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Previous Weeks
Economic World Cup
July 26 2006
I'm speaking to you today from Germany. Germany just hosted the soccer World Cup-came in 3rd . If the contest was an economic World Cup as Ed Feulner talked about in the Washington Times, the USA would win the Economic World Cup hands down. Europe would be left in the dust. Our gross domestic product grew at 5.3% in the first quarter and 3% on the second. This German economy is growing at less than 1 %. If France, Italy, and Germany were American states, they would be among the poorest. Gemlany…
Chicken Little
July 19 2006
It's Chicken Little running around screaming, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is warming, the sky is warming." No, it's not Chicken Little. It's Al Gore. He calls global warming an "inconvenient truth." Well, there are a lot of scientists that would disagree.
Richard Lindzen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, "a general characteristic of Al Gore's approach is to ignore the fact that the earth and its climate are dynamic." We had the Ice Age 400 years ago. The Ice Age…
Livestock I.D.
June 28 2006
We find two or three "mad cows" and then we lose $5 billion of exports in two and one-half years. That is a serious loss. Finally, it looks like Japan is ready to open the door to our beef and I expect Korea and other countries to follow.
As silly as the global fear of"mad cow" may be, we need to make sure our markets aren't shut down again. The best way to minimize our risk is to implement a national traceability system for livestock.
We can't seem to get our act together. It looked like the…
Energy
June 7 2006
Are we really serious about becoming energy independent? Are we?
I know you may say -- of course, look at the emphasis placed upon ethanol and biodiesel. Isn't it the President's policy to end our dependence on Middle East oil? Yes, but I don't think the Congress gets it. We cannot afford to be in a position where a group of unreliable, hostile countries can hold us hostage.
That's where we are today.
Iran threatens us with an oil cut-offand the price ofcrude shoots up. We could not get out of…
Cold Cash
June 7 2006
The U.S. Congress (including both parties) doesn't get very high marks from the people. Their approval rating is under 30 percent. And, it is not going to get any better unless they get some things done. Will we get an immigration bill? Don't hold your breath. It is still all but impossible to stop the earmarking of special spending for powerful Members of Congress. We couldn't muster the 60 votes needed to bury the death tax. Can the Congress pass an acceptable compromise? Again, no…
National Uniformity
May 17 2006
I know there are big things happening that can have huge influence on the Ag industry. All over the news is -- immigration, the DOHA Trade round, and farm bill. But under the radar, the "National Uniformity for Food Act" is moving.
Something that is not broadly understood, but USDA sets standards for food safety and labeling for meat and poultry products. But all the rest of our food is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Meat and poultry has had national standards of safety and…
Government Spending
May 10 2006
The U.S. Congress is in the process of passing a supplemental spending bill with the primary objective of funding the war in Iraq. Now, I'm sure you aren't surprised to know that the Senate (in particular) has loaded it up with all kinds of goodies for the home town folks. We're never going to get the budget deficit under control unless we insist on some discipline.
Both political parties complain about the deficit, but what do they do about it? Nothing! They spend more money. Any member that…
Mother’s Day
May 3 2006
Did you ever listen to the country song "No Charge"? The mother carries, feeds, nurtures her child. And yet, he wants to be paid for taking out trash, cleaning his room, watching baby brother. The mother reminds the boy of all the things she does in caring for him and "there is no charge."
On Mother's Day Weekend, I want to recognize all the mothers who have always been there for us at "no charge."
We are grateful to the mothers who have sacrificed to make Christmas special for us. Mothers who…
The President Speaks for Ethanol
April 26 2006
It was an exciting historic event to join with fellow "Aggie Groupies" listening to President George W. Bush speak at the "Renewable Fuels Summit 2006." Yes, it was fun to hear from the President, but what really hyped the event was what he had to say.
"We need a variety of new energy sources to cure our addiction to imported oil. We need ethanol and biodiesel. We need Anwar oil." He pointed out if we had brought Anwar on stream 10 years ago, that field would be supplying 20% of our needs today.…
Earth Day
April 12 2006
Let's Celebrate Earth Day
I was at the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week and walked past a beautiful blue spruce tree on the western end of the grounds. To me, it's not just another tree. It is a special tree. I planted it in 1983 when I was Secretary.
When I see that blue spruce at USDA, when I look at the acres of conservation tillage on our Illinois farm, I am reminded of the extraordinary job of conversation that the American farmer and forester have done in this great country.
How many…
