I Don’t Hate America!

We’re back here catching up following a long weekend/start to the week.

Friday Jason and I had the privilege of attending the reception for the Minnesota Farmers Union annual convention in Minneapolis. While there were certainly some people who asked “What’s that mean?” when we told them we were bloggers, there was also a tremendous amount of interest from the people with whom we spoke in using this medium to connect rural Minnesota.

As far as the political discussion went, the theme throughout our stay was the sheer frustration people have with the Republican’s obstructionism relating to moving the Farm Bill forward in the U.S. Senate.

Other, prior obligations kept Jason and I from sticking around for Saturday’s festivities which appeared to include most of the weekend’s fun.

Setting aside who actually spoke to the convention, elected officials such as Rep. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (each a member of his/her respective chamber’s Agriculture Committee), and candidates such as Al Franken and Mike Ciresi, the day seems to be more notable for who didn’t speak: Sen. Norm Coleman, who serves with Klobuchar on the Senate’s ag. committee.

(A) Bluestem Prairie reports that while Coleman’s people snubbed the MFU, despite repeated calls, emails and faxes, his people picked the same freakin’ hotel, the Four Points Sheraton, for a fundraiser at the same time with some dentists.

Others may see this as more of an issue of Coleman snubbing a major constituency. I see it as more of an issue of blatant “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” on the part of the individual(s) responsible for scheduling this event and not making sure Coleman was scheduled to speak in front of those farmers.

Sure, the dental people may have scheduled the event at the Sheraton over the heads of the Coleman campaign. That would simply be a gaffe.

For Coleman’s campaign scheduler to not partition 10-15 minutes to talk to the MFU considering he would be within a few measly feet of the convention? That is pure incompetence.

It appears pre-cut/pre-packaged meat is under fire for its use of carbon monoxide to maintain redness in Congress.

While preserving sales along with the meat’s bright pink hue, the practice is coming under fire from a rival business and consumer groups.

The CEOs of Hormel and Cargill, who testified in Congress on Tuesday, say there’s no public health risk, a conclusion which gets significant backing from the scientific community and the government, which has approved the practice.

But in political terms, this is a battle between industry rivals that have each recruited their state’s congressional delegation to help advance their cause.

On one side are Hormel and Cargill, who have turned to Minnesota Democrats Collin Peterson, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Tim Walz, whose district includes Hormel’s Austin, Minn., headquarters.

On the other side are Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, both Democrats from Michigan, the home base of Kalsec Foods, a rival company that is marketing a patented rosemary extract that keeps red meat from turning brown on the grocery store shelf.

If only it were as simple of an issue as “carnivores want their steak bloody red!!!”

Of course the manufacturer can package the precut meat in an oxygen proof tray but then the meat wouldn’t turn red until after opening, and really, who wants to buy dark meat?

It isn’t just about redness, though.  It’s about screwing blue collar workers out of good jobs at the retail level and reducing cost by cutting, trimming, traying, wrapping, weighing and pricing at the processing plant.

In the effort to squeeze every last penny out of expenses, retailers (starting with Wal-Mart all the way down) have decided that customer service isn’t important in the meat department and that the manufacturer knows best which thickness of steak a customer should have, not the customer him or herself.

I’ve worked in retail meat departments, so I know a thing or two about this subject (I know everything, too, but that’s irrelevant). Do I think legislation banning CO in meat should be in order? Probably not, but there probably should be stricter legislation on shelf life.  As an alternative to legislation, if American consumers don’t want meat products packaged in carbon monoxide they should tell the major retailers that by supporting smaller meat markets and grocery stores that still cut steaks and roasts fresh off the primal in the store.

If consumers are  satisfied with mediocrity, why should the retailer provide anything more? There may be a premium at the checkout for a while, but if the larger supermarkets are throwing away more of the prepackaged crap than they are selling, they will be forced to return to selling fresh meat cut on-site.  Of course, as the Wege noted Saturday, even service counters have to produce quality fresh looking products.

Of course then Wal-Mart might be forced to hire meat cutters again (risking unionization, history lesson here) or simply getting the hell out of the fresh grocery business.  Neither possibility would be bad.

Ollie Ox has declared she shuns pre-packed meat already.  Since her name indicates she is a heifer, I find it a bit of a conflict of interest that she is tying to blog about beef issues.

Regardless, when she speaks about liquid being pumped into to meat, that happens with just about all Hormel pork, prepackaged or not.  Advertised as a “solution to add tenderness and juiciness” or something similar, the sodium phosphate based solution prevents bacteria from developing which, while also increasing the saltiness on the taste buds, increases shelf life, which then increases benefit to the bottom line.

Today in Congress, the House of Representatives has under its consideration H.R. 3161, a bill dealing with agriculture spending. Having already passed the policy-centered Farm Bill last week, H.R 3161 would appropriate $91 billion on agriculture.

For about the past three hours the House has been debating an amendment offered by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) which would reduce the appropriation by $50,000 to the office of the Secretary of Agriculture.

Almost immediately the Democrats announced they would accept the amendment. Regardless of the non-controversial nature of the amendment, the House Republicans have used this time to debate State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) appropriations which will likely be brought to the House floor later this week.

Yes, during debate on an amendment about agriculture, they are talking about health care.

Much like common friggin’ sense would dictate, House rules state that debate must be germane to the subject under consideration, and Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) has reminded members of this rule countless times. One bloviating member in particular, Rep. John Shaddeg (R-AZ), didn’t like that the rule was applied to him and moved to appeal the decision of the chair.

Ugh.

Members are now in the middle of a roll call vote on this!

“Considering the cost of the clerk, air conditioning, and lights to keep this place open we have spent more money to hear this rhetoric than what is saved in this amendment,” Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI), House Appropriations Chairman, said.

House Republicans today are doing nothing today but grandstanding on the taxpayer’s dime. It’s downright shameful that a party which touts “fiscal responsibility!!!” like an ice-cream man would tout “soft serve cones with sprinkles!!!” would do this.

And according to all the conservative talking heads, it’s the DEMOCRAT LEADERSHIP’S fault that nothing is getting done in Congress? Spare me that song and dance, please!

If I were there I would rise and move the previous question.

Someday. Hee hee.

Debate has officially kicked off in the US House of Representatives about the 2007 Farm Bill. I don’t follow floor debate in the US House too often but I am already having a flashback to the rhetoric from Marty Seifert and Tim Pawlenty when the Minnesota legislature had under its consideration a proposal to include inflation in budget forecasting. Those two Republicans falsely characterized it as “budget increases on autopilot.”

This time, the Farm Bill would close a loophole which allows for corporate overseas tax shelters. The elimination of this loophole, which would create $4 billion of revenue, is falsely being referred to by Republicans such as a tax “increase.”

I liken it to being shorted on your paycheck and upon notifying to your boss/payroll clerk/HR/whatever being told you shouldn’t be entitled to a pay increase.

Ugh. And due to this provision, these Republicans, such as Agriculture committee ranking member Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), are intending to vote against the bill.

Nevertheless, Minnesota elected officials will get some spotlight, such as Agriculture committee chairman Collin Peterson, who has been heralded for his efforts to find compromise, and Tim Walz who is a member of the committee.

Based on a quote from this story yesterday, it doesn’t appear John Kline will support the bill.

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., commended Peterson’s effort but had some reservations, including how a $4 billion increase to nutrition programs would be paid for.

“We have to see how these concerns are met,” Kline said in a statement.

I can only assume Michele Bachmann will vote against it because, well, she votes against everything so why even bother to find some real basis for that conclusion.

We will try and offer updates from time to time here at IDHA and of course Bluestem will continue to provide stellar coverage on this issue.

[UPDATE] Quick Farm Bill update (trying not to live blog as I will not hear the end of how “lame” live blogging C-SPAN is):

The controversial Ron Kind/Jeff Flake delete-everything amendment failed on a voice vote with a roll call vote to be taken later.

In opposition to the amendment, Tim Walz said it was well intentioned but doesn’t address the needs of his district, Minnesota’s 1st, which he described as one of the “richest pieces of agriculture land in the world.”

Walz, in his usual blunt tone, showed irritation at some of the rhetoric being presented in opposition to the bill.

“When I need advice about agriculture, I go to Kevin Paap at the Minnesota Farm Bureau, not the ideology at the Cato Institute.”

13 amendments were approved “en bloc” via voice vote with 17 more remaining. Final passage is expected to take place tomorrow. [/UPDATE]

[UPDATE 2] The Kind/Flake amendment fails 117-309. Looks like that will be all for the Farm Bill tonight.  I always laugh when the parliamentarian has to guide the Speaker Pro Temp through every little process and still has to ask “Now what?” into the microphone. [/Update 2]