Memorial Day Tribute

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae (1872-1918)

Massachusetts Farmers Say No to N.A.I.S.

The purpose of NAIS is to provide 48-hour traceback of all animal movements. NAIS will not prevent diseases from occurring. It does not address animal management, such as feeding cow parts to other cows or the other practices of factory farms that lead to animal health problems. It does not prevent wild animals and insects from spreading diseases, nor does it protect against foreign animal diseases from being brought into this country through lax inspection of agricultural shipments. All it does is provide after-the-fact information on where a sick animal has been. So what does the government plan to do with this information?

Call it mature capitalism or call it something else, but the fact is that we have been steadily, inexorably moving to an industrialized, centralized food production system. It is a terrible plan, that could really discourage small farms while it encourages corporate factory farming methods.

There is not much time left. The animal tracking, logging, and reporting components of NAIS will come into effect nationwide in January 2009. The USDA has been authorized to engage in tough enforcement measures -- fines, inspections of properties, and confiscation or redistribution of livestock without trial or legal hearings and with no compensation to the owner of the animals. Failure to register your home or farm with a Premise ID already faces a $1,000 fine in some states.

Once fully implemented, the NAIS program would require every person who owns even one livestock or poultry animal (a single chicken or a pet pony) to register their property with the state and federal government, to tag each animal, and to report “events” to a database within 24 hours. Reportable events would include such things as a private sale, a state fair, or a horse show.

There was some doubt that this was a state issue, as the mandates are coming down from the federal level. Here in Massachusetts, N.O.F.A. has been active in helping friendly state legislators draft and propose legislation to stop state compliance with this program.

N.A.I.S. is currently voluntary at the federal level, which means that state agricultural Departments will be charged with implementing the NAIS, and the USDA has already allocated over $60 million to them to do it.

Clearly, the ball is in our park, at least for now. Other states such as VT have managed to pass legislation stopping state participation in the program, at least temporarily.

What can you do as a consumer? Patronize farmers who raise meat, milk and eggs in a way you support.

If you are interested in learning more, go to:

MA legislation regarding N.A.I.S.

List of Massachusetts Legislators who sponsored and co-sponsored legislation to stop N.A.I.S.

Here is N.A.I.S. First Step PDF and N.A.I.S. Fact Sheet

"It is difficult to imagine any acceptable basis for the (USDA) to subject the owner of a chicken to more intrusive surveillance than the owner of a gun." -Mary Zanoni

Thoughts of a President

Thoughts of a President

'Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose.'- Ronald Reagan

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." - Ronald Reagan'

The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so. - Ronald Reagan

'Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.'- Ronald Reagan'

I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.' - Ronald Reagan


'The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.' - Ronald Reagan

'Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.' - Ronald Reagan

'The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.' - Ronald Reagan'

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.' - Ronald Reagan


'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.' - Ronald Reagan

'Politics is not a bad profession. If yo u succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.' - Ronald Reagan'

No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.'- Ronald Reagan

Political Implications Of The Cognitive Surplus

Do we really have a cognitive surplus? This is pretty convincing.



Maybe, just maybe, we have just enough cognitive surplus to create a community driven Next Right. Not only would it would be interesting to find out, we could conceivably create activist envy.

Locavore

What is a locavore? It’s a part of the concept of local purchasing and local economies and a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food.

There are twenty-six farms in Hampden County alone and there are 34 Buying Clubs or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA’s) in Massachusetts, http://www.organicconsumers.org/which generally use environmentally sustainable, biodynamic growing techniques using no pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers of any kind. They see their farms as a living system, where its elements work together to build and maintain soil fertility. Through a balanced crop rotation and a strict composting and cover cropping system, they leave the land better than they found it.

Personally, I buy all of my spring, summer and fall produce locally and I’m considering sponsoring a Locavore Challenge to area residents, (see the 100-Mile Diet below).

A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles. The locavore movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers’ markets or even to produce their own food, with the argument that fresh, local products are more nutritious and taste better. Local grown food is an environmentally friendly means of obtaining food, since supermarkets that import their food use more fossil fuels and non-renewable resources.

“Locavore” was coined by Jessica Prentice from San Francisco Bay Area on the occasion of World Environment Day, 2005 to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100 mile radius. The word "Localvore" is sometimes also used. The New Oxford American Dictionary chose locavore, a person who seeks out locally produced food, as its word of the year 2007. The local foods movement is gaining momentum as people discover that the best-tasting and most sustainable choices are foods that are fresh, seasonal, and grown close to home. Some locavores draw inspiration from the 100-Mile Diet or from advocates of local eating like Barbara Kingsolver. Others just follow their taste buds to farmers' markets, community supported agriculture programs, and community gardens.

Another effect is the increase in food quality and taste. Locally grown fresh food is consumed almost immediately after harvest, so it is sold fresher and usually riper, as it would be from a home garden. Also, the need for chemical preservatives and irradiation to artificially extend shelf life is reduced or eliminated.

So, why am I writing about this on a Republican Blog? Because I believe we should encourage our Massachusetts lawmakers to actively oppose legislation, which burdens family farms with an estate tax, which in some cases will prevent that farm from remaining in a family and may be forced to close. 2010 will see the tax completely repealed, while in 2011, the tax will be reinstated at a federal exemption level of $1 million per person. The reason for this flip-flopping is that Congress didn't have the votes to permanently push through such a tax cut, so it settled for a temporary fix that passes the buck of settling the matter to the future lawmakers.

The Massachusetts estate tax is “decoupled” from the federal estate tax system. So that any tax demanded from the IRS is viewed as a credit by Massachusetts. While the Massachusetts credit for tax paid in another jurisdiction appears to prevent multiple state death taxes from being imposed on the property of a Massachusetts resident decedent, it does not prevent Massachusetts from effectively taxing a resident decedent’s property located outside of Massachusetts.

Under the current Massachusetts estate tax, the amount of the tax payable by the estate of a resident decedent is equal to the amount of the credit for state death taxes that would have been allowable by the resident decedent’s estate computed under Internal Revenue Code. For example, a Massachusetts resident decedent who owned Massachusetts real estate valued at $5,000,000 and Florida real estate valued at $5,000,000, calculates his estate tax starting with a gross estate of $10,000,000.
Assuming no deductions, the Massachusetts estate tax is calculated as follows:

Taxable Estate $ 10,000,000
Less: $60,000 per IRC § 2011(b)(3) (60,000)
Adjusted Taxable Estate $ 9,940,000
Times: Effective Tax Rate 10.74%
Total Massachusetts Estate Tax $ 1,067,600

There appears to be evidence that this is unconstitutional.

Let’s do all we can to preserve our family owned farms in Massachusetts, first by trading with them and then by giving our lawmakers a little home-grown direction.

Opinions expressed on this site are those of the relevant contributors. Not all committee members necessarily share those opinions.