Trump's USDA cancels $300 million program that helped farmers buy or keep their land: report

[Attilatheblond]

13. I know a bunch of 'em who constantly scream for cuts in the federal work force & expenditures

then scream bloody murder when a government shutdown closes their local USDA FSA and NRCS offices. They know the staffs of their local FSA/NRCS offices are trusted neighbors but forget those neighbors are also part of the federal workforce they constantly disparage.

I know some food producers who have pounded on the front doors of the homes of furloughed federal employees during shut downs. They desperately need those federal employees who help them negotiate red tape and implement all the federal programs that get them money to help stay in business and improve their farms/ranches and they need those professionals RIGHT DAMNED NOW!

How do I know this? Our front door was one of the many these foolish GOP voters would beat on during shut downs. Ours was one of the phones that would ring at 11 PM when a rancher or farmer would be in a panic trying to find a way to solve an immediate problem.

Farmers and ranchers take out loans to get things they need when they need them, usually in spring and summer. They don't get paid until crops of cattle get sold in fall. They count on reimbursements for the government programs to pay off those short term loans when they come due.

When the government shuts down, because GOP pols can't get their shit together and act like responsible adults, those food producers can't get the payments they need processed by their local FSA office. During shut downs, they can't get NRCS experts out to help them solve problems on their farms/ranches, problems like water distribution, well locations, soil studies, information and plans for new crops, surveys and fencing, etc. The ones who want to stay in business utilize services of expert federal employees for projects that make their places profitable and help them keep it in the family.

IOW, during shut downs, they are screwed. But they can't seem to remember the problems shut downs dropped on their doorsteps from one year to another. Most of them never remember from one election cycle to another.

edited to add a phrase for clarity