Trump has a Pavlovian-trained press: it runs the designated course and stays in the box. That box works to conceal decisions and details. One detail: tariffs–why 25%?
Trump’s biases also cause him to reject economic opportunities: He could establish American leadership of global food security, with an executive order. He could direct Immigration to issue America First visas for America’s fisheries farms, and food plants, similar to visas for summer and professional work.
Agriculture, the fasting growing segment under Obama, outpacing manufacturing, expanding exports, is close to crisis under Trump–showing a single year 45% net income drop! Trump’s tariffs are raising prices on Western farmers whose annual rainfall is less than 20 inches, with no plans to help.
America has lost crops in the fields and had declines in production and income. Agricultural labor, harvesting, processing, packing and shipping, is in short supply. Trump’s racist loathing blocks its labor and impedes growth more than trade imbalances do.
Civil disobedience is part of law’s tradition, pointing to a greater good: the workers who present themselves for arrest offer America a great opportunity.
The US breadbasket can be a global hub for economies of scale! Instead of immigration, think labor: low wage jobs, difficult to fill, that answer demand with low cost supply. Why are farms and plants not demanding visas for food workers, our best economic bump?
[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/opinion/anthony-kennedy-supreme-court.html?comments#permid=27659854]
Trump has a Pavlovian-trained press: it runs thr required course and stays in the box. That box works to conceal decisions and effects. Effect: tariffs–why 25%?
Trump’s biases cause him to reject economic opportunities: He could establish American leadership of global food security, with an executive order. He could direct Immigration to issue America First visas for America’s fisheries farms, and food plants, similar to visas for summer and professional work.
Agriculture, the fasting growing segment under Obama, outpacing manufacturing, expanding exports, is close to crisis under Trump, showing a single year 45% net income drop! Trump tariffs are raising prices on Western farmers whose annual rainfall is less than 20 inches, with no plans to help.
America has lost crops in the fields and had declines in production and income. Agricultural labor, harvesting, processing, packing and shipping, is in short supply. Trump’s racist loathing blocks its labor and impedes growth more than trade imbalances do.
Civil disobedience is part of law’s tradition, pointing to a greater good: the workers who present themselves for arrest offer America a great opportunity.
The US breadbasket can be a global hub for economies of scale! Instead of immigration, think labor: low wage jobs, difficult to fill, that answer demand. Why are farms and plants not demanding visas for food workers, our best economic bump?
I Reply to readers:
To all: thanks for reading, replies!
Mike: a tax break is a subsidy! ESPN got huge breaks from CT to headquarter in Torrington, Amazon was offered huge breaks for its new headquarters, SC give Boeing a huge break. That is a direct government subsidy!
More: subsidies take various forms: US agriculture has built-in price supports–a subsidy–we pay tobacco farmers not to farm! Defense contracts are definitely subsided by the size of the bids! The federal government also subsidies companies through outsourcing, including detention centers.
The EU VAT, its basic tax, adds 3% to the price of cars–but EU buyers don’t buy monster trucks and SUVs at any price.
Lastly, the ITA, under the Commerce Dept. annual report says the US can only produce 80% of its steel demand. Why are we putting tariffs on steel that industry needs for production?
Think mercantilism, the foundation of Europe’s colonial growth. Everything was imported, finished goods were returned. The trade deficit ran a profit!
Black History 360* 
US food-related workers are likely to be foreign-born and estimates suggest 50% are undocumented, as high as 70% of workers engaged in harvesting (land and sea). Instead of kicking out the globe’s most productive agricultural work force, providing consistent quality to US tables, the current administration should provide visas for food workers–ending the immigration crisis and providing the US with a vital labor force that would put America first in global food security.
Expanding the labor force has many direct and indirect benefits! Mainly, it would help create economies of scale (as exist in West Virginia in chemical polymers, South Carolina in transportation with Boeing and BMW, Atlanta as an airline hub (Delta (a 1000 flights a day!), and low cost carriers), and could turn the US agriculture into the global breadbasket, surpassing Brasil.
With the global middle class doubling by 2018–in a decade–food will see steadily raising demand for quality, variety, and quantity, while expanding diversity in taste, prep methods, and storage.
This is open terrority for the US! America should to expand and build new markets (including infrastructure, warehouses, refrigeration, etc.) with strong financial and collaborative ties socially and politically. New York, Houston and other cities are mini-models for food diversity. Trump’s racism blocks the critical element: a skilled, willing-to-work labor force!