Keeping an eye on Humane Society of the United States
HumaneWatch.org
"The animal "rights" philosophy, on the other hand, says that it's wrong—always and forever—to eat meat, feed your child milk, go fishing, wear leather shoes, use lab rats to cure cancer, etc. This is basically the fringe stuff of PETA. Animal "rights" philosophy says that even if you gave your dairy cows three meals a day, evening rubdowns, waterbeds to sleep on, iPods, and Nintendo Wii privileges, it would still wrong to milk them. And they wouldn't be "your" cows to begin with."
The Justice Department said it wanted to hear from farmers and ranchers about antitrust in agriculture. Out of 23 speakers, however, there is exactly one person on the schedule who makes a living on the land.
Jim Foster, a Missouri hog raiser, spoke at the annual meeting of the Organization for Competitive Markets. The Department of Justice said it wanted farmers like Foster to be at workshops it was holding on competition in the agriculture sector. DOJ has set aside only an hour for testimony from producers.
Lawyers with the Department of Justice pleaded with farmers and ranchers assembled in St. Louis last August to testify at hearings the Obama administration planned to hold on possible violations of antitrust laws in the agriculture business.
"As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also."
~ Thomas Jefferson
"Washington has changed, not me" - Devin Nunes
Rep. Devin Nunes is a Congressman from the agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley of California. He is currently serving in his fourth term in the House of Representatives and is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, Social Security, Medicare, and trade. He also is a member of the House Budget Committee.
Congressman Nunes is a native of Tulare County, where his family has farmed for three generations. The Nunes family immigrated to America from Portugal’s Azores islands. They are part of a large Portuguese community living in the San Joaquin Valley, many of whom help to cultivate our nation’s most productive farmland.
Bill McEwen of the Fresno Bee attacks Rep. Devein Nunes
Fresno Bee - Bill McEwen (Fresno CA Newspaper) Nunes trades substance for cartoon act
I want the old Devin Nunes back -- the one who was conservative, smart and knew how to get things done for his Congressional district and the Central Valley.
Maybe it was Barack Obama's presidential victory, the San Joaquin River restoration settlement or the burden of lugging around a fish bowl and 2-inch delta smelt, but something has changed Nunes.
Of late, he's sounding more like flame-throwers Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck than someone seriously attempting to bring more water to farms and jump-starting our region's economy.
While Nunes' cartoon act might play well in the far-right echo chamber, he is undercutting his credibility and his ability to help the Valley.
In a segment on Beck's television show, Nunes likened the Obama administration's water policy to Saddam Hussein's reign of terror in Iraq and Robert Mugabe's brutal 30-year destruction of Zimbabwe.
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In the future, the price of raw milk must be stabilized at a sustainable level so that the dairy industry can survive and thrive. With the inherent volatility of the current price structure, only traders and processors are benefiting and dairymen are being forced out of business.
Pay prices to dairymen must be stabilized if we are to maintain our industry and preserve markets.
It is important from a food safety standpoint, as well as from a homeland security standpoint that a wholesome and abundant supply of dairy products be produced domestically for American consumers.
Price paid for raw milk must reflect true supply and demand.
Government involvement must be minimized.
Any milk pricing policy must allow our country’s dairy industry to participate in world markets.
Any milk pricing policy must allow individual dairymen to react, as they see fit, to market conditions without government or other interference.
Policy must prevent market manipulation by traders or processors from determining the price of all dairy products.
Policy should not discriminate against any dairy based on size, location, or management style.
"The Dairy Policy Action Coalition (DPAC) is a coalition of grassroots dairy producers actively participating, with a unified voice, on policies and issues affecting milk pricing."
"The animal "rights" philosophy, on the other hand, says that it's wrong—always and forever—to eat meat, feed your child milk, go fishing, wear leather shoes, use lab rats to cure cancer, etc. This is basically the fringe stuff of PETA. Animal "rights" philosophy says that even if you gave your dairy cows three meals a day, evening rubdowns, waterbeds to sleep on, iPods, and Nintendo Wii privileges, it would still wrong to milk them. And they wouldn't be "your" cows to begin with."
Rep. Devin Nunes is a Congressman from the agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley of California. He is currently serving in his fourth term in the House of Representatives and is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, Social Security, Medicare, and trade. He also is a member of the House Budget Committee.
