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July 28, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Grange Revenge?

  • 40 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave can take credit for casting the decisive vote early this morning in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The 217-215 win was the result of tremendous last-minute pressure from the White House against individual swing votes. For all that, fully 25 Republicans voted against CAFTAand 15 Democrats voted for it.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is describing that pressure as possibly illegal in its ferocity, but Musgrave expressed her intention to vote for CAFTA some months ago. Don’t look for a surprise uptick in CD-4’s appropriations or anything. Tom DeLay says that’s all just a bunch of hogwash anyhow.

No, it’s Rep. Musgrave’s rural, agricultural constituents, most of whom have voted Republican faithfully since the 19th century but bitterly opposed CAFTA for self-evident reasons, who are going to remember her vote. Alot of sugar-beet farmers out there on the prairie are upset this evening, we hearand as much as they don’t approve of gay marriage, there are rumbling questions about whose interests Musgrave really has at heart.

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40 thoughts on “Grange Revenge?”

  1. We have been talking about it all day on the open thread.  A blind man can see who’s side she’s on….special interests.  I can’t see how even the most loyal of the R’s in CD4 can continue to see their interests go down the drain…Musgrave already has the lowest return to the 4th per tax $$ of any Rep. in the state….geeeze.

  3. If issue ads blasting her for abandoning her people in favor of special interests were run right now while CAFTA was in the news, the issue might play a year from now as the campaigns gear up. If not, memories are short and it’s an R district.

    watcher

  4. I don’t know the details, but the talking points the GOP is pushing says that on this deal, we already don’t impose tariffs on imports, but our exports are subject to tariffs. Which would mean that CAFTA is very, very good for farmers.

    Now, if that talking point is excessively misleading, obviously what i’m saying is wrong. But if there’s a strong element of truth in it, then the democratic party has abandoned the progress Clinton gave them in order to pander to a union base that is fractured at best. Not the greatest strategic decision, no matter how much the liberal blogs beat their war drums.

  7. Ref. A support is still enough to sink a candidate – indeed, it’s enough to sink a completely unrelated referendum using the same letter!

    If farmers are as steamed about CAFTA as West Slopers were about Ref A, the damage will be around long after the specifics are forgotten.

  9. Apparently the Farmers in the 4th don’t know what is good for them and their products…but,  thank God,  Marilyn does.

    I bet they don’t forget anytime soon.  As luck would have it,  now that vote is behind MM  and she can get back to work on the really important issue,  making sure the 50% of traditional marriages that stay together have no competition from farm animals.

  10. I’ve been looking unsuccessfully on the House website for a breakdown of the vote – how each congressman/woman voted on CAFTA.  Anyone know something I don’t on how to get this info?

  12. Here is the site I was looking for Bumpa…www.govtrack.us  That should get you more info than you ever thought you would want to know….*

    *A public service message brought to you by tommix.

  13. tommix – Thank you for the information, I’ll bookmark the site.  I also found the vote listed by state rep., of all places, at the Guardian UK(!) in their US news.

  15. Did anyone consider that there are other ag industries in the 4th besides sugar beet growers?  Ag industries that will benefit greatly from being able to export unfettered by tariffs?

    The sugar beet growers are vocal and extremely well organized (to their credit), but they’re not representative of agriculture in the 4th.

  18. Watcher said:”If issue ads blasting her for abandoning her people in favor of special interests were run right now while CAFTA was in the news, the issue might play a year from now as the campaigns gear up. If not, memories are short and it’s an R district.”

    We’re talking about the economic viability of her district, their memories won’t so short when Musgrave’s vote is directly impacting their ability to feed their families

  21. Ummmm – you said it yourself, the sugar-beet growers are vocal and extrememely well organized. They warned Musgrave in 2004 not to support CAFTA, you better believe they’ll be coming after her now.

  22. watchingwhat?

    Are you kidding me?  Is everyone a beet grower in the 4th? 

    The ag industries behind CAFTA:

    Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
    Colorado Wheat Growers
    Colorado Corn Growers
    Dairy Farmers of America
    Colorado Livestock Association

    For everyone but the beet growers, CAFTA will be “directly impacting their ability to feed their families”. 

    It will be helping them.

  23. yellowdogdem:

    Which is my point.  This vote was against the powerful special interest and in favor of the 4th.  The sugar beet growers will be coming after MM alright.  That’s what they do – they look out for their own interests.

    Face it: this was a vote where MM took the less politically-expedient route.  She could have had the money of the sugar beet growers on her side, but she voted with the rest of agriculture in the 4th – a group that is less politically organized and less financially powerful.

  24. Colorado Farm Bureau, the state’s largest ag organization, broke ranks with their national organization and opposed CAFTA.  CFB is supposed to represent all of the ag industries, what does that tell you?

  25. It tells me that there was dissent on the issue and that the sugar beet growers are very powerful. 

    But the:

    Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
    Colorado Wheat Growers
    Colorado Corn Growers
    Dairy Farmers of America
    Colorado Livestock Association

    …all broke rank with the Farm Bureau. 

    My point being: you can say this was a vote agains the sugar beet growers of the 4th.  But you can’t say this was a vote against ag in the 4th or the farmers and ranchers in the 4th.  And you can’t say this was a vote that was dictated by special interests when in fact it was a vote against the most powerful ag special interest out there.

  26. Say what you want….CAFTA, NAFTA SHAFTA….all it does is signal goodbye to jobs in America….and that is not in Colorado’s best interest….MM does not do what is best for her district…she votes the way  Tom Delay tells her to vote and even you R’s know it.

  28. Yellowdogdem, thank you, I found the info.

    tommix, re CAFTA NAFTA SHAFTA;  AMEN! —  Salazar voted against CAFTA, that was the info I was looking for.

  30. The realignment of farmers from the Democratic party to the Republican party is definitely a post-WWII phenomena.  It doesn’t date back to the 19th century as suggested (albeit probably in jest).

  31. Take a look how this is playing in the district. looks like MM voted with the ag community to me.

    Musgrave sides with district’s ag interests in trade pact vote

    By BILL THEOBALD
    Gannett News Service

    WASHINGTON – Rep. Marilyn Musgrave sided with her district’s major agricultural interests – cattle, corn and wheat – in voting for the controversial Central America Free Trade Agreement.

    The trade pact was approved at 10 p.m. MDT Wednesday in a dramatic 217-215 vote.

    Even on the day of the vote, Musgrave, a Fort Morgan Republican, had not decided how she would vote on CAFTA, which was opposed by the Colorado Farm Bureau because of fears that sugar imports would undercut the area’s sugar beet industry.

    “As the representative for one of the country’s most agriculturally intense congressional districts, I am pleased to promote Colorado agriculture and join the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Wheat Growers, Colorado Corn Growers, Dairy Farmers of America, and Colorado Livestock Association and many others in support of CAFTA,” Musgrave said in a written statement.

    Cattle interests supported the treaty because it would eliminate 40-percent tariffs on prime beef exports to the Central American countries and Dominican Republic.

    Beef exports to those countries could triple by 2015 from $12.5 million annually to $41 million, according to estimates by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

    Cattle accounts for 50 percent of the sales of agricultural goods produced each year in the 4th Congressional District and sugar beets account for about 2 percent, said Guy Short, Musgrave’s chief of staff. The value of cattle raised in the district ranked seventh among the country’s 435 congressional districts, he said.

    Statewide, cattle sales total almost $3 billion annually, while sugar beets account for about $30 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    “She had to worry about the entire district,” Short said.

    CAFTA, which passed the Senate 54-45 last month, would immediately eliminate trade tariffs on about 80 percent of goods made in the United States and sold to Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

    Tariffs on other merchandise, including autos and auto parts, would be phased out over five to 10 years.

    But the agreement would permit the importation of an additional 109,000 metric tons of sugar in the first year and more in subsequent years, which U.S. sugar beet growers fear will put them out of business.

    All but 15 of the House’s 202 Democrats opposed the agreement, including some who have voted for past trade pacts.

    Twenty-seven Republicans voted against it, many of them from districts in the South and Midwest with textile factories or sugar growers.

    On Thursday, Colorado and national cattle officials and several other groups contacted a reporter to laud Musgrave’s vote.

    “It’s really a courageous thing she did. It’s the right thing for Colorado and it’s the right thing for the country,” said Mark Smith of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

    Originally published July 29, 2005

  32. Did I hear right…

    Angie P. said she was going to raise 3 million dollars???

    This from the same bankrupt, Angie N0-Pay-cionee that can’t send in her homeowners association dues…

    Run Angie Run

  33. You guys crack me up.  The sugar beet growers get the press because they complain the most.  I have heard that the Farm Bureau was basically taken over by the Beet growers, entirely to oppose CAFTA.  They are not a good representation of Colorado Ag, or even the 4th CD’s Ag community.  When you have corn and cattle both in favor of a vote here in Colorado, you better listen to them a little more than a crop that only accounts for 2% of ag produce.  You guys are the same people who criticized Beauprez’s ag background, basically most of you don’t really have a clue what you are talking about.  My advice is go watch Green Acres, or better yet take a drive by a cornfield then come back and post on here.

  34. RAR,  that’s a dead horse…everybody knows she didn’t pay her property owner’s assosication dues because your old buddy’s in Ft. C’s R party let everyone know….and she didn’t deny it and still got 58% of the vote….so who do you think cares?  Not the voters.  Can’t you guys come up with anything new?

  35. It seems to me that the free trade votes have become more political than constituent driven, as seen in this chart courtesy the Wall Street Journal (no of votes in favor)

    Nafta 1993  GOP 132 Dems 102
    China MFN 1997  GOP 147 Dems 112
    Trade Promo Authority 2001 GOP 194  Dems 21
    Cafta 2005  GOP 202 Dems 15

  38. In fact Colorado became a state specifically because of it was safely Republican (at least in terms of political leadership) as part of the 1876 Compromise. You got those freaky 1890s (and 1980s?) as the exception, but Colorado is a solid red Republican state, historically and today, miner to farmer to soccer mom.

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