For the second year in a row, President Obama has issued a Proclamation declaring Thanksgiving week as National Farm-City Week. For 2011, it runs from Nov. 18-24, and is intended to "celebrate the essential contributions of farmers and ranchers" and "recommit to a prosperous and sustainable future for American agriculture." "As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, let us pay tribute to the men and women whose hard work brought the bounty we find before us from farm to fork," President Obama said.
He discusses the establishment last Spring of the White House Rural Council, hailing its efforts to create jobs.
"We have worked to cultivate local and regional food systems, empower young and beginning farmers, and support rural businesses," President Obama said.
The President also mentions the importance of renewable fuels for rural economies.
"By finding new ways to harness homegrown fuels in small towns and on family farms, we can create new jobs, improve our energy security, and unlock additional sources of income for farmers."
The President's Proclamation:
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________
For Immediate Release
November 18, 2011
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION
With tenacity, resilience, and humility, our farmers and ranchers have helped drive our Nation's growth for generations. Season after season, their careful stewardship and dedication brings an abundance of wholesome food, plentiful fiber, a stronger economy, and new opportunities to secure our clean energy future. During National Farm-City Week, we celebrate the essential contributions of farmers and ranchers to our country's well-being and recommit to a prosperous and sustainable future for American agriculture.
As our urban centers continue to grow, we look to our fields and ranches to supply our markets and families with fresh, healthy food. To help our farming communities meet the challenges of the 21st century, I established the White House Rural Council earlier this year. By partnering with leaders in rural America, we have worked to cultivate local and regional food systems, empower young and beginning farmers, and support rural businesses. Together, we stand with our rural communities and reaffirm our commitment to their continued success.
To make a lasting investment in our Nation's energy future, my Administration is taking action to promote renewable energy production across rural America. As part of a comprehensive strategy to build our clean energy economy, we are working to produce more renewable, domestic biofuels and to help bring solar panel arrays and wind turbines to rural businesses. By finding new ways to harness homegrown fuels in small towns and on family farms, we can create new jobs, improve our energy security, and unlock additional sources of income for farmers.
This week, we honor the individuals, families, and communities who provide us the staple foods that sustain our Nation. As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, let us pay tribute to the men and women whose hard work brought the bounty we find before us from farm to fork.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 18 through November 24, 2011, as National Farm-City Week. I call upon all Americans to reflect on the vital contributions of those who dedicate their lives to promoting our Nation's agricultural abundance and environmental stewardship.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
"Farmers represent the best of the American dream"... In a Proclamation issued on Friday, President Obama hails America's farmers, ranchers and growers as "the backbone of communities across our country" as he declared September 18-24 "National Farm Safety and Health Week 2011." The Proclamation is timed to coincide with the start of the Fall harvest. (Above: The President at a town hall in Iowa last month, during his Rural Bus Tour)
"Farmers represent the best of the American dream--passing on proud traditions of hard work and commitment to their children," President Obama said. "Physically demanding and all-encompassing, farm work requires the resourcefulness and grit that has been essential to our Nation's success."
The President notes that the food, fiber and fuel produced by the hardworking men and women who plow our fields and tend our livestock is crucial to creating a "thriving" 21st century economy, and supporting this--and encouraging young farmers and ranchers--is "critical." American agriculture has flourished, the President notes, despite extraordinary challenges this year, including drought, floods, and an historic series of tornadoes.
"We are grateful for the fruits of every farmer's labor, and we honor their tireless dedication to the well-being of their families and our Nation," President Obama said. "This week, we pay tribute to the tremendous work ethic of America's farmers, and encourage safe farm practices for all."
The President's full Proclamation:
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________
For Immediate Release
September 16, 2011
NATIONAL FARM SAFETY and HEALTH WEEK, 2011
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
The food, fiber, and fuel generated by our agricultural sector are vital to America's 21st-century economy. Farmers represent the best of the American dream -- passing on proud traditions of hard work and commitment to their children. This week, we celebrate farmers' contributions to the fabric of our Nation as they cultivate the products that sustain us, serve as stewards of our environment, and stand as the backbone of communities across our country.
The self-discipline and determination of farm communities have allowed them to persevere through drought, storms, and hard times, always emerging strong and vibrant. Each day, our farmers, ranchers, and agricultural workers face multiple dangers. They work with heavy machinery, livestock, and toxic materials, and in potentially dangerous environments like grain elevators and processing facilities. Physically demanding and all-encompassing, farm work requires the resourcefulness and grit that has been essential to our Nation's success. This week, we pay tribute to the tremendous work ethic of America's farmers, and encourage safe farm practices for all.
Supporting farmers, ranchers, and growers is critical to creating and sustaining a thriving economy. My Administration has worked to create new markets for these products, and to provide assistance to farms, supporting jobs across our country. We continue to work to make capital more accessible and help aspiring young farmers buy land. Farms are critical to achieving our goal of doubling our exports, and American agricultural exports are now worth over $100 billion a year. They are also the source of biofuels that will help lead us to energy independence. My Administration is working to speed the development of next-generation biofuels, and their production will benefit farmers, rural communities, and Americans across our country.
As the fall harvest begins, I encourage farm and ranch families to embrace safe farming practices and to participate in farm safety and health programs. Communities and neighbors can support local farmers by understanding the risks involved with farm work and the role everyone can play in preventing and responding to accidents. We are grateful for the fruits of every farmer's labor, and we honor their tireless dedication to the well-being of their families and our Nation.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 18 through September 24, 2011, as National Farm Safety and Health Week. I call upon the agencies, organizations, businesses, and extension services that serve America's agricultural workers to strengthen their commitment to promoting farm safety and health programs. I also urge Americans to honor our agricultural heritage and express appreciation to our farmers, ranchers, and farm-workers for their remarkable contributions to our Nation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
BARACK OBAMA
##
*Photo by Pete Souza/White House: President Obama was at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, on Aug. 15, 2011.
President Obama made only a single specific reference to rural issues and agriculture as he unveiled the American Jobs Act during his address to a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday evening, despite the fact that he spent three days in August on a bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois to promote rural job creation. But today on the White House blog, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack explains that the President's $450 billion measure is good for the heartland. The President's proposal includes a major rebuild for America's transportation infrastructure, and this is terrific news for rural America, Vilsack says.
As for the President's mention of agriculture? Mr. Obama cited President Abraham Lincoln at the end of his speech, as an example of bipartisanship that should be replicated today. He didn't note that Lincoln founded the Department of Agriculture in 1862, but rather pointed to the educational institutions that are part of that legacy.
“We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our union,” President Obama said. “But in the middle of a civil war, he was also a leader who looked to the future — a Republican president who mobilized government to build the transcontinental railroad; launch the National Academy of Sciences; and set up the first land grant colleges. And leaders of both parties have followed the example he set.”
The Secretary's blogpost:
Last night, I went to the Capitol to hear the President address Congress about the way forward to grow the economy and create jobs.
There is no doubt that these have been tough times. And it’s very tough for the many Americans who are looking for work. So we’ve got to keep finding ways to help the unemployed in the short term and rebuild the middle class over the long term.
The American Jobs Act that President Obama laid out this evening will have an immediate impact. It will create jobs now. And it is based on bipartisan ideas that both Democrats and Republicans have supported in the past.
Americans living in rural communities know well that the specific ideas in the bill work. Too many of rural areas are dealing with crumbling infrastructure. They know the benefits of rebuilding local roads, or of improving their water system. And our rural construction workers are ready to get back on the job.
The small businesses that employee most rural Americans know that the tax cuts in the bill will mean more work, so they can expand and hire. And every working rural family will benefit from money back in their pockets.
Small rural governments know they can use the support to keep folks on payroll. Teachers, firefighters and other first responders need to be kept on the job preparing our children for a better future and keeping our families safe.
Most importantly, folks in rural America know that in difficult times, we need to come together to hammer out a solution that benefits everyone. And elected leaders in Washington need to do the same as they work to support job growth and build a stronger future for all Americans. ## *Photo of President Obama during his remarks on Thursday by Getty
Lawmakers who won't "put country before party" are to blame for America's stalled economic recovery, the President writes... "I want more products sold around the globe stamped with three words: Made in America," President Obama writes in a new guest post on the Department of Agriculture's official blog. The post was published on Friday, Aug. 26th, just as the President's vacation on Martha's Vineyard was coming to an end. It's a follow up to his Aug. 15th-17th bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, and the President declares that while he has done plenty to boost the economy, "we need to do more to create jobs" with rural America as a focal point. "We...know what it’s going to take to get America going again," President Obama writes. "And we know it’s going to start with helping families in the heartland and across the country feel like they’re moving forward."
As he did throughout his rural trip, President Obama blames the partisan stalemate that has marked the 112th Congress for a lack of federal programs that could create jobs. He urges Americans to pressure Congress to put "country ahead of party," and rapidly enact his legislation for things such as payroll tax cuts, foreign trade deals, and road construction. Or as the President calls these, "commonsense ideas."
"The only thing preventing us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party. That’s the problem right now," President Obama writes. "That’s what’s holding this country back. That’s what we have to change."
"Some in Congress" is thinly veiled code for "Republican," in case that isn't clear. And any lawmaker who won't vote for the President's legislative agenda is not a patriot, is the implication. With the substitution of a few paragraphs, the blogpost is almost identical to the President's weekly address from August 20th. Shortly after Labor Day, the President will unveil a new jobs package, according to the White House.
The full text of President Obama's blogpost:
Getting Rural America Back To Work By President Barack Obama
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to get out of Washington, DC and travel to small towns and farm towns in the heartland of the country. I sat down with small business owners, farmers and ranchers in Iowa; I had lunch with veterans in Cannon Falls, Minnesota; and I talked to plant workers at a seed distributor in Atkinson, Illinois.
I made the trip because I think the rest of this country can learn something from Rural America. The heartland is central to the economic health and prosperity of our nation. Rural communities provide us with affordable agricultural products, competitive manufacturing capabilities, and an independent, renewable energy supply. And you’re also stewards of America’s great outdoors—an important source of jobs and an incredible treasure for all Americans.
Now we all know times are tough for many Americans – and Rural Americans in particular. Some of you may have been struggling for a long time. But we also know what it’s going to take to get America going again. And we know it’s going to start with helping families in the heartland and across the country feel like they’re moving forward.
That’s why, over the last two years, we’ve been focused on improving infrastructure - building roads and bridges and providing broadband access to millions of rural Americans. We’re expanding educational opportunities and helping more Americans get access to affordable health care. We’ve made historic investments in innovation and clean energy. And we established the first-ever White House Rural Council to promote economic growth in rural America – and to do it in a faster and more coordinated way.
But even with the progress we’ve made, it’s also clear the pace of our recovery is still not fast enough. We need to do more to create jobs.
That starts with getting your elected officials in Washington to put their differences aside and take steps right now to help businesses get more customers and create more jobs for Americans. We can cut payroll taxes again, so families have an extra $1,000 to spend. We can pass a road construction bill so construction crews – now sitting idle – can head back to the worksite. Let’s connect the brave Americans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with businesses to use their skills. And let’s pass trade deals to level the playing field for our businesses, because I want more products sold around the globe stamped with three words: Made in America.
These are commonsense ideas – ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans. The only thing holding them back is politics. The only thing preventing us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party. That’s the problem right now. That’s what’s holding this country back. That’s what we have to change.
You deserve representatives who show the same kind of discipline and integrity and responsibility that most Americans demonstrate in their lives every day – leaders who can put their differences aside to help grow the economy and put this nation back to work. Because, for all the knocks we’ve taken, despite all the challenges we face, this is still the greatest country on earth. We still have the best workers and farmers, entrepreneurs and businesses, students and scientists in the world.
Getting out of Washington and spending time with folks like you reminds me why I got into public service in the first place. Your work ethic; your creativity; your determination only makes me more hopeful about our future. And it only makes me more confident that if we come together, there is no stopping the United States of America. ## ## ## ##
The President's three-day swing through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, included four town halls and one Rural Economic forum, and he unveiled both a new small business support initiativeto create rural jobs, and a $510 million initiative to boost rural industries for advanced biofuels. The President, his Cabinet Secretaries, and the senior officials traveling with him heard plenty about the needs of farmers during the trip; they were told that land is too expensive; agriculture subsidies need to be eliminated or at least capped, and other regulations--such as those for water runoff, noise, and dust--are something farmers don't want. Estate taxes also came under fire, and there was a plea from the grandson of a farmer with an interest in a corn ethanol plant for the President to preserve the business. The President, during his last town hall in Alpha, Illinois, explained the Let's Move! campaign as an economic boon for family farmers.
Video from Illinois: "Putting country ahead of party" President Obama filmed his weekly video/radio address on August 17th, while at Country Corner Farm in his adopted home state of Illinois, the final stop on his three-state rural bus tour. The President reiterates the themes of his trip in his remarks, hailing rural America as a model for economic growth, and calling on Congress to quickly enact his legislative priorities--or as Mr. Obama phrases it, "putting country ahead of party." The President hosted a town hall at Country Corner, an agritourism venue located in the tiny town of Alpha. The farm grows and sells fifty kinds of vegetables and features an annual holiday corn maze. (Above, a White House photo from inside the bus; the President waves to locals as he drives through Alpha)
The Alpha town hall was notable primarily for the Q & A that followed, in which the President answered a question about First Lady Obama's Let's Move! campaign, speaking about its impact on family farmers. The President returned to Washington, DC, after his visit to Alpha, and is currently in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, for a ten-day vacation.
The transcript of the President's remarks: Hello from the Country Corner Farm in Alpha, Illinois! For the past few days, I’ve been traveling to small towns and farm towns here in the heartland of this country. I sat down with small business owners in Gutenberg, Iowa; and ranchers and farmers in Peosta. I had lunch with veterans in Cannon Falls, Minnesota; and talked to plant workers at a seed distributor in Atkinson, Illinois. And to the girls volleyball team at Maquoketa High School, let me just say one thing: Go Cardinals.
Now, I’m out here for one reason: I think Washington, DC can learn something from the folks in Atkinson and Peosta and Cannon Falls. I think our country would be a whole lot better off if our elected leaders showed the same kind of discipline and integrity and responsibility that most Americans demonstrate in their lives every day.
Because, the fact is, we’re going through a tough time right now. We’re coming through a terrible recession; a lot of folks are still looking for work. A lot of people are getting by with smaller paychecks or less money in the cash register. So we need folks in Washington – the people whose job it is to deal with the country’s problems, the people who you elected to serve – we need them to put aside their differences to get things done.
There are things we can do right now that will mean more customers for businesses and more jobs across the country. We can cut payroll taxes again, so families have an extra $1,000 to spend. We can pass a road construction bill so construction crews – now sitting idle – can head back to the worksite, rebuilding roads, bridges, and airports. We’ve got brave, skilled Americans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Let’s connect them with businesses that could use their skills. And let’s pass trade deals to level the playing field for our businesses. We have Americans driving Hyundais and Kias. Well, I want to see folks in Korea driving Fords, Chevys and Chryslers. I want more products sold around the globe stamped with three words: Made in America.
These are commonsense ideas – ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans. The only thing holding them back is politics. The only thing preventing us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party. That’s the problem right now. That’s what’s holding this country back. That’s what we have to change.
Because, for all the knocks we’ve taken, despite all the challenges we face, this is still the greatest country on earth. We still have the best workers and farmers, entrepreneurs and businesses, students and scientists. And you can see that here in Alpha. You can see it along the country roads that connect these small towns and farmlands.
These past few days, I’ve been seeing little kids with American flags and grandparents in lawn chairs. I’ve shaken hands with folks outside machine shops and churches, corner stores and farms. It reminds me why I got into public service in the first place. Getting out of Washington and spending time with the people of this country – seeing how hard you’re working, how creative you are, how resourceful you are, how determined you are – that only makes me more determined to serve you as best I can as President. And it only makes me more confident in our future.
That’s why it’s so important that folks in Washington put country before party. That’s why it’s so important that our elected leaders get past their differences to help grow the economy and put this nation back to work. Because here in Alpha it couldn’t be more clear: if we can come together, there’s no stopping the United States of America. There’s no doubt that our future is bright.
Thanks, and have a great weekend. ##
The President's three-day swing through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, August 15th-17th, included four town halls and one Rural Economic forum, and he unveiled both a new small business support initiativeto create rural jobs, and a $510 million initiative to boost rural industries for advanced biofuels. The President, his Cabinet Secretaries, and the senior officials traveling with him heard plenty about the needs of farmers during the trip, being told, among other things, that land is too expensive, agriculture subsidies need to be eliminated or at least capped, and other regulations--such as those for water runoff, noise, and dust--are something farmers don't want. Estate taxes also came under fire, and there was a plea from the grandson of a farmer with an interest in a corn ethanol plant for the President to preserve the business.
"I am not surprised" President would devote three days to rural issues, Agriculture Secretary says...
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has a post the White House blog today, discussing President Obama'sthree-day rural bus tour through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, Aug. 15-17. In the photo, above, the President and Vilsack speak with rural leaders during a breakout session at the White House Rural Economic Forum at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa. Vilsack made national headlines during the trip when he said in an interview that Food Stamps are a job-creating economic stimulus.
"From investments in rural broadband to efforts to support small-business innovation, the President talked about his commitment to rural America – and he listened to what local residents had to say," Vilsack writes in his blog post, adding "I am not surprised" that the President would spend three full days in rural America.
The Secretary's post:
Today, I am hosting a forum focused on the rural economy at the Iowa State Fair. But, Rural America has been in the spotlight all this week as I joined President Obama to travel across parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, visiting rural communities to discuss his Administration’s efforts to create jobs and drive economic growth. From investments in rural broadband to efforts to support small-business innovation, the President talked about his commitment to rural America – and he listened to what local residents had to say.
The centerpiece of his trip was the Rural Economic Forum, held Tuesday at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta. There, 200 small business owners, farmers, retirees, elected officials and others came together to discuss their ideas for a revitalized rural economy. I was pleased to participate in that forum, along with my Cabinet colleagues Housing and Urban Development Secretary Donovan, Transportation Secretary LaHood, and Administrator Mills of the Small Business Administration. Ed. note: The White House released no list of invitees.
After opening remarks by the President, the participants broke into a series of small discussion groups – with topics ranging from agricultural innovation and energy opportunities to small business to infrastructure. Each group developed a series of ideas and recommendations, which will become part of a larger report to the White House Rural Council that I chair.
I had the opportunity to facilitate the Ag Innovation and Energy breakout session with about 20 farmers, ranchers, and other officials. Our discussion – which the President joined for a few minutes – touched on the importance of the renewable energy sector and new markets, as well as particular barriers to growing the rural economy through agricultural innovation.
Some in the audience expressed amazement that the President of the United States would spend an entire day – let alone a three-day bus trip – focusing on the needs of rural America. I am not surprised.
This president has repeatedly shown his commitment to the continued strength of small towns and rural areas. He is focused on innovation and small business development that will create jobs in rural areas and strengthen the middle class. And, he was enthusiastic about the opportunity to hear ideas and insights from the people who live in rural America.
The President's parting words in Peosta said it all:
Sometimes there are days in Washington that will drive you crazy. But getting out of Washington and meeting all of you, and seeing how hard you're working, how creative you are, how resourceful you are, how determined you are, that just makes me that much more determined to serve you as best I can as President of the United States.
Fact check: President says American fruit and vegetable growers, especially family farmers, will earn higher profits thanks to First Lady's childhood obesity initiative...
Speaking on Wednesday at the final town hall meeting of his rural bus tour through America's heartland, President Obama gave his Alpha, Illinois audience a dissertation on Let's Move!, First Lady Obama's childhood obesity campaign. It came after an audience member commended Mrs. Obama's efforts, then asked the President what his Administration will be doing to create "positive incentives to encourage people to eat healthy, and to live healthy." The President, standing in front of a John Deere tractor at Country Corner Farm, described Mrs. Obama's fitness initiatives. But his trip was designed to highlight his Administration's efforts to boost the rural economy, so he gave an analysis of the economic benefits of Let's Move! for American farmers. (Above: The President in Alpha)
The US supply chain for domestically grown fruit and vegetables will be re-shaped by the Let's Move! component that encourages citizens to eat more fruit and vegetables, the President said. This will help American farmers make more profit from their sales, especially family farmers, he explained. Certainly American family farmers could potentially benefit from the campaign, but under its current structure, these benefits are not apparent. And the President was confused about some details of his wife's signature initiative.
"This [Let's Move!] is something that actually can benefit farmers, particularly family farmers," President Obama said. "A lot of times, farmers are not making all the money from their products because it goes through this chain of shipping and processing and distribution, and there are a lot of middlemen between the farmer and the end user."
That's true: According to a February report from USDA's Economic Research Service, farmers and agribusiness receive just 11.6% of the American food dollar, with the rest going to other points on the food supply chain.
"If we can get farmers more directly linked to consumers, they’re selling their products more directly, they’re getting more fresh vegetables, more fresh fruit, then everybody can benefit," President Obama said.
That's also true in theory, but the structure of the private sector partnerships Mrs. Obama has created for her campaign don't now support this. A pillar of Let's Move! is eliminating what USDA identifies as food deserts in the next six years, which the agency defines as "a low-income census tract where either a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store--areas where supermarkets are not close to consumers."
The First Lady has "been able to get a lot of agreements with [grocery] companies," President Obama told the Alpha crowd, adding that these are voluntary commitments, rather than created by legislation. He pointed to the largest partnership of all, with grocery giant Walmart, as a win for farmers.
"Voluntarily, they [Walmart] and a whole bunch of other big retailers have said, we’re going to start linking up with family farmers; we’re going to start setting up better grocery stores in underserved communities...and linking up -- setting up farmers markets in urban areas where people can sell produce," President Obama said.
In reality, none of the grocers that have partnered with the White House have pledged to "link up" specifically with family farmers to purchase the produce that they will sell. There is no requirement for the companies to use fruit and vegetables grown by any specific class of farmers, whether domestic or foreign, large or small. Rather, the agreement covers what markets will be built: Drugstore chain Walgreens announced that it will transform 1,000 of its stores into "food oasis"stores, selling healthier foods, including produce. SuperValu pledged to build 250 Save-A-Lot stores in food deserts in the next five years. Walmart pledged to build 275 to 300 stores in food deserts by 2016. Two other regional, smaller chains also made building pledges.
Nor did the Let's Move! partnership with grocers involve a pledge from the corporations to open farmers markets. And the report on the rural economy the White House Rural Council released ahead of the President's trip, "Jobs and Economic Security for Rural America," fails to include any strategies for connecting American family farmers with American consumers. Rather, there is a focus on the importance of the export market for agricultural products.
USDA issued a report in early August showing that more than 1,000 new farmers markets have opened across the US in the last year, but these new venues were not, as the President seems to be maintaining, due to the efforts of grocery corporations. Farmers markets account for only a tiny percentage of the food that is purchased in the US--less than 1%, according to USDA.
Foreign farmers get the biggest boost...
The fact is US farmers don't actually grow enough fruit and vegetables to ensure that every man, woman, and child in America meet the produce consumption advice in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the basis for the eating part of Mrs. Obama's campaign (Americans should fill half their plates at every meal with fruit and vegetables, according to the Guidelines). USDA still identifies fruit and vegetables as "specialty crops," and US Agriculture is primarily devoted to other crops: Corn, soybeans, cotton, rice and wheat.
What Mrs. Obama's campaign currently means is that--should every American follow federal dietary guidelines--foreign fruit and vegetable growers will be receiving the biggest benefit. America will be forced to rely on imports for all the fresh produce required to really meet the eating goals of Mrs. Obama's campaign.
Two weeks ago during a conference call with reporters, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan pointed this out, saying that it's going to be hard to make sure Americans meet the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, and noting that a problem is "how we're going to get there if we are not largely resting on imported foods."
America's imports of fresh fruit and vegetables has increased substantially since the 1990s, according to USDA's analysis. "Dominant suppliers are the North American Free Trade Agreement region for fresh vegetables, the Southern Hemisphere countries for off-season fresh fruit, and equatorial countries for bananas," USDA says. And America is increasingly dependent on China for produce imports. In 2010, America imported $1.36 billion in fruit and vegetables from China, up from $197 million in 1999. Mexican imports went from $2.6 billion to $7.1 billion in the same time period.
Ag Secretary thinks food middlemen are important part of economy...
Meantime, on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack aired a very different view of the food supply chain than President Obama. Vilsack pointed out that the record-breaking use of SNAP benefits, also known as Food Stamps--which now have close to 46 million people enrolled in the program--creates the kind of middleman supply chain scenario that President Obama says Let's Move! will eliminate. Food Stamps currently add more than $6 billion to the economy in purchasing power monthly, and thus create jobs for the food middlemen, Vilsack said, pointing to this as an economic stimulus.
"If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, someone has to stock it, package it, shelve it, process it, ship it," Vilsack said. "All of those are jobs. It's the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times."
What it all means...
The point of the President's heartland swing was to highlight what his Administration is doing to boost the rural economy. Thus he focused on the economic benefits of battling obesity with healthy eating, pointing out that obesity has a huge impact on healthcare costs. Mrs. Obama has also spoken about the economic benefits of battling childhood obesity, and in July, when she invited grocery executives to the White House to make their announcements about eliminating food deserts, senior White House aides focused as much on the job-creation element of the project as they did on the healthy eating aspects.
If Mrs. Obama does for produce what she's done for the fashion industry, American growers will be in good shape. But right now, eliminating the middleman in the supply chain, and thus boosting farmers' profits with direct sales is still in the starter stage. Fruit and vegetables prices, like all food prices, have remained stubbornly high. And it's hard to imagine how Walmart's proposed commitment to dropping the price of fruit and vegetables means that American farmers will earn higher profits.
The President, his Cabinet Secretaries, and the senior officials traveling with him heard plenty about the needs of farmers during the trip, being told, among other things, that land is too expensive, agriculture subsidies need to be eliminated or at least capped, and other regulations--such as those for water runoff, noise, and dust--are something farmers don't want. Estate taxes also came under fire, and there was a plea from the grandson of a farmer with an interest in a corn ethanol plant for the President to preserve the business.
The White House today released new videos about President Obama's three day trip through Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, August 15-17. The video, above, covers Day 1, with clips from the President's town hall in Cannon Falls, MN. The second video, below, includes clips from his town hall at Seed Saver's Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, also on Monday.
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! (Applause.) Oh, it is good to be back home. (Applause.) Everybody have a seat, relax, take a load off there.
We’ve got some special guests here I want to just acknowledge. First of all, an outstanding public servant, a great governor, Pat Quinn is in the house. (Applause.) Your former congressman, now my Secretary of Transportation, great friend of mine, Ray LaHood is here. (Applause.)
We’ve got another member of Congress who obviously took a wrong turn somewhere. (Laughter.) Thought he was heading back to the West Side of Chicago -- turned out he’s in Alpha. (Laughter.) Danny Davis is here. (Applause.)
We’ve got the mayor of Alpha, Marvin Watters is here. Where’s Mr. Mayor? There he is back there. Good to see you, sir. (Applause.)
Two great friends of mine -- Senator John Sullivan. Where’s John? There he is. (Laughter.) And Dave Koehler is here. Good to see you, Dave. (Applause.)
And finally, I want to thank the owners of this great facility, Bruce and Charlie Curry, owners of Country Corner. (Applause.)
I need to confess something to Bruce and Charlie. One of my speechwriters, it’s his birthday today, so we let him ride on the little cow pull over there. (Laughter.) It said birthday parties available, so we had him sit in there. He’s only 29, and he still fit. So he had a great time there.
This is a town hall meeting. Some of you remember I used to do these when I was your senator instead of your President. I don’t want to do a lot of talking at the front, but I just want to talk to you a little bit about what I’ve been seeing over the last couple of days and what’s been going on in Washington.
Obviously we’ve been going through as tough of a time as we’ve seen in my lifetime and in most people’s lifetimes these last two and a half years. We went through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. When I took office we had already lost 4 million jobs and we lost another 4 million just in the few months right after I took office. And we’ve been fighting our way back over the last two and half months -- or last two and a half years.
We were on the verge of going into a Great Depression, and we were able to yank ourselves out. The economy is now growing again. Over the last 17 months we’ve created over 2 million jobs in the private sector. We saved an auto industry that was on the brink. (Applause.) We have -- we’ve made investments in clean energy, in rebuilding our roads and our bridges.
And thanks to the great work of Secretary LaHood, we’ve been getting started on the process of making sure we’ve got the best infrastructure around. Thanks to the great work of our Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, we’ve tried to strengthen rural communities and farming communities all across the country and all across the Midwest.
And so despite the fact that we’ve gone through tough times, I want everybody to remember we still have the best universities on Earth, the best workers on Earth, the best entrepreneurs on Earth, the best system on Earth. There’s not a country in the world that wouldn’t trade places with the United States of America. (Applause.)
Now, the fact is, though, times are still tough. And some of the reasons times are still tough we don’t have complete control over. The economy was predicted to be growing at about 3.5 percent at the beginning of this year, partly because we had worked a bipartisan package of tax cuts and investment credits to encourage businesses to invest. But then you had the Arab Spring, and that shot gas prices and fuel prices up. And I know a lot of farmers here experienced that spike. And then we had the tsunami in Japan, and that disrupted supply lines and that affected American manufacturing. And then we had the situation in Europe and the debt crisis there, and that started lapping up onto our shores.
And so there are some things we don’t have control over, and the question is, how do we meet these challenges? But there are things that we do have control over. And the biggest challenge we have is in Washington. There’s nothing wrong with our country, but there’s a lot wrong with our politics right now. (Applause.) And that’s what I aim to fix. That’s what we have to fix.
When you look at this recent debt ceiling debacle and the downgrade, that was a self-inflicted wound, completely unnecessary. The truth of the matter is we’ve got a real challenge with debt and deficits. We had a balanced budget in 2000, then we fought two wars without paying for them. We ended up creating a prescription drug plan for seniors, which is the right thing to do, but we didn’t pay for it. Tax cuts we didn’t pay for.
And then the recession hit, and so a lot of money was going out to help local communities keep their firefighters and police officers and teachers on staff -- and Pat Quinn knows how important that was to prevent massive layoffs at the state level. Unemployment insurance to help folks get back on their feet, but that all meant a lot of money was going out, less tax revenue was going in because businesses weren’t doing as well. So combined we’ve got a big debt and deficit challenge that we’ve got to meet.
But what’s frustrating is that two months ago, three months ago, six months ago we could have met that challenge. We could have decided we’re going to come together with a balanced package where we’re closing corporate loopholes and we’re closing tax breaks for the very wealthy, and we’re cutting spending on things we don’t need.
And if we had come together on a bipartisan basis, we could have avoided all this drama over the last two and half months. But that’s not what we did, because what’s happened in Washington these days is there is a group of folks who think that, I’d rather see my opponent lose than see America win. (Applause.) There are folks who are willing to engage in political brinksmanship even if it costs the country.
And I know you’re frustrated. And I want you to know I’m frustrated. And you should be frustrated. The last two and a half days I’ve been traveling all across the Midwest through Iowa and Minnesota and now back home in Illinois. And everywhere I go, what I see are people who are working hard. They’re looking after their families. They’re farming and feeding people not just here in America, but all around the world. They’re going to church. They’re helping out at the food pantry. They’re coaching Little League.
We just came to visit the football team over at Galesburg. They’ve got their new coach. (Applause.) And I think to myself, you know what, if folks in Washington were carrying out their responsibilities the way you’re carrying out your responsibilities, we’d be just fine. We would be just fine. (Applause.)
So the question is, what do we do going forward? Look, even though private sector job growth is good, we’ve still got a long way to go before we put everybody back to work. We need to go ahead and act right now on some proposals that are before Congress, ready to be voted on. We should extend the payroll tax cut that we passed in December, put $1,000 in the typical family’s pocket -- we need to extend that into next year. (Applause.) Because if you’ve got more money in your pockets, that means businesses have more customers, they’re more likely to hire. There’s no reason why we can’t do that right now.
There’s no reason why, as Ray LaHood knows, we’ve got over $2 trillion worth of repairs that need to be made around the country, and I know there are some right here in this county and right here in this state. And we’ve got a lot of construction workers that are out of work when the housing bubble went bust, and interest rates are low, and contractors are ready to come in on time, under budget -- this is a great time for us to rebuild our roads and our bridges, and locks in the Mississippi, and our seaports and our airports. We could be doing that right now, if Congress was willing to act. (Applause.)
Right now, we could pass trade deals that we negotiated that not only have the support of business, but have the support of the UAW. That doesn’t happen very often. And the reason is, is because folks know that not only is that good for agricultural America -- opening up markets, because we’ve got the best farmers in the world -- but it’s also good for manufacturing. There are a whole bunch of Kias and Hyundais being driven around here; that’s great. But I want some Fords and Chevys being driven in Korea. (Applause.) We should pass that bill right now.
We’ve got legislation right now that we call the American Invents Act -- basically, make patents easier so when people come up with a new product or a new service or a new invention, they’re able to turn it around without a lot of red tape and bureaucracy and start businesses that could be hiring. There’s no reason to wait. It should be passed right now.
The fact is this: All these things I just mentioned, historically they’ve had bipartisan support. I mean, if Ray LaHood was still in there -- Ray was a Republican -- he’d vote for every single one of these; he’d be sponsoring them all. (Laughter.) You’ve got a Democratic President who supports these things. There’s no reason for us not to act right now.
And over the course of the next few weeks, I’m going to be putting out more proposals to put people to work right now. And some of them -- yes, some of them cost money. And the way we pay for it is by doing more on deficit reduction than the plan that we had to come up with right at the last minute in order to avoid default. We didn’t do as much as we could have.
When folks tell you that we’ve got a choice between jobs now or dealing with our debt crisis, they’re wrong. They’re wrong. We can’t afford to just do one or the other. We’ve got to do both. And the way to do it is to make some -- reform the tax code, close loopholes, make some modest modifications in programs like Medicare and Social Security so they’re there for the next generation, stabilize those systems. And you could actually save so much money that you could actually pay for some of the things like additional infrastructure right now.
We can close the deficit and put people to work, but what’s required is that folks work together. That’s the big challenge. That’s the big challenge. (Applause.)
So the main thing is I’m here to enlist you in this fight for America’s future. I need you to send a message to your members of Congress, to your representatives that we’re tired of the games. We’re tired of the posturing. We don’t want more press releases. We want action. We want everybody to work together and stop drawing lines in the sand and saying, we’re so rigid, we’re not going to do this or we’re not going to do that, no matter what. Think about country ahead of party. Think about the next generation instead of the next election. (Applause.)
I had some interviews with some reporters, and they said, why don’t you call Congress back right now? And I said, you know what, I hope Congress goes back to their districts. And I want them to listen to how frustrated people are, how angry they are with our politics at a time when we’ve got so much work to do.
Because the last thing we need is Congress to show up back in Congress and do the exact same thing they’ve been doing. They’ve got to think differently about how we’re approaching problems. So I want them to be doing the same thing I’m doing, just talking to ordinary folks and try to remember why they got into public service in the first place. It’s not supposed to be to get attention. It’s not supposed to be so you get interviewed on cable TV. It’s not supposed to be so you have a fancy title.
You’re supposed to be in public service to serve the public. And that means that, yes, you don’t get your way 100 percent of the time. It means that you compromise. It means you apply common sense. And that’s what I’m hoping that everybody takes from visiting their district again and getting out of Washington for a while.
I can tell you nothing is more inspiring to me than the kind of trip that I’ve been taking over the last few days. We’re driving on this big bus and it’s all -- you can’t see out except when you’re standing in front, so I’m out in front. And having breakfast in a diner and going to a football practice; you’re passing rows of kids with flags and grandparents in their lawn chairs and mechanics out in front of their shops and farmers waving from their fields. And it inspires you, because it reminds you about what makes this country so great, why I love this country so much, and why we’ve got to be doing every single thing we can every minute of every day to make sure that you can continue to achieve your American Dream and pass it on to your kids and your grandchildren.
That’s why I ran for President. That’s why a whole bunch of you voted for me to be a U.S. senator and then to be President. (Applause.)
So I need your help, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
All right, let’s see if this mic is working. It is. All right, what I’m going to do is I’m just going to call on folks as they raise their hands. The only rule is we’re going to go girl, boy, girl, boy -- (laughter) -- so everybody gets a chance. And there are folks in the audience with microphones. So please stand up and introduce yourself before you ask your question. And I’ll start with this young lady right here in the front.
Here we go. You’ve got a gentleman coming up with a mic.
Q Thank you, Mr. President, for being here today in Henry County. My name is Karen Urich (ph). I’m a multigenerational farmer, member of the Henry County Board and Henry County Farm Bureau. My question that I have today is I have a concern over estate taxes.
In 2013, if the Senate and the Congress fails to act, we will have our estate taxes go back to the 2001 level. We have family farms that are experiencing having to sell their land in order to pay the property taxes. And I was wondering what you see for the future of the estate tax. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, there’s no reason why we have to go all the way back to the 2001 level. There is a compromise that has been discussed where you’d essentially have a $7 million exemption per family. There are some folks who just want to eliminate the estate tax all together. There are others who want to hike it up back to 2001.
There’s a mid-level proposal that would exempt most -- almost all family farms and nevertheless would still hit folks like Warren Buffett and make sure that he is able to pay what he wants to pay in terms of passing on something not only to his family, but also to the country that has blessed him so much.
So this is going to be part of the larger debate we have about the tax code. And the one thing I want to emphasize, a lot of folks don’t realize this, but there are only 3 percent of the population that has an annual income of more than $200,000 a year. Think about that, 97 percent of folks, their annual income is less than $200,000. And there are only less than 1 percent who are making millions of dollars. And then there’s less than one one-hundredth of 1 percent who are in the Warren Buffett category. That top 1 percent -- in fact, that top one-tenth of 1 percent, those are the main folks who have seen their incomes skyrocket over the last 10, 15 years. Ordinary families, including family farmers, basically your incomes and your wages have flatlined over the last decade.
And so when we think about tax reform we should be thinking about fairness. What’s fair? Nobody likes paying taxes. I promise you, I don’t like paying taxes. But I do believe in paying what I use -- paying for what I use. And if I want good roads, and if I want good schools for kids, and if I want the best universities in the world and I want to make sure that we’re continuing to invest in agricultural research at places like University of Illinois that have helped to make us the most productive farmers in the world, then I think I should have to pay for it. And if I’m better able to pay for it than a waitress who is making $25,000 a year, I don’t mind paying a slightly higher rate. There’s nothing socialist about that. That’s just basic fairness.
And, by the way, when you hear folks saying, well, you know what, that’s job killing -- that’s not job killing. When Bill Clinton was President we created 22 million jobs with a tax rate that was much higher across the board than it is now. We don’t have to go all the way back up there on the estate tax or any other taxes for us to close our deficit and our debt, but we should ask oil and gas companies that are making record profits that they don’t benefit from a special tax loophole that the mom-and-pop store in Alpha doesn’t get. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking me to pay a little more so our senior citizens don’t have to pay an extra $5,000, $6,000 a year for their Medicare. (Applause.) That’s what we’re looking for, is balance in terms of our tax policy. (Applause.)
All right. Who’s next? This is an old friend of mine right here. Introduce yourself for everybody.
Q Phillip Nelson (ph). Welcome back to Illinois, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Good to see you, Phil.
Q And I just want to say on behalf of Illinois agriculture, we’re glad that you’re in the heartland. And as you know, Illinois agriculture is the major economic driver in this state that employs close to a million people. And my concern is this: As a fourth-generation farmer, we’re very concerned with some of the regulatory challenges that are coming our way as it relates to the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. We’re concerned with what’s going in the Chesapeake Bay, and the fears that that might come to the Mississippi River Basin. And I guess my challenge, Mr. President, is that you work with the EPA Administrator to put some common sense back into some of these regulatory discussions so we don’t regulate farmers out of business.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me say this about -- (applause) -- because I got this question when I was in Atkinson. Some of these regulatory concerns that people have, frankly, are unfounded in the sense that if somebody even has an idea or a thought about some regulation, then right away the message is sent out, they’re coming and they’re going to make it impossible for you to farm and this and that and the other. And this thing may still be completely in a theoretical stage, where folks are trying to figure out how do we make sure that our streams and our rivers aren’t messed up. And there may not even be a regulation in place before people are already getting worried about what’s coming down the pipe.
There is not a rule or regulation that we don’t do a complete cost-benefit analysis at this point, and that we don’t have intensive discussions with those who would potentially be affected. Now, what I do think is true is that, in the past -- I’ll say not under my administration, but I think in the past historically -- there have been times where the EPA or other regulatory agencies don’t listen to farmers and figure out how can we provide them flexibility in meeting some of their goals.
So I was talking to Tom Vilsack yesterday, and he was using as an example that, in the state of Washington -- maybe it was Oregon; it was in the Pacific Northwest -- there was concern about some of the runoff was making it harder for salmon in those regions, which is also a big industry in Washington. And the problem was -- it wasn’t pollution, it was actually heating. Some of the runoff from some of the plants in the area were getting too hot, and that was inhibiting salmon. So instead of just coming up with a regulation that prohibited these industries, what they came up with was, working with farmers and conservationists, planting trees along the rivers that cooled the waters so that the salmon were unaffected.
Well, that’s the kind of creative approach where, if you’re listening to folks on the ground and you say, here, we’ve got a problem that we do need to solve, but is there a smarter way to doing it that ends up being a win-win instead of end up being a lose-lose? Let’s work together. And that’s the kind of approach that we need to take.
Don’t be fooled. I think if somebody goes out and says, we can’t afford clean air and clean water, that’s wrong. I don’t believe that. And I don’t think most farmers would agree with that, because, ultimately, nobody is better stewards of the land. And the reason we’ve got these incredible farms all around us is because we’ve got incredibly rich soil. We’ve got to make sure that we’re conserving that soil. We’ve got to make sure that our air and water continues to be healthy for our kids. And I think farmers care about that more than anybody.
So we’ve got the same goal. The question is, are we able to work together to figure out a smart way to achieve these goals? And that’s what my administration is going to be committed to doing, all right?
Right there. Yes.
Q Thank you, President Obama, and welcome to this area. My name is Judy Gunzeth (ph), and I’m director of tourism for Galesburg and Knox County. So thank you for coming for --
THE PRESIDENT: This is a great tourist location right here, County Corner.
Q Exactly.
THE PRESDIENT: Bring your families. (Applause.)
Q I also want to congratulate you on recently turning 50. I passed that milestone recently, and it’s not as bad as what people think.
THE PRESIDENT: How come you look so much better than me? (Laughter.)
Q I live in Galesburg. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: That’s why. Okay. All right. That makes sense, that makes sense.
Q I also want to commend your wife, our First Lady, on her efforts to encourage healthy eating.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q I believe that people who eat healthy are healthy, and a healthy nation is a productive nation. And I think a lot about our children, our school children, and people who are on food stamps -- and just the entire nation needs to live healthy. But it also, in the long term, it reduces health care costs, and we’re thinking about short-term health care costs, but we’re also thinking in long-term health care costs.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
Q So what I’d like to hear is maybe just your philosophy from your administration -- ways to expound upon what your wife is doing and encouraging -- and positive incentives to encourage people to eat healthy, to live healthy, especially for our schoolchildren.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s a great question. And first of all, thank you for what you’re doing to promote tourism here in Galesburg. I want to point out that America as a whole needs to do a better job of promoting tourism, because -- it used to be we just took for granted everybody wanting to come here. Now countries all around the world are promoting their countries, and we want tourism dollars to come here. And so I’ve set up a tourism council to make sure that they visit not just San Francisco and Manhattan, but they also understand what an incredible travel opportunity there is here in the Midwest and in small towns all across America.
Michelle has done a great job with a combination of nutrition facts, but also exercise. And you’re right, the reason she thought it was so important is she’s a mom with two kids. And she knows that Malia and Sasha, if they start off with healthy habits now, they’re going to be healthier when they get older. And it turns out -- we were just talking about the budget -- about a third of our increase in health care cost is directly attributable to obesity and illnesses like diabetes that are entirely preventable and curable if folks got back into the same habits that our parents and our grandparents had.
Now, a lot of it is just movement and exercise and getting kids off the couch. And that’s why you see Michelle, she goes to these events, and I will tell you, she is in very good shape. And she was running routes with the -- running routes with NFL players and throwing in first pitches and doing double-dutch and -- I can’t keep up with her.
But food is an important component of it, and this is something that actually can benefit farmers, particularly family farmers. We want more produce -- more vegetables and more fruit -- consumed all across the country. And a lot of times, farmers are not making all the money from their products because it goes through this chain of shipping and processing and distribution, and there are a lot of middlemen between the farmer and the end user. And so there’s an economic component as well as a health component, where if we can get farmers more directly linked to consumers, they’re selling their products more directly, they’re getting more fresh vegetables, more fresh fruit, then everybody can benefit.
And the way we’re trying to do it -- Michelle is doing it not by regulation, not by telling folks they have to do something, but by just information. And they’ve been able to get a lot of agreements with companies. You had Wal-Mart, for example, realizing that more and more people were asking for healthier products in their stores. Voluntarily, they and a whole bunch of other big retailers have said, we’re going to start linking up with family farmers; we’re going to start setting up better grocery stores in underserved communities, like in Danny’s district where you can go for miles without seeing a fresh vegetable; and linking up -- setting up farmers markets in urban areas where people can sell produce. And a lot of this stuff we’ve been able to do voluntarily without legislation.
Now, there are still some legislative elements to this thing. So, for example, we passed the Child Nutrition Act just to make sure that our meals in schools are a little bit healthier, so that kids are getting not just processed food, but they’re also getting fresh produce as well. And some of the time that’s a little bit more expensive in the schools. So the question is, are there some things we can cut out in order to pay to make sure that our kids are healthier? But they’ll learn more, they’ll be healthier in the long term, and in the long term we will save money, and it’s good for farmers as well.
Thanks for the great question. All right. The gentleman right here. You just stood up. There you go.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Alfred Ramirez. I’m president of the Hispanic Chamber in the Quad Cities area, and an employee of Group O in Moline. I’m going to -- this is one of the most painful places I think our country has been in decades or centuries, where we have those in power and influence who are literally tearing our country apart between the haves and the have-nots. We are willing to dismantle programs that they call entitlement programs, and those recipients or beneficiaries of those programs don’t have a mind of their own and are merely asking for a handout. And as we look for our adjustments to the budget and our cuts, could you please speak to some of those very programs that are not necessarily sacred but must stay in place to even have a ripple effect for those who benefit from them?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, let me separate out some of these programs. And I’m going to start with Social Security. People pay into Social Security. It’s a social insurance program. They’re not getting it for free. It’s not a handout. It’s taken out of your check. It’s been taken out of your check for a lifetime. And it provides you a floor when you retire.
Now, hopefully, people have other savings that help supplement their incomes in their golden years. But we’ve got to make sure Social Security is there not just for this generation but for the next generation. (Applause.) Now, Social Security is not posing a huge problem with respect to our debt and our deficit. There is a problem that if we don’t make any modifications at all, then in a few years what will start happening is, is that the amount of money going out is more than the amount coming -- amount of money going in. And people debate how soon, but in a couple of decades you’d start having a situation where you’d only get 75 cents on the dollar that you expected on Social Security.
If we make some modest changes now, the kind of changes that Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill agreed to back in 1983, we can preserve Social Security, make sure it’s there for the future 75 years out. So Social Security is something that we can solve relatively easily. It doesn’t mean that we don’t make any changes at all, because there may be some tweaks that we can make to the program, but we can assure that Social Security is there for future generations.
The bigger problem is Medicare and Medicaid. And the reason that’s a problem is because health care costs keep on going up faster than inflation, people’s wages, people’s incomes at the same as folks are getting older, so we’ve got more people into the system. And if we didn’t do anything, then Medicare and Medicaid would gobble up basically the entire federal budget -- and we couldn’t pay for our schools, we couldn’t pay for fixing our airports, we couldn’t pay for basic research. All the things that we expect out of our federal government we couldn’t do. All we’d be doing is just paying doctors and hospitals and nursing home facilities. That would take up the whole budget. That’s no way to run a country.
The health care bill that I passed begins the process of trying to reduce the cost of health care, reforming the cost of health care by, for example, telling providers instead of having five tests that you charge for each one, have one test and email to the five specialists who may need the test. (Applause.) Start using electronic medical records. Instead of reimbursing you for how many procedures you do, we’re going to reimburse you for how well you help the patient get well overall. We’re going to say to hospitals, how good are you at reducing infection rates in your hospital so that people aren’t being readmitted getting sick all the time.
So there are a whole bunch of things we can do to make the health care system more efficient. But even if we do all those things, we’re still going to have a problem with Medicare and Medicaid. And my basic principle is, let’s make sure that we keep this program intact, both programs -- Medicare and Medicaid -- for people in need: for our seniors, for disabled kids, for folks who’ve got a parent who’s severely ill and they’ve only got a certain capacity to support them and help them. But let’s also make sure that we’re making some common-sense changes that allows the program to be there in the future. This is in contrast to the approach that’s been taken, I’ve got to admit, by the House of Representatives when they passed their budget.
They passed a budget that basically called for voucherizing the Medicare system. This is the Republicans in the House of Representatives. And basically what they say is, here’s a flat rate that you get for Medicare, and you know what, if it turns out that it doesn’t buy you enough insurance, that’s your problem; that’s not our problem.
Now, this will cut the deficit. It will save the government money, but it does so by shifting the costs from the government to individual seniors. It doesn’t solve the problem by actually reducing health care costs. So I think that’s the wrong approach to take. I think that’s the wrong approach to take. (Applause.)
But I want to be honest with folks: We are going to have to make some modifications to Medicare and Medicaid. They don’t have to be radical, but we’re going to have to make some modifications to them in order for them to be there for the next generation. That’s part of our obligation, because we can’t just be not thinking about our kids and our grandkids as we move forward.
But we can do it in a way where the average senior is still protected, is still getting all the help that they need. It’s not a voucher program. It is guaranteed health care, because I think that’s a core principle that we’ve got to preserve. All right? (Applause.)
All right. It’s getting a little warm out here, huh? You guys doing all right? You guys hanging in there? All right. It’s a young woman’s turn. Right over there in the striped shirt. You. Yes.
Q Our family does a lot of --
THE PRESIDENT: What’s your name?
Q Allie Hand (ph).
THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Allie.
Q Our family does a lot of farming and stuff. And we’ve noticed the county fairs are shrinking. Is there anything you’re going to do about that?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, one thing I’m going to do -- I went to a county fair today and they were showing some cows. And I didn’t judge them. (Laughter.) They all looked pretty good to me. (Laughter.)
But I think the county fair tradition is so important, not only because it’s an economic attraction for the community, but also because it brings the community together. It’s a focal point for a county and it reminds people of what holds America together and the heartland together.
And so, working with the state of Illinois, working with tourism bureaus, we want to continue to promote county fairs all across Illinois. One of the things I’d like to see is -- and Danny may agree with this, coming from Chicago. There are kids in Danny’s district -- in fact, the overwhelming majority of kids in Danny’s district, they’ve never seen a cornfield like this. They’ve never seen a cow. If you asked them what does a tomato plant look like, they’d have no idea.
So part of what I’d like to see is actually more tourism maybe organized through school trips and others for people from outside of rural areas to appreciate what’s happening in rural areas. Where are they getting their food from? It doesn’t just show up in cellophane in a supermarket. Somebody is growing that. And part of the challenge is America has become so productive agriculturally that you now only have a couple percent of the people who are actively involved in farming. Ninety-eight percent of people, they just eat. (Laughter.) And I think a county fair can be a powerful education tool, and I’d like to see more kids just coming out here and be able to appreciate all the hard work that goes into the food on their table. And so maybe that’s something that your outstanding governor might want to work on. All right? (Applause.)
I got time for two more questions. Two more questions. Young man in the green, right there. Well, there are two young men in green, but I was calling on this guy right here. Yes.
Q Hello. My name is Eric Palmer (ph) and I go to Augustana College.
THE PRESIDENT: Great school.
Q Yes, it is. First of all, I just want to let you know of one thing: I am not disappointed in you like Michele Bachmann wants everyone to believe. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I appreciate that.
Q My question is about Social Security. I know that one of your ideas to fix the solvency of it is to reevaluate the equation that determines the COLA, the cost-of-living adjustment. But as the law stands right now, we are only taxed on the first $107,000 that we make.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
Q That means every dime that I make is taxed for Social Security.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
Q I don’t make $107,000. (Laughter.) But that means that --
THE PRESIDENT: Somebody said you will --
Q Someday, I hope.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, you sound pretty smart. It sounds like you’re going to do just great.
Q Thanks. But that means that people like Mitt Romney only pay into Social Security on the first one-tenth of 1 percent of what they make.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
Q Can we look forward to you telling the Republicans that it’s time that the wealthy pay their fair share? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first -- this is a very well-informed young man here. (Laughter.) You’re exactly right that the way the Social Security system works, there’s what’s called -- there’s basically a cap on your Social Security, which there isn’t, by the way, on Medicare. But Social Security, it only goes up to the first $107,000; and you’re right, somebody who makes -- who has net assets of $250 million and are making maybe $5 million a year just on interest or capital gains or something, just a fraction of it’s going to Social Security. I think there’s a way for us to make adjustments on the Social Security tax that would be fairer than the system that we use right now.
I do think, in terms of how we calculate inflation, that’s important as well. By the way, seniors -- a bunch of them were upset over the last couple years because some of -- because seniors didn’t get a cost-of-living adjustment. I got a lot of letters -- “Mr. President, how come I didn’t get a COLA this year for my Social Security?” And I answered this question at the previous town hall; I figured I’d clear something up now. The way the system works is you automatically get a cost-of-living adjustment based on the inflation rate. The President doesn’t make that decision; it’s based on a formula.
And when the economy was really in the drink in 2009 and 2010, there was basically no inflation -- prices were actually going down. That’s why seniors did not get the cost-of-living adjustment. That doesn’t mean that they weren’t still having a hard time because food prices or gas prices or what have you might have been going up, or the cost of medicine. So as a consequence, we actually proposed -- and I’m sure Danny was one of the co-sponsors of this -- legislation that would have given an extra $250 to seniors just to help make ends meet. We couldn’t get Republican support for it. But seniors who are still upset about not getting your COLA -- or if they’re not here, but when you go back and you’re talking to your grandma and they’re still mad at me about it, I just want you guys to set the record straight, okay?
All right, I’ve got one last question, and I’m going -- I’ve got to ask this young lady right here, the next generation -- she gets the last word.
Q Mr. President, my name is Jordan Vinolcavak (ph), and my stepdad is the sheriff of Henry County. This year could set a record on the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Does your administration have any plans that would include better equipping, training, or anything else that would help keep all officers safe?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s a great question. How old are you, Jordan?
Q Thirteen.
THE PRESIDENT: Thirteen -- you’re Malia’s age. So you’re going into 8th grade?
Q Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Did you already start?
Q Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes? How’s school going so far?
Q Good. Today was my first day. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes? No wonder you look so cheerful. (Laughter.) Well, thank you for the question, Jordan, and tell your stepdad we’re proud of him for his service. This is an example of what we have to pay for. You’re right, we’ve seen -- even though the crime rate overall and the violent crime rate has been going down, fatalities among law enforcement have actually been going up. And part of it is because criminals are getting more powerful weapons than they ever have before.
And so we’ve got to help our law enforcement -- provide them with better protection, provide them with better crime-fighting strategies. That’s true in big cities; it’s also true in rural communities. We’ve got to do a better job of tracing weapons that are going to criminals.
I’m a big believer in the Second Amendment. And I’m a big believer in hunting and sportsmen. But I also think that making sure that we’re keeping guns out of the hands of criminals is something all of us should be able to agree on. (Applause.)
But, Jordan, let me tell you something. We actually have been doing a lot. We’ve been giving a lot of money to local law enforcement, partly to prevent layoffs, partly to ensure they’ve got better equipment, things like interoperable radios so that when something happens -- let’s say you’ve got all power out, one of these tornadoes hit like hit in Joplin -- that they’re able to come together and still communicate effectively.
We’ve got things called Burn Grants that are very important to local law enforcement in dealing with, for example, methamphetamine production here in the Midwest. But all that costs money. And that’s why I want everybody to remember you’re going to hear a lot of stuff over the next year and a half, just like you have for the last two and half years, people attacking government and saying government is the problem.
And I think Jordan just reminded us government are our police officers and our firefighters. Government is all those young men and women who have been serving, protecting us in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Applause.) Government are the folks who work for FEMA, who when there’s a flood come in and help communities get back on their feet. Government is our astronauts. Government are the folks who are helping make sure that our food is properly inspected.
So don’t buy into this notion that somehow all our problems would be solved if we eliminate government. Part of the reason we had this financial crisis was because we didn’t have government doing a good enough job looking over the shoulders of the banks to make sure that they weren’t taking crazy risks. (Applause.)
And part of what happens is that people get so frustrated with politics that they just get fed up and they kind of lump government together with politics. Well, no, government needs to improve. It needs to get more efficient. We’ve got to be smarter about how we regulate issues. We’ve got to make sure that we’re not wasting taxpayer money.
But there’s a difference between politics and government. And what’s really broken is a politics that doesn’t reflect the core values and the decency and the neighborliness of the American people. (Applause.)
And that’s what I’m fighting for, and that’s what I need you fighting for. Thank you very much, Alpha. Love you. Appreciate you. (Applause.)
