What the election results mean for MFU
(November 17, 2008) - The election is now over. Well, the majority of races in Minnesota have concluded, except the Minnesota Senate race, which is now headed toward a recount between Senator Norm Coleman, and Al Franken.
The number of votes that separate the two candidates keeps fluctuating as individual counties go over their results one more time. The final election results will be reported by Tuesday, November 18th, and then the individual ballot recount can begin, which itself could take weeks.
In 1989, I was an observer in a State House recount, and it was well-run, by the local officials, as well as by the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. Minnesota is one of the few states that have both an electronic, and paper trail, to make sure that the integrity of each ballot is kept, and as the voter intended.
In other races, the following Members of Congress have been re-elected: Representative Jim Oberstar in the 8th District; Representative Collin Peterson in the 7th District; Representative Betty McCollum in the 4th District; Representative John Kline in the 2nd District; Representative Michelle Bachmann in the 6th District; Representative Keith Ellison in the 3rd District; and Representative Tim Walz in the 1st District.
Erik Paulsen is the newest member of the Minnesota delegation, and he will be representing the 3rd District. This seat was vacated by retiring-Congressman Jim Ramstad. We at Farmers Union thank Representative Jim Ramstad for his public service and wish him well in the future.
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) beat Senator John McCain (R-AR) in the election for President. Both President-elect Barack Obama, and Vice President-elect Joe Biden have a 100% National Farmers Union voting record.
While that is a good sign for us here at Farmers Union, it is by no means a rubber stamp for Farmers Union policy. Items that I expect to be prominent in an Obama Administration that will impact rural Minnesota are: better healthcare for rural America; more oversight into concentration with the meat packing industry; new trade talks, World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators, and agreements that are more fair to American growers; and of course a new Secretary of Agriculture who will support these policies.
The Obama-Biden Administration believes that family farmers are getting squeezed and that consolidation has made it more difficult for mid-size family farmers to get fair prices and to compete in the market place. Also, they believe that rural America needs more access to quality doctors and schools.
That is why the incoming Administration supports increasing rural access to care by promoting health information technologies like telemedicine, creating loan forgiveness programs for doctors and nurses who work in under-served areas, and working to ensure these physicians will receive more equitable Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement structure for the same procedure performed in urban areas. They would also push for improved rural education by offering incentives for individuals to enter the teaching profession, including increased pay for teachers who work in rural areas; and Obama and Biden will create a Rural Revitalization Program to attract and retain young people to rural America.
They also plan to invest in the core infrastructure like roads, bridges, locks, dams, water systems and essential air service that rural communities need in order to revitalize rural America and to provide more access.
Other items of interest that the Obama-Biden Administration support are: implementation of a $250,000 payment limitation, and the closing of loopholes that allow mega farms to get around the limits by subdividing their operations into multiple paper corporations; strengthening anti-monopoly laws and producer protections to ensure that family farmers have fair access to markets, control over their production decisions, and transparency in prices; strictly regulating pollution from large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with fines for those that violate tough standards, and support of meaningful local control; establish a new program to identify and train the next generation of farmers, and provide tax incentives to make it easier for new farmers to afford their first farm; and increase incentives for farmers and private landowners to conduct sustainable agriculture and protect wetlands, grasslands, and forests.
The incoming Administration also has concerns about rural economic development, and their plan is to: provide capital for farmers to create value-added enterprises, like cooperative marketing initiatives and farmer-owned processing plants; establish a small business and micro-enterprise initiative for rural America; ensure access to a modern communications infrastructure; and modernize a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program that supports rural phone service so that it promotes affordable broadband coverage across rural America; and make sure that rural communities continue their leadership in the renewable fuels movement, transforming the economy, especially in rural America, which is poised to produce and refine more American biofuels and provide more wind power than ever before, and create millions of new jobs across the country.
Farmers Union has been fighting for fair trade policies that include the same environmental, health and labor standards that the United States abides by. The incoming Administration plans on using trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world, and stand firm against agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement that fail to live up to those important benchmarks. Also, they plan on pressuring the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports.
All of these ideas seem like a tall order, especially considering the economic problems the United States is currently experiencing, but I look forward to our State Convention where these issues can be discussed and debated, and then to take our policy resolutions to the new Administration, all the federal members of Congress, and State Legislators to push our grassroots Farmers Union agenda.
Hope to see you all at the convention.