America's rural crisis triggers calls for Biden to name rural czar

[UpInArms]

Source: Politico

The incoming Biden administration is facing growing pressure to appoint a rural envoy within the White House to oversee a national strategy to uplift rural communities facing severe health and economic challenges.

Members of Congress and advocates are making the case that the problems plaguing rural regions exacerbated by the pandemic run so deep that a coordinated federal response is critical — a move they argue would speed up the nation’s economic recovery and boost Biden’s popularity among voters in red states. The envoy would work closely with the executive branch, especially the Department of Agriculture, which has offices in nearly every county in the U.S.

... snip ...

“It is past time that the rural areas of this country be targeted for not only economic development, but for health care, for broadband access, for all of the things that will lift this whole country up," he added.

Democratic lawmakers say that embarking on a rural strategy is an immediate way for President Joe Biden to draw a contrast with former President Donald Trump, whose leadership they argue failed rural Americans, most clearly with the pandemic that has disproportionately impacted rural areas. Biden's platform lays out many ambitious goals for rural regions, such as having the agriculture industry play a key part in fighting climate change, which his advisers believe translates into paying farmers for improving the environment as well as generating more "green" jobs.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/25/america-rural-economy-health-biden-czar-461326

[marble falls]

1. A very good idea. Might help to blue some of that red. The biggest rural complaint ...

"Washington doesn't care about us."

[CaptYossarian]

8. Joe won't pick anyone from a news channel or a jackass braying about a damn pillow...

but a couple of left-leaning stars who appeal to ruralites are Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson.

[Grins]

28. It won't.

FDR and Truman saved the lives, homes, and livelihood of American farmer in the 30's. Then turned against him and the Democratic Party.

[mdbl]

33. Don't count on it

most of the thick-headed meatballs just sit around listening to limbaugh and fox.

[The Blue Flower]

2. Long overdue

This is a winning solution for the entire country.

[murielm99]

3. Excellent idea.

There are rural Democrats. I am one.

How about Brian Schweitzer, from Montana, for this post?

[UpInArms]

5. Here is a column from a very solid guy in my area

https://dailyyonder.com/letter-from-langdon-who-will-lead-usda-nominee-list-grows-longer/2020/12/07/

To a farmer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an authority figure. USDA can be your banker, your salesman, your regulator, and your benefactor all wrapped into one. For outdoor enthusiasts, USDA maintains the National Forests you visit. For rural communities, USDA is a source of loans and grants that help maintain critical services like housing, waste disposal, and clean water. For schools and the disadvantaged, USDA is a source of food. And USDA is responsible to all Americans for making sure our food is safe to eat.

Abraham Lincoln called USDA the “people’s department.”

[DinahMoeHum]

30. The Daily Yonder is a great newsletter for rural news, folks.

It is run by the think tank Center For Rural Strategies. Well worth checking into and subscribing (free) for their newsletter Daily Yonder.

https://www.ruralstrategies.org/
https://www.ruralstrategies.org/mission-1
https://www.ruralstrategies.org/the-daily-yonder

[MontanaFarmer]

4. This is a wonderful idea for the sake of governing

the country. Coupled with a return (per Jaime Harrison) to the 50-state strategy, it's also good politics. Schweitzer would be a brilliant choice, but i doubt he'd take it. Our other recent democratic officeholders in Montana don't really fit the description, IMO. Heidi Heitkamp would make some sense.

[Miguelito Loveless]

6. Could we PLEASE stop with the "Czars", members of the media?

We are NOT pre-Bolshevik Russia. We have no,Czars, Kings, Kaisers, Emperors, Sultans, or Caliphs, no matter how much the press and the GOP seem to want one.

[Marthe48]

7. Another War on Poverty?

Which is what LBJ called his program, that benefitted people who wanted to be helped. Because there are always going to be people who don't want help. I think a lot of the malcontents we see crawling out of their strongholds went to rural areas to avoid circumspection (bundys come to mind)

Ohio has had Appalachia Regional Council and Buckeye Hills forever. Hope the federal government will check what is already in place, and build on it. It has always been an uphill battle. Coal, oil and gas companies own a lot of property in this area of S.E. and they are not interested in developing any land. Any development and startups have been triumphs of negotiation.

And even with 2 interstates and several 4 lane state or U.S. Routes, rivers, and well-established and lovely towns, for some reason the S.E. corner doesn't bring people. There has been development of wireless and broadband networks, towers and the area is well-covered, even if limited in provider choices. I lived in Cleveland till I was 17, and have lived in this area for over 50 years.

There are people whose families have lived in the area since the Revolutionary War, and there are many people who are from somewhere else. It makes an interesting mix of community, and sometimes, some of the differences hit head on. Most of the time, living here is a joy. I'd like to see more people getting a living wage, more opportunities for younger generations to stay close to family and have success, if that is what they want. All of the rural areas need the options of moving or staying, instead of it being a have to for so many young people.

[UpInArms]

9. I remember when almost every place had a "scotch tape" factory

Near me, there was a Rival crockpot plant and the smaller town north of me had a “cap” factory

The larger community (30 miles away) had an Eveready Battery plant ...

Those are all gone

[murielm99]

10. Until recently,

that is how many small communities sustained themselves. There was work for the residents of the community, and off season work for small farmers. Most of that is gone now. I know that is true where I live.

[moose65]

32. I remember that, too

I'm 55 now. When I was a kid, ALL of the small towns around me (in NW NC) had at least one factory and sometimes several. There were mirror factories (my granddad worked in one), textile factories, and even in the tiny town where my high school was (population 400 or so) there was a chair factory. Now, almost all of that is gone, thanks to those small factories being purchased by big corporations and moved offshore. Now, that chair factory has been shuttered for years, although the building remains. Parts of it have been used by other businesses from time to time.

I know it's a complicated issue, but I really miss that in small town America. Those were good jobs. And there are some manufacturers who have refused to relocate offshore, such as the Lodge cast-iron cookware factory in Tennessee.

Around here, there really aren't that many factories any longer. There are a few upholstered furniture factories (upholstery is a skill, so it was never offshored), and a few others here and there, but nothing like it was 30 or 40 years ago.

[CanonRay]

11. I'm sure the rednecks will just love that

they think the guv'ment is in everything anyway. Bad idea IMHO.

[bucolic_frolic]

14. +1

Yes, many of these places they be shooting at the G-men just like Prohibition, and "gub'mint revenuers" thereafter.

[orangecrush]

12. Great idea.

The snake oil peddling MAGATS in my rural area have the minds of most of the locals locked down.

Start reaching out to these areas instead of abandoning them to the storefront right wing evangelicals, who fleece them and then funnel the money to the very worst of right wing candidates.

Research the infrastructure the right has built in these areas, and start taking it apart.

[modrepub]

13. Word Of Caution

Applying more government infrastructure in rural areas will probably become a long-term "money suck". Best example, long stretches of rural interstate-like highways that were built to "stimulate" local economies. If you build it and they don't come (or more likely die or leave the area) then someone is going to get stuck paying for it for a long time.

Must rural areas don't have the population/economic tax base to support their own public infrastructure. They basically pilfer tax monies from areas with more economic activities that generate tax revenue. These tend to be suburban or even some urban areas. This leaves the suburban and urban areas paying for something they don't or rarely use. This transfer leads to higher local taxes in these areas because they have to make up the money they lost to maintain rural public infrastructure.

I'm all for helping those less advantaged. But if, in the long run, it means robing Peter to pay Paul, then I don't support it. This has been the Republican mantra for a long time. Transfer tax revenue to their areas then bludgeon the Democrats for raising taxes to make up for what they transferred to their areas. Enough already.

[UpInArms]

16. Thanks to the ARRA, I have high speed fiber optic internet

That came in 2011 ... until then, I had 56 bd dial-up

Please ...

The time has come to understand what rural means ... there are still folks out here (who had a different phone service) who still cannot connect to the internet

When you know what you are living with and take for granted, remember there are others with nothing.

[flibbitygiblets]

21. Same here

[cstanleytech]

24. Well there are certainly some things that can be improved up nationwide such as telecommunications

and education but improving the economic situation of those that prefer to live in rural areas far from cities? That one will be harder to resolve assuming it can be resolved at all.

[modrepub]

34. Is It Like Highway Funding?

States can get federal funding to build the road and the states are expected to pay the maintenance costs. Maintaining an interstate highway for decades is probably many times larger than the original building cost. Did the government only pay for putting in the optic cable to start with? Who pays for any repairs or maintenance? Does that fall back on the states? Do the companies that provide the service then spread the costs out across their entire customer base?

These are hard questions. If you're servicing an area that can't meet the long-term maintenance costs of a service then guess what, you're making someone else pay for it. Too often, Republicans (by default mostly rural areas) have demonized Democrats on high taxes when in reality they've just figured out a way to transfer the burden to someone else.

I'm tired of the "tax and spend" mantra of old or "socialist/communist" banner blanketed upon the Democratic party. Time for folks to understand where the tax money is being generated (and who is shifting it to their benefit). If you love living out in the country, fine. But realize who's paying for your convenience or be willing to make sacrifices (less infrastructure/health care options) so that others aren't making them for you.

Sorry if this is cruel. Sometimes your access is paid by others, and some of those others may not be able to afford it.

[UpInArms]

35. The smaller rural telephone carriers

Were not able to cover the initial capital requirements ... the ARRA gave them grants and loans and allowed them to cover a part of the costs and to maintain the equipment afterwards ...

Connecting schools and hospitals... where we can now have our own MRIs done and then transmitted wirelessly ...

We pay taxes, too, my friend

[DEbluedude]

15. America's rural crisis? Mnnnnnn...

I think that most of the rural places in America that are in crisis are there exactly because of the representatives they vote for. "...boost Biden's popularity among voters in red states...". I don't think so.

[UpInArms]

17. Not all rural voters are red ..

And Biden said he was President to all Americans

[DEbluedude]

18. I agree. I live in a deep red rural county.

My thoughts on the matter come from my personal observations. People voting against their best interests because they've been brainwashed for the last 40 years. Although that's certainly not limited to the rural electorate, from what I see where I'm at, throwing money at rural issues will not change the stupid. Many of the farmers around here apply for and are granted huge annual subsidies and yet they constantly bitch about "big guvmint". Local elected officials will continue to demonize Biden and the Dems simply because it works so well.

[UpInArms]

19. When I moved here in 1993

We had a dem gov, congressional rep, local state rep ...

After the “blue dress” scandal, and the complete loss of the Fairness Doctrine, together with the rise of Fox Spews, it became something else.

The trilateral globalization that was also a part of that era caused many manufacturing jobs to be outsourced.

What was once a trickle became a tidal wave. We need to find a way to reverse that.

[cstanleytech]

25. But part of the problem is companies are also going to build in areas where they can maximize their

profits and two of those requirements are areas where they build the product for as cheap as possible and the other is where it is cheap to transport said goods from.
You might get part of that resolved if you implemented tariffs on imported goods (big might there) but a big problem remains which is transportation which effects both the cost of producing goods due to the need to supply raw materials and or components and then the cost to ship the final product out.
Before we had the interstate highway system connecting the main cities goods being produced in the rural areas made sense for the companies as they needed to get the goods produced to the majority of their customers which were in the cities but now that is not something the companies need to worry about.

[Nitram]

20. This is an excellent step towards addressing the hollowing out of rural areas that his one of

the factors that need to the rise of Trump. These areas desperately need jobs and addiction treatment.

[flibbitygiblets]

23. +1, and high speed internet

[Nitram]

27. Perfect. I thought of adding that. It is essential.

[flibbitygiblets]

29. Now that working from home is mainstream, internet access could equal more jobs in rural areas

This could eliminate a lot of the need for expensive infrastructure that jobs required in the past (roads, bridges, office buildings etc.). Online training could create good-paying jobs with benefits in many rural areas.

[old guy]

22. I have lived in rural areas all my long life.

I have participated in local governing and planning and this is what i have discovered. The vast majority of rural problems stem from one source and one source only: Rural citizens and the choices they make.

[Bayard]

26. We've had many variations of this discussion on DU

I don't think I'd call it a, "Czar", I don't like that term either, but this position is a good idea.

I've lived in rural areas in several states. I'm back in Kentucky now (thank goodness!), but I found rural eastern Calif. to be the most redneck place ever.

The only way to change attitudes is to start when people are young. They are more open to new ideas, more likely to question, and think for themselves, and not the same old politics or religion of their parents. Its even better if they go away to college, or for work. Travel. Exposure to experiences different than their small town. They are salvageable, and there's more of them.

I love living in the boonies, and could never go back to city life. I was raised in very red areas, but I traveled and lived all over the place. It changes you.

[matt819]

31. WTF does this even mean

Rural is not one giant cohesive, consistent group of people. Rural in New England is not rural in North Dakota. Rural is not only farms and coal. It's people who work from their homes and are stymied by lousy internet service and spotty mail deliveries. Rural means you have a doctor 20 miles over in the nearest big city. Or it means there's no medical care within a day's drive or more. Rural means no jobs for young people, or it means towns where the young people have left and old folks are alone, and many are being drive from their homes due to increasing property taxes. Rural can mean recovery from poisonous mining over many generations, or it means growing anxiety over climate change. Rural is black, white, hispanic, native American, immigrant.

Czars over the years have been yawning chasms of failure. Here is a problem that crosses almost every boundary - environment, commerce, health care, technology, and a "czar" is not going to have the pull to call the necessary resources together. It's an exercise in absolute futility.

So, no, a czar is the wrong approach. I'm inclined to suggest that a new cabinet secretary be named, but this will ultimately lead to a giant bureaucracy (see DHS as one example). So, no, I don't have an answer or an alternative, but a czar is nothing more than a bandaid, or lip service.