John Block Reports from Washington

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by John Deere and the National Corn Growers Association. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.

And now for today’s commentary—

I have been involved in Republican politics since Governor Jim Thompson appointed me as his Illinois Director of Agriculture 40 years ago. I have never seen a Presidential campaign like this one. We had 17 candidates running for the Republican flag. Republican elites – Mitt Romney, John McCain, all the others, said – “Donald Trump can’t win.” But he did win. He is the only one left standing.

Most of the Republican leadership will not eat crow. But will they lend their support? There will be a few sore losers. But this is what Rick Santorum (one of Trump’s competitors) had to say and I agree: “The people have spoken.” Get over it. It’s time to move on.

Let’s think about Trump’s position on issues. He has made one thing clear. He will negotiate. He said, “make no mistake. There will be deals.” We know he won’t be able to do some of the things he has proposed. We have laws in place and he won’t be able to send 12 million illegals to their homelands. He won’t be able to ignore or tear up trade agreements. We are a country of laws. Now, he may be able to negotiate a compromise solution to our immigration problem or even improve our trade agreements. I would hope the Trans Pacific agreement that we have negotiated could be passed.

The problem is that both Trump and Clinton oppose it. Hillary had this to say: “I oppose the TPP agreement – and that means before and after the election.” Donald Trump has stated that he thinks we have been too willing to engage in unnecessary wars costing trillions of dollars and human lives. Nation building and trying to dominate every corner of the world is not something we can afford. Other developed countries are not paying their fair share to ensure global stability. I agree, and the majority of American citizens agree.

We have no specific idea where Trump stands on farm programs except he does support the renewable fuel standard and ethanol.

He is enough of a businessman that I think he will see our $19 trillion debt as a serious burden and do something about it. Months ago, in my commentary, I said that I supported someone else, but "we should not count Trump out.” We have underestimated the anger in the country and the appetite for change. This is an exciting campaign.

If you would like to review my radio shows going back more than 20 years, just go on-line to www.johnblockreports.com. Have a great weekend.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington, D.C.