John Block Reports from Washington

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by 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—

Last year in January, I presented my wish list for 2014. Let’s take a look at how that worked out.

Wish No. 1: “Get a farm bill passed.” To my surprise, we did.

Wish No. 2: “Deal with our immigration problem.” Well, the Congress didn’t, but President Obama did a little bit. The fact is – the Congress must fix our immigration problem. Unfortunately, I don’t look for that to be done this year.

Wish No. 3: “I want Congress to pass a budget.” They didn’t deal with our budgetary and spending in “regular orders” last year. It was a mess. Our only discipline was a sequestration law which served as a “hammer lock” on discretionary spending, which is only 20% of our budget. This year, the Republican Congress is promising “regular order” of budgeting and appropriation. My fingers are crossed that they can do it.

Wish No. 4: “Hope the ag industry would come together to support and protect modern agriculture.” They are doing better, but protecting genetic engineering and new technology is still under heavy attack. The war on GMOs is anti-science. That’s the same crowd that uses science to justify their climate changes argument.

Wish No. 5: “Write a free trade agreement.” Didn’t get it done, but I think we can this year.

Wish No. 6: “Upgrade our locks and dams on our rivers.” Not yet, but Congress passed bipartisan legislation to get it done. I am optimistic.

Wish No. 7: I said, “God help us to end this draught.” He did, except for California. We raised record crops in most of the country last year.

Tax reform is on my wish list this year. I think we have a 50% chance of doing something. I am also wishing for money to fix our roads and bridges. And, I hope we can find a way to stop EPA’s effort to regulate everything. Over-regulation freezes our economy.

I would like to see the battle with Canada and Mexico over country of origin labeling (COOL) ended. Congress and Secretary Vilsack should get it done. Are they going to wait until Canada and Mexico start implementing sanctions on our exports?

That’s it for this week.

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 in Washington, D.C.