Cotton Harvest III

Well, cotton harvest is over. What began with hope ended with disappointment. All that beautiful Spring weather not only delayed the crop, but also lowered yields. It may take me five years to pull out of this setback. Ouch.

Now we will start ground work for next year. We will start running tractors around the clock next week. We have to get the ground worked and bedded back up before the heavy winter rains hit. We also have to finally settle on what wheat varieties we will plant for this next year. [ No, we learned our lesson this year- no garbanzos or black eyes.] So, it is still go, go, go on the farm. The men are ready, the equipment is ready and here we go.

I saw the barn in the photo above near the cotton gin the other afternoon. It is eye catching in this light. I have never had a phone with a camera in it until this past week. While I love photography, I like my camera too much to haul it around in a dirty, bumpy farm truck all the time. I never would have caught this photo without the camera in my phone. I like it.

This week's cooking tip? It is soup season again now that the weather has cooled off. I made some split pea soup last week and I tried something new. I put some fresh rosemary in the soup. I like it. So, if I may, I'd recommend a tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary the next time you make some split pea soup. Rosemary is one of those Mediterranean plants that does well in our climate. I have five or six rosemary plants scattered around the yard. Once they are established they do really without much care.

Since everyone else has spouted off I will close with my two cents-

My Two Cents on the 2010 Elections

copyright Paul H. Betancourt
November, 2010

By now last week’s elections are ancient history, except for the candidates awaiting recounts. Most of the discussion has centered around who want which seats. I don’t mean to be crass, but candidates come and go. For example, many of my more conservative friends are crestfallen that we have the return of Governor Moonbeam in California. I try to assure them that the worst case scenario is that Governor Brown will only be in office for eight years. I think there were some things that happened this past week that have much longer lasting impact.

Prop. 25 Passed, Uh-oh-

Proposition 25 allows the Legislature to pass state budgets without the super majority required before. This sounds simple and more democratic. I would have opposed this even if my party was in the majority. This is not a good idea. The Legislature could not control spending even with a Republican minority able to slow the process down. Now it is ‘Katie bar the door.’ They will probably get the budget passed on time this year, and that is worthwhile. But, keep an eye on where they spend the money and how they raise our taxes.

The Federal Reserve is Printing More Money-

It has been no secret that the only way for the Federal government to get out of the mess it is in is to print more money. The problem is that printing more money is that it causes inflation. During the Carter years inflation was over ten percent, interest rates were nearly twenty percent and unemployment was over ten percent. Those of us 50 and over remember the 70’s as very difficult times. Even with interest rates at record highs it was hard to get loans. Inflation ate up our income faster than we could get raises or cost of living adjustments. People on fixed incomes were in a world of hurt. In the early 80’s the Federal Reserve, under Paul Volker learned that the only part of Keynesian economics that works is that when you lower the money supply you can lower inflation.

Today’s Fed Chairman is about to ignore that lesson, print more money and set off a new age of inflation. They have announced that they are going to print $660 Billion plus of new money to buy old Treasury debt with the hope of lowering long term interest rates and thereby boost the economy. It would be one thing if we weren’t sure of what was going to happen, but we do know. The Federal government and people with long term debt are going to be fine. They get to pay off old debts with inflated dollars. The rest of us are in for a rough ride.

The Loss of the Blue Dog Democrats in Congress-

No matter how the local Costa/Vidak race turns out the fact is that moderate Congressional Democrats took a beating in last week’s election. The ‘moderate’ Blue Dog Democrats, like Costa, lost over 25 members. What this means is that the US Congress is starting to look more like the California Legislature; more liberal Democrats and more conservative Republicans are getting elected. In California they have shown they are less likely to work together, much less compromise. This is not a good tend if we are going to solve the problems before us as a state and a nation.

There is no doubt leadership is important. I have written and spoken about the importance of leadership in our communities and our nation. But, as important as who got elected last week is, I think the neglected and important stories are the passage of Prop 25, the fact that the Fed is repeating failed policy and the loss of moderates in the Democratic Caucus in Congress. These are impacts that will affect us for years to come.