Don't farm out our heritage

USA TODAY ^ | May 26, 2005 | Jessie Breaux

[hedgetrimmer]

USA Today must be posted as a title and link only. Read article here.

[Nateman]

they are not free, because some fat politician can make arbitrary decisions like " we will not allowed imported sugar! Pro Cuba?

Stopping imports from a truly evil slave state like Cuba is hardly arbitrary. Stopping imports just because they are cheaper is!

[Nateman]

Funny for a "Free trader" to talk about the rule of law, when to create the WTO the sovereignty of the United States was violated, and to accept rulings from the WTO violates the US Constitution.

Classic straw man argument. Some terms of the WTO are clearly anti-freedom. The WTO therefore is not an example of free trade one could associate with someone who believes in free trade.

[hedgetrimmer]

Please tell me about the money the US taxpayers have to put up to subsidize "Free trade". Do you know how much it is? Why is the subsidy of "free trade" ok to "free traders" when it applies to multinational corporations and foreign countries?

[garandgal]

Just wanted to thank you for your posts on this thread.

I WAS going to call the detractors "uneducated," but that's no longer the case. They have been given plenty of facts, and have chosen to ignore them...thus, they have become either "imbeciles" or "traitors" in my book.

If anyone in the la-la land of the cities actually believes that farmers are becoming rich land barons with government subsidies, they are seriously lacking in I.Q. The subsidies exist to MAKE THE COST OF RAW MATERIALS CHEAPER FOR THE PROCESSORS.

Does anyone honestly believe that FARMERS have any voice in this? Does it occur to the mental midgets that maybe, just maybe, the hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars spent by ADM, Tyson, General Mills et.al. might just result in a subsidy to the farmer (how convenient that THEY won't be blamed) so that they have a lower raw material cost?

And don't even get me started on the "Board of Trade." A necessary device for trading in the early 1900's..you know, before PHONES, for Pete's sake...let alone the internet. It has become nothing more than a vehicle for a bunch of worthless middlemen to skim money from the hard work of others.

[gogipper]

Sorry, your NAFTA explanation doesn't cut it. They went to Canada where there isn't the protectionism.

You know, I normally agree with you on class rhetoric, but in this case the economic case is so clear. I used to work in this industry. Sugar protectionism costs all of us hundreds of millions to benefit a very very very small number of inefficient "farmers".

That's what you support? Taking from the entire US population to benefit 40 or 50 thousand high income citizens?

[gogipper]

And destroying the Everglades to grow sugar demonstrates that.

[gogipper]

I enjoy the name calling. Speaking as an imbecilic traitor......

The subsidies exist to MAKE THE COST OF RAW MATERIALS CHEAPER FOR THE PROCESSORS.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sure you join with me in not encouraging processors to have low costs. The interests of all of us should be for consumers to have low costs. That way even the poorest of Americans standard of living rises.


the hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars spent by ADM,

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't you see that in this case, by arguing for keeping the sugar tariff you are actually on the same side as ADM? Their enormous stake is CORN SYRUP, the product that benefits most from protecting the sugar growers. You need to rethink your support of agribusiness.

a vehicle for a bunch of worthless middlemen to skim money from the hard work of others.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL That's great! I haven't heard that SOCIALIST argument for a couple of decades. LOL ... Sorry can't stay to chat, I have to drive to Florida to buy some oranges. After that I am going to North Dakota to buy some wheat so I can make some bread. While I am there a guy is going to let me shear his sheep so I can make a wool suit. LOL

[hedgetrimmer]

It looks like the globalists want to kill off the US sugar farmers so that the multinationals can cash in on rising sugar prices. It would be good for America if our sugar producers could export more to make up for the losses in India and Viet Nam, but if CAFTA is passed, they'll be put out of business in favor of Brazil, Dominican Republic etc.

Now read about Brazil. Is now the time to shut down US sugar, when the industry is about to boom? Why shouldn't our sugar producers be allowed to take advantage of this to boost the US economy?

Where ever you see "free traders" you'll find globalists trying to tear down US markets in favor of the third world. I guarantee it.

****

International sugar prices can go through the roof in coming months and years. India, one of the biggest exporter of sugar reported today that it may have to import sugar due to low harvest output. In addition, Brazil, one of the largest producer and exporter may reduce export heavily because they plan to replace Gasoline in the cars with Ethanol by 60%.

According media sources from India, the Food and Agriculture Organization has forecast gloomy prospects for sugar production in India saying this could lead to a high import demand due to output shortfall.

"Sugar prices strengthened in 2004 and early 2005 reflecting a shortfall in supplies and which are forecast to continue in 2005, reflecting strong import demand and unfavourable production prospects in India," the Rome-based organisation said in its latest report.

It said preliminary harvest returns indicate a continued shortfall in supplies during 2005 largely due to a second consecutive year of unfavourable weather in Indian and rising import demand for both India and China, the FAO's ''Food Outlook'' journal said.

***
Lam Son Sugar Company said it lost nearly 2,800ha of cane over the last year due to drought, while Tra Vinh also lost 1,260ha. The drought has seriously affected the entire industry’s output. MARD said 38 of the country’s operating sugar mills have produced just 1.1 million tonnes of sugar, 125,000 less than the 2003-04 crop.

Given the present high demand, the ministry forecast Viet Nam would face a shortage of about 150,000 tonnes of sugar in the latter half of this year.

The situation forced the Viet Nam Association of Sugarcane Producers to urgently summon its members to work out measures to alleviate the shortage. A member said the association still might consider imports of unrefined sugar for domestic refining in certain factories.

***

The growing demand for ethanol — or alcohol, as most Brazilians call it — is fueling an investment boom in Brazil's sugar-cane industry not seen since the oil crisis of the 1970s.

Back then, the country's military dictatorship sought to reduce dependence on costly foreign oil by offering lavish subsidies and tax breaks to sugar millers to refine cane into ethanol.

Though oil jitters are once again helping to drive the current wave of investment in Brazil's sugar industry, this time the government is not picking up the bill. Flush with cash from a recovery in global sugar prices in recent years, many millers are spending their own money and borrowing from banks to increase production and upgrade port terminals, mills and distilleries to improve service to foreign markets.

According to a recent survey by ProCana, a research group in Ribeirao Preto that tracks the sugar and ethanol industry, 12.5 billion reais ($5.1 billion) has already been earmarked for 40 new mills and distilleries over the next five years. Most of that money will be spent here in western São Paulo state, a region that is already home to dozens of sugar mills, generating close to 100,000 jobs in an industry that employs more than a million people.

[1rudeboy]

Why is the subsidy of "free trade" ok to "free traders" when it applies to multinational corporations and foreign countries?

Cognitive dissonance alert. As of 2004, nearly half of the "benefit" of the sugar price-support program has gone to one family conglomerate. Some of you here might remember the Fanjul family: on one occasion, as Bill Clinton was being "serviced" by Monica Lewinsky, Papa Fanjul rang the White House, and Bill Clinton took the call.

Nothing is funnier than watching a protectionist claim he's supporting the "family farmers," when he is truly driving the true family farmers out of business.

[hedgetrimmer]

Nothing is funnier than watching a protectionist free trader claim he's supporting the "family farmers," when he is truly driving the true family farmers out of business. supporting the global multinationals bid to kill off competition and consolidate the global supply to a handful of producers.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

"The Simple Life."

[1rudeboy]

Nothing is funnier than watching a protectionist spout slogans, unlike the following:

Try to make the case, as so many in Washington have done so disingenuously for so long, that the point of agricultural subsidies is to “save the family farm.”

The truth is that such subsidies – mostly on commodities such as corn, soybeans, rice and cotton, in which farmers are paid the difference between the selling price and a government-set minimum – are accelerating the rate of disappearance of smaller farms. The bigger the farming operation, the more subsidy money and therefore profit; the big farms use that profit to buy smaller farms, which makes them eligible for even more money, which they can use to buy even more smaller farms.

_____

That's what I like about you, ht, you are so consistently inconsistent. Wasn't it just last week that you were wailing about wealth redistribution?

[ran15]

As of 2004, nearly half of the "benefit" of the sugar price-support program has gone to one family conglomerate. Some of you here might remember the Fanjul family: on one occasion, as Bill Clinton was being "serviced" by Monica Lewinsky, Papa Fanjul rang the White House, and Bill Clinton took the call.

Lol htat is worse then I thought even. Classic example of what happens in a protected environment though. Look at old Europe with its protected monopolies owned by nobility, under the guise of helping the little guy.

Forcing our wannabe nobility to compete is what really helps the little guy out, who doesn't have access to the President.

[hedgetrimmer]

I am against CAFTA. I have been very consistent with my position.

I am against the "free trade" system that is wreaking havoc and consolidating authority into a central socialist power.

I don't like it when Americans lose their livelihoods because foreign countries complain to our government about domestic policies as they do in the "free trade" trade disputes. Foreign governments, and international tribunals should NEVER have more authority than the sovereign US citizen.

Whatever is done with taxpayer money is between the citizen and the US government and no foreign body, unelected tribunal or foreign government should have ANYTHING to say about it.

[hedgetrimmer]

the Fanjul family in your article is an interesting one. They are Cuban immigrants and they own sugar producing properties in the Dominican Republic which would benefit from CAFTA. How is it that this family has been picked to actually represent the "small farmers"?

And isn't the subsidy a price support-- meaning if sugar gets to a certain price, the support no longer paid?

And isn't the price of sugar going up world-wide?

And wouldn't you rather have American farmers be in place to export to India and Viet Nam and other countries that are experiencing shortages than go out of business?

For that matter, wouldn't you rather have a $10 billion cash business in this country, than a $2.4 billion trade deficit with Brazil and other third world countries?

[hedgetrimmer]

Here's something interesting:

The Bush administration has decided to exclude the Dominican Republic from the Central American Free Trade Agreement because the Dominican Republic has adopted a tax on products containing high fructose corn syrup, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said Wednesday.

Grassley said in a news release that U.S. Trade Representative Bob Zoellick had informed him by letter that he would send a version of the CAFTA agreement to governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador without including the Dominican Republic.

"Ambassador Zoellick is taking the right steps," Grassley said. "The fact is, as long as the Dominican Republic maintains its discriminatory tax on high fructose corn syrup, the U.S. Congress should not consider a trade agreement with that country."

The Dominican Republic imposed a 25 percent tax on beverages containing high fructose corn syrup in October.

"The Dominican Republic's discriminatory tax will directly harm corn farmers and high fructose corn syrup producers in my state of Iowa," Grassley said.

Illinois Farm Bureau

[hedgetrimmer]

Jessie Breaux(the author) is a little guy who doesn't appear to be wielding the influence over congress you say sugar barons have.

However the despised Cuban exiles with huge plantations in the dominican republic(free traders should love these guys because they are Cuban, and they own vast tracts of land outside of the USA) have contributed mightly to these folks:
FANJUL, ALFONSO
1/24/2005 $2,000.00
WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33401
FLO-SUN INCORPORATED -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF HILLARY


FANJUL, ANDRES B
1/24/2005 $2,000.00
WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33401
FLORIDA CRYSTALS -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF HILLARY


FANJUL, ANDRES B
2/9/2005 $2,000.00
WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33401
FLORIDA CRYSTALS -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF HILLARY

Fanjul, Jose
3/31/2005 $1,000.00
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Flo-Sun Inc./Executive Vice Preside -[Contribution]
BOB BEAUPREZ FOR CONGRESS


Fanjul, Jose F
4/29/2005 $2,500.00
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Florida Crystals Corp./President/CE -[Contribution]
DEMOCRACY BELIEVERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE AKA DBPAC


Fanjul, Jose F Mr.
3/22/2005 $5,000.00
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
-[Contribution]
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE


Fanjul, Jose F Mr. Jr.
3/24/2005 $5,000.00
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Florida Crystals Corp./Executive -[Contribution]
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE


Fanjul, Jose F.
3/31/2005 $1,000.00
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Florida Crystals Corporation/chief -[Contribution]
BILIRAKIS FOR CONGRESS


Fanjul, Jose F.
3/30/2005 $1,000.00
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Flo Sun Corp./agriculture -[Contribution]
TOM FEENEY FOR CONGRESS


Fanjul, Jose F.
3/30/2005 $2,000.00
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Florida Crystals Corp./senior vice- -[Contribution]
TOM FEENEY FOR CONGRESS

[hedgetrimmer]

Well the example given, the fanjuls, is pretty interesting because they are NOT family farmers, they are exiled Cubans and considered among the wealthiest men in Dominican Republic. Their company is a multinational, they are not simply domestic producers.

Also, another politician supporting CAFTA, Charles Rangel, is pandering to the Dominicans that live in his district. They are using the CAFTA to lower remittance fees when they send US dollars out of country.

Their contributions to the White house have paid off, it appears the multinational interests are getting the trade deal written expressly for them. It clearly isn't about "opening markets" its about subsidizing the multinational isn't it? By including the "dominican accord' in CAFTA, this multinational is set up to do very well and hurt domestic producers. They will be able to bring their own sugar in for processing, raising the import quota to accomodate them.

***

The Dominican accord is now set to be rolled into one reached earlier between the U.S. and five Central American nations: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Adding the island nation will help build political support, Zoellick said. More than 1 million Dominicans live in the U.S., according to U.S. Census Bureau data

Helpful Support

Their backing may help the Central American accord win approval in Congress. The agreement is opposed by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, labor unions and sugar growers. Republican leaders have said it is unlikely to be voted on this year.

Representative Charles Rangel, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said the announcement makes this ``a historic day for U.S. relations with the Dominican Republic.''

His congressional district includes the Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. The agreement may help lower the fees for money that U.S. residents send to their families back home.(which is exactly what we saw with NAFTA, and we learned this encourages illegal immigration and also props up corrupt governments in the home country because the money flowing in contributes significantly to otherwise disfunctional economies)

The Dominican Republic, with 8 million people, has $9 billion a year in trade with the U.S., and is the 39th largest export market for U.S. companies, according to the Commerce Department.

Eighty percent of U.S. exports of industrial and consumer goods will enter the Dominican Republic duty-free once the agreement receives congressional approval. Tariffs on most U.S. farm products will be phased out over 15 years, with half of U.S. agriculture goods getting duty free entry immediately.

Intellectual Property, Worker Rights

The agreement also locks in rules for government contracts, safeguarding of patents and protection of workers' rights.

``This is going to help trade, but it's also going to help us be more transparent, strengthen our labor laws and give our business leaders the chance to invest with Americans,'' (in other words buy off our politicians like the Fanjuls did?)Guzman said. Guzman was in Washington to wrap up 10 days of negotiations.

U.S. sugar growers say that increased sugar imports threaten to put them out of business. Once this deal goes into effect, Dominican sugar growers(the Fanjuls perhaps?) will be able to export 10,000 tons more of sugar to the U.S.

Zoellick said the Dominican sugar provisions will be less controversial because Flo-Sun Incorporated, which is run by the Fanjul family in Florida, has sugar production in Florida and the Dominican Republic. Spokesmen for Flo-Sun and the American Sugar Alliance didn't return telephone calls.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aHJRYYvvw3Fw&refer=latin_america

****

"Free trade" is about allowing multinational corporations to put domestic producers out of business. Here is a very clear example of how it works.

[hedgetrimmer]

See post # 58

[JesseJane]

[enter curse word here]