Stateline, U.S.A. — Most Americans weren’t looking when Obama’s Labor Secretary Hilda Solis first began her attack on family farms. Unfortunately, the battle continues and the price of groceries may go up as a result. And groups like Rowdy House Music are writing about it in songs that are playing nationwide.

Sen. Jerry Moran pleaded, ”If the federal government can regulate the kind of relationship between parents and their children on their own family’s farm, there is almost nothing off-limit when it comes to government intrusion.” Moran added, ”The proposed regulations would change the way family farms work, preventing farm kids from learning their parents’ trade”.

Fortunately, Obama’s Labor Department was flooded with thousands of comments and many outraged farmers weighed in against the changes. But what if farmers don’t catch it next time? Do we really want more inappropriate connections between government regulations, unions and the commercial interests? The government “buddy system” profits enormously from lucrative government contracts, subsidy programs and strategic regulations. This graft is even more insidious when it masquerades as social programs or regulations pretending to protect us from ourselves.

In late March, Congressman Mike Turner joined Ohio’s Congressional delegation and temporarily fought off the attack by Obama Labor Secretary Solis. “This is yet another example of a federal department or agency unilaterally enacting new rules or regulations outside the supervision of Congress. Had Ohioans and farming families across the country not spoken out, this could have had a devastating effect on the important role of agriculture to our nation’s economy,” added Turner.

Senator Moran said, “…For someone in Washington, DC, to propose rules that restrict a young person’s ability to work on a neighbor’s farm because of the amount of sunlight, wind velocity, and humidity is something that again, in my view, demonstrates a lack of understanding about how things work in the real world.”

Gov. Terry Branstad weighed in. “The federal government should not construct further employment barriers at a time when there are fewer job opportunities available for young people.”

Facing significant public outcry early in an election year, the Obama DOL announced that it would drop its proposed labor rules targeting the family farm (They’ll have more flexibility after elections). Iowa lawmakers from both parties were relieved.

“It would have been devastating to farm families across the country,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a statement. “To even propose such regulation defies common sense, and shows a real lack of understanding as to how the family farm works.”

Bruce Braley, Iowa’s Democratic 1st District Congressman, also favored repeal of the regulations.

“The demise of the Obama administration’s proposed rule to require children to be a minimum age to work on farms is welcome news,” Braley said in a release. “A regulation prohibiting youths from working on farms would strike at the very core of agriculture across Iowa and the Midwest. This is Iowa. Working on the family farm is part of growing up.”

However, Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin gave a more designed response.  Harkin wrote in a release. ”I am disappointed that the administration chose to walk away from regulations that were, at their core, about protecting children and which could have been revised to correct some of the initial proposals that generated the most concern.”

Clearly, the “family farm labor issue” is not over. Industrial factory farms and labor unions have political insiders to do their bidding. Many remember the revealing gaffe when President Barack Obama was caught on microphone telling Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility after November’s election to deal with contentious issues. Obama said: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”

Burdensome government regulations and unpopular policies are easier to push through when politicians have “more flexibility”.  Family Farmers are a group of hard working, independent citizens who are critical to the continued freedom of the American culture.  They will be targeted again, but not until after the 2012 Presidential Election.

Rowdy House addressed this issue with their new song “Family Farm”. Mixed with the anger of an alienated group of our country’s most independent citizens, – the family farmer – the song might be considered to be a new interpretation of the “outlaw” country music from years past. This time however, the whole family has been made “outlaw” by the overreaching federal government. Rowdy House Music contributors are nonpartisan, professional musicians who expand awareness regarding government waste and corruption. Discussions explaining the meaning of their songs can be found in their “Learn More and Download” section on their website.

Image Courtesy of   Chewonki Semester School

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Washington, U.S.A. – While the nation awaits the imminent release of the latest numbers on poverty from the U.S. Census Bureau, broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton University Professor Emeritus Cornel West, hosts of the nationally syndicated public radio program “Smiley & West” from Public Radio International (PRI), are once again bringing national attention to economic injustice by announcing “The Poverty Tour 2.0.”

“The Poverty Tour 2.0″ will be on the road September 12–15, 2012, visiting four battleground states: Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Florida, continuing the moral crusade to make the eradication of poverty a top priority in America—a clarion call to President Obama and Governor Romney as the race for the White House heats up.

“We expect that the forthcoming census data will reveal that poverty in America is not an abstraction; too many Americans are living hand to mouth,” said Cornel West. “Basic needs such as living-wage jobs, food, clothing, medicine, and shelter cannot be ignored by the major parties during the upcoming political conventions, or by their respective nominees on the campaign trail.”

Both Smiley and West have been consistent whistle-blowers on the topic of poverty. In addition to discussing this on their weekly radio show they have:

• Released the text, The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto this past April, which debuted at #1 on The Washington Post Book World Best Sellers List and peaked at #7 on The New York Times Best Sellers List.
• Featured an all-woman panel focusing on the impact of poverty on women and children in America at “Made Visible: Women and Children in Poverty” on March 18, 2012, televised nationally on PBS, C-SPAN and PRI. The panel included U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten.
• Explored how to restore America’s prosperity in a live C-SPAN broadcast of “Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity” that included panelists such as Michael Moore, Suze Orman, and Barbara Ehrenreich on January 12, 2012.
• Examined the impact of the Great Recession on America’s poor in a white paper titled, “At Risk: America’s Poor During and After the Great Recession.” This paper served as a factual foundation for the original Poverty Tour and was released in collaboration with Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) on January 11, 2012. This white paper has since been expanded and will be published as a book, America’s Poor, this winter.
• Given voice to the plight of the poor during “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience,” a week-long special television and radio series on both PBS and PRI that aired from October 7–14, 2011.
• Revealed the new face of poverty with their national 18-city, 11-state “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience” that began on August 6, 2011.

According to last week’s Associated Press article, “Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty including in political battlegrounds [states]…”

During “The Poverty Tour 2.0,” Smiley and West will host free and open to the public, solution-providing town hall meetings that will broadcast LIVE on multiple platforms including USTREAM, radio and social media. They will also upload podcasts. In addition to inviting local families, community organizers, job cooperatives, elected officials, war veterans, and religious leaders, the major presidential candidates will also be invited to participate.

“It is our intent that in the sprint from Labor Day to Election Day, poor people do not get trampled on or left behind,” said Tavis Smiley.

Image Courtesy of   Center for American Progress Action Fund

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