number reaching 876,246, followed by Egypt with 608,561 pilgrims. India came fourth with 525,278, and Turkey came sixth with 440,398 pilgrims.

A pilot meeting organized by the National Committee for Hajj and Umrah, chaired by Marwan Shaaban, stressed the importance of the adherence of Umrah companies to the new system which was recently launched by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, aiming to change the field into a professional industry in line with Vision 2030....

Michael Enright left his comfortable career in Hollywood to fight for Syria.

Let there be no doubt.

"Why aren't we talking about treason?!?"

A protester (click here) hurled mini Russian flags at Donald Trump, as the President was on his way to meet GOP leaders amid growing tensions.

Treason - the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.