A Nothing Burger

People are emailing right and left about this proposed Executive Order from President Trump giving farmers and ranchers the right to process their animals on their own properties for their consumption. Duh, that is already legal.

What is NOT legal is doing this and SELLING the meat. Be assured that this whole thing has been conceived as an olive branch after the 300,000 metric ton below-market (subsidized?) tariff-free import of ground beef product (what’s with the “product?”) for 90 days, coinciding with the midterm elections.

It’s not just about red tape. It’s about rights. Secretary Rollins doesn’t seem to understand this either. 

It appears Trump has alienated almost every person who thinks and has set up the Republican Party for a shellacking this November. The below-market import of ground beef product created a firestorm among Trump’s base–rural Americans, and this idea to ease restrictions on processing is just the latest in a string of finger-in-the-wind reactions to hold onto political equity. 

I have news for him: he’s shot his political equity by doing the opposite of nearly everything he campaigned on. Remember the Bush “Read my lips, no new taxes?”

Secretary of Ag. Brooke Rollins responded with her checklist to implement the executive order, which may come out soon. 

Here is my interpretation:

1. Waiving red tape in processing. If Tyson wants to build a new processing plant, they can get it done easier and quicker than ever.
2. Expanding ranchers’ ability to sell across state lines. Under state inspection, a steak in Virginia can’t be sold in Maryland–but state inspection must be “equal to” federal, so this is no big deal.
3. Rescinding outdated guidance. Replacing paperwork with digital work.
4. Adding technology for faster safety data. Resurrection of mandatory Radio Frequency Identification tracking on all livestock. Now is the opportunity to push it through.
5. Growing real support for small processors (funding and deregulation). Grant programs so more pseudo-entrepreneurs who love to write grants and fill out federal paperwork can bilk taxpayers out of more money to open plants run by people who don’t know squat and go bankrupt in five years. 
   It’s happened over and over already; we don’t need money; we need freedom. All grant programs attract people who like to write grants instead of rolling up their sleeves and doing things. Sorry for the rant.
6. Fighting consolidation so small processors can compete. Make it easier to transfer title from small processors to large ones, giving the appearance of preserving small outfits, but actually further concentrating ownership in the Big Four.
7. Expanding truth in labeling. Make it more difficult to put “grass finished” on a label, or saying anything that tries to differentiate it from vaccinated, hormone-added, chemical-laden, toxic industrial fare.

Here is what everyone must understand: Brooke Rollins will not invite me to the room where this Executive Order is written. In that room will be at least one representative from each of the Big Four beef processors. They will use this moment to further protect their interests and increase their stranglehold on the beef industry. 

This whole drama is not about freedom; it is about a president and political party that has completely lost its bearings and is gasping for something that will give it breath.

Why can’t they just say “We’re going full force to pass Congressman Thomas Massie’s PRIME Act?” It’s already written. It already has 60 bipartisan sponsors. It’s easy. But no, Trump hates Massie with a passion and therefore will bungle this by making it complicated, subjective, and easy to overturn in two years. Who would invest in a processing facility on the strength of an Executive Order that can be reversed in two years? Only a dimwit who writes grants. Sheesh.

Are you happy about the ground beef product import dump?

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