After four years of an administration that shared many of agriculture’s long-term goals, with a pro-business, pro-citizen, pro-freedom and individual liberty agenda, it appears that approach will change.
Question is, will the leadership—some holdovers from the Obama administration—stay with the usual left-leaning philosophies, or will some of the more radical theories of the political far left get more traction? That is relevant to both national politics and agricultural policy.
Tom Vilsack will be nominated as USDA secretary. The former Iowa governor has a known, not radical, record previously at USDA. Will congressmen from the coasts successfully target agriculture with “reform”? Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Jon Testor (D-MT) signed on to Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) radical overhaul bill, the Farm System Reform Act. It calls for phasing out so-called “factory farming,” a moratorium on growth or merging of any food production company, reworking the marketing system, and reviving mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL). Booker and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have also introduced legislation to “reform” checkoffs.
Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris explained in a 2019 CNN climate change town hall in California that Americans should reduce red meat consumption, that the “food pyramid” should be changed and eating behaviors should be changed to reduce impact on the environment (“Kamala Harris Urges Americans to Reduce Red Meat…,” Newsweek, 09/04/19).
Rep. David Scott of Georgia (D-13) is new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Scott has headed dairy and commodity subcommittees. He supported National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s positions on COOL, the GIPSA rule, and the death tax.
His announcement statement espoused the “values” of the Democrat caucus, listing “priorities for trade, disaster aid, climate change, sustainable agriculture, SNAP, crop insurance, small family farms, specialty crops and rural broadband.” He called climate change a threat to the food supply. Though Scott represents a suburban district, he was born into a South Carolina farm background and is a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat.
With the Senate majority unknown, Agriculture chairman prospects are Sen. John Boozman, (R-AR), who would be Republican chairman, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) likely chair for the Democrats.
Katherine Tai has been nominated for U.S. trade representative (USTR). She was previously chief counsel at USTR for China Trade Enforcement and trade attorney at House Ways and Means.
One cabinet level appointment was the president of the National Resources Defense Council and former Environmental Protection Administrator Gina McCarthy as climate czar. She has filed 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, including on endangered species issues.
With taxation a big economic growth issue, Biden believes the Trump tax cuts hurt by reducing federal tax collections. Actually, tax receipts grew by only 2.2 percent in the two years before the cuts and 5.3 percent in the two years after the cuts. In the two years previous to the cuts, corporate tax collections dropped 25.4 percent, but only 11.4 percent after the cuts. Before the cuts, business investment grew 4.7 percent and 11.9 percent after. GDP grew by 5.9 percent before and 9.7 percent after. Median household income advanced 6.8 percent in 2019 alone (Creighton Institute for Economic Inquiry).
Biden favors raising corporate taxes some, and Harris favors returning rates to previous levels. The Democrats have also favored increasing capital gains taxes.
The left’s climate change efforts target agriculture. False claims about the impact of cattle on the environment prompt the activist groups’ attacks. The Democrats have opposed the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations and a Biden administration would certainly re-institute many of the Obama-era regulations on water (WOTUS), land use, grazing, energy and mining development, pipelines, etc. Regulation on antibiotics and other technology could happen. Endangered Species Act reforms in the works could halt. Biden favors a carbon tax, increasing operating costs and cutting energy development income for farmers and ranchers.
Regarding healthcare, Biden has favored a public option as well as other additions to Obamacare. The program claims to have provided health insurance to 20 million citizens. Roughly 160 million Americans have private health insurance that might be eliminated under a single-payer government program. Census data shows 92 percent of Americans had health insurance, with 68 percent having private insurance.
Agriculture needs more legal labor. The Democrats have been more interested in illegal immigrants, a less dependable source of labor for employers. Harris opposes wall funding and favors decriminalizing illegal entry. Some Democrats advocate for nearly open borders, likely to bring floods of illegals, burdening local and state budgets, bringing more crime to border ranches and communities and higher numbers of COVID-19 cases.
More gun control attempts are likely. Both Biden and Harris want to federalize background checks and Biden advocates licensing all guns. — Steve Dittmer, WLJ columnist
(Steve Dittmer is the author of the Agribusiness Freedom Foundation newsletter. Views in the column do not necessarily represent the views or opinions ofWLJ or its editorial staff.)
