Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the National Corn Growers Association, CropLife America, and Renewable Fuels Association. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary –
Throughout my lifetime Thanksgiving has been a very important holiday – just behind Christmas. It is our opportunity to say, “Thank You” to our friends and to God.
The first Thanksgiving celebration was in 1620. Our pilgrims landed on Cape Cod. After their first harvest, they had a thankful dinner with the Wampanoag Indian Tribe. We have every reason to be thankful as our nation has grown to more than 300 million people. We are a global superpower. People from all over the world are scrambling to get to us any way they can.
Now let’s put on the table a few issues of the day. We have finished harvest. Now we need to ship the grain to customers who need it. Those customers are all over North America and the world. But a railroad strike is about to shut us down. Our government needs to take this threat seriously and make sure it doesn’t happen.
Turn to Cuba – only 90 miles from Florida. We have a bipartisan Congressional group in Cuba this week. We need to expand our exports. I have been to Cuba myself 4 times trying to find a way to sell more of our ag products. They import most of their food, and as close as we are, we should be their source.
Last subject – China. In Indonesia at the Group 20 summit President Biden and China President Xi had their first face to face meeting since President Biden was elected. They talked for 3 hours. The 2 most powerful nations in the world need to find a way to live together. Russia and Ukraine are at war. Europe and the US are supporting Ukraine. We don’t want China helping Russia. Also, we have a list of trade problems with China that we need to resolve. China is our biggest market for our ag products – grain and meat. Former President Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods hoping to reduce our negative trade balance with China. Another concern is China wants to bring Taiwan under their control. We don’t want that. With the severe clash over politics, trade, and technology we need to prevent conflict. Let’s find some common ground. Thank you to President Biden for his effort.
Until next week, this is John Block reporting from Washington, D.C. If you would like to review my radio shows going back more than 20 years, just go on-line to www.johnblockreports.com.
