IOWANS ALL:
TO THOSE WHO ASKED “WHAT IS WRONG WITH NORTHEY?” HERE IS YOUR ANSWER.
HE IS USING HIS POWER OF OFFICE TO PROMOTE VENAL INTERESTS & MORE BAD
CONDITIONS, INSTEAD OF USING HIS POWERS OF OFFICIAL PERSUASION TO FORCE THE
PLAYERS TO THE TABLE TO NEGOTIATE MORE INTELLIGENT, CLEANER CONDITIONS, AND
POSSIBLY RISKING THEIR TEMPORARY ANGER. BECOMING JUST ANOTHER ADVERTISER FOR
UNWISE AGRICULTURE, HE DISQUALIFIES HIMSELF AS A GENUINE LEADER TOWARD ECO
SOLUTIONS SO DESPERATELY NEEDED IN OUR NOW DEGRADED STATE.
WISERIOWA IS WELL AWARE OF HOW EFFECTIVELY HARKEN, VILSACK & NOW NORTHEY
ISOLATE THEMSELVES FROM US HERE AT HOME & FROM THE REALITIES OF GREAT
IMPORTANCE TO A MAJORITY OF NON-URBAN IOWANS —ESPECIALLY FROM GRASSROOTS GROUPS
CALLING FOR HELP IN SAVING IOWA’S DREADFULLY DETERIORATING ENVIRONMENT.
MONEY IS KING! NEW SCIENCE RE HEALTH & ANIMAL FACTORIES, IGNORED OR DENIED!
REGULATORS, MISSING, HAMSTRUNG, OR COMPLICIT! HOWEVER —
IOWANS ARE ‘CATCHING ON” AND MOVING TOWARD NEW NON-PARTISAN —AND
URBAN-RURAL —COALITIONS IN NATIONAL & STATE POLITICS.
WE’VE LOOKED AT THE CAMPAIGN-CONTRIBUTOR LISTS & LEARNED HOW LITTLE THESE
MEN (NORTHEY, BOSWELL, HARKEN, & GRASSLEY) CARE ABOUT CONDITIONS OF THE
VAST MAJORITY OF IOWANS NOW THAT THEIR LIVES ARE FOCUSED ON UPWARD MOBILITY
and/or LIFE IN WASHINGTON. SEVERAL OF THEM NEVER REALLY UNDERSTOOD OR
RESPECTED THE BEST THAT IOWA ONCE WAS —A UNIFIED STATE OF RESOURCEFUL, PRACTICAL,
QUIETLY CULTURED EGALITARIANS. WE CAN BE THAT AGAIN, BUT THE POLLUTERS &
THEIR PROMOTERS MUST BE NAMED, SHAMED, & RUN OUT —OF IOWA, OF POLITICS, AND
OF POWER. NS
---------------------------------------------
Nan,
Last week, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey requested a $50
million, taxpayer-funded bailout of the factory farm industry.
Northey's request is nothing more than pandering to well-financed
corporate ag groups at the expense of everyday people and our environment! In a
letter last Thursday to U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, Northey and Minnesota
Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson requested $50 million of taxpayer
money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to buy over-produced
pork off the market. This follows a similar request made by the National Pork
Producers Council in early May. Vilsack has not acted on the NPPC
request.
The hog factory industry has already received two recent taxpayer-funded
bailouts from USDA -- one for $25 million in March 2009 and the other for
$50 million in April 2008 -- to buy over-produced pork off the market.
We need you to take action today:
1. Contact Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey today. Tell him to withdraw his
letter to Sec. Vilsack and stop promoting the factory farm industry with
taxpayer dollars. Our public officials should stand up for the common good
and the interests of all taxpayers, not for the big-money, special interests
of corporate ag. Follow this link to send him an email.
2. Contact U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack today. Tell Sec. Vilsack to deny
Northey's request immediately and let him know that we are fed up with
bailing out this industry that pollutes our air and water and drives family
farmers out of business. Follow this link to send him an email.
And, call on Vilsack and the USDA to stop making guaranteed loans and
payments under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to factory farms.
Instead, tell Vilsack to use taxpayer funds to support sustainable
agriculture and the development of locally grown, locally owned foods.
Corporate ag receives government subsidies and guaranteed loans that
promote the expansion of factory farms on the front end. And then, when they
produce too much pork, they ask the government -- that's us -- to bail them
out with huge amounts of taxpayer dollars. The factory farm industry is a
house of cards that would crumble as soon as you take away us taxpayers
propping them up.
It's time to put people before polluters. Contact Sec. Northey today and
let him know how you feel about him putting the factory farm industry before
everyday Iowans.
And contact Sec. Vilsack and call on him to deny Northey's request
immediately and stand up for the common good.
And, if you haven't signed our petition to stop the USDA from guaranteeing
loans to new and expanding factory farm facilities, sign it today!
If you oppose your taxpayer dollars being used to guarantee loans to
factory farms, please sign on to the petition to Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack
requesting that USDA suspend all loans to the factory farm industry. CCI and
other member groups of Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment are
circulating this petition to our contacts all across the country - we need you
to join us in this critical movement.
Click here to read the sign-on letter and add your name today! We hope to
have 1,000 signatures by July 31.
We must stand up to put people before polluters. Take bold action today!
Contact information
For more information, go to www.iowacci.org or call 515.282.0484
Also connect with these other organizations
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment (CFFE)
CFFE was formed in 1995 by Midwestern farm groups working to stop factory
farms and protect and promote family hog farmers. Iowa CCI has been a part
of CFFE for the past 12 years. Other members include:
Missouri Rural Crisis Center, www.inmotionmagazine.com
Land Stewardship Project (Minnesota), www.landstewardshipproject.org
Illinois Stewardship Alliance, www.illinoisstewardshipalliance.org
Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc., flaginc.org
Center for Community Change/Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)
_http://comm_ (http://comm/) unitychange.org/our-projects/firm/
CCI is a member of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement.
Farm Aid, _http://www.farmaid.org/org/_ (http://www.farmaid.org/org/)
Farm Aid has been supporting family farms and rural communities since
1985.
Farm Aid co-founder and country music legend Willie Nelson has
participated
in CCI rallies and press conferences.
Iowa Catholic Conference, _http://ww_ (http://ww/)
w.iowacatholicconference.org/ CCI works
with Iowa Catholic Conference for fair immigration reform.
Jefferson County Farmers and Neighbors, _http://jf_ (http://jf/)
aniowa.org/ JFAN is a
like-minded organization that CCI works with to stand up for family farms
and the environment and create tougher standards for the factory farm
industry.
Massachusetts Immigration & Refugee Advocacy Coalition,
http://www.miracoalition.org/ CCI is an affiliate of this coalition that
is
pushing for fair immigration reform.
National Family Farm Coalition, _http://ww_ (http://ww/) w.nffc.net Iowa
CCI works with
other grassroots farm and rural community groups through the National
Family
Farm Coalition (NFFC). NFFC is made up of 30 groups from across the
country
that are working to change federal farm policy and address other national
issues.
National People's Action, http://www.npa-us.org/ CCI has been a part of
National People's Action (NPA) since we started in 1975. NPA works with
CCI
and other organizations that fight to hold public and private institutions
accountable to grassroots citizens.
National Training and Information Center, http://www.ntic-us.org/ CCI is
an
affiliate of NTIC and partners with them on a variety of our issue areas.
Occupational Safety & Health Administration, http://www.osha.gov/ OSHA
and
CCI have an agreement to make sure that all Iowans are treated fairly and
have protections in the workplace.
Sunflower Community Action, http://www.sunfloweract.com/ We partner with
Sunflower on a variety of our issue areas and organizational development.
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union,
http://www.ufcw.org/
CCI partners with UFCW to make sure Iowans are protected in the workplace.
Western Organization of Resource Councils, http://www.worc.org/ Since
1994,
we have worked with the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC)
to
figure out ways to increase grassroots support for Iowa CCI and build our
organization. WORC is an association of membership-based community
organizations working on farm and mining issues throughout the high plains
(Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and
Oregon).
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