department of agriculture

department of agriculture: Page 1

Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

After Sandy, Mexican government helps illegal aliens get U.S. benefits (food stamps, FEMA) - 11/26/12

Claudia Torrens of the Associated Press offers "Immigrants struggle to cope in Sandy's aftermath" ( peekURL.com/zENYejG ). It starts with an acknowledgment that the "immigrants" in the title are in fact actually illegal aliens [1], then - merely as an aside - mentions this:

USDA: millions fewer illegal aliens wouldn't devastate agriculture (farm labor supply economic models, guest workers) - 06/12/12

The table at [1] is from a Department of Agriculture study (link) showing the impacts of two different immigration scenarios:

Tom Vilsack promotes illegal activity, uses bogus "crops rotting" line - 02/24/12

At the Department of Agriculture's 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, Ag secretary Tom Vilsack once again promoted illegal activity now and an amnesty or guest workers program for illegal aliens in the future.

With millions unemployed, Ag Secy Tom Vilsack demeans American workers, promotes amnesty, opposes enforcement, uses bogus talking points, opposes eVerify - 05/27/11

Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Tom Vilsack held a press conference on Wednesday in which he demeaned American workers, promoted immigration "reform", opposed immigration enforcement, and used a series of bogus immigration talking points. An account of his remarks is here, with more excerpts at [1]. 1. Vilsack ran down American workers, saying: "While some American citizens step up and take (farm) jobs, the truth is even when farmers make their best effort to recruit a domestic workforce, few citizens express interest. In large part that's because this is hard, tough work." The...

Jake Sherman shows again why The Politico isn't a legitimate source (Newt Gingrich, Tiffany's) UPDATED - 05/17/11

[See 5/25/11 UPDATE below] Jake Sherman provides yet more evidence that The Politico isn't a legitimate news source in "Newt Gingrich owed six figures to Tiffany's (link), which starts with this: Newt Gingrich, a fiscal conservative? Not when it comes to Tiffany’s. In 2005 and 2006, the former House speaker turned presidential candidate carried as much as $500,000 in debt to the premier jewelry company, according to financial disclosures filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Obviously, I'm not a Newt Gingrich fan. However, Sherman's article doesn't even rise to the National...

Tom Vilsack promotes, misleads about anti-American DREAM Act - 12/16/10

Current Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, writing at the official blog of the USDA, offers "The DREAM Act for Our Rural Communities and Our Nation". Not only is the DREAM Act anti-American - it would let the illegal aliens covered by the bill take college educations away from U.S. citizens - but he misleads about the details of the bill. I left the following comment which at post time has not been approved: One of the foreign treats Vilsack helped introduce into IA was foreign street gangs, something they hadn't seen before. He's also lying above...

GOP "Pledge to America" on immigration: OK, but much missing - 09/22/10

The GOP has released a draft version of their new "Pledge to America"; the official release will be tomorrow at a Virginia hardware store (for that extra-special down-home touch). They focus on five main areas: * "A Plan to Create Jobs, End Economic Uncertainty, and Make America More Competitive" * "A Plan to Stop Out-of-Control Spending and Reduce the Size of Government" * "A Plan to Repeal and Replace the Government Takeover of Health Care" * "A Plan to Reform Congress and Restore Trust" * "A Plan to Keep Our Nation Secure at Home & Abroad" Following page upon page devoted to the first...

Napolitano, Vilsack: call it the "H1N1 virus", not "swine flu". More concerned about pork industry than public safety - 04/28/09

Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security and Tom Vilsack of the Department of Agriculture want us to call swine flu the "H1N1 virus" instead (link). They have somewhat of a point: if you really can't get it from eating pork then perhaps we should grit our teeth and not wish for the demise of the pork industry. The problem is that while they're rushing to the aid of pork producers, they're keeping the borders as open as ever. Per Vilsack: "This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about." Per...

Your Monsanto, Tom Vilsack, GMO food assignment - 03/07/09

I'm not up-to-date on farming matters and I let McDonald's handle the food side of things.

Obama names Tom Vilsack Agriculture Secretary - 12/17/08

Barack Obama has named former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack to be his Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Jon Vessey, crops rotting in the fields, and pro-illegal immigration propaganda - 12/05/05

Jon Vessey is a California grower who's been quoted in a few recent articles about how crops will rot in the fields unless growers get more cheap labor to pick it. (UPDATE: see crops rotting in the fields). On 11/21, the WaPo featured him in "Shortage of Immigrant Workers Alarms Growers in West" (link), and today the Los Angeles Times features him in "Picking a Battle Over Shortage of Farmworkers" (link). And, he was apparently also featured saying similar things in Copley News Service and USA Today. And, the CSM article (link) I discussed in "America's produce industry is facing a crisis"...