For a Presidential administration that talks so much about “creating jobs” for Americans, it is strange that it has chosen to intentionally send thousands of Californians to the unemployment lines. While the unemployment rate in our nation is at 9.7%, it is 12% in the state of California, and up to 50% in the specific counties in California in which the current administration has turned off the water to all the farms.
As a result of a lawsuit brought by lawyers on behalf of tree huggers, government officials have turned off the pumps that send water to thousands of farms in the San Joaquin Valley. These farms grow, or grew upwards of 12% of the produce consumed by Americans. So now water that flowed down from the mountains north and east of the San Joaquin Valley to irrigate these farms, is now being sent to the ocean in order to protect a 2 inch minnow called a delta smelt.
Tens of thousands of farmers that have owned and worked the land for generations feeding our nation and the world, now find themselves out of work, and on the hand-out line at the food bank! These farmers didn’t lose their job as a result of the economic downturn, or because of a mortgage or Wall Street crisis, rather they find themselves in this situation purely by the choice of myopic government regulators, and the lunatic fringe environmentalists that pushed for this result. Instead of waking up early to work the land and feed America, these farmers get in food bank lines at 3:00am, and wait more than 6 hours to get handouts of food. Could this get any more crazy?
I’m all for saving wildlife, but at what cost? When thousands of farmers, and the people they employ find themselves out of work staring at fertile land that has been scorched by a man made drought, you have to ask if the smelt is that important. The loss of farm production from this region will be felt all across America, either as a shortage of food, or in the form of higher prices. Most likely both will be the case as a shortage has an adverse effect on prices. In a time when this nation is streatched financially that isn’t good policy.
Yes, the Central Valley of California produces that much food, and has been referred to as the bread basket of America. 40% of all tomatoes processed for ketchup, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salsa, pizza sauce, and ingredients in countless other products are grown in California’s Central Valley. 99% of the almonds and walnuts consumed by America are grown there as well. The Central Valley also produces crops such as apples, oranges, watermelons, strawberries, blueberries, broccoli, onions, lettuce, cabbage, and the list goes on. Even cotton is grown in California’s central valley! California makes more money from agriculture than any other state, responsible for at least 12% of all U.S. agriculture production.
In August 50 mayors from the San Joaquin Valley signed a letter to President Obama, pleading with him to observe and consider the impact of this ridiculous water situation. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken with two Obama cabinet secretaries and Secretary of the Interior Salazar, all to no avail. In fact the two Obama cabinet secretaries scolded the Governor! Alan Autry, former Mayor of Fresno said that turning the water off isn’t just bad political policy, it is an act of domestic terror. As mayor of Fresno for 8 years, he said that after September 11th, he worked with Homeland Security who charged him with protecting the water supply that irrigates such an important area of agriculture production for our nation. Alan said if the water ever stopped flowing he would have believed Al-Qaeda struck, but not our own Federal Government.
To further compound the problem, this will make us yet more dependent on foreign imports. In order to fill the demand left by a lack of our own production, we will be forced to import the produce from China and nations in South America – nations that do not have the same strict quality standards on their food. Basically, all of you will be paying more for a product that is sub par. It seems that the current administration doesn’t want the United States to produce anything anymore. He doesn’t want us drilling for our own oil, he doesn’t want us growing our own food, he doesn’t want us to even handle health care on our own. No, the government will dictate what is good for you, and you will step in line or be called an “angry mob” of “racists!” He would much rather turn our fertile, crop producing farms into solar and wind farms.
In order to demonstrate the complete lunacy of the current administration and the left, California has traditionally voted democrat in almost every single election, and is the most populace state in the union. California is prized by presidential candidates for having the most electoral votes of all the states with 55. California also has the most representatives in the U.S. Congress with 53. Perhaps someone close to the President should remind him that the delta smelt doesn’t vote in elections, but the people in California do! Anyone who thinks that the population of California who are suffering with the highest unemployment rates in the nation, and are being choked by the current administration will forget about this in the 2010 elections is just plain stupid. California alone has the power to change the balance of power in Washington in one day of elections.
What will it take for this nation to wake up and see that the agenda and the policies of the far left are no good for America? The United States of America has been blessed by God with an abundance of natural resources and fertile land. Other nations would make huge sacrifices just to have a sliver of that which this nation has been blessed. Our people are willing to work hard, and have made America great. The far left policy makers send our irrigation water into the ocean to save a small population of minnows. They intentionally are keeping us from growing our own food. They intentionally are putting tens of thousands of Americans out of work. They are forcing us to increasingly turn to the rest of the world to buy things that we have here, making us more dependent every day. We are not allowed to drill our own oil, of which we have plenty. We can not even grow our own food, and this nation feeds the world!
This administration bows at the feet of Saudi royalty. Also, just yesterday, Obama conceded to scrap our plans for a missile defense system to appease Russia. Guess what we got out of that deal? Nothing. Zip. Obama didn’t even use it as a bargaining chip to press Russia to lean on an ever increasingly defiant and obstinate Iran who hates and detests America. He and his left-wing cronies have weakened and embarrassed us beyond compare. Our debt is out of control, and with his health care plans will be quadrupling that soon. Obama has a deep relationship and history with the corrupt and embattled ACORN organization. He has 40 plus czars that operate outside of our Constitutional foundation. He surrounds himself with progressives and self avowed communists who hate our way of life and the nation our founders forged. Everything that is good and decent about America the left is trampling and leaving for dead. Oh sure, we can always vote, but my fear is that by the time we get the opportunity, we will be a sorry shadow of our once great strength, influence, and might. By then it will be humanity that is on the endangered list and not the delta smelt. Maybe then, we can finally get some activists who want to save the farmers, jobs, and our own food supply. God help and forgive us for looking through the eyeglass in reverse.
I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages… ~Rev. 6:5-6
