Has Anyone Noticed This Republican Party President Is Dismantling Our Government?

The title here is not hyperbole.

First, Mr. Trump sets out to move--break up, weaken--the Department of Agriculture by moving it out of Washington, to here in the heartland, to Kansas City and then, last week, he gets started breaking up, moving the Bureau of Land Management to a legitimately small town in Colorado, Grand Junction.

And sure, I recognize this could be good for the Kansas City metropolitan area, adding to our rented space and population, some growth, but consider the ramifications.

The people with experience at these jobs in the USDA don't want to sell their homes and go to some new area they've likely never been. Who would? Who can blame them?

These USDA employees face a stark choice: Move to Kansas City or be fired

And according to the Washington Post, it doesn't just effect the USDA, either.

Relocation could seriously disrupt the work of two agencies

The Agriculture Department is offering employees a rare choice: accept a forced transfer to a post 1,000 miles away or be fired.

The Trump administration’s plan to move two agencies from the District to the Kansas City area includes a document with two blank boxes on it, sent to employees on June 13. Check one, it instructs: Accept the transfer by July 15 or “be separated by adverse action procedures.”

That means getting fired, with an opportunity to appeal the dismissal through what could be an expensive process. Getting fired could also make it more difficult to find another federal job in an area where the government dominates...
Of the 547 employees the department wants to move for the two agencies combined, 253 are with the Economic Research Service, 77 percent of its 329-person workforce. An additional 294 are with the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 93 percent of its 315-person staff. News of the move prompted a surge of support for the union. Employees at the National Institute voted 137-2 to join AFGE two weeks ago. Last month’s vote at the economic service was 138-4.
And it's not going to save us, the US, money, either, folks.

But the USDA estimate of nearly $300 million in savings over 15 years is way off, according to an analysis by the Milwaukee-based Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. Instead, it would cost taxpayers between $83 and $182 million, the analysis found. The USDA underestimated the true cost in part because it did not account for “the lost value of research from staffers who resign or retire rather than move,” the association reported.

Divide and conquer, folks. It's what he's doing.

And breaking up the USDA, weakening it, is just the first blow against regulating industry.

Bureau Of Land Management Moves Headquarters To Grand Junction, Colo.

This has at least two effects on the agency and its work.

..as excited as Grand Junction is, many people outside this high desert city are deeply skeptical of the move. The Public Lands Foundation, made up of mostly former BLM employees, opposes it, saying it will likely gut the agency as many of its workers won't want to move. And Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona sees another worry. Moving to Colorado means the BLM will be that much closer to the oil and gas industry.

It makes it easier for the special interests to have access without a lot of accountability and light somewhere else than here in D.C. And I think that works to their advantage.

This fits in perfectly Mr. Trump's work and attempts to both weaken government and assist business.

Trump Push For 'Energy Dominance' Boosts Drilling On Public Land

83 Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back Under Trump

As air pollution increases in US cities, the Trump administration is weakening clean air regulations

Then, as if all this, above, weren't enough bad news, there's yet more this week from The Orange Man in the White House. Check this out for mind blowing:

Nuclear commission considers fewer plant inspections

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission thinks it's a good idea to have FEWER inspections of nuclear power plants.

You read that right, folks--fewer inspections and less oversigh of nuclear power plants.

This is not good for clean air, folks. This is not good for the people, you and me.

It's fantastic for big business.

Links:

Democrats running out of options to stop Trump from moving two USDA offices

Moving USDA research agencies is part of Trump’s war on science and statistics

USDA research agencies will move to Kansas City region despite opposition

USDA division votes to unionize as employees protest planned relocation

October is "National Vegetarian Awareness Month"?

Does this seem like a good idea?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great if someone is vegetarian, for sure. In fact, I try to eat lots more vegetables and fruits for my health and waist, everything, sure. I can't do away, totally, with meat in my diet yet but I do all right. I think I probably eat less red meat, at least, than the average American.

My point is, if we're talking increasing vegetarian awareness, wouldn't it make more sense to do it in, say, August, because of the heat? I know it's a lot easier for me to eat more vegetables in the form of salads and so on, because it's usually so bloody hot (no pun intended) here in the Midwest. And this year would have been a great one for it, since we were so much hotter than normal.

In October, when it's getting cooler, as it's about to, here in the Midwest this week, it seems like that's the time when people are maybe firing up more barbecues to grill--gasp--red meat (or chicken or pork or whatever).

Barbecue seems to taste especially good when it's cooler but maybe that's me.

Anyway, here's to National Vegetarian Awareness Month.

Maybe put on that big pot of vegetable soup.

Good luck with it.

Link: http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/features-month/october/vegetarian-awareness-month

The American public is being bought and sold, no exaggeration

We're being sold you and I--the citizens of the US--by our representatives in Washington DC and our own state houses, to corporations and no doubt in lots and lots of different ways. This is just one of the latest:

Monsanto Crop Bans by Courts Would Be Reversed in Bill

"A House of Representatives committee voted to let farmers grow genetically modified crops developed by Monsanto Co. (MON) (MON) and its competitors during legal appeals of the approval process.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture would be required to permit modified crops to be planted and sold into the food supply after the agency’s approvals have been invalidated by a court, under a provision in the fiscal 2013 agriculture spending bill approved by the House Appropriations committee today."

So rather than protect the American people, the public, you and I, our representatives in Washington, in the House of Representatives, in this case, are, instead, protecting Monsanto because, you know, there's all that money Monsanto can give our representatives for their "campaigns."

Nice, huh?

The Justice Department, the courts, nearly protected us but then the House of Representatives jumped in so they could protect corporate Monsanto, instead.

How does it feel to be bought and sold, America?

When are we all going to get really mad and see to it we kill campaign contributions?

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-19/house-bill-would-override-court-bans-on-planting-monsanto-crops

Another great, local idea: Harvest Public Media

Something good needs to be said about this new--to me, anyway--development that is Harvest Public Media.

What a cool idea.

More importantly, it serves such a great function, locally, regionally and nationally for farming and agriculture news and information.

It is a production/reporting group, as nearly as I can explain it and they report on global food security, according to the site, and all that goes along with farming and farm production throughout the country.

They are also, apparently, an outgrowth of our own local area NPR radio stations, too, which is really great.  Their site tells more about them, naturally:

OUR MISSION:   Global demand for food and fuel is rising, and the push and pull for resources has serious ramifications for our country’s economic recovery and prosperity. Today’s emerging agenda for agriculture is headlined by energy and climate change, food safety, biofuels, animal production and welfare, human health, water quality, and local food systems. By examining these local, regional and national issues and their implications, Harvest Public Media seeks to create a rich multimedia resource devoted to food, fuel and field.

HOW WE REPORT:  Most Harvest Public Media stories begin with radio — regular reports are aired on our six member stations in the Midwest. But Harvest also explores issues through online analyses, television reports, podcasts, photography, video, blogs and social networking.  

FUNDING:  Harvest Public Media is one of seven Local Journalism Centers nationwide created with the support of a two-year grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  The initiative is intended to strengthen collaboration among six Midwest public broadcasting stations. Additional editorial support comes from American Public Media, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System.

PARTNER STATIONS: KCUR in Kansas City (lead station); Iowa Public Radio; NET which operates statewide public TV and radio networks; KBIA in Columbia, Mo.; High Plains Public Radio/KANZ in Garden City, Kan.; and Kansas Public Radio/KNAU in Lawrence.

I've heard some of their reporting on NPR, nationally, already, too and they are stories we just wouldn't otherwise get, but for their creation and existence.

Some of the stories they're reporting on right now, for instance, are:

--Making (not so much) hay
--Stripped down: How ecosystems could help farmland weather climate change
--Floods, droughts, pests, oh my!
--No need to worry about Chinese buying farmland in Iowa

I thought it important to maybe put this out here, so more people know they're there, what they do and what we can look for from them and use their information for.  I thought it important, too, to just say how great it is and how rather proud I am of the fact that it's a local product, born and raised right here in the heartland.

So kudos and many congratulations and thanks to Harvest Public Media and the people and stations making all this information available to us.  Terrific job!

Link:  http://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/

Follow up on earlier post: Wanna' know about that meat you're buying?

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Food for thought, folks.

No pun intended.

Good questions on food and our government's complicity with corporations

When did we lose the right to know what we are eating? When did food labeling become a con game to make us think we're eating healthy even when we are not? Why is the government assisting those who wish to confuse us? --Robin Quivers Link to original post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-quivers/secret-ingredients_b_675961.html

The US Middle Class is "radically shrinking"---and here are statistics to prove it

* 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people. • 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007. • 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans. • 36 percent of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings. • A staggering 43 percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement. • 24 percent of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year. • Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008. • Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975. • For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together. • In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one. • As of 2007, the bottom 80 percent of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets. • The bottom 50 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth. • Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17 percent when compared with 2008. • In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector. • The top 1 percent of U.S. households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago. • In America today, the average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks. • More than 40 percent of Americans who actually are employed are now working in service jobs, which are often very low paying. • or the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011. • This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour. • Approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years. • Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the United States rose a whopping 16 percent to 7.8 million in 2009. • The top 10 percent of Americans now earn around 50 percent of our national income. Link to original post: http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/the-u.s.-middle-class-is-being-wiped-out-here's-the-stats-to-prove-it-520657.html?tickers=^DJI,^GSPC,SPY,MCD,WMT,XRT,DIA