Lessons from the Farm to Strengthen America

Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the USDA Blog.

A week ago, President Obama released the American Jobs Act, a specific plan to jumpstart our economy and put Americans to work today.  It contains ideas that both parties in Washington have supported.  And yesterday, he laid out a plan that will pay for it – and for other long-term investments we need to stay competitive – while reducing our deficits.

His plan takes a balanced approach.  It looks for savings across government.  And it asks everyone to do their part and pay their fair share so we can live within our means.

For agriculture, the plan focuses on what the President and I believe is one of the most pressing challenges facing producers right now: maintaining a strong safety net and disaster assistance programs that will work for all farmers and ranchers, no matter what they produce or where.

The plan will strengthen our disaster assistance programs, which are currently set to run out of funding at the end of the month.  It means that farmers knocked down by natural disaster can get their operations back on track.  After witnessing flood, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires this year – I am even more certain of the importance of this component of the safety net.

By modernizing our crop insurance program and making modest changes to the subsidy that crop insurance companies receive, we’ll make sure that we improve the programs and implement them more efficiently.

Renewing the American Dream – For Our Prosperity/Por Nuestra Prosperidad

National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time when America recognizes and celebrates the important pieces that Hispanic Americans contribute to the mosaic of our nation.  The month also celebrates the personal freedom and self-determination most Hispanic Americans or their ancestors sought when they first came to the U.S.  My parents, who are fifth-generation Hispanic Americans, taught me to appreciate these freedoms and other core American values – among them, the promise of equal opportunity and the right to pursue gainful employment.   

As a Hispanic American, and as a person with a disability, these labor force and civil rights issues are very close to my heart.  And they are taking on increased importance as President Obama and his Administration work to create jobs and make today’s economy work for all Americans.  I’m proud to be part of a team that is committed to Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis’s vision of “Good Jobs for Everyone.”  Secretary Solis, who is also Hispanic American, is leading us in a wide range of efforts to get people across the nation back to work, and to ensure that they have an opportunity to participate in the economic recovery.

Today, Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the U.S., and we represent one of every three new members of the workforce.  Hispanics, however, are more likely than other Americans to work in low wage jobs, and they often have experience with disability.  Lack of health insurance, the prevalence of acquired disabilities for workers in high risk jobs, and the disproportionate rate of health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension in the Hispanic community, are all factors that contribute to our population's increasing rate of disability.

“Someday” is Now: Direct Farm Payments and the President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction

For nearly two decades, I have served in agriculture policy capacities for the federal government – most of those years with the United States Department Agriculture.  Today, I am reminded of a quote by Will Rogers.  The outspoken Oklahoman once remarked, “An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh.”  Instead, Rogers made so many Americans laugh during some of the most difficult times in the history of rural America, sometimes pointing out irony in the activities of government.

Today marks a truly historic action, as President Obama proposes dramatic, yet common sense reform to what has become over the years, a product of conventional politics and longstanding irony in the landscape of government.  As part of the President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction announced today, President Obama is proposing to terminate direct farm subsidies.  At nearly $5 billion in funding per year, the Direct Payments program is certainly no laughing matter.  And if a vegetable were ever developed per the Rogers quote above, it wouldn’t qualify for direct payments, because vegetables are not deemed to be “program crops”. (more on that in a moment)  

As the lead advisor on rural issues for the President’s Domestic Policy Council, some will ask me “why advocate for the reduction of an agriculture program?”  In short, I believe the President’s proposal seeks to establish new policy that has been long overdue, and takes action that conventional thinking would regard as either too difficult, or too controversial.