Spreading the Democratic Message (RE: farm subsidies)

[ticapnews]

Over in the LBN forum the farm subsidy thread has garnered a lot of attention. The original AP article http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/02/11/national/a110405S68.DTL
has been reprinted in many papers around the country. I feel this gives us an opportunity to spread our message directly to the people John Kerry didn't reach last year. I am writing letters to the editors of several papers throughout the midwest and encourage others to do the same. Google News provides a link to newspapers that reprinted the AP story, and a search for editorials and local stories yields a treasure trove for people willing to spend a few minutes writing letters.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp%3Fcategory%3D1110%26slug%3DFarm%2520Subsidies&filter=0&start=30&sa=N

My letter to the editor of the Columbia (Mo) Daily Tribune.

I am writing regarding the piece "Some farmers feel betrayed by budget" (February 12 edition) because I find it difficult to understand why this surprises farmers. For four years the president has lied to us on any number of issues. But people in the heartland either didn't notice or didn't care. They had a choice on November 2: To stand with the people that have fought for them since the days of the Dust Bowl or to follow a man who has lied to them time and again. Now they must live with that decision. Farmers should be well acquainted with the phrase "You reap what you sow."

But I do offer these words of comfort to the thousands of real family farmers who must struggle not only against the weather and a global economy, but also against large agri-business concerns and now against a president who has betrayed them: They have borne far greater burdens through the years. Drought. War. The Great Depression. I hope the family farmer is able to weather this next storm. Farmers should also watch as the Democrats they so blithely rejected at the ballot box fight for them on the floor of Congress. Farmers will have new choices to make in 2006 and 2008. For their sake, they need to remember who lied to them and who continued to fight for them.