“Senate Rejects Budget Commission”
The U.S. Senate has rejected by a vote of 53 to 46 a plan to create a budget commission that would have worked to address the nation’s soaring budget deficit. 60 votes were necessary to pass the plan. However, the idea may not be dead. President Obama has a back-up. He has told lawmakers he plans to issue an executive order creating such a task force with broad power to change the tax code and spending on entitlement programs.
The original plan has been supported by Senate budget Chairman Kent Conrad and the Committee’s top Republican, Judd Gregg. The lawmakers sought to create a commission that would make recommendations that Congress would have to vote up or down, without amendments. The Senators argued that such a vote-forcing mechanism is the only way to pass politically unpopular tax increases or reductions in Social Security, Medicare and other big entitlement programs.
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“Obama Wants Spending Freeze”
It has been learned that during his State of the Union address President Obama will propose a three-year freeze on federal funding that is not related to national security. The freeze would take effect in October and limit the overall budget for agencies other than the military, veteran’s affairs, homeland security and certain international programs to 447-billion dollars a year for the remainder of Obama’s first term.
The spending freeze would affect only about one-eighth of the nation’s 3.5-trillion dollar budget, the bulk of which is devoted to entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which are responsible for much of the future increase in spending. The proposed freeze would shave about 15-billion dollars off next year’s budget.
Tuesday morning, the Congressional Budget Office released a report forecasting a 1.35 trillion dollar budget deficit for this year. Tuesday afternoon the U.S. Senate debated raising the nation’s debt limit.
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“President to Nominate New Food Safety Official”
President Obama has announced his intent to nominate Dr. Elisabeth Hagen as USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety. Dr. Hagen is currently USDA’s Chief Medical Officer, serving as an advisor to USDA mission areas on a wide range of human health issues. Prior to her current post, she was a senior executive at FSIS.
In response to the President’s announcement, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said – food safety is one of USDA’s top priorities. But, we can and must do a better job. The Secretary added, – Dr. Hagen brings the background, skills, and vision to lead USDA’s efforts to make sure that Americans have access to a safe and healthy food supply.
National Pork Producers Council President Don Butler said of Dr. Hagen, – she brings a wealth of knowledge on food-safety issues and we applaud President Obama for this excellent nomination, and we urge the Senate to quickly confirm Dr. Hagen.
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“Carcass Irradiation Not Moving Within USDA”
Following a meeting with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and Agricultural Marketing Service, the Executive Committee of the North American Meat Processors Association reports that carcass irradiation is not moving forward within USDA. FSIS believes the petitioner has several concerns that need to be addressed.
The U.S. meat industry has long cited carcass irradiation as a viable way to fight E.coli 0157:H7 and would like to see it be used as a – processing aid. But, FSIS says processing aids in general are under greater scrutiny right now, because of other recent events.
If the industry can use carcass irradiation as an aid there would be no labeling requirement.
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“House Leader Speaks on Smaller Health Care Bill”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer believes the creation of a – limited exchange – or marketplace, where uninsured Americans could shop for health insurance, could be one answer to the health care dilemma. He believes such a program could be attractive to both sides of the isle.
Hoyer also supports pools where – small businesses could come together to create better markets – as they seek to cover their employees. He says, – such pools would have greater purchasing power than each business on its own. He also says ending the antitrust exemption for health insurers would improve market competition.
A smaller health care reform bill will be hard to piece together, because most changes needed to improve the health care system are inter-related, which was one reason why House and Senate Democrats ended up passing differing but sweeping bills that eventually ran into trouble. Hoyer explains, – it is difficult to take small pieces and accomplish what we want to accomplish.
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“USDA Releases Supporting Promotion of Ag Products”
USDA has allocated 234.5-million dollars to 70 U.S. trade organizations to help promote American food and agricultural products overseas. The funding was allocated under the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program, both administered by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
In making the announcement Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said – when you consider the current global financial crisis, increasing production in key competitor countries and aggressive use of export promotion tools by our competitors, USDA’s market development programs are more important than ever.
The funds will support the costs of overseas market development and promotional activities with U.S. nonprofit agricultural trade organizations, state regional trade groups, and cooperatives. Additional program activities will focus on reducing market impediments, improving the processing capabilities of importers, modifying restrictive regulatory codes and standards in foreign markets, and identifying new markets or uses for U.S. products.
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“ARRA Dollars Released to 11 States”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says 140.4-million dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will go to support community facilities projects. In making the announcement Vilsack said these dollars will – improve the quality of life for rural residents in 11-states by ensuring that rural communities benefit from quality public facilities such as hospitals, courthouses, and health centers.
For example, the Dillon County School Facilities Corporation in eastern South Carolina has been selected to receive a 35.8-million dollar loan and a 4-million dollar grant to improve education services in three school districts. Funds will be used to construct two new schools and renovate two existing school facilities in the persistent poverty county.
Also, in Pikeville, Kentucky, the Pikeville Medical Center has been selected to receive a 44.6-million dollar loan to construct a new 112,800 square foot medical office building and adjacent parking garage.
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“Scientists Looking at Effects of Sandblasting Cotton”
Scientists are getting closer to finding cotton plants that can better withstand wind sandblasting. ARS plant physiologist Jeff Baker based at the ARS Wind Erosion and Water Conservation Research Unit at Big Spring, Texas, has been testing the effects of winds sandblasting on cotton seedling growth. His goal is to develop plants that can heal faster and maintain yields after suffering sandblasting damage.
Big Spring is in the heart of Dust Bowl country, where localized dust storms still sandblast crop seedlings, just as widespread dust storms did during the 1930s and 1950s. The strong wind season begins in November and ends in May each year. The erosive winds, often reaching speeds of 25 to 40 miles per hour, pick up loose particles of soil.
The researchers studied the effects immediately and after two and four weeks. They found that over the first two weeks, the seedlings shifted their growth from root and leaf growth to repair and growth of injured stems. By the fourth week, plant growth had returned to normal, once again balancing growth throughout the plant, down to the roots. More tests are needed.
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“NASS to Release Organic Survey Results”
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service says it will release results of the Organic Production Survey on Wednesday, February 3 at 3 p.m. ET. The survey, which is a follow-up to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, is USDA’s first-ever, wide-scale survey of organic producers. Information will include state- and national-level data on organic farm numbers and acreage, sales, production, marketing practices and more.
