USDA Plan Would Close 665 Local Offices

[meganmonkey]

WASHINGTON (AP) - More than one-fourth of the nation's Farm Service Agency offices would close under a plan being pushed by the Agriculture Department, according to an agency document obtained by The Associated Press.

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``When you talk about closing offices, people think you're taking away something from them,'' he said. ``That's not the objective at all - we're going to be giving them something more.''

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As the central link between farmers and the department, FSA offices help farmers obtain loans and get payments from a number of farm programs. The federal agency has changed names over the years, but its network of offices in local communities dates to the 1930s.

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Congressional Democrats were hostile to the idea.

``If this is true, it's another slap at South Dakota farmers and ranchers from the Bush administration,'' said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., a member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee. ``There's no substitute for the face-to-face interaction that producers have with FSA personnel. They need the opportunity to ask questions, to explain their circumstances. To lose that opportunity is going to be a serious problem.''

much more...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5281750,00.html

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This does not look good. There is a lot more info at the link.

[pitohui]

1. beyond belief

taking advantage of tragedy to steal jobs

[mcscajun]

2. Why is it a constant with this Administration?

Everytime the nation's attention is turned to something huge, they sneak in crap like this.

Another quote from the article: He said the agency's main concern was not closing offices. "We may consolidate functions, but we're going to provide improved service."

How many times have we heard that from the private sector, and it turned out otherwise as they outsourced and offshored functions, and you can't talk to a person face-to-face about your account anymore?

Lies, lies, and reduced attention to the little people every damned time.

[Divernan]

3. So this leaves them with +/- 1800 offices? That's plenty.

That still averages out to THIRTY SIX (36) offices per state!

I don't see where that prevents easy access for "face-to-face" interaction. Additionally, many of the farm belt states are long-time, diehard Republicans, like Kansas and Nebraska. If the GOP approves all the pork in the last budget, and lets Bush keep flushing our tax dollars away in Iraq, too damn bad if they can't have a federal office in every single county, and have to drive 60 miles to the nearest federal office. I don't know, but HOPE we have a social security office in every county. Anyone know about that?

[neverforget]

4. The company I work for had a contract with the FSA 2 years ago

for the state of Illinois. A coworker and I went to each of the counties in western and northern Illinois while another 2 coworkers went to the other half of the state to scan their aerial photos. This project involved updating their mapping system from drawing on the photos to using a computer program to update them.

Anyway, most of the FSA employees were older (40s and 50s) and their equipment was antiquated. Their computers must have been 15 years old and they were amazed at the equipment we brought with us to scan. If they close half of the FSA offices, those people will lose their jobs and the farmers will have to travel much farther to the office.