October 8, 2025 • 34 mins
The White House is preparing to announce a new bailout package aimed at supporting American farmers, with accompanying NEPA reforms designed to speed up agricultural loan approvals. The federal government shutdown has now entered its eighth day. In Raleigh, the House Select Committee on Government Efficiency is meeting to discuss cost-cutting and oversight measures. Meanwhile, the Federal Appeals Court has upheld hate crime convictions against a Concord man, reaffirming the original ruling.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
It's five oh five and welcome into a Wednesday edition
of The Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety
nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm Nick Craig. A good morning to you.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
We start off with some agricultural news this morning on
the program. As we are in the midst of a
federal government shutdown. The White House is expected to later
this week, any day now, to announce a bailout for
American farmers whose livelihoods have been impacted by inflation as
well as tariffs imposed by the administration. Now, this is
(00:40):
incredibly relevant here in North Carolina, as agriculture is the
state's number one industry, generating a whopping one hundred and
eleven plus billion dollars a year in annual revenue. As
the Carolina Journal has reported over the past six months,
and as we have brought you details here on the
Carolina Journal News Hour, the tariffs have had a significant
(01:02):
impact on North Carolina farmers, particularly those that produce and
grow things like tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, which are
some of the state's largest agricultural commodities. According to a
report out from The New York Times, the President is
reportedly going to be doing quote some farm stuff this week,
that being reported by The Times on October the sixth,
(01:26):
Reuters also highlighting reports from US Treasury Secretary in Scott
Bessett that also the administration will announce some farm aid
this week. According to the vice president of General Economics
at the Cato Institute, they told The New York Times
that's Scott Lincolm quote. We have an export dependent industry.
We've angered its biggest customer and boom, now we're bailing
(01:49):
out an export dependent industry. Republican lawmakers believe that American
farmers could see as much as a fifty billion dollars
in federal aid, according to the New York Times reporting.
Many agricultural experts see this as a repeat of what
happened in twenty eighteen, when the Trump administration imposed wide,
sweeping in broad tariffs on China, leading to similar blowback.
(02:14):
At that period of time, American farmers were given a
twelve billion dollar bailout in response to trade damage from
unjustified retaliation by foreign nations, according to data from the USDA.
Now Here in North Carolina, Steve Troxler, who is the
Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, He told
(02:34):
The Carolina Journal quote, I am happy to hear that
President Trump is considering aid for farmers who have become
targets in broader global trade negotiations. The Agricultural Commissioner went
on to say, we all depend on farmers to feed us,
and we need them to be able to continue to
produce food and fiber. Farmers are hurting right now financially,
(02:57):
and we could see many go out of business with
this assistance. The last time we went through this with trade,
President Donald Trump was very good at looking at farmers,
and we certainly hope that happens this time as well.
The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China are
primarily blamed for the impact that they have had on
the agricultural community, not only in North Carolina but across
(03:21):
the state, especially soybean farmers, which is one of North
Carolina's top five cash crops. In twenty twenty three, China
was the largest importer of American agricultural products. Accounting for
this is a major number, seventeen percent of the total
seventeen percent of every agricultural product in North Carolina China
(03:42):
was importing into their economy. According to data from the
United States Department of Agriculture, a significant percentage and portion there.
Kelly Lester, policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told
The Carolina Journal another round of farm bailouts might make
for good politics, but it's bad economically, following up that
by saying these payments don't solve the problem. They paper
(04:06):
over the damage caused by the administration's own tariffs. North
Carolina farmers, like growers across the country, don't want handouts.
They want access to markets. The real relief would be
ending the trade war and letting farmers compete freely. One
of the remaining questions is how the bailout will be funded.
In the twenty eighteen bailout, it was funded through the
(04:28):
Commodity Credit Cooperation, a federal corporation within the USDA that
currently is depleted. Trump indicated in a truth Social post
back on October first that the bailout would in fact
be funded in part by revenue from tariffs, saying, quote,
we have made so much money on tariffs that we
are going to take a small portion of that money
(04:51):
and help our farmers. In all caps, I will never
let our farmers down again. We are expecting that announcement
here in the next day or or two from the administration,
at least, according to reporting from both Reuters and The
New York Times. You can read some additional details this
morning on our story by visiting our website Carolina Journal
(05:11):
dot com. The headline there, White House to announce bailout
for American farmers. In some other agricultural news, the United
States Department of Agriculture is soon to roll out its
fall regulatory agenda, but reforming the National Environmental Policy Act,
also known as NEPA, will likely have the most significant
(05:32):
impact on farmers, according to Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden of
the US Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA Farm
Service Agency website, the NEPA requires all federal agencies to
consider the effects of their projects and programs on the environment.
(05:53):
The Farm Service Agency complies with ANYPA by completing an
environmental review prior to approving a project or program. This
type of review that is completed depends on the size
and the project or program. Carolina Journal recently had the
opportunity to ask the Deputy Secretary what regulatory reforms that
(06:15):
the USDA is looking at, and while Vaden indicated that
he didn't want to reveal too much ahead of the
fall regulatory agenda. He did tell the Carolina Journal that
the USDA would be getting out of the way of
farmers and highlighted any PA reforms as one of the
key reforms being examined by USDA. Vaden told Carolina Journal,
(06:37):
there can be dozens of pages of environmental review that
apply to a single loan to a single farmer and
that has seen as legally required. You can imagine, with
as many loans as USDA issues on an annual basis,
how many pages of analysis that adds up to and
even worse for farmers like those involved in livestock here
(06:58):
in North Carolina. It has given rise to lawsuits in
federal court whereby environmental groups have sought to stop loans
to individual animal agricultural operations. When conducting environmental reviews of
its projects or programs, the Farm Service Agency evaluates their
impacts on broad ranges of natural resources, as well as
(07:21):
on areas of special concern, including potential effects on minority
and low income populations, according to USDA. However, according to
the Deputy Secretary in Vaden, under the Supreme Court's recent precedent,
precedent narrowing the scope of any PA, and through the
regulations that the USDA is implementing in coordination with their
(07:45):
federal partners, ANYPA will now be applied strictly according to
statutes as written, rather than expanded through the decades of interpretation.
In practice, this means that they can deliver funding, loans
and assistance to farmers more quickly without requiring them to
wait for extensive paperwork or lengthy legal analysis on single
(08:09):
routine loans. John Sanders, who is the director of the
Center for Food, Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, said,
quote any PA has long been used as a proxy
environmental policy tool, which is well beyond its original scope
of analyzing possible environmental impacts of major projects and considerable
(08:32):
and considering reasonable alternatives. Through mission creep and judicial expansion,
it has become a way to stop or stemy projects
that environmental organizations oppose. It's done that in several ways,
through cost costly, lengthy paperwork requirements, lawsuits, and focusing on
(08:53):
remote and speculative environmental impacts as opposed to ones that
are easily foreseeable, the impacts not even being closely casual
to the projects or substantial for a project to be denied.
In addition to ANYPA reforms, the USDA's fall agenda will
include nineteen individual regulatory actions in the food and nutrition space,
(09:17):
specifically addressing food stamps. According to Vayden, In addition, reforms
will make it easier to access their rule development leading
lending industries, so some of those individuals will have the
opportunity to get some additional funds and access to some
of those short term loans and lending programs. Back in
(09:37):
twenty twenty, Donald Van Dervart, who currently serves on the
North Carolina Utilities Commission, signed a letter in opposition to ANYPA.
He had previously served as the secretary of the North
Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and at the time of
signing the letter, he did work as an energy researcher
for the John Locke Foundation. We've got a copy of
(09:58):
that over on our w website this morning at Carolina
Journal dot com. This fall regulatory National Environmental Policy Act
could be a major win for farmers, as we just
talked about some of the struggles and issues that they
are dealing with as it relates to tariffs in the
broader economy, getting the federal government. Getting regulatory bodies and
(10:20):
agencies out of the way could be a huge sigh
of relief for those, especially many of the small and
medium sized family or community farms that exist throughout the
state of North Carolina. We'll keep our eye on the
United States Department of Agriculture. When this announcement is made,
We'll bring you the details right here on the Carolina
Journal News Hour and over on our website Carolina Journal
(10:44):
dot com.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It's five point twenty two.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven,
ten ninety nine.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
To three WBT.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
The federal government shutdown is officially it's eighth day this morning.
On here we are Wednesday, October the eighth, with seemingly
no viable signs of a budget deal between Democrats and
Republicans yet. Early morning press conferences yesterday from a House
A speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated
(11:20):
that there was no negotiations, no talks going on between
the two different parties. President Donald Trump, speaking at the
White House yesterday, threatened that some furloughed federal workers might
not receive back pay when Congress eventually agrees on a
funding package going forward, with the President saying, quote, We're
going to take care of our people. However, there are
(11:43):
some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of,
and we'll take care of them in a different way.
As for what's going on on the Democrats side of
the Aisle House, a minority leader and Hakim Jeffries has
ruled out a potential off ramp for the shutdown when
he told reporters on Tuesday that a one year extension
of American Care Act subsidies was a quote non starter
(12:06):
and a quote laughable position. Even though President Donald Trump
has told people like Jefferies and a Senate Minority leader
Chuck Schumer that he is willing to negotiate and willing
to negotiate and willing to discuss healthcare subsidies and everything
surrounding the healthcare industry. However, the discussion and the willingness
(12:29):
for the President to talk does not seem to be
enough for the minority leader in the House to move forward.
So as we sit here on day eight, a couple
of things that you need to be aware of, the
Social Security Administration will continue to issue retirement and disability benefits. However,
it is slated to furlough twelve percent of its staff
(12:49):
and pause marketing campaigns according to the agency's shutdown plans
that were filed last week, and payments will likewise continue
under the Medicare and Medicare health programs, so NOAH impacts
to Social Security or Medicare Medicaid. From a federal level,
the Post Office that will continue to be operational here
on day eight. As the USPS is a ratepayer funded
(13:14):
entity of the federal government, they generate their revenue from
stamps and shipping packages and things of that nature. They
do not depend on congressional funding for their operation, so
everything good there. However, over to airport things are starting
to get a little bit dicey. More than thirteen thousand
air traffic controllers and about fifty thousand TSA Transportation Security
(13:36):
Administration officers are still required to show up to work
during the shutdown, and according to details from Reuters, controllers
are set to receive a partial paycheck on October the fourteenth,
that is for work performed before the shutdown. A mass
walkout of air traffic controllers and TSA officers could cripple
(13:58):
domestic travel and international tree here in the United States,
and as we get ever closer to the October the
fifteenth deadline, a one week from today, when the next
paychecks are set to be delivered for federal employees, which
would include those air traffic controllers and TSA agents, that
is going to be something to keep a very close
(14:19):
eye on. We've already seen, at least at some airports
some ongoing issues with air traffic controllers walking off the job,
calling in sick, and causing shortages there, meaning that flights
and various travel plans are being delayed. For the military,
the two million active duty military members do remain on
(14:40):
duty and without pay until the budget impatch impass is resolved.
Roughly fifty five percent of the Defense departments seven hundred
and forty plus thousand civilian employees have been furloughed, including
those involved in training, procurement, and administrative support. Civilians working
in cybersecurity, medical care, weapons system maintenance, and intelligence and
(15:04):
logistics are deemed essential employees and are continuing their operation
this morning, Only five percent of the Department of Homeland
Securities two hundred and seventy one thousand workers have been furloughed,
including those involved in research, planning, training and auditing. Secret
Service agents, immigration and border official, airport security screeners, Coast
(15:28):
Guard personnel, and Federal Emergency Management Agency members are all
deemed and considered essential employees. They all remain on the job.
This shutdown is the fifteenth since nineteen eighty one and
is currently on track to become the fourth longest in
US history, elapsing the a six day government shutdown that
(15:49):
happened back in nineteen ninety five. However, I'll remind you
that the longest shutdown lasted thirty five days during Trump's
first term from twenty eighteen to twenty nineteen, So there
is some precedent with this administration for a lengthy government
shut down. Again, as we sit here a week before
paychecks are set to go to those federal employees, it
(16:12):
is something that we are keeping a close eye on.
As we heard yesterday, as I mentioned from a House
Minority leader in Hakeem Jeffreys, that he has called and
said that the White House has been radio silent since
the government shut down last week. The White House Press
Secretary in Caroline Levitt clapped back on that in a
White House Press briefing yesterday, noting that the administration is
(16:33):
open to discussions. However, there's really not a whole lot
to discuss, as what is on the table is a
clean continuing resolution that has been passed by Republicans at
first met the United States House back in mid September.
The Republicans, with the majority they there, were able to
pass it through and it has been stalled in the Senate.
Votes not exactly clear this morning whether more votes are
(16:56):
expected to take place in the United States Senate today
as the impass continues. The votes have been pretty clear,
fifty five in favor, forty five against. That has been
the vote since last Tuesday. We'll keep our eye on
all those details and the impacts here across North Carolina,
especially looking at some of our major airports, looking at
Charlotte and Raleigh. If they start to become some issues there,
(17:20):
We'll keep an eye on it and pass the details
along to you as soon as we get them. Right
here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's five thirty five.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven,
ten ninety nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Good Wednesday morning to you.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
While the North Carolina General Assembly is not slated to
be fully back in session until October twentieth. There is
an interesting House committee hearing that is meeting today. Earlier
this year, the North Carolina House established the Committee on
Government Efficiency. If that sounds familiar to you, of course,
(18:01):
earlier this year a lot of discussion at the federal
level about DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, and with
that we had North Carolina lawmakers act on a similar body.
It is a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The chair of
that entity, the two chairs are Representative Keith Kidwell and
Representative John Torbett. Those are the two individuals that are
(18:23):
leading it. However, there is a bipartisan group of individuals
that are on that to both Democrats and Republicans, including
somebody like Representative Carla Cunningham out of Mecklenburg County, who
are set to be meeting in Raleigh today. Their meeting
is scheduled at one pm. Back in January when the
group first met, Representative Torbett said, quote, North Carolinians deserve
(18:48):
a state government that works for them. Unfortunately, our government
agencies and public universities have been bogged down by bad
policies and programs like DEI, limiting their ability to enact
their core purpose. Which is serving citizens. The Governor, Josh Stein,
commented on this entity back earlier this year as well,
(19:08):
saying in a speech quote, people should know that their
tax dollars are being spent well, but let's get it right.
Let's use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. So as the
House Committee is scheduled to meet at one o'clock today,
it is going to be interesting to see what exactly
is going to be discussed. It's not immediately clear what
is on the agenda for that meeting this morning. However,
(19:32):
it is happening in Raleigh today, so as the vast
majority of the General Assembly is not in town, we
are going to be keeping an eye on that committee
hearing meeting. We'll have details coming up later on today
over on our website Carolina Journal dot com, and of
course we'll have the latest for you coming up tomorrow
morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where
(19:55):
it's now five thirty eight, News Talk eleven, ten ninety
nine to three WBT. A situation just north of the
Charlotte metro dating back to at least twenty twenty one,
has been the subject of litigation over the last couple
of years to walk us through some of those details.
This morning, Mitch Coki with the John Locke Foundation joins
us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, a hate
(20:16):
crime conviction back a couple of years ago, an appeal
over the last twelve months or so. What are you
tracking in the Concord area.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Well, this is a story that people in the Concord
area are probably aware of. A fellow named Marian Kodak
who was convicted of a federal hate crime in twenty
twenty four and sentenced to forty one months in prison
along with several years of supervised released afterward. And the
latest development is that the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals,
(20:45):
in a unanimous opinion from a three judge panel, has
affirmed that conviction.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
What happened on.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
The appeal was that Kodak said that the trial judge
in the case made a couple of mistakes. One of
them was not allowing evidence into the case, saying that
the problem was not the racial animus of mister Hudact,
but the fact that he suffered from mental illness. That
information was not allowed to be used in the trial.
(21:14):
And the second was that the judge did allow into
the trial the fact that Hudak owned a bunch of
Nazi memorabilia. Originally, the trial judge in this case decided
not to allow that into evidence, but then changed his
mind when Hudak, when talking about this memorabilia, described himself
as a military collector, and the judge decided, well, you know,
(21:37):
this is something that the jury should decide whether this
is something that he was just collected because he is
a history buff or because this is something that's a
symbol of hate and that symbolizes his desire to act
out against people of other races. Now, some of the
facts of the case are of interest as well. The
(21:59):
initial incident that led to a hate crime charge, and
there were two for which he was convicted, But the
initial incident was from twenty twenty one. The next door
neighbor for this defendant in the case is a Hispanic man,
and apparently there's a long train of instances of insults
and racial epithets and threats. But at one point in
(22:20):
twenty twenty one, Hudak, according to the court records, actually
beat the man and threatened to kill him. And then
in twenty twenty two, the second incident involved Hudak and
a black man part they were next to each other
in stopped in traffic, and Hudak opens up his car,
(22:42):
which is covered in Confederate symbols, and hurls a racial
epithet at the man, threatens to beat him up, and
then gets out of his car, punches on the other
guy's car windows several times, and then when the other
man drives off, Hohodac chases him back to his home
says he knows where he lives. He's going to shoot
(23:02):
him and shoot his girlfriend too. So that was the
second hate crime charge. Kudak was convicted of both, and
the latest development is that the Fourth U Circuit Court
of Appeals says the judge did not abuse his discretion
in this case, meaning that those convictions could stand and
that Hudac will have to spend forty one months total
(23:24):
in prison on these federal hate crimes.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
You mentioned mental illness in the original appeal. Going back
to the ongoing litigation that we're covering this morning, Mitch,
we do see that pretty often. In it typically tends
to be more major cases where you've got individuals that
can clearly point to severe mental illness deranged nature that
this drove them to make a horrendous decision. Most of
(23:50):
the time it's murdering somebody else or committing a heinous
act against them. In this case, what did the appeals
court have to say about the mental illness? Why was
that not sufficient enough to to enter into evidence and
used during the trial.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well, there were a couple of actually three reasons. The
first reason was that Hoodeck did not attempt to have
an insanity defense. He didn't try to excuse his behavior
based on the fact that he was insane, So that
kind of threw that under the bus. The other thing,
there are some technical issues. There's something called rules seven
oh two in the rules that were contemplated, and the
(24:30):
Federal appeals Court said that the trial judge got that
right as well. That was not something that Hudac could
use to try to get this evidence in. But I
think one of the main things that was of issue
here is that the evidence that was entered to help
the defendant in this case really didn't say anything about
(24:51):
his mental state at the time of these attacks in
twenty twenty one. In twenty twenty two, this was evidence
that came to light about the state that he was
in when he was examined much later, much after the fact,
and so that was one of the things that the
original judge decided and that the appeals court affirmed, was
(25:12):
that there didn't seem to be any tie in between
the mental health evidence that was presented and the mental
health state that mister Hoodak was in when he actually
was alleged to have committed these crimes. And so that's
what you really would have wanted to know. And one
of the things that Judge Harvey Wilkinson wrote for the
(25:33):
appeals court was, for this particular crime, it doesn't necessarily
matter that there was some mental health issues or even
mental illness. And in fact, he wrote that the fact
that you would attack your next door neighbor probably shows
that you do have some sort of mental illness, but
that doesn't erase the fact that it seems to be
(25:55):
that this attack happened because of racial animus, that if
the next door neighbor had been white, that he would
not have been attacked. The reason that he was attacked
was that he was Hispanic, and that is entirely why
this case is out there. In fact, at one point,
Judge Wilkinson said, the hate crime laws in the United
States are written just for the circumstances like these that
(26:19):
because of the person's race, there is an attack of
this sort, and that's what the hate crimes are designed
to address, he said. And in terms of talking about
the Nazi memorabilia, he said, this is not a First
Amendment case. There is no law that would prevent the
defendant in this case from owning Nazi memorabilia and expressing views,
(26:44):
however odious they might be. But this is a case
about action about an attack. And the reason that you
would put that evidence into play is that it would
help the jury decide whether there was racial animus based
on the fact that he owned the Nazi memorabilia. And
as I said, it was a close call. The trial
judge originally was not going to allow that evidence in,
(27:07):
but only allowed it in after Khudac tried to say
that he was not motivated by racial animus, but that
he was a history buff and collected military items, and
the judge decided, well, this is something the jury should
really decide. The jury took all of the evidence and
decided he should be convicted.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Mitch, has the defendant been in a prison since this
appeal has been going on. How do you know the
status of this individual.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I actually don't know the status. I assumed that he
has been so if so, that would mean that he's
probably served about a year of his what he's a
three and a half year sentence. I don't know whether
he's been out or not, but if not, then that
means he would start the three and a half years.
If he has been in, he probably has about two
and a half years ago, which will be followed then
(27:55):
by another three years of supervised release.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
It's a sad story by Mitch. Thanks for bringing it
to our attention this morning. Unfortunate situation unfolding in Concord
over the last three or four years. You can read
some additional coverage this morning over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com. Mitch Coochi from the John Locke Foundation
joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again,
(28:21):
it's five point fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina
Journal News Hour, News Talk eleven, ten ninety nine to
three WBT. A lot of things that we are keeping
an eye on today. Day eight of the federal government
shutdown does continue in Washington, DC. No major impact on
services yet. However, as we talked about earlier this morning,
(28:43):
keeping an eye on the calendar. One week from today,
October fifteenth is when paychecks are set to go out
to federal employees where they're a second pay period of
the month. They just got paid one week ago, back
on October the first, So it's gonna be an interesting
thing to keep an eye on. There some reports across
the country of some air traffic controllers calling in sick
(29:04):
and walking off the job, at least temporarily. Not immediately
clear what those impacts are here in North Carolina, however,
that is something we are keeping an eye and we'll
keep you up to date over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com and right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour in some statewide news things that we're going
to be tracking today as well. The House Select Committee
(29:24):
on Government Efficiency is set to meet in Raleigh today.
The full General Assembly is expected to be back on
October the twentieth, coming up here in just a couple
of weeks, but this Government Efficiency meeting will be happening
at one o'clock today in Raleigh. This entity was formed
earlier this year by the Republican led General Assembly and
(29:46):
well baked right into the name Committee on Government Efficiency,
paralleling some of the work ongoing at the federal level
with DOJE, the Department of Government Efficiency. This House Select
Committee is tasked with overlooking the officiiciency of taxpayer dollars
that are given to a variety of state entities and agencies.
(30:06):
It is important to note that this is a bipartisan group.
There are both Democrats and Republicans that are sitting members
on this committee, so they will be meeting today. We'll
be keeping an eye on that coverage as well again
Carolina Journal dot Com and right here on the Carolina
Journal News Hour in some statewide news or a story
this morning that could have some major statewide implications. In
(30:30):
the midst of this ongoing government shutdown, the White House
is expected any day to announce a bailout for American farmers.
That's as farmers have been impacted by rising inflation as
well as the Trump Administration's ongoing tariff war. This is
especially important in North Carolina as agriculture is the state's
(30:51):
number one industry. It generates a whopping one hundred and
eleven point one billion dollars in annual revenue. And as
we have and walking you through the details over the
last six months or so, Some of the ongoing tariff
battles have had a significant impact on North Carolina farmers,
particularly those that produce tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, as
(31:16):
those are some of the state's largest agricultural commodities and
they are exported to countries all over the globe. The
New York Times is reporting that the President is slated
to act on some sort of farm bailout this week.
Reuters also reporting something similar. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen
also saying that the administration would be announcing some of
(31:39):
that far made this week, So two different sources indicating
that that is going to be happening, as many agricultural
experts see what is going on right now as a
repeat of happs what happened in twenty and eighteen. That's
when the Trump administration imposed wide, sweeping tariffs on China
during his first administration, leading to similar blowback in international trade.
(32:04):
At that time, American farmers were given a twelve a
billion dollar bailout according to the USDA that was in
response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation by foreign nations.
Here in North Carolina, the Commissioner of the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture Steve Troxler told The Carolina Journal quote,
(32:26):
I am happy to hear that President Trump is considering
aid for farmers who have become targets in broader global
trade negotiations. He went on to say, we all depend
on farmers to feed us, and we need them to
be able to continue to produce food, and farmer farmers
are hurting right now financially, and we could see many
(32:46):
go out of business without assistance. The last time we
went through this with trade, President Trump was very good
at looking after farmers. We certainly hope that happens this
time too. Ending the quote there from a commissioner at
trucks Alur, the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on
China are primarily blamed for the impacts that they've had
(33:07):
on the American agricultural industry, especially soybean farmers, which is
one of North Carolina's top cash crops. In twenty twenty three,
China was the largest importer of American agricultural products, accounting
for a whopping seventeen percent of the total, according to
data from the United States Department of Agriculture. Again, that
(33:30):
announcement is expected really any day. Here you can read
some additional coverage on that story by visiting our website
This Morning Carolina Journal dot com. That's going to do
it for a Wednesday edition. WBT News is next, followed
by Good morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning,
five to six, right here on Newstalk eleven, ten and
ninety nine three WBT
It's five oh five and welcome into a Wednesday edition
of The Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety
nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm Nick Craig. A good morning to you.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
We start off with some agricultural news this morning on
the program. As we are in the midst of a
federal government shutdown. The White House is expected to later
this week, any day now, to announce a bailout for
American farmers whose livelihoods have been impacted by inflation as
well as tariffs imposed by the administration. Now, this is
(00:40):
incredibly relevant here in North Carolina, as agriculture is the
state's number one industry, generating a whopping one hundred and
eleven plus billion dollars a year in annual revenue. As
the Carolina Journal has reported over the past six months,
and as we have brought you details here on the
Carolina Journal News Hour, the tariffs have had a significant
(01:02):
impact on North Carolina farmers, particularly those that produce and
grow things like tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, which are
some of the state's largest agricultural commodities. According to a
report out from The New York Times, the President is
reportedly going to be doing quote some farm stuff this week,
that being reported by The Times on October the sixth,
(01:26):
Reuters also highlighting reports from US Treasury Secretary in Scott
Bessett that also the administration will announce some farm aid
this week. According to the vice president of General Economics
at the Cato Institute, they told The New York Times
that's Scott Lincolm quote. We have an export dependent industry.
We've angered its biggest customer and boom, now we're bailing
(01:49):
out an export dependent industry. Republican lawmakers believe that American
farmers could see as much as a fifty billion dollars
in federal aid, according to the New York Times reporting.
Many agricultural experts see this as a repeat of what
happened in twenty eighteen, when the Trump administration imposed wide,
sweeping in broad tariffs on China, leading to similar blowback.
(02:14):
At that period of time, American farmers were given a
twelve billion dollar bailout in response to trade damage from
unjustified retaliation by foreign nations, according to data from the USDA.
Now Here in North Carolina, Steve Troxler, who is the
Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, He told
(02:34):
The Carolina Journal quote, I am happy to hear that
President Trump is considering aid for farmers who have become
targets in broader global trade negotiations. The Agricultural Commissioner went
on to say, we all depend on farmers to feed us,
and we need them to be able to continue to
produce food and fiber. Farmers are hurting right now financially,
(02:57):
and we could see many go out of business with
this assistance. The last time we went through this with trade,
President Donald Trump was very good at looking at farmers,
and we certainly hope that happens this time as well.
The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China are
primarily blamed for the impact that they have had on
the agricultural community, not only in North Carolina but across
(03:21):
the state, especially soybean farmers, which is one of North
Carolina's top five cash crops. In twenty twenty three, China
was the largest importer of American agricultural products. Accounting for
this is a major number, seventeen percent of the total
seventeen percent of every agricultural product in North Carolina China
(03:42):
was importing into their economy. According to data from the
United States Department of Agriculture, a significant percentage and portion there.
Kelly Lester, policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told
The Carolina Journal another round of farm bailouts might make
for good politics, but it's bad economically, following up that
by saying these payments don't solve the problem. They paper
(04:06):
over the damage caused by the administration's own tariffs. North
Carolina farmers, like growers across the country, don't want handouts.
They want access to markets. The real relief would be
ending the trade war and letting farmers compete freely. One
of the remaining questions is how the bailout will be funded.
In the twenty eighteen bailout, it was funded through the
(04:28):
Commodity Credit Cooperation, a federal corporation within the USDA that
currently is depleted. Trump indicated in a truth Social post
back on October first that the bailout would in fact
be funded in part by revenue from tariffs, saying, quote,
we have made so much money on tariffs that we
are going to take a small portion of that money
(04:51):
and help our farmers. In all caps, I will never
let our farmers down again. We are expecting that announcement
here in the next day or or two from the administration,
at least, according to reporting from both Reuters and The
New York Times. You can read some additional details this
morning on our story by visiting our website Carolina Journal
(05:11):
dot com. The headline there, White House to announce bailout
for American farmers. In some other agricultural news, the United
States Department of Agriculture is soon to roll out its
fall regulatory agenda, but reforming the National Environmental Policy Act,
also known as NEPA, will likely have the most significant
(05:32):
impact on farmers, according to Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden of
the US Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA Farm
Service Agency website, the NEPA requires all federal agencies to
consider the effects of their projects and programs on the environment.
(05:53):
The Farm Service Agency complies with ANYPA by completing an
environmental review prior to approving a project or program. This
type of review that is completed depends on the size
and the project or program. Carolina Journal recently had the
opportunity to ask the Deputy Secretary what regulatory reforms that
(06:15):
the USDA is looking at, and while Vaden indicated that
he didn't want to reveal too much ahead of the
fall regulatory agenda. He did tell the Carolina Journal that
the USDA would be getting out of the way of
farmers and highlighted any PA reforms as one of the
key reforms being examined by USDA. Vaden told Carolina Journal,
(06:37):
there can be dozens of pages of environmental review that
apply to a single loan to a single farmer and
that has seen as legally required. You can imagine, with
as many loans as USDA issues on an annual basis,
how many pages of analysis that adds up to and
even worse for farmers like those involved in livestock here
(06:58):
in North Carolina. It has given rise to lawsuits in
federal court whereby environmental groups have sought to stop loans
to individual animal agricultural operations. When conducting environmental reviews of
its projects or programs, the Farm Service Agency evaluates their
impacts on broad ranges of natural resources, as well as
(07:21):
on areas of special concern, including potential effects on minority
and low income populations, according to USDA. However, according to
the Deputy Secretary in Vaden, under the Supreme Court's recent precedent,
precedent narrowing the scope of any PA, and through the
regulations that the USDA is implementing in coordination with their
(07:45):
federal partners, ANYPA will now be applied strictly according to
statutes as written, rather than expanded through the decades of interpretation.
In practice, this means that they can deliver funding, loans
and assistance to farmers more quickly without requiring them to
wait for extensive paperwork or lengthy legal analysis on single
(08:09):
routine loans. John Sanders, who is the director of the
Center for Food, Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation, said,
quote any PA has long been used as a proxy
environmental policy tool, which is well beyond its original scope
of analyzing possible environmental impacts of major projects and considerable
(08:32):
and considering reasonable alternatives. Through mission creep and judicial expansion,
it has become a way to stop or stemy projects
that environmental organizations oppose. It's done that in several ways,
through cost costly, lengthy paperwork requirements, lawsuits, and focusing on
(08:53):
remote and speculative environmental impacts as opposed to ones that
are easily foreseeable, the impacts not even being closely casual
to the projects or substantial for a project to be denied.
In addition to ANYPA reforms, the USDA's fall agenda will
include nineteen individual regulatory actions in the food and nutrition space,
(09:17):
specifically addressing food stamps. According to Vayden, In addition, reforms
will make it easier to access their rule development leading
lending industries, so some of those individuals will have the
opportunity to get some additional funds and access to some
of those short term loans and lending programs. Back in
(09:37):
twenty twenty, Donald Van Dervart, who currently serves on the
North Carolina Utilities Commission, signed a letter in opposition to ANYPA.
He had previously served as the secretary of the North
Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and at the time of
signing the letter, he did work as an energy researcher
for the John Locke Foundation. We've got a copy of
(09:58):
that over on our w website this morning at Carolina
Journal dot com. This fall regulatory National Environmental Policy Act
could be a major win for farmers, as we just
talked about some of the struggles and issues that they
are dealing with as it relates to tariffs in the
broader economy, getting the federal government. Getting regulatory bodies and
(10:20):
agencies out of the way could be a huge sigh
of relief for those, especially many of the small and
medium sized family or community farms that exist throughout the
state of North Carolina. We'll keep our eye on the
United States Department of Agriculture. When this announcement is made,
We'll bring you the details right here on the Carolina
Journal News Hour and over on our website Carolina Journal
(10:44):
dot com.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
It's five point twenty two.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven,
ten ninety nine.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
To three WBT.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
The federal government shutdown is officially it's eighth day this morning.
On here we are Wednesday, October the eighth, with seemingly
no viable signs of a budget deal between Democrats and
Republicans yet. Early morning press conferences yesterday from a House
A speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated
(11:20):
that there was no negotiations, no talks going on between
the two different parties. President Donald Trump, speaking at the
White House yesterday, threatened that some furloughed federal workers might
not receive back pay when Congress eventually agrees on a
funding package going forward, with the President saying, quote, We're
going to take care of our people. However, there are
(11:43):
some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of,
and we'll take care of them in a different way.
As for what's going on on the Democrats side of
the Aisle House, a minority leader and Hakim Jeffries has
ruled out a potential off ramp for the shutdown when
he told reporters on Tuesday that a one year extension
of American Care Act subsidies was a quote non starter
(12:06):
and a quote laughable position. Even though President Donald Trump
has told people like Jefferies and a Senate Minority leader
Chuck Schumer that he is willing to negotiate and willing
to negotiate and willing to discuss healthcare subsidies and everything
surrounding the healthcare industry. However, the discussion and the willingness
(12:29):
for the President to talk does not seem to be
enough for the minority leader in the House to move forward.
So as we sit here on day eight, a couple
of things that you need to be aware of, the
Social Security Administration will continue to issue retirement and disability benefits. However,
it is slated to furlough twelve percent of its staff
(12:49):
and pause marketing campaigns according to the agency's shutdown plans
that were filed last week, and payments will likewise continue
under the Medicare and Medicare health programs, so NOAH impacts
to Social Security or Medicare Medicaid. From a federal level,
the Post Office that will continue to be operational here
on day eight. As the USPS is a ratepayer funded
(13:14):
entity of the federal government, they generate their revenue from
stamps and shipping packages and things of that nature. They
do not depend on congressional funding for their operation, so
everything good there. However, over to airport things are starting
to get a little bit dicey. More than thirteen thousand
air traffic controllers and about fifty thousand TSA Transportation Security
(13:36):
Administration officers are still required to show up to work
during the shutdown, and according to details from Reuters, controllers
are set to receive a partial paycheck on October the fourteenth,
that is for work performed before the shutdown. A mass
walkout of air traffic controllers and TSA officers could cripple
(13:58):
domestic travel and international tree here in the United States,
and as we get ever closer to the October the
fifteenth deadline, a one week from today, when the next
paychecks are set to be delivered for federal employees, which
would include those air traffic controllers and TSA agents, that
is going to be something to keep a very close
(14:19):
eye on. We've already seen, at least at some airports
some ongoing issues with air traffic controllers walking off the job,
calling in sick, and causing shortages there, meaning that flights
and various travel plans are being delayed. For the military,
the two million active duty military members do remain on
(14:40):
duty and without pay until the budget impatch impass is resolved.
Roughly fifty five percent of the Defense departments seven hundred
and forty plus thousand civilian employees have been furloughed, including
those involved in training, procurement, and administrative support. Civilians working
in cybersecurity, medical care, weapons system maintenance, and intelligence and
(15:04):
logistics are deemed essential employees and are continuing their operation
this morning, Only five percent of the Department of Homeland
Securities two hundred and seventy one thousand workers have been furloughed,
including those involved in research, planning, training and auditing. Secret
Service agents, immigration and border official, airport security screeners, Coast
(15:28):
Guard personnel, and Federal Emergency Management Agency members are all
deemed and considered essential employees. They all remain on the job.
This shutdown is the fifteenth since nineteen eighty one and
is currently on track to become the fourth longest in
US history, elapsing the a six day government shutdown that
(15:49):
happened back in nineteen ninety five. However, I'll remind you
that the longest shutdown lasted thirty five days during Trump's
first term from twenty eighteen to twenty nineteen, So there
is some precedent with this administration for a lengthy government
shut down. Again, as we sit here a week before
paychecks are set to go to those federal employees, it
(16:12):
is something that we are keeping a close eye on.
As we heard yesterday, as I mentioned from a House
Minority leader in Hakeem Jeffreys, that he has called and
said that the White House has been radio silent since
the government shut down last week. The White House Press
Secretary in Caroline Levitt clapped back on that in a
White House Press briefing yesterday, noting that the administration is
(16:33):
open to discussions. However, there's really not a whole lot
to discuss, as what is on the table is a
clean continuing resolution that has been passed by Republicans at
first met the United States House back in mid September.
The Republicans, with the majority they there, were able to
pass it through and it has been stalled in the Senate.
Votes not exactly clear this morning whether more votes are
(16:56):
expected to take place in the United States Senate today
as the impass continues. The votes have been pretty clear,
fifty five in favor, forty five against. That has been
the vote since last Tuesday. We'll keep our eye on
all those details and the impacts here across North Carolina,
especially looking at some of our major airports, looking at
Charlotte and Raleigh. If they start to become some issues there,
(17:20):
We'll keep an eye on it and pass the details
along to you as soon as we get them. Right
here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
It's five thirty five.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven,
ten ninety nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Good Wednesday morning to you.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
While the North Carolina General Assembly is not slated to
be fully back in session until October twentieth. There is
an interesting House committee hearing that is meeting today. Earlier
this year, the North Carolina House established the Committee on
Government Efficiency. If that sounds familiar to you, of course,
(18:01):
earlier this year a lot of discussion at the federal
level about DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, and with
that we had North Carolina lawmakers act on a similar body.
It is a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The chair of
that entity, the two chairs are Representative Keith Kidwell and
Representative John Torbett. Those are the two individuals that are
(18:23):
leading it. However, there is a bipartisan group of individuals
that are on that to both Democrats and Republicans, including
somebody like Representative Carla Cunningham out of Mecklenburg County, who
are set to be meeting in Raleigh today. Their meeting
is scheduled at one pm. Back in January when the
group first met, Representative Torbett said, quote, North Carolinians deserve
(18:48):
a state government that works for them. Unfortunately, our government
agencies and public universities have been bogged down by bad
policies and programs like DEI, limiting their ability to enact
their core purpose. Which is serving citizens. The Governor, Josh Stein,
commented on this entity back earlier this year as well,
(19:08):
saying in a speech quote, people should know that their
tax dollars are being spent well, but let's get it right.
Let's use a scalpel, not a chainsaw. So as the
House Committee is scheduled to meet at one o'clock today,
it is going to be interesting to see what exactly
is going to be discussed. It's not immediately clear what
is on the agenda for that meeting this morning. However,
(19:32):
it is happening in Raleigh today, so as the vast
majority of the General Assembly is not in town, we
are going to be keeping an eye on that committee
hearing meeting. We'll have details coming up later on today
over on our website Carolina Journal dot com, and of
course we'll have the latest for you coming up tomorrow
morning right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where
(19:55):
it's now five thirty eight, News Talk eleven, ten ninety
nine to three WBT. A situation just north of the
Charlotte metro dating back to at least twenty twenty one,
has been the subject of litigation over the last couple
of years to walk us through some of those details.
This morning, Mitch Coki with the John Locke Foundation joins
us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, a hate
(20:16):
crime conviction back a couple of years ago, an appeal
over the last twelve months or so. What are you
tracking in the Concord area.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Well, this is a story that people in the Concord
area are probably aware of. A fellow named Marian Kodak
who was convicted of a federal hate crime in twenty
twenty four and sentenced to forty one months in prison
along with several years of supervised released afterward. And the
latest development is that the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals,
(20:45):
in a unanimous opinion from a three judge panel, has
affirmed that conviction.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
What happened on.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
The appeal was that Kodak said that the trial judge
in the case made a couple of mistakes. One of
them was not allowing evidence into the case, saying that
the problem was not the racial animus of mister Hudact,
but the fact that he suffered from mental illness. That
information was not allowed to be used in the trial.
(21:14):
And the second was that the judge did allow into
the trial the fact that Hudak owned a bunch of
Nazi memorabilia. Originally, the trial judge in this case decided
not to allow that into evidence, but then changed his
mind when Hudak, when talking about this memorabilia, described himself
as a military collector, and the judge decided, well, you know,
(21:37):
this is something that the jury should decide whether this
is something that he was just collected because he is
a history buff or because this is something that's a
symbol of hate and that symbolizes his desire to act
out against people of other races. Now, some of the
facts of the case are of interest as well. The
(21:59):
initial incident that led to a hate crime charge, and
there were two for which he was convicted, But the
initial incident was from twenty twenty one. The next door
neighbor for this defendant in the case is a Hispanic man,
and apparently there's a long train of instances of insults
and racial epithets and threats. But at one point in
(22:20):
twenty twenty one, Hudak, according to the court records, actually
beat the man and threatened to kill him. And then
in twenty twenty two, the second incident involved Hudak and
a black man part they were next to each other
in stopped in traffic, and Hudak opens up his car,
(22:42):
which is covered in Confederate symbols, and hurls a racial
epithet at the man, threatens to beat him up, and
then gets out of his car, punches on the other
guy's car windows several times, and then when the other
man drives off, Hohodac chases him back to his home
says he knows where he lives. He's going to shoot
(23:02):
him and shoot his girlfriend too. So that was the
second hate crime charge. Kudak was convicted of both, and
the latest development is that the Fourth U Circuit Court
of Appeals says the judge did not abuse his discretion
in this case, meaning that those convictions could stand and
that Hudac will have to spend forty one months total
(23:24):
in prison on these federal hate crimes.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
You mentioned mental illness in the original appeal. Going back
to the ongoing litigation that we're covering this morning, Mitch,
we do see that pretty often. In it typically tends
to be more major cases where you've got individuals that
can clearly point to severe mental illness deranged nature that
this drove them to make a horrendous decision. Most of
(23:50):
the time it's murdering somebody else or committing a heinous
act against them. In this case, what did the appeals
court have to say about the mental illness? Why was
that not sufficient enough to to enter into evidence and
used during the trial.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well, there were a couple of actually three reasons. The
first reason was that Hoodeck did not attempt to have
an insanity defense. He didn't try to excuse his behavior
based on the fact that he was insane, So that
kind of threw that under the bus. The other thing,
there are some technical issues. There's something called rules seven
oh two in the rules that were contemplated, and the
(24:30):
Federal appeals Court said that the trial judge got that
right as well. That was not something that Hudac could
use to try to get this evidence in. But I
think one of the main things that was of issue
here is that the evidence that was entered to help
the defendant in this case really didn't say anything about
(24:51):
his mental state at the time of these attacks in
twenty twenty one. In twenty twenty two, this was evidence
that came to light about the state that he was
in when he was examined much later, much after the fact,
and so that was one of the things that the
original judge decided and that the appeals court affirmed, was
(25:12):
that there didn't seem to be any tie in between
the mental health evidence that was presented and the mental
health state that mister Hoodak was in when he actually
was alleged to have committed these crimes. And so that's
what you really would have wanted to know. And one
of the things that Judge Harvey Wilkinson wrote for the
(25:33):
appeals court was, for this particular crime, it doesn't necessarily
matter that there was some mental health issues or even
mental illness. And in fact, he wrote that the fact
that you would attack your next door neighbor probably shows
that you do have some sort of mental illness, but
that doesn't erase the fact that it seems to be
(25:55):
that this attack happened because of racial animus, that if
the next door neighbor had been white, that he would
not have been attacked. The reason that he was attacked
was that he was Hispanic, and that is entirely why
this case is out there. In fact, at one point,
Judge Wilkinson said, the hate crime laws in the United
States are written just for the circumstances like these that
(26:19):
because of the person's race, there is an attack of
this sort, and that's what the hate crimes are designed
to address, he said. And in terms of talking about
the Nazi memorabilia, he said, this is not a First
Amendment case. There is no law that would prevent the
defendant in this case from owning Nazi memorabilia and expressing views,
(26:44):
however odious they might be. But this is a case
about action about an attack. And the reason that you
would put that evidence into play is that it would
help the jury decide whether there was racial animus based
on the fact that he owned the Nazi memorabilia. And
as I said, it was a close call. The trial
judge originally was not going to allow that evidence in,
(27:07):
but only allowed it in after Khudac tried to say
that he was not motivated by racial animus, but that
he was a history buff and collected military items, and
the judge decided, well, this is something the jury should
really decide. The jury took all of the evidence and
decided he should be convicted.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Mitch, has the defendant been in a prison since this
appeal has been going on. How do you know the
status of this individual.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
I actually don't know the status. I assumed that he
has been so if so, that would mean that he's
probably served about a year of his what he's a
three and a half year sentence. I don't know whether
he's been out or not, but if not, then that
means he would start the three and a half years.
If he has been in, he probably has about two
and a half years ago, which will be followed then
(27:55):
by another three years of supervised release.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
It's a sad story by Mitch. Thanks for bringing it
to our attention this morning. Unfortunate situation unfolding in Concord
over the last three or four years. You can read
some additional coverage this morning over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com. Mitch Coochi from the John Locke Foundation
joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again,
(28:21):
it's five point fifty two. Welcome back to the Carolina
Journal News Hour, News Talk eleven, ten ninety nine to
three WBT. A lot of things that we are keeping
an eye on today. Day eight of the federal government
shutdown does continue in Washington, DC. No major impact on
services yet. However, as we talked about earlier this morning,
(28:43):
keeping an eye on the calendar. One week from today,
October fifteenth is when paychecks are set to go out
to federal employees where they're a second pay period of
the month. They just got paid one week ago, back
on October the first, So it's gonna be an interesting
thing to keep an eye on. There some reports across
the country of some air traffic controllers calling in sick
(29:04):
and walking off the job, at least temporarily. Not immediately
clear what those impacts are here in North Carolina, however,
that is something we are keeping an eye and we'll
keep you up to date over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com and right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour in some statewide news things that we're going
to be tracking today as well. The House Select Committee
(29:24):
on Government Efficiency is set to meet in Raleigh today.
The full General Assembly is expected to be back on
October the twentieth, coming up here in just a couple
of weeks, but this Government Efficiency meeting will be happening
at one o'clock today in Raleigh. This entity was formed
earlier this year by the Republican led General Assembly and
(29:46):
well baked right into the name Committee on Government Efficiency,
paralleling some of the work ongoing at the federal level
with DOJE, the Department of Government Efficiency. This House Select
Committee is tasked with overlooking the officiiciency of taxpayer dollars
that are given to a variety of state entities and agencies.
(30:06):
It is important to note that this is a bipartisan group.
There are both Democrats and Republicans that are sitting members
on this committee, so they will be meeting today. We'll
be keeping an eye on that coverage as well again
Carolina Journal dot Com and right here on the Carolina
Journal News Hour in some statewide news or a story
this morning that could have some major statewide implications. In
(30:30):
the midst of this ongoing government shutdown, the White House
is expected any day to announce a bailout for American farmers.
That's as farmers have been impacted by rising inflation as
well as the Trump Administration's ongoing tariff war. This is
especially important in North Carolina as agriculture is the state's
(30:51):
number one industry. It generates a whopping one hundred and
eleven point one billion dollars in annual revenue. And as
we have and walking you through the details over the
last six months or so, Some of the ongoing tariff
battles have had a significant impact on North Carolina farmers,
particularly those that produce tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, as
(31:16):
those are some of the state's largest agricultural commodities and
they are exported to countries all over the globe. The
New York Times is reporting that the President is slated
to act on some sort of farm bailout this week.
Reuters also reporting something similar. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen
also saying that the administration would be announcing some of
(31:39):
that far made this week, So two different sources indicating
that that is going to be happening, as many agricultural
experts see what is going on right now as a
repeat of happs what happened in twenty and eighteen. That's
when the Trump administration imposed wide, sweeping tariffs on China
during his first administration, leading to similar blowback in international trade.
(32:04):
At that time, American farmers were given a twelve a
billion dollar bailout according to the USDA that was in
response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation by foreign nations.
Here in North Carolina, the Commissioner of the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture Steve Troxler told The Carolina Journal quote,
(32:26):
I am happy to hear that President Trump is considering
aid for farmers who have become targets in broader global
trade negotiations. He went on to say, we all depend
on farmers to feed us, and we need them to
be able to continue to produce food, and farmer farmers
are hurting right now financially, and we could see many
(32:46):
go out of business without assistance. The last time we
went through this with trade, President Trump was very good
at looking after farmers. We certainly hope that happens this
time too. Ending the quote there from a commissioner at
trucks Alur, the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on
China are primarily blamed for the impacts that they've had
(33:07):
on the American agricultural industry, especially soybean farmers, which is
one of North Carolina's top cash crops. In twenty twenty three,
China was the largest importer of American agricultural products, accounting
for a whopping seventeen percent of the total, according to
data from the United States Department of Agriculture. Again, that
(33:30):
announcement is expected really any day. Here you can read
some additional coverage on that story by visiting our website
This Morning Carolina Journal dot com. That's going to do
it for a Wednesday edition. WBT News is next, followed
by Good morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning,
five to six, right here on Newstalk eleven, ten and
ninety nine three WBT
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.