Trump Has Gutted an Agency That's Vital to American Farmers

[left-of-center2012]

Headquartered in a nondescript office building in Washington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service ... is the kind of government bureaucracy few can identify but millions rely on for their livelihoods ... the agency provides the informational lifeblood of the nation’s $1 trillion agricultural industry.
Its research informs the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, or WASDE, arguably the most important global report of its kind for farmers and investors. Congress uses ERS forecasts to determine how much farm subsidies will cost taxpayers.

Yet today, this key organization has been gutted. As of the end of September, three-quarters of its staff of 250 have retired, quit, were terminated, or plan to leave by year-end. The USDA declined to discuss the number of departures but cautioned that employment figures are “changing daily.” Susan Offutt, former ERS administrator and previously chief economist at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’s watchdog arm, said Trump aims to eliminate researchers whose findings contradict Trump policies on tariffs, climate change and social programs. “The ERS research program produces output that is inconvenient” to the administration, she said.

Last year, for example, two ERS economists found that, among farmers, the Trump tax cuts primarily benefited the richest operators. Later, after the results were reported in the press, the USDA communications office instructed the researchers not to speak publicly, and the Office of the Chief Economist asked them to craft talking points discrediting their own research, people familiar with the conversations said. The USDA declined to discuss the situation.

“Without the information, you don’t have anything to inform your policy -- and information is changing as you and I are speaking,” said Katherine Wallman, chief statistician of the U.S. under four presidents until 2017. “It’s the worst possible time to cut the availability of that information.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-27/trump-has-gutted-an-agency-that-s-vital-to-american-farmers?srnd=politics-vp

[mopinko]

1. this is a damn crime against humanity. right now, if we dont

reinvent agriculture, we are well and truly fucked. and there is a ton of info out there, stuff that is working, but it doesnt spread itself.

whose interests does this serve, is what i want to know.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. it benefits our corporate and billionaire masters

It's the same ones who benefit from consolidating media outlets into fewer and fewer hands. The same ones who benefit from de-regulation. FCC, FTC, USDA appear to no longer work for us, they work for corporations.

[mopinko]

5. who exactly, tho? who the hell benefits from ignorance?

in the short term, sure. but in the long term? even corporate ag is going to need all the research they can get when the shit hits the fan.

seems like the kind of socialism for the 1% that they usually love.

[SeattleVet]

6. They only care about the short term.

While other nations produce 5-year plans and save for the future, our society has been conditioned to think about only the current quarter's profits and how much money they can make this week.

Also, many of them think that they'll be 'raptured' away before it really matters.

[Newest Reality]

2. Worst pResident Ever!

While we get treated to the Greatest Shit Show on Earth, this ruthless salesman is decimating the country on a regular basis. That's a fact.

He has appointed people to various agencies have been unqualified, toxic and even diametrically opposed to the functions or benefits of that agency. The policies that Trump promotes may have several ulterior motives, but when you consider them in total, there seems to be a deep, psychological hatred being expressed. While patriotism and love of country may sound a bit cliche these days, this nationalist authoritarian may revive that sentiment by acting out the very opposite: despising the USA, what it stood for, and a large portion of its people.

It is things like this that lead me to speculate some kind of grudge to add to his other malignant motivations. It is not like we can expect a person with so many obvious mental issues to be self-aware or even able to contemplate his own shadow, but damn if we can't see something dark and troubling emerging from his subconscious mind and he may be using the entire country as a screen for his projections. Was poor Trump traumatized by something? Is it all the unfairness when he didn't get his little way? Who knows, but somebody has to turn down the gaslight once and for all. Enough. We have a seriously delusional and troubled cretin in office right now and everything points to that with other factors as toppings.

So, while the decrepitude, tantrums and bloviating continues to dominate the headlines, Rome is slowly burning down to the ground.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Have the farmers stopped supporting Trump?

Or are they continuing to be delusional about him?