Cy Carpenter: Bush hasn't kept faith with rural Minnesotans

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4919099.html

Cy Carpenter: Bush hasn't kept faith with rural Minnesotans
Cy Carpenter
August 10, 2004 CARPENTER0810
Growing up on a farm and being involved all my 82 years in the issues that face farmers, I have seen much change, and not all for the better. Corn sells today for about $2.18 per bushel, but I remember 50 years ago when corn sold for $2.50 a bushel. Today, outstate Minnesota and its rural communities are struggling to stay afloat.

Rural Minnesotans -- 1.5 million of them -- make up 29 percent of the population of this great state. But more and more of them find it difficult to maintain their way of life.

President Bush made many promises to rural voters across the country when he ran for election in 2000, and now might be a good time to see how he's done.

In 2002, Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act. This initiative passed with bipartisan support in Congress because lawmakers knew that communities aren't built by one person or two, but with the support of all their members. For our rural communities to survive, we need a national policy that makes rural areas an equal partner in the national economy.

And that's why the Farm Act included investment in conservation, rural businesses and energy.

Unfortunately, this administration has not kept faith with rural Minnesotans. Many of these provisions have been put by the wayside. As this administration cuts taxes for the wealthy, it has largely forgotten rural Americans, whose local taxes have now increased as a result. <snip>