Politics-What's on your mind?

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

Anybody hear the proverbial calm before the storm, lately???

Somebody told me today the an extraordinary amount of land in Arizona is owned by the Saudi’s and they grow water intensive crops (wheat, etc) in Arizona.

Let’s seeeeee:

Orange menace + Son-in-law Kushner + Kushner’s Saudi Billion $$$ hedge fund + acts between all three party’s = one big a$$ problem that will exact a punishing consequence upon what’s left of a tax burdened nation who is already paying consequences for the Orange party and their supporters who basically have zero emotional and intellectual intelligence.

Originally Posted by ksrainbow

https://kansasreflector.com/2023/09/...enate-hearing/

*Foreign ownership of U.S. farmland probed at U.S. Senate hearing
BY: SAMANTHA DIETEL - SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 6:36 PM

Kevin Kirby operates a tractor on Sept. 20, 2013, to begin the sweet potato harvest process by plowing them up from the field on Kirby Farms in Mechanicsville, Virginia
Kevin Kirby operates a tractor on Sept. 20, 2013, to begin the sweet potato harvest process by plowing them up from the field on Kirby Farms in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Kirby is a fourth-generation farmer. A U.S. Senate hearing on Sept. 27, 2023, examined foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. (Lance Cheung/USDA)

WASHINGTON — U.S. senators said during a Wednesday hearing that foreign ownership of U.S. farmland is a national security threat that should be further examined.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry discussed foreign ownership of the nation’s agricultural lands, with testimony from experts and Senate colleagues who have been taking the lead on the issue.

“Food security is national security,” said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, who told the committee about his work to limit foreign ownership of farmland.

Tester said foreign adversaries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea should not be allowed any claim to U.S. soil.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that foreign investors held about 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land. This is about 3% of the total amount.

“That’s more than the entire state of Iowa,” Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, said.

The USDA also reported Canada as the largest foreign investor in 2021 with 12.8 million acres, or 31% of foreign-held acres. The Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, the other top foreign investors, collectively had 12.4 million acres, according to the report.

China had approximately 383,935 acres, or under 1% of foreign-held land in the U.S., according to the USDA report.

Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land has increased by 66% since 2010, Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, said.



State restrictions on foreign ownership
Earlier this year there was growing bipartisan support in Congress for limiting foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land, but there are currently no federal restrictions. The issue is also widely discussed at the state level.

Foreign ownership of U.S. land is currently restricted in 24 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Eleven of these states enacted foreign ownership laws during the 2023 legislative session, according to the National Agricultural Law Center. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.

Harrison Pittman, the National Agricultural Law Center director at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said there are “really not very many states left that haven’t had at least one or more proposals at the state level” to restrict foreign land ownership.

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., James Lankford, R-Okla., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., joined Tester to speak about their efforts to improve farmland security when it comes to foreign investors.

In July, the Senate passed Rounds’ amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets defense policy. If enacted, his amendment would ban China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from purchasing U.S. farmland and agricultural businesses.



National security threat seen
In his testimony, Rounds referenced recent examples of China’s land ownership near military bases. In 2020, a Chinese company planned to build a wind energy farm project two miles from Laughlin Air Force base in Del Rio, Texas, Rounds said.

Rounds and other senators said they were concerned about the attempt of a Chinese company to build a corn milling plant on farmland near an Air Force base outside of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Senators also cited the purchase of Smithfield Foods by a Chinese company as a point of concern.

“Who controls our farmland is really important and honestly, my concern is also with who controls many other parts of our food system, including our seeds, meat processing and grocery stores,” said Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat. “This is all part of our national security.”

Stabenow said U.S. national security “depends on a food system that is safe, secure, affordable, abundant and resilient.”

“As foreign entities continue their acquisitions of U.S. food and agricultural assets, American farmers and families deserve to know that these transactions receive proper scrutiny,” Stabenow said.



Data gaps
David Ortega, as associate professor of agricultural, food and resource economics at Michigan State University, said foreign ownership of agricultural land potentially could increase land prices and push farmers out of the market.

However, Ortega said there is “no clear evidence” that foreign ownership is making U.S. farmland prices rise.

Baldwin said that foreign investors holding U.S. farmland can put domestic food supply and local communities at risk.

“And right now, we don’t know the full extent of the risk at hand,” Baldwin said.

She said outdated reporting systems and a lack of auditing at both state and federal levels need to be addressed.

Last year, Baldwin worked with Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and member of the Agriculture panel, to pass the Farmland Security Act of 2022 as part of the fiscal 2023 omnibus appropriations bill.

This law requires the USDA to update its paper report system for filing foreign investments in agricultural land to an online, public database.

The USDA must also report to Congress on the impacts of foreign ownership of agricultural land on family farms, rural communities and the domestic food supply, Baldwin said.

Gloria Montaño Greene, USDA’s deputy under secretary for farm production and conservation, told senators that while Congress did direct the USDA to modernize its foreign investment reporting system within three years, the USDA “was not provided funding to implement these requirements.”

Instead, the USDA posted Excel data spreadsheets in June for each year from 2011 to 2021, Greene said.

Ernst said the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which became law in 1978, must be modernized to “increase reporting, strengthen oversight and send a strong message to our adversaries that American farms are not their playground.”

“Enforcement of reporting requirements has been inconsistent and at times lax,” Ortega said. This is attributed to low staffing at the agency level, he said.

“While passing our legislation was a step in the right direction, Congress can and must do more,” Baldwin said.



Lack of progress on the farm bill
Baldwin and Grassley are teaming up again to pass a new version of their proposal, the Farmland Security Act of 2023, which Baldwin said “will go even further in addressing foreign activity in our domestic agriculture marketplace.”

Baldwin urged the committee to include this legislation in the next farm bill.

Ernst said she was frustrated that there has not been “meaningful progress” on the farm bill.

The current farm bill is set to expire at the end of the week.

“I really think this is a shame,” Ernst said.

She said she hears from farmers and ag leaders that there needs to be more “farm” in the farm bill, and that they are concerned about the increase in foreign investment in American farmland.



Possible consequences
Ortega said that implementing restrictions on U.S. agricultural land ownership could result in retaliation by other countries.

Trade relations could be affected, Ortega said, and used China as an example. He said China is the largest export market for the U.S. when it comes to agricultural and food products.

Specifically, China imports soybeans, corn and grains from the U.S., Ortega said, as well as other consumer-oriented products.

“In my view, it would be far easier for China to find new sources of these products than it would be for American farmers to find new export markets,” Ortega said. “So I think it’s important to also be aware of potential trade impacts.”*

On a personal note: my brother recently purchased a 1300 acre ranch in rural Oklahoma. Self contained property that he at the age of 70, can claim as his own. From those acres are massive hay fields that he donates 80% to local non-profit organizations. No less than 6 months from his first donation, he was approached by 2 men with cash in hand to purchase his 1300 acres. He now has a gait and alarm system to his home and hay fields. He does not live in fear, but does fear those who are predators-

Ks-

Hey and Hi KansasRainbow,

That is an interesting news article from your local news agency. And thanks for sharing about your brother who purchased property then was approached by two suspect buyers with cash in hand.

Here is the buzzkill for me, concerning this issue: Republican senators (Grassley is the best example and men like him) serving on the agricultural committee is deeply concerning. Why? Republican's like to hand out dis- and mis- information as positively the whole entire 'truth'; when what they do and say is the most convoluted pack of lies, they foist upon American voters today.

I don't trust anything a Republican senator says because they've proven to me, over the vast part of my adult life, that they only care about how they line their own pockets with cash -- and they don't care who it comes from, as long as they look out for themselves. The GOP Republican Party of current day is NOT the same as it was back in the days of Dwight D
Eisenhower. Even Reagan, or Bush no.1, is not worthy of Identifying as the standard bearer of traditional Republican politics.

What is at stake? Water and Land rights being owned by Foreign Interests -- of which the worst foreign ownership country is the Saudi's and other foreign interests whose countries are being depleted by greedy Authoritarian Dictators who only want to enrich themselves, just the Orange Menace.


It's the Republican Party (and being dominated by authoritarian personalities from within their own ranks), that is the scariest obstacle that will be the ruination of our democracy. Stopping the GOP is of utmost importance.

Again, thanks for your article of news. I sure hope people are paying attention to the way the GOP is causing the most damage to our country.

[Kätzchen]

I was just thinking to myself the other day about Liz Cheney…. And she finally surfaces to spill the goods on Jacka$$ Jordan.


I don’t agree with some of her politics, but she’s got it exactly right about the Orange snake and his followers. Thank heavens she has a conscience.

Thanks for setting the record straight about people who keep jeopardizing our democracy. Super proud of you, Mz. Cheney.

[Kätzchen]

Well … I find it interesting that there are some members of the Republican Party who have not let Jacka$$ Jordan assume speakership. Thank heavens because, literally, there is nobody on their side of the political spectrum that deserves to be speaker. I keep hoping that Hakeem Jeffries will be speaker one day as he seems to be cut from the same cloth as House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.


I also think it is simply amazing that Judge Chutkan & Judge Engoron are staying the course and are not intimidated by the charlatan known as the trumpedo who keep right on torpedoing himself with his cataclysmic arsenal of lies and criminal behavior.

Looks like the winter holidays might remain untarnished by the giant orange narcissist. Hopefully, by spring, no more will this person dominate news feeds. Can hardly wait until he is stripped of every stripe that has hurt every person since his porn shop dad thought he could cleverly reinvent the “rules” of how to be rich and never pay taxes.

———————————————.

Looking forward to hearing news of any type which talks about people helping people and not people at war with other people.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

Looking forward to hearing news of any type which talks about people helping people and not people at war with other people.

From the BBC podcast "Happy News", Oct. 16, 2023

Several women won the Nobel Prize this year. In Economics, it was the first time a woman alone won the prize; Claudia Goldin of Harvard University studied the gender pay gap around the world. She has also studied the effects of contraception on women in the labor force. Katalin Kariko shared the prize for Physiology and Medicine for developments with the Covid vaccine. Anne L'Huillier shared the prize in Physics. The Nobel Peace Prize was won by a Muslim woman, Narges Mohammadi, who has fought for equality for women in Iran.

* * *

Bill Gates stays optimistic in the face of tough circumstances. Although he has seen first hand the results of climate change, he says, "The human condition has improved a lot. We started the century with over 10 million children dying under the age of 5 every year. Now we have that below 5 million. And so that kind of progress, where it's better now than it was back in the year 2000, that's going to continue." He sees this kind of progress as similar to what's going on with climate solutions. Tech solutions have produced drought-resistant seeds, cement that doesn't contribute to climate change, and AI that better predicts climate change fueled weather.

[A. Spectre]

Mike blames mass shootings on 60's revolution. He blames mass shootings on feminism, no fault divorce and schools embracing evolution.

And worse....

trumpism is here. Please vote, for your best interest.

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by A. Spectre

Mike blames mass shootings on 60's revolution. He blames mass shootings on feminism, no fault divorce and schools embracing evolution.

And worse....

trumpism is here. Please vote, for your best interest.

I sure do enjoy your perspective, my friend.

I totally agree with your assessment concerning the new GOP House Speaker.

— nobody in the GOP, well — most all of them, do not care or cherish the presiding notion that it is because of our devotion to Democracy that affords people in our country to **choose** peaceful relations with others, rather than blowing up the world and killing innocent people over the incessant need to dominate and control others as if they’re expendable.

We have literally got to oust people from congress and other governing agencies who don’t care about doing what is best for our country.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate you.

[Kätzchen]

Thank heavens for former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Did ya see how he incinerated his GOP debaters??? LMAO, or not, I’m glad he is putting up a good fight against the biggest liar of all time (well, outside the purview of Lucifer aka Satan) — the person who probably never paid for his orange spray painted tan, like ever.

Thank heavens for Liz Cheney exposing the current speaker of the house.

—————————.

I don’t know about anybody else but I’m super proud of our POTUS and his vice president. Joe Biden has been in the halls of Congress longer than most. He’s honest. He doesn’t lie. He has scrupulous behaviors and makes the best choice, each time a choice can be made. People might state perjorative bullshit ideas about executive democrat elected officials but their ill formed ideas and opinions don’t make what they say, true.

We are on an extended, borrowed time both personally and collectively — both the planet and human beings.

Let’s make it count.

<<<<<—— Voting strictly an up and down ballot as a Democrat for Democrats. For the People , by the People. Not for kings or queens: we don’t have time for those types of terrifying choices.