Real Hope for the Future

Sir Tom Stoppard once said, “Age is a high price to pay for maturity.” Sometimes, though, we are reminded that taking the youth of our country for granted would be a grave mistake. Maturity and wisdom surface everyday in the minds of Texas young people, and we could all take a page from the book of the young and vibrant.

I recently received an email from a young woman about to start her senior year at a Texas high school. The email, titled “Problems in Washington for the Future of Agriculture!” chronicled her distress regarding the direction of our country, particularly the policy decisions being pushed through Congress and their disastrous effects on the industry upon which we all depend. Some of the things she said:

• “The government is killing agriculture and it isn’t fair at all.”
• “We all need healthy ways of living, but stop putting so many regulations on agriculture when other countries where we get our source of food have none or a few regulations.”
• “The Estate Tax Reform does need to be passed by Congress! If it’s not then it hurts our economy even worse.”
• “Not many people these days know a lick about agriculture and where their food comes from. Most think it comes from a can or a box, they never think about ‘Hey, I’m helping somebody out!’”

I think it is safe to say based on these astute observations that a high school senior possesses more common sense and capability than many of our leaders in Washington, D.C. Her keen message contains many of the points that we must send to Washington in November. More importantly, we should all be proud that the next generation of leaders is taking an active roll in the future of our country. After all, we are all involved in agriculture at least three times a day.

Texas Education Threatened

Every day we see more and more examples of a federal government out of control. In the latest abuse, the U.S. Senate has passed legislation that, if allowed to stand, would severely limit the ability of all Texans’ right to set their own education policy.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved legislation that would require Texas – and no other state – to maintain state education spending levels through 2013. The bill essentially allows the U.S. Senate to bypass the legislative process and mandate what Texas can and cannot spend on education.

All Texans want a quality education for our children. As a state senator and state representative I have worked to increase teacher salaries and improve school accountability and school funding.

However, this overreaching mandate to Texas is an encroachment on states’ rights and essentially ignores the will of the people of the Lone Star State.

This is unconstitutional, as Gov. Rick Perry has rightly said, but more importantly, it sets a dangerous precedent. If the federal government can pick and choose which states to bind with onerous mandates, then can the states even be said to have a representative, republican form of government, which is guaranteed by the constitution?

We need change in Washington, but more importantly we need to end the arrogance of government on all levels. We need elected leaders who recognize limits on their power, and recognize the will of the people.

Texas At Its Best

As I have mentioned several times, Texas is performing at a far superior level compared to the rest of the nation economically. The numbers speak for themselves, so much that I decided to make Texas’ economic prowess the topic for this month’s e-newsletter, “Shooting Straight with Staples.”

"Texas’ economy leads the nation. Growth over the last few years has been phenomenal and positive news still abounds: Texas created more net jobs in the last five years than all other states combined. The trend continues in 2010, with the Lone Star State producing more jobs than any other state in the country from April to May. Despite that, many of our citizens and businesses are being negatively impacted by the national recession. That recession is being prolonged by the lack of a clear and cohesive strategy and course of action by our current administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress. As the Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported, U.S. corporations are sitting on $1.6 trillion in cash reserves. That’s a recovery waiting to happen, but no business is going to spend its money when it can’t predict what their future costs will be…

Texas families have to live within their means...and they have every right, I mean every right, to expect their government to do the same. After all, government works for the people, not the other way around. "

To read the full article, click here. Additionally, if you do not receive my monthly newsletter and would like to, please sign-up to learn how important agriculture is to the great state of Texas. You deserve to be informed of the real issues that affect our state and nation, and I would be honored to hear your opinions and questions.

Rural Highlight: Jimmie Powell

In all of my travels across Texas, I never come home without a great story from a good friend. The Lone Star State is overflowing with entrepreneurial men and women, whose pioneering spirit has helped shape us into the greatest state in the Union.

Jimmie Powell is one of those men. A native Texan, Powell resides in San Angelo, where he manages several banking interests. Among other things, he is a former chairman of the Texas State University System Board of Regents, an investor, a philanthropist, and an Eagle Scout. Perhaps most importantly to Jimmie himself, however, he is a rancher.

When asked once by a newspaper what keeps him in the business [ranching], Powell said, “I have a deep desire to raise livestock and participate with others to provide a source of food for the people of the nation. In addition, I welcome the challenges to manage the ranch operations.”

Indeed, Powell has taken the challenges of ranching head on, with a vigor and determination that can only be admired. I had the opportunity to tour the country side with Jimmie one Wednesday afternoon in West Texas, and he wanted to drive out to the ranch and show me what he had been working on. Research has recently been performed outlining the effects of brush management on water shed recharge, and Jimmie Powell was determined to be part of the equation.

Across vast acreage of what was once thick brush county, Powell’s ranch has been transformed into beautiful pastures adorned by native grasses and wildflowers. Not only has his management of the land improved his cattle operation, but the repercussions of his actions are undoubtedly having positive impacts on the area’s water sources.

I salute Jimmie Powell and his commitment to agriculture and education. It is because of Texans like him that we enjoy a safe and affordable food supply, that our natural resources remain in the forefront of conversation, and that our long standing Texas heritage remains intact.

Open Season

The fall hunting season is just around the corner for most Texans. Even though it is hot this summer, hunter’s dreams are cooled with refreshing thoughts of dove, deer, duck and quail. For the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is open season already in Texas.

The Attorney General of Texas’ press release details how the Lone Star State developed a permitting system that has been in place since the first term of the Clinton administration, and how the Obama EPA shot it down even as new rules were posted which attempted to address the EPA’s concerns.

Folks, we must have good, sound environmental practices and policies, but we need transparent, open and STABLE regulatory approaches. We can have clean air and jobs for our citizens all at the same time. This is real. Just think of the lost jobs in the Gulf with the six month drilling moratorium the president issued (which was overturned by the courts). Two huge drilling rigs left our shores and went overseas where they were wanted…and jobs for our citizens went with them.

Let’s hope our court system will put some hunting limits on the EPA. We don’t want our jobs being indiscriminately gunned down.

EPA Crying Over Spilled Milk

Anyone following the news headlines these past two years must have noticed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) aggressive agenda. From their costly designation of carbon dioxide as a pollutant, to the administration’s advocacy for dangerous Cap and Trade legislation, to the EPA not seeking to overturn the 6th Court of Appeals ruling that requires a duplicative permitting process for pesticide application (this makes your food cost more and doesn’t make it safer), labeling their agenda as aggressive may be an understatement.

Working with producers, it is good to see firsthand their dedication to conservation and their understanding of the need for clean water and air. It is no overstatement to say agriculturists are the original environmental stewards.

So you can imagine the dismay of all those involved with agriculture when the EPA is unwilling to agree the Clean Water Act (CWA) was not intended to regulate spills from dairy farms. Yes, you read that correctly. Because milk contains oil (animal fat) some are interpreting that the CWA applies to milk spills!

Even though many of the EPA’s recent proposals have had Democratic support, Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) recognizes the CWA was never intended to impact dairy farmers this way and is calling on the EPA to stand down. For the millions of babies who drink milk with every meal, and all Americans who enjoy a nice, cold glass of milk or slice of cheese, let’s hope he is successful.

The Future Is Up To You

The first question: have you seen Obama’s abysmal approval ratings lately? The second question: is anyone surprised? The administration that was supposed to usher in a new era of “hope” and “change” has fallen short of providing the American people with the prosperity they deserve. In fact, the myopic, overbearing policies being implemented in Washington by the party in power will have regressive implications on our financial success far into the future, especially for agriculture.

When businesses across the nation are struggling to recover from a crippling recession, the Democrats have been pushing job killing cap and trade legislation. Finally, they have abandoned this crippling crusade, for the moment (think what they will do if the American people don’t rein them in this November).

Now is the time to restore confidence in investors, yet capital gains and dividend taxes will be escalated to detrimental levels if Democrats take no action. Companies are currently sitting on record amounts of cash; afraid to leave the sidelines for fear that their risks will be met by a barrage of regulatory weight. Logical, comprehensive financial reform could help our economy move forward into the future in a manner that protects consumers and promotes innovation, but instead Congress passed a bill that creates unnecessary bureaucratic red tape and punishes tax payers. If you don’t believe me, listen to the financial experts who know that our economy is once again precariously balanced on a dangerous tipping point.

President Obama and the Democratic Party are grasping for a limb, but their failure to provide solid leadership has come back to haunt them. November 2 is coming, and we have an unprecedented opportunity as Americans and Texans to regain our country and move it in a direction that encourages and promotes our free enterprise system – you remember, the one that built the most powerful economy in the world. Really, the future is up to you.