A Look Back at 2009

December 31, 2009

December 31, 2009

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

And now for today’s commentary—

Just for a moment, let’s look back at 2009. We have to acknowledge that it was a tough year but appears to be getting better. Did the federal government do what needed to be done? History will answer that question, but I think they came up way short.

They spent the whole year fighting over healthcare reform and finally passed it through the Senate on Christmas Eve. Now, that bill must be reconciled with the House bill, which is quite different.

Also, they devoted considerable time in the House to pass a cap and trade bill which supposedly will reduce our greenhouse gases.

Both of these priority pieces of legislation are not law yet, and they are both wildly unpopular with the public. And if they ever become law, they will cost a lot of money.

The Congress and President neglected to do anything on the trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. They were successfully negotiated and now sit on the table. All the while, we are sacrificing exports and jobs which we desperately need.

The Congress did not fix the estate tax. Now, it expires this year (2010). Then next year (2011), it jumps back up to 55 percent with a million dollar exemption. How can a family plan anything? How irresponsible can our Congress be?

The government spending continues to balloon with members of Congress plastering the bills with their own personal earmarks of billions of dollars.

EPA wants to regulate greenhouse gases and become the climate change Czar. The Congress wants to give the regulators power to manage our fishing ponds and whether we can drain a wet hole in our corn field. Regulate and tax seems to be their priority.

NBC/Wall Street Journal survey asked whether our government should do more to solve our problems or if government is doing too many things better left to business and individuals. The majority said – government is doing too much! Only 18 percent said that they trusted the government.

If President Obama and the left-leaning Congress are not blind, they will try to steer the ship of state back to the middle and address the priorities of the people this year.

We shall see.

Happy New Year! I am John Block from Washington, D.C.