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Farmers’ Support for Trump Self-Destructive

The farm-focused South Dakota State Fair saw folks flocking for a fleecing at the vulgar Trump Store tent, placed all too ironically near the Freedom Stage.

Farmers with your Trump caps, wake the heck up:

Last week, the National Farmers Union said that Trump was making things “worse, not better” by escalating tariffs on China, adding in a statement that, ″instead of looking to solve existing problems in our agricultural sector, this administration has just created new ones.”

Bob Kuylen, a wheat and sunflower farmer from South Heart, North Dakota, says he has endured a tough time since Trump came into office, including losses of up to $400,000.

…A farmer of 40 years’ standing, Kuylen did not vote for Trump in the last election. He said that those in the farm-belt who did back Trump in 2016 would be foolish to do so in 2020.

“If he doesn’t lose 100 percent of it from the farm belt then people are kind of crazy because this is not going well for farmers at all,” he told CNN host Don Lemon (via Grabien.)

“I mean, some of them are trying to be faithful, they made that decision and voted for him but I would have to say in the back of their minds they are just not very happy right now.”

He criticized Trump for “taking all our markets away from us” and that “it’s kind of like telling all of America to throw away all it its 401(k) [plans].”

Even if normal trade resumed tomorrow, “it is going to take a lot of years to get our markets back,” he added [Brendan Cole, “North Dakota Farmer Says If Trump ‘Doesn’t Lose 100 Percent’ of His Farm-Belt Support over Trade War ‘People Are Kind of Crazy’,” Newsweek, 2019.08.27].

You have the White House closing U.S. markets for corn and soybeans in favor handing out corporate-ag welfare bribes. To frost that cake, fake farmer Kristi Noem is shutting South Dakota farmers out of the hemp market with her reefer madness.

Come on, South Dakota farmers: you supposedly epitomize all that is holy and sensible about our fair state. You’d fire hired hands who did this much damage to your bottom line. You’d take a shotgun to me if I were out throwing salt or dicamba onto your fields or cutting your fences to liberate your beef. But when Hailstorm Donald flattens your fields, you just pull your Trump caps down over your eyes.

Wake up and smell the manure, farmers. Trump’s higher taxes on trade are not working, for you or anyone else seeking a healthy American economy. Turn those caps and your country around and elect a President who will work for farmers, not against them.

82 Comments

  1. Dana P 2019-09-03 07:54

    Amen to that, Cory!

    Everytime I see these farmers (and other Trump supporters) continue to show support, despite the fact that they are getting personally hurt by many of these decisions, I think of the Kevin Bacon character in the movie “Animal House”. He is on all fours and getting paddled by fraternity members, and despite the pain and the tears, he keeps welcoming the paddling and saying, “thank you sir, may I have another”.

    It is mind boggling

  2. o 2019-09-03 08:17

    Wouldn’t a more accurate headline be, “Everyone except the 1%-Billionaire-Investor-Class’s support for Trump Self-Destructive”?

  3. jerry 2019-09-03 09:07

    When I see that an individual lost “$400,000.00” and still is not raising hell about it, shows me that farmers have been milking the system for far to long. How many folks could take that big of a hit and not be more than just a little unsatisfied with the job performance. Clearly, besides bribing farmers, what has he done?

    While on the subject, why aren’t these same dissatisfied farmers demanding the “Freedom to Farm” regarding hemp? Is it because this newer form of welfare and bribery, that Chubby trumpy has bribed them with, is working to tamp them down.

  4. mike from iowa 2019-09-03 09:36

    Take heart, Drumpf wants lower corporate tax rate and to get rid of the estate tax all together,

  5. Moses6 2019-09-03 09:55

    Farmers love socialism and those checks. But every one elseit really is socialism to them.

  6. John 2019-09-03 10:42

    How many of you actually talk to farmers or know how the farm program or crop insurance works? Please don’t make the mistake of thinking all farmers are Trump voters, because a lot of them, my father included if he were still alive, wouldn’t vote for that walking citrus fruit if their lives (or livelihood) depended on it, which sorry to say, it does right now.

  7. jerry 2019-09-03 11:04

    Your father was an honest man and a good farmer, alas, those days are over. They have been traded in for a more corporate model. From the sounds of the man interviewed, all farmers should be on Obamacare or at least on Medicaid Expansion.

    Farmers should unionize if they were not so afraid of being successful at their craft and insist on the “Freedom to Farm” while doing so. Farmers should make their own markets as it is clear that the Department of Agriculture is just another slot machine geared towards the house kinda like video lottery.

  8. mike from iowa 2019-09-03 11:10

    Around here, where I am surrounded by farmers, many don’t like to talk about Drumpf. Those that will don’t have much nice to say about Drumpf as they are sending stored crops to market to make room for this year’s harvest.

    There are two equipment sales (at least one with land for sale, too) coming shortly and both with in a couple miles of me. One where the owner recently flipped a mowing tractor on himself and died and the other is a retirement sale with virtually no desirable equipment. Be interesting to see what the farm ground goes for.

  9. o 2019-09-03 11:17

    I tend to agree with Jerry, more-and-more, farmers seem to be a commodity — something used for the benefit of others. The products of farming have become commodity markets for the investor class to profit from – adding nothing to the value to the commodities being produced — creating another speculative “stock” to bet on.

    I cannot think of any other industry that produces so much monetary value product, yet retains so little of a proportion of it personally. That is why production cal fall $400,000 without the full-on outrage Jerry asks of – very little of that was going to stay in the farmers’ pocket.

  10. Steve Pearson 2019-09-03 11:24

    “Farmers, wake up. With us Dems will take your farm, distribute your product and you’ll be allowed to live on your property and work hard for no money.” Sounds like a great idea….

    “Yeah, but Drumpf keeps raising tariffs!!! Drumpf causes horrible rain!!!! Drumpf has made the planting impossible!!! Drumpf lowers taxes!!!! Drumpf tweets!!!! DRUMPF!!!!!”

    You’re all loony. Mike from Iowa lives around farmers where he does nothing except live off the month’s welfare, SNAP and I’m sure disability check. All the while gluttoning away in a chair, watching tv endlessly and trolling online. No job. Hasn’t really spent a productive working day in his whole life.

  11. jerry 2019-09-03 11:29

    Speaking of trolling, better take your meds Steve Pearson so you can mellow a little.

  12. John 2019-09-03 11:29

    great example of that O is the price of pork in the store compared to what the market price is, and the price of milk. The problem, like you say, is that the producers used to influence and control the markets and now the markets influence the producers. The machine is made to bend and break the small to medium sized farmer out of the equation. I’m sure the farms of the future will be named in unrecognizable (American,Chinese,Russian) shell corps. It’s really sad to watch.

  13. jerry 2019-09-03 11:33

    Freedom to farm. Think about that for a few minutes farmers. What the hell does that phrase mean? That phrase is empty and meaningless. You, farmers, have no freedom to farm or do anything other than what the man demands of you. You will never be your own man as long as you keep sending the parasites to public office that feed upon you including the bankers that lobby for more of your sweat equity from a willing governor and shady dealing legislators.

  14. o 2019-09-03 11:45

    John, there is also the processing of commodities that influences final price consumers pay but does not necessarily put any more money in the pocket of the producers.

  15. bearcreekbat 2019-09-03 12:17

    Looks like Steve Pearson is making unsupported claims again (he offers no links or resources for his assertions) and is trying to project his idol Trump’s flawed characterstics (gluttoning away in a chair, watching tv endlessly and trolling online) on to mfi. Reality check:

    President Donald Trump drinks 12 cans of Diet Coke and watches as much as eight hours of TV per day, . . . . .

    Trump is famous for his voracious consumption of cable news and tendency to fire off impulsive tweets when he’s displeased with the way he’s portrayed in the media. According to the Times report, the only people allowed to touch the TV remote are Trump and the technical support staff. The Times said the president watches up to eight hours of TV per day.

    . . .

    Trump is known for his fast-food habit. . . .

    “On Trump Force One there were four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke,” the book said. . . .

    https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-drinks-12-diet-coke-watch-tv-cable-news-2017-12

    So Pearson’s accusations about mfi seem to apply directly to Pearson’s hero, Trump:

    – All the while gluttoning away in a chair, [Trumps favorite food groups: “McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke”]

    – watching tv endlessly [“8 hours a day”]

    and

    – trolling online [“tendency to fire off impulsive tweets”]

    Ya know, when your hero engages in conduct you find offensive and when you are so unable to defend what you hero is doing that you feel have to make up false claims about other people and groups [“With us Dems will take your farm, distribute your product and you’ll be allowed to live on your property and work hard for no money” etc.], maybe it is time to reconsider whether your current guru really is worth all that worship and look for someone that you can support based on actual facts. Just sayin’ . . . .

  16. Debbo 2019-09-03 15:16

    I don’t understand it. The only thing Bloviating Bigot seems to be good at is playing the people he takes advantage of. It breaks my heart.

  17. Scott Coyne 2019-09-03 15:50

    Cheeto = I’ve never heard of a Cat 5 Hurricane.

  18. mike from iowa 2019-09-03 17:13

    I have a telly. but no programming. I watch a few movies on dvd. All the derisive trolling Drumpf gets is only what he deserves.

  19. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-03 18:31

    I appreciate O’s attention to detail. Yes, we could broaden the headline to make clear that no one is winning under Trump except the billionaire club that never really liked Trump that much but doesn’t mind if he does their bidding.

    But if we’re limiting our discussion to farmers, I’ll posit that even the top 1% of farmers aren’t really making net gains under Trump. They may clean up on Trump’s loopholed MFP farm welfare checks, but that’s only a short-term windfall, not a long-term business model. Even the 1% is better off with less government intervention, less tax on trade, and more freedom to sell their corn and soybeans anywhere in the world where they can wreak their capitalist predations without restraint.

  20. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-03 18:33

    John, thank you for the reminder that there are good apples in every barrel. I hope we’ll hear more from those good apples as the Presidential election heats up… and that every darn one of them will vote for the Democratic nominee and get everyone of their neighbors to do the same. It’s self-preservation, farmers.

  21. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-03 18:37

    Steve, your comment makes no sense and suggests that, if “loony” has any real meaning beyond just a desire to be a verbal bully, the word better describes your fanciful statement.

    Who here is advocating full-on collectivization of farms? Lenin and Stalin are long dead. The thrust of my critique (my critique, the real things I’m saying, not the fantasy straw men Fox News gives you to bleat among weaker intellects) is that Trump is disrupting free market opportunities for farmers and making them more dependent on government handouts.

    In short, Steve, I’m the one advocating lower taxes and more capitalism, while you are advocating bigger government and more socialism. How’s that for loony—an entirely factual characterization of the arguments offered, but a stunningly ironic juxtaposition of sources of arguments.

  22. Richard Schriever 2019-09-03 19:34

    Driving across North Dakota today – I saw what should be the perfect photo op to demonstrate what Trump and the rural support for Trump is really like. It was at a place called “Somebody’s (name I don’t recall) Salvage” On US 52 somewhere between Jamestown and Minot. The place was essentially a broken down, unlivable trailer house that had obviously been abandoned in favor of a probably no longer mobile camper trailer (I could see no other residence). Parked in the weed overgrown yard around it were several old junk cars and truck – one of which MAY have been operable, and behind a seedy grove of trees with a falling down fence – a whole lot of other junk cars. There was a huge plywood sign (8 X 16) on two fence posts painted bright red with big white letters saying simply “TRUMP”. Beside it flew a 3×5 Amer4ican flag. I wish I had had the time to stop and take a picture. Truly representative of rural Trump supporters.

  23. Clyde 2019-09-04 00:28

    There has been an effort for farmers to “unionize” called the NFO. National Farmers Organization. I see that Smithfield now owns the NFO hog buying stations. Farmers are simply too greedy to organize. If their neighbor is going to cut his production to bring the price up then he will up production to take advantage of the price increase.

    “Freedom to Farm” is just a right wing tag. Every farm program seems to get a ridiculous tag that doesn’t begin to describe what it does.

    It is hard to believe that the rural folks that started “Initiative and Referendum” here in South Dakota have been so indoctrinated by the “right” to think that Trump is OK and is actually accomplishing something that will benefit them. Mr Kuylen is right on the money about the long term damage this administration has done. If you were a leader of a country with hungry people would you feel like becoming dependent on the US to supply you after what this guy has done? It will take a long time to get markets back. I watched a story about Russia’s all out effort to become as self sufficient in food production as they possibly can after the sanctions that this administration has put on them. Those markets and others won’t be coming back any time soon. Same with China.

    The direction of farming should be evident to everyone. It will continue to consolidate until only a tiny handful of people control all of it. Just like every other industry in this country. We are mighty close to that now. You can no longer produce a chicken or an egg without being on contract to a big vertical integrator. The same is now the case with hogs and I believe turkeys. We can’t grow a crop without paying a licencing fee to a multinational chemical company. All of our farm programs are designed to keep these big company’s profitable and the “cheap food at any cost” motive on the roll.

    Let me write the farm program. I’d support the production from a owned half section or a rented section such that a family could make a good living off of it and that would be it. Want to farm more and you would be doing it for the great FREE market. You would assume all risk for production above that base production. No more federal crop insurance for anything other than that base production.

    Such a program would end the exodus from rural America and stop rural town’s from becoming ghost town’s.

    When the food production is completely taken over by the one percent they will control production so that it is very profitable for them so why not control it while there are still some folks out here.

  24. Debbo 2019-09-04 13:55

    From City Pages, a nonpaywalled, weekly Minneapolis paper, regarding Farmer’s Foe’s Great Ag Bailout!

    “When the Environmental Working Group analyzed welfare data from the Department of Agriculture, it found 9,000 more deserving farmers residing in America’s biggest cities.

    “That includes 70 residents of San Francisco, 65 from New York City, and 61 from D.C., where hog production is apparently bleak this year.

    “Then comes Minneapolis, where R.D. Brummand and Sons’ homestead is among the glimmering towers downtown. It received $97,000 in welfare. Not far behind is Karnik Leifker, which has taken in $96,000. It’s headquartered in what AgMag calls a “luxury lakeside community” in Blaine, where it appears to be growing single-malt scotch and those sweaters you tie around your neck while boating.”

    is.gd/9eRvgN

    Ah yes, Farmer’s Foe sure deserves the loyalty of SD’s people on the farm and ranch.

  25. Debbo 2019-09-04 16:29

    The Nebraska Farm Bureau says,

    “Nebraska farmers are staring down the barrel of nearly a billion dollars in additional lost revenue this year as a result of ongoing trade fights, according to the latest report from the Nebraska Farm Bureau.

    “Jay Rempe, the bureau’s senior economist, told reporters Tuesday that the trade hit comes on top of other pressures such as adverse weather conditions and policy moves that are hurting ethanol.”

    Omaha World Herald

  26. mike from iowa 2019-09-04 17:12

    Anybody know where former iowa guv, Terry Eugene Braindead, the alleged Drumpf Administration Ambassador to China is? Did drumpf give him to Li’l Kim as a goodwill gesture? Why haven’t we heard from him, he is supposed to have strong connections with China. He should be able to pull Drumpf’s micro-cojones out of the trade war fire.

  27. John Dale 2019-09-04 19:00

    I see the normal cast of anti-person ranters and crazy conspiracy theories.

    While I acknowledge that in the shorter term there is pain, what are your thoughts on the longer term?

    Leave rhetoric behind .. with a larger domestic market for domestically produced goods using modern technology, how does this hurt the modern, technologically empowered farmer in the longer term?

  28. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-04 19:48

    Long term? We’ve addressed that in past posts, and Kuylen addresses it above: even if the trade war ended right now, farmers would spend years digging out of the whole created unnecessarily by Trump casting America as an unreliable supplier and driving the Chinese and others to seek more stable markets. The long-term result seems to be Trump puts more American farmers out of business, hastening the decline of rural America.

    Telling farmers to accept their current suffering for the long-term gains of Trump’s trade war is like telling German factory workers to accept the Führer’s commandeering of national wealth because of the 1000-Year Reich and Lebensraum he’s securing for all time for Germany.

  29. o 2019-09-04 19:55

    John, I am actually interested to hear your answer on how you see this going in the long term. As your man is causing this pain, what is the long -term pay off you say this is all worth? Bonus for connecting the dots from where we are now to that Shangri la.

  30. John Dale 2019-09-04 19:56

    Cory – I didn’t see reference to longer term outcomes of achieving a stronger negotiation position with respect to China. The US, in my opinion, should be converting its production capacity to regional 3D printing of everything from car parts to computer wafers.

    If/when that happens, China’s entire manufacturing outlay becomes third-world (again). In the longer-term, taking a tough stance with them could allow The US to tap into that globalist money flowing in over there .. through the sales of future products, goods, services, and technologies.

    In the longer term, imagine if China had to pay royalties on the IP they steal; patents, artwork, designs.

    In my opinion, we need American farmers selling their goods to Americans .. starting with the Hemp that Trump’s signature legalized.

    Much of what Trump is doing will take time to mature.

    Being too impatient, it’s like a chicken farmer (rancher?) that looks on to an egg, lamenting that it is not yet a chicken.

  31. John Dale 2019-09-04 20:13

    o – “your man is causing this pain”

    I think this is not true. There are millions of people pushing Trump to continue this “war”.

    I did my best to address your question regarding Trump’s promised metaphorical “railways of tomorrow”.

  32. John Dale 2019-09-04 20:22

    I woke-up this morning at 1:30am, wheels turning.

    I got up and scrawled out nearly 4 pages of notes for a show that I have titled, “Theft and Lies”.

    It’s on-topic. I’ll drop a note here when finished for anyone who might be interested in surveying the ideas.

  33. Richard Schriever 2019-09-04 22:26

    John Dale – where is the support for the technological advancements and competitiveness you speak of from Trump?? What is the name of the program(s) he is proposing or instituting to accomplish these things. You make somewhat of a claim that these are the long term goals of the trade-war tactics being used by Trump. Where is the evidence of that being the actual case – vs. your own personal wishful thinking?

  34. Debbo 2019-09-05 14:41

    This Strib commentary writer farms near Crookston.
    _________________________________

    Here in Minnesota, I grow hard red spring wheat. That is the major class of wheat in northwest Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Montana. In 2016, American farmers exported more than 41 million bushels of hard red spring wheat to China annually. In 2017, after the trade war began that March, exports dropped in half. In 2018, American farmers exported only 1.2 million bushels to China. That is a drop-off of 97% in just two years.

    On top of the hit my wheat has taken, the soybeans that I — and so many of my neighbors — also depend on for export have been devastated by this conflict. China is the world’s biggest importer of soybeans. Before the trade war began, U.S. soybean exports to China reached a volume of 1.3 billion bushels. Now exports have essentially dried up.

    While I’m acutely aware of what the trade war has meant for my farm, I’ve also been talking to friends and neighbors to get a sense of the impacts on our state as a whole.

    Farm bankers take the pulse of the farm economy daily, and they are worried. Not long ago, a farm banker friend asked me how his farmers can make money when wheat prices are below $4 per bushel. I told him the hard truth: They can’t. He then shared his own hard truth that he will likely have to cut off about a half-dozen growers before winter.

    This is how a trade war being fought out in tweets and tit-for-tat news releases plays out in the real world. There are real consequences. There is real financial loss.
    __________________________________

    That’s a portion of the piece he wrote. If you can get past the paywall, the rest of it is here:

    is.gd/Hrglfi

  35. John Dale 2019-09-05 15:15

    Debbo – what would be the cost of switching to organic produce? Have these farmers prepared to start going after Mexican imports of tomatoes and other products using next generation growing technologies?

    Here is one resource. I’m sure that universities in IL and MN would also have access to similar resources through Extension.

    My family and I consume almost no soy .. it has some deleterious effects health wise we’d just soon avoid. Also, have you read a book called Wheat Belly?

    https://ceac.arizona.edu

  36. Debbo 2019-09-05 15:35

    Dale, rather than asking about things that were not in the piece I quoted, try addressing the issues that the farmer actually wrote about.

  37. o 2019-09-05 16:51

    John, “I did my best to address your question regarding Trump’s promised metaphorical “railways of tomorrow”

    I am sorry, I am not getting this reference. Can you point me to what this is?

    You doge the accountability for the effects of President Trump’s policies by saying they are “popular” – a non-answer and since you give no reference to that claim, one that I SERIOUSLY have to question. Clearly you have NO respect for “popular” when it comes to issues like gun control – so why is it the answer on value now?

    You assume the successful conclusion of this trade war: that China give in to US pressure and changes it’s trade policy/strategy. I have to still disagree: China is better positioned to weather this war — Chinese society has persevered far greater economic hardships than the softer American society has; China lost all respect for America since the last self-inflicted economic downturn; US business is still willing to allow themselves to be “taken advantage of” by the Chinese because there is still net profit in it for them; Chinese has alternate markets for much of the US goods AND they are looking to be self-sufficient enough to render the US un-necessary as a trade partner in many ventures. The avenues the US has to reply to this war is to adopt ever-more protectionist measures (like Government subsidies of US goods) itself.

  38. mike from iowa 2019-09-05 16:58

    Oh Brother, imagine if China had to pay royalties on the IP they steal; patents, artwork, designs.

    Whose going to make them pay? The US thumbs its collective skanky wingnut nose at international and World Courts, in addition to the UN.

    What China doesn’t steal from us Putin and Israel will and then sell it to the highest bidders.

  39. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-05 18:27

    You’re right, John, you don’t see reference to the benefits of winning a stronger negotiating position over China, because, as O indicates, no one sees that outcome outweighing the loss of respect and markets. We’re trying to bully China into submission. China won’t take that any more than I would. China won’t come crawling to negotiate better trade deals; they’ll look for alternatives that reduce the need to negotiate with us bullies again.

    But prove I and me wrong: find me one analyst, someone not working for the current Administration, who thinks China is eager to become more dependent on American agricultural products rather than less after this trade war and who thinks American farmers will thus fully recover access to markets they’ve lost and then some. I haven’t heard any ag analyst say that.

  40. John Dale 2019-09-05 19:54

    Cory – “no one sees that outcome outweighing the loss of respect and markets”

    This statement cannot be true since there has to exist somewhere, at least one person who believes that the outcome outweighs the lost of respect and markets.

    Standing up to China will get Trump the respect of the 60+ million who voted for him.

    “China won’t come crawling to negotiate better trade deals” — I think we don’t want them to, or care who they bamboozle into abusive trade deals. Better them than US. China is a bad partner .. and I have no doubt that they are too proud to realize just how dependent they are on the US economy and people. We don’t need them, but I, like you, would prefer a world where we trade with them fairly and in a way that doesn’t empower the global forces that despise American power.

    o – here is where Trump refers to the Railways of tomorrow. These are the terms under which he is bound to his electorate, also known as the silent US majority of Christians.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs0pZ_GrTy8

  41. mike from iowa 2019-09-05 20:46

    In the meantime,those easily won trade wars are driving farmers into economic catastrophes and uncertain future markets at a time when farmers need stability in their markets and commodity prices.

    Drumpf is an unmitigated disaster who has zero effing clews what he is doing as mini-czar of kremlin annex west. And trolls keep braying how well he has done making the 1% richer.

  42. Clyde 2019-09-05 21:21

    John Dale, I think you smoke too much. Try laying off the weed for a month or so and maybe you will get a more logical outlook on things.

  43. jerry 2019-09-05 22:43

    China now has chubby looking to loot housing as well. By the time chubby gets through trying to destroy China, we will have been devoured. China controlled US stock market is up…because China might want to do some trade talk. What a way to run a country financial system, kinda like middle schoolers.

  44. John Dale 2019-09-06 11:23

    mike from iowa – talk about entertaining!

    “Drumpf is an unmitigated disaster who has zero effing clews ”

    I imagine you saying this in a black vertically striped shirt and a black beanie with a small cotton ball on the top.

    Wi wi, missieur.

    Super classy.

    Way out of MY league.

    *tips maga hat*

  45. John Dale 2019-09-06 11:27

    Clyde – “John Dale, I think you smoke too much”

    Since I started pursuing total legalization of Cannabis in the anti-cannabis holy land, I have had to lay off the devil’s lettuce (not really by choice, but because everybody for some reason now thinks I’m DEA and I can’t seem to score any good organic home grown sativa).

    I have had two opportunities to puff the weedo del loco in the last year. I may or may not have partaken. Both times, I may or may not have spent most of the subsequent 18 hours designing and writing Java code to make the most of the creative energies.

  46. John Dale 2019-09-06 11:29

    jerry – “China controlled US stock market is up”

    That’s cute. :)

    US net worth is still pretty good since its assets react differently to inflation.

    Trump’s trade war has kicked off a slew of new entrepreneurial opportunity. Entire US market segments have been reset.

    Wise investors will take the blinders off and get in early.

    It is absolutely ON. Once in a lifetime opportunity!

  47. mike from iowa 2019-09-06 12:00

    Manufacturing contracted for the first time in three years.

    Retail sales hiring down for the seventh straight month.

    Consumer confidence bombed out.

    John Fraud and Drumpf’s train see a light at the end of the tunnel. Little do they know (lordy you can say that in lights) the light they admire is the headlights of the coming recession train and it is all Drumpf and John fraud’s fault.

  48. John Dale 2019-09-06 12:05

    Oh mike from iowa .. you big YOU, YOU!

    According to your stringent analysis, before Trump took office, gains in jobs, consumer confidence, and manufacturing was linear.

    “e equals em cee squared.” — mike from iowa

  49. Debbo 2019-09-06 13:51

    Mike, it’s pretty easy to tell when Dale has nothing. That’s any time he writes. 😆😆😆 But regardless of having any value, like his hero, Dale can never admit he’s wrong and he has to have the last word, Sharpie in hand!

  50. mike from iowa 2019-09-06 14:12

    August jobs created only 130K. Jobs for June and July both revised down. Drumpf still lags Obama in jobs created. Obama’s 8 best quarters of gdp still beat any Drumpf has done. Obama’s stock m arket performance was 235% increase.

    John Fraud and Drumpf both pretend they hit a home run with market performance even though it was in record high territory when Drumpf was annointed mini-czar.

  51. John Dale 2019-09-06 14:13

    Debbo – “Dale can never admit he’s wrong”

    Step one – put in due diligence and really try hard not to be wrong.

    Step two – do not make absolute statements or create straw men out of others, like you are doing with me right now.

    I can admit it when I’m wrong. I just try not to say anything unqualified that I haven’t thought about. If I have little confidence in something, be accurate about that fact, too.

    It must be infuriating that I haven’t actually made many of the arguments that you’re ascribing to me, and that the arguments I have made are so well thought-out.

  52. John Dale 2019-09-06 14:30

    Dear mike from iowa,

    “China is eating the Tariffs. Billions pouring into USA. Targeted Patriot Farmers getting massive Dollars from the incoming Tariffs! Good Jobs Numbers, No Inflation(Fed). China having worst year in decades. Talks happening, good for all!”

    President Donald J. Trump

  53. Debbo 2019-09-06 14:50

    Johnny, you’re not infuriating. You’re entertaining in the same way the Twitterverse finds Mental Mouse entertaining. The responses to his play with a Sharpie are hilarious!

  54. John Dale 2019-09-06 14:57

    Debbo – you’ll keep on with your bizarre and detached punditry.

    Donald Trump will still go-on being President.

    I bet you still can’t believe he won. :)

    I’m honored to be living through 2020. I wonder how it’ll end-up.

    Tulsi G?

    Hmmm …

  55. mike from iowa 2019-09-06 16:00

    Must be extremely constipated by now, huh, Fraudy?

  56. Roger Cornelius 2019-09-06 17:13

    12/13/16

  57. mike from iowa 2019-09-06 17:30

    President Trump says China tariffs have given the U.S. government billions of dollars in new revenue. He’s half right. Of course, higher tariffs on Chinese imports are a new revenue stream for the government. But China is not paying for it, U.S. companies are. Everyone knows that. American consumers might be next to pay the price, as Walmart executive said recently.

    Drumpf and Fraud claim China is paying the US billions. Another blatant lie.

  58. jerry 2019-09-06 19:23

    Chubby cheeto (I’m liking that better than Chubby trumpy) trade war is driving some company’s out of China…to other Asian country’s. They ain’t coming back those jobs. They’re permanently gone.

    “As fresh US tariffs on Chinese imports kick in, Illinois-based phone accessories manufacturer Xentris Wireless has been urgently moving production to other Asian countries despite the cost, inconvenience and deep uncertainty.

    “It’s a huge inconvenience, it’s a huge expense,”Chief Finance Officer Ben Buttolph said, describing Xentris’s experience setting up in the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam since the trade war between the US and China erupted 18 months ago, “a kind of business head trauma.”

    And manufacturing in other developing nations comes with risks, he admitted. “Building up these supply chains took 30 years in China. China has a lot of infrastructure that some other countries don’t yet have.”

    Winning! Putin is feeling so sorry for us losing our money, that he offered us some hand me down weapons systems. Chubby damned near took him up on the offer. It gets more surreal each passing day.

  59. jerry 2019-09-06 21:30

    Down a half million jobs from reported so far. Winning!

    “Today’s weak jobs report follows the recent correction to job creation numbers for the year ending March 2019: 500,000 fewer jobs were created than previously announced.”

  60. Debbo 2019-09-07 15:42

    Economic Eunuch continues his destruction of agriculture. Per the Strib:

    The Corn Plus ethanol plant in southern Minnesota this week became a casualty of increasing economic duress in the biofuel industry in the state and across the Midwest.

    Corn Plus and the rest of the ethanol industry is being battered by a combination of adverse federal regulatory action — waivers on ethanol use by small oil refineries — and the U.S. trade war with China.

    The result is a swelling tide of red ink and pressure on the industry to retrench. So far, 16 of the nation’s 210 ethanol plants have closed over the past year, according to Growth Energy, a biofuel industry trade group.

    Others are reducing production, including Poet, one of the nation’s largest biofuel producers and owner of four of Minnesota’s 19 ethanol plants. In August, Sioux Falls-based Poet said it would close a plant in Indiana and cut production at half of its biofuel operations.

    The largest cuts are in Iowa and Ohio. But “numerous jobs will be consolidated across Poet’s 28 biorefineries and corn processing will drop by an additional 100 million bushels” across several states, including Minnesota, the company said in a statement.

    Meanwhile, one of the nation’s largest ethanol producers, Chicago-based ADM, is looking to unload its biofuel business, which has been dragging down its profits. ADM operates an ethanol plant in Marshall.

    The ethanol industry blames many of its problems on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump and its increasing use of “waivers” on ethanol blending.

    Earlier this week, Minnesota DFL Gov. Tim Walz and South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem sent a letter urging Trump to reverse the damage caused by the waivers. “We are extremely concerned about your administration’s actions to continue to grant small refinery hardship waivers,” the governors wrote.

    http://strib.mn/2HRQXhu

    Why does Economic Eunuch hate farmers so much?

  61. John Dale 2019-09-07 17:03

    Debbo the Destroyer – you guys are peaking too early. We’re still 15 months from the election. Further, it will take more than propaganda. Why do you hate kittens so much?

  62. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-08 11:31

    “peaking early” is a silly, insubstantial response to unrefuted facts and arguments. We accurately point out the real damage Trump does to the rural economy, and then Trump does more. I only wish we had peaked early and that Trump had realized, “Oh, wait! I’m really President! I can’t just make stuff up and work for myself; I have to study issues, take advice, and work with others to figure out the best solution for everyone.”

  63. John Dale 2019-09-08 11:56

    Cory – Intellectual honestly would dictate that President Trump can’t lie about everything. This is a gross overstatement that does not border on propaganda.

    Claims that Trump does not study issues belies the fact that he is obviously not working alone. He is universally disliked by the neoliberal establishment that owns major media outlets and attacks independent news. If, for some reason, you started liking a candidate that this neoliberal establishment (for lack of a better term) did not like, they would just as readily attack DFP like they are currently attacking President Trump.

    Nobody denies the pain (you call it damage) that we are going through to reach a better deal down the road. The patriotic network of nationalists of all colors willingly shoulder the burden, and we will expect a disproportionate reward from the chicken littles who did not have the courage to stand up for America and take on China’s global economic imperialism.

    These are broad brush strokes, but they are shaped by a preponderance of troves of information and evidence.

    The 2020 offensive starts next week, and I think that without a level assessment of the state of things, it will become a very fearful time for anyone with a neoliberal or neoconservative zealot mind set.

  64. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2019-09-08 12:14

    Your fantasy about a brighter future does nothing to refute the long-term damage that farmers and economists see coming from the trade war.

  65. John Dale 2019-09-08 12:28

    Cory – “fantasy about a brighter future”

    To be clear, it’s not just me. Whether this vision for the future – independence, restoration of a meritocracy in a free market – is a fantasy is an empirical question. Unfortunately – and I’m beside myself at this – there are a lot of people trying to pollute the experiment.

    Every business plan has risk. This is no different. It will work. It’s just a question of how well it will work.

    But the corporate establishment likes to conflate risk with justification for inaction.

    With greater risk comes greater reward. The contrapositive is also true.

    This is also a self fulfilling prophesy. The more people believe in it, the more likely it will be true, and the extent of the benefits will increase.

  66. John Dale 2019-09-08 12:35

    psyche mikey – I had to bring in help to decipher your name calling tirade.

    No luck.

    You have a very pessimistic outlook. Were you one of the folks who promise your friends and family that Hillary would be president?

    Because Trump signed the Ag Bill that legalized Hemp (unlike Christie Noem), many farmers across the nation (the smart ones, anyway) are tackling the switching costs to produce hemp as opposed to soy (soy boys be damned, that stuff is nasty anyway) and ethanol.

    There is no way to tell for sure just yet, but I hope the switch is massive, and that Noem pulls her head out of the sand and turns loose SD farmers soon.

  67. mike from iowa 2019-09-08 12:55

    As per usual, Johnny Fraud ignores the subject of my comment and takes off into lala land about hemp which will not help SD farmers as long as Johnny Fraud wingnuts run the state.

  68. Debbo 2019-09-16 21:12

    From today’s Strib:

    “[MN Gov. Tim] Walz signed an executive order creating the 15-member Governor’s Biofuels Council, which will be made up of representatives from the agriculture, biofuels and transportation industries, as well as from environmental and conservation groups.

    “Minnesota is the nation’s fourth-largest ethanol-producing state with 18 operating plants. The state is also a national leader in ethanol consumption.

    “The governor’s council will be commissioned to create a report advising Walz — chairman of the national Governors’ Biofuels Coalition — and his cabinet on to how to expand the use of biofuels and increase their carbon efficiency, Walz’s office said. The state council will also look at using biofuels as part of the state’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transportation.”

    http://strib.mn/2AkKWpp

    Our Democratic governor is doing what he can to help farmers in an effort to offset some of the damage the GOP president is causing.

  69. mike from iowa 2019-09-24 19:13

    Speaking of self destructive, has anybody seen Marlboro Barbie Thune? Where has that rascal been hiding? This summer estavation time for sinking ship abandoning rats?

  70. grudznick 2019-09-24 19:34

    Who, Mr. Mike, is this Johnny Fraud to whom you refer? Is he a fellow from the state of Iowa that you know?

  71. mike from iowa 2019-09-24 20:04

    No, Grudz, he is an Alex jones disciple from Northern Mississippi, aka South Dakota. You’d know him as John Dale.

  72. John Dale 2019-09-25 10:11

    mike from iowa – ” Alex jones disciple from Northern Mississippi, aka South Dakota”

    More oral flatus from a keyboard cowboy looking in at my home state from the outside.

    I have never met Alex Jones, but you know that interview would be off-the-hook. Maybe soon ..

  73. John Dale 2019-09-25 10:12

    mike from iowa – “Marlboro Barbie Thune”

    This is hilarious.

    I am not a Thune fan because he was a huge proponent of SD 5G.

  74. Debbo 2019-10-01 14:56

    From today’s Strib:

    President Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary said Tuesday during a stop in Wisconsin that he doesn’t know if the family dairy farm can survive as the industry moves toward a factory farm model.

    U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters following an appearance at the World Dairy Expo in Madison that it’s getting harder for farmers to get by on milking smaller herds.

    “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out,” Perdue said. “I don’t think in America we, for any small business, we have a guaranteed income or guaranteed profitability.”

    Perdue’s visit comes as Wisconsin dairy farmers are wrestling with a host of problems, including declining milk prices, rising suicide rates, the transition to larger farms with hundreds or thousands of animals and Trump’s international trade wars.

    According to a September analysis by the U.S. Dairy Export Council, U.S. dairy solids exports to China fell by 43 percent overall in the 11 months starting in July 2018, when China enacted the first round of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. dairy products. About 3.7 billion pounds of U.S. farmers’ milk had to find other markets during that span, the analysis found.

    http://strib.mn/2olOzs9

  75. Debbo 2020-02-02 16:41

    Excellent links Mike.

    Yeah. The EPA hasn’t done a decent study of glyphosate. Now under Climate Killer, all the Cabinet agencies are just dog and pony shows, completely irrelevant.

    Right now the GOP is working on chopping huge hunks out of Soc Sec and Medicare/Medicaid. After November, if we don’t stop them, farmers are going to be cut off too. Farm states will be toast. SD gets 1/3 of its $ from DC? Imagine when that’s cut by 75-85%. Good luck. 😩

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