By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. Monday this week was Labor Day. Thank you to the hard-working men and women that carry the load of our great nation into a positive productive future. It has not been easy. Parts of Louisiana and the Northeast U.S. were hit by Ida’s destructive wind and rain. […]
John Block Reports: Labor Day Read More »
By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. Last week President Biden signed a broad Executive Order designed to ensure that we have more competitive markets. We have too many huge corporations. They keep buying up their competitors and just get bigger. Smaller companies compete at a disadvantage. Biden says, “Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism.
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. It could change tomorrow, but at this moment nothing is getting done in this town. There are talks going on and ideas being evaluated. President Biden met with the Group of Seven in Europe and the NATO nations agreed to join together and challenge China’s behavior on
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. Two weeks ago, Colonial Pipeline was shut down. On the East Coast we lost 45% of our gas and oil. Cars and trucks without fuel. Ransomware thieves were given $4.4 million to turn the oil faucet back on. I said in my program 2 weeks ago –
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. President Biden last Friday released a $6 trillion budget plan for our next fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. The Administration has called it a “bold and responsible budget.” I conclude that it is “bold”, but the debt level that is projected will continue to grow every
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Share on linkedin By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. Politicians here in DC are always looking for someone to blame for all the problems that we face. China is at the top of that list. Congress is writing a powerful anti-China package of bills. There is no question about it. China has been
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. I have not been here at the farm in Illinois since last September when we started harvest. The global pandemic has shut a lot of us in, but I have my vaccine shots now and I feel a lot safer. My family members and farm team here
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. Big Change – we can all remember that President Trump had no interest or concern about “climate change.” When elected he quickly withdrew the U.S. from the World Climate Accord. Thursday this week is “Earth Day” and President Biden will host a virtual climate conference with more
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. President Biden declared March 23rd as National Agriculture Day. He said, “I call upon all Americans to join me in recognizing and affirming our commitment to and appreciation for our farmers, ranchers, farm workers, and those who work in the agriculture sector across the nation.” The President’s
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. I want to have an open mind and be fair as I evaluate the policies advocated by President Biden and our new Congress. It is too soon to know where we are going on trade. There are a lot of disputes and not many easy solutions. We
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. We all know or should know that we’re going to have a $1.9 trillion relief package. It does target the needy, the hungry, and unemployed. But there are billions and billions for others to buy political support. Enough on that subject. There are other developments that can
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. I know that the battle over how much we spend and what we spend the money on in the $1.9 trillion Relief Bill will dominate our Congress. But I want to talk about trade now. In agriculture we are expecting a good year after 4 or 5
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. President Biden has a long list of priorities. Control of the Coronavirus heads the list. He has told us that he wants to work across the aisle, but if the Democrats run through Congress the $1.9 trillion relief package without some meaningful compromise, where is the shared
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. When you hear this radio commentary, we will have a new President. Joe Biden will face a long and difficult list of challenges. Topping the list will be the Coronavirus and a $1.9 trillion stimulus to lift our economy. That huge spending bill has not passed the
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. I am so tired of these “peaceful” rallies that end up destroying property, looting, and burning flags and signs. We had a dozen of our large cities face this last summer and fall, but by far the worst is the assault on our own Capitol last week.
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. We have our federal government funding bill passed and signed by President Trump and a generous relief package also. Now is the time to give up on the election challenges. However, I would stress that we need to make sure that future elections are fair and honest.
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. It’s Christmas. And the New Year is almost upon us. This year has been one for the books. The Coronavirus has upset everything. Millions of jobs have been lost. Some families can’t pay their rent. Small businesses are going bankrupt. New virus cases are surging. One piece
John Block Reports: Christmas Time… Definitely – Pandemic Relief… Maybe Read More »
By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. After the election we all read about President Trump challenging the results. However, we also are reading about President-Elect Biden’s possible nominees for his cabinet. We know they are all important, but for agriculture and rural America, the choice for Secretary of Agriculture has been at the
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. The transition to a new President and new team to lead our country is in process. However, Joe Biden will not step into the White House until January 20th. In the meantime, there is still work to be done. The federal government will shut down on December
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Home » Agriculture & Agribusiness » Election and More By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. We just celebrated another Thanksgiving. At least, I hope we celebrated it. I know these are chaotic times. The worst problem is that the coronavirus has us isolated and shut down. Also, it may not be on your mind right now but
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. With the Biden Presidency approaching, climate change has been elevated to talk and perhaps even action which will affect agriculture and rural America. Powerful voices in our ag industry are forming the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance. The groups involved include the American Farm Bureau Federation, Environmental
John Block Reports: Climate Change Policy from the US to the EU Read More »
By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. The election is behind us. There was no “blue wave.” After the Courts review the election process to see if it was fraud free – no corruption — then the winner will be formally declared. As of now, it looks like Joe Biden will get the job.
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. As I write this week’s commentary, we still don’t have all the details of the election results. Here is what we do know. Republicans will maintain control of the Senate. That is a big deal. Even if Biden does push President Trump out, it will be by
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By Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, John R. Block. The Presidential election battle rages on. Biden leads in the polls. But don’t forget that four years ago Hillary Clinton was leading, and the Trump victory shocked the world. Think about this – in one respect, whoever wins, rural America and Agriculture will come out on
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By former USDA Secretary John R. Block. The passing of President George H. W. Bush has brought the whole nation to focus on his life and the contributions that he made to our country. President Reagan brought the Soviet Union down, but President Bush managed the clean-up of the Cold War. Eastern Europe emerged from the
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The State of California has a reputation for leading in many ways – especially in the area of government regulations. Now, they have bit off almost more than they can chew. Certainly, the disadvantaged will not be chewing on many eggs since the State has more than doubled the price of eggs. A dozen eggs now
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Last year in January, I presented my wish list for 2014. Let’s take a look at how that worked out. Wish No. 1: “Get a farm bill passed.” To my surprise, we did. Wish No. 2: “Deal with our immigration problem.” Well, the Congress didn’t, but President Obama did a little bit. The fact is
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How many of you out there think that we would be well-advised to spend some money repairing our roads and bridges? What about our locks and dams and seaports that carry our grain to countries around the world? Are you aware that our Federal Highways Trust Fund will be running out of money this spring?
Before Christmas, I hosted the annual Cabinet Secretaries lunch at the famous Blair House. The Blair House is right across the street from the White House. It provides overnight lodging for dignitaries visiting the President. In fact, the Blair House is where President Reagan held his first Cabinet meeting in January 1981 before he had
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Year 2014 is history now. It seemed like a lot of bad things happened. After fighting in the Middle East for more than a decade to neutralize the terrorists and bring stability to Iraq, overnight Islamic State militants took over half of Syria and Iraq. The sacrifices made over there have gone up in flames.
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OFW Law founding principal Richard L. Frank fills in for former USDA Secretary John R. Block. There are a variety of disturbing questions surrounding the Dietary Guidelines for Americans now being drafted for release in 2015. The questions relate to whether the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee should focus its review and recommendations on the current science on nutrition
At last – the mid-term election is behind us. President Obama had said that although he was not on the ballot, his policies were. The nation’s voters repudiated those policies. Republicans were voted in and Democrats voted out. Some races are still in dispute, but Republicans have already secured more than enough new Senate seats
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This week, OFW Law founding principal Richard L. Frank fills in for former USDA Secretary John R. Block. There are a variety of disturbing questions surrounding the Dietary Guidelines for Americans now being drafted for release in 2015. The questions relate to whether the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee should focus its review and recommendations on scientific advances in
By John R. Block, as published in the Des Moines Register Every day millions of shoppers are paying out as much as 50 or 100 percent more to buy organic foods for themselves and their families. I have friends who make these choices because they have no reason to question claims on labels, in advertising and
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What should we be eating? We are getting hammered from every angle about what is good for us versus what is bad. Too many carbs, stay away from red meat, don’t trust GE foods, sugar will make you fat. The government wants to regulate. We have been through this before but never with the intensity
