VIEW from behind the plow

During a recent dinner outing, we heard someone mention that many residents of California are buying tracts of land in Texas.

We wondered if that indicated they were working to gain Texas voting rights, attempting to flip a “red” state (conservative) to “blue” (Democrat), or if they are looking for a place they can go when California completes its transition to Baja Venezuela. New York and several other coastal states are on the same path.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said recently that while some major corporations are fleeing the high taxes and anti-business policies imposed by the leftist states, some of those companies are attempting to change the policies of the states they are planning to move to, making them bluer.

He wrote:

“A lot of these top firms can’t stand the conservative laws that make their new homes so successful.

AllianceBernstein, another firm fleeing the Empire State’s stifling economy, just announced that it’s relocating its $70 million headquarters to Nashville. But before it moves, the CEO is warning Tennessee: It’s not a fan of religious liberty. And AllianceBernstein is proving it by fighting the state’s faith-based adoption bill.

“AB chose to move to Tennessee because we believe it is a welcoming state that is focused on growing jobs, incomes, and the tax base,” Chief Operating Officer Jim Gingrich said in a statement. But, “the bills being debated in the current session of the legislature send a clear message to certain constituencies that they are not welcome. Other states have tried to pass similar bills,” he claims, ‘and this has proven to be anti-growth, anti-job, and against the interests of the citizens of those states.’

“Is that so? Because the last time financial experts checked, the most socially conservative states also happened to be the most prosperous. For years, places like North Carolina (No. 1), Texas (No. 3), and Georgia (No.

6) have topped Forbes’s Best States for Business list—despite high-profile campaigns for privacy, religious liberty, and life.

Perkins then added:

“What these liberal CEOs don’t understand is that these favorable business climates only come from conservative legislators who understand that real freedom leads to economic growth. That’s why these red states are so enticing to companies, because their social values haven’t just built a foundation for workforce and family success—but thriving corporations, too.

The left loves to throw around this stale talking point that fighting for conservative values hurts states. Hardly! In the aftermath of the fiercest bathroom fight ever in North Carolina, nothing the liberals predicted came to pass. Even after a string of canceled concerts and celebrity boycotts, the Tar Heels are  thriving. More than two years after the law, more businesses are moving to North Carolina than away from it.

“‘The outlook is also strong. Job growth and gross state product growth are expected to rank among the strongest in the country over the next five years,’  Forbes points out. As for all of those people moving out of the state because it dared to protect women and children? ‘The population is growing twice as fast as the U.S. average … ‘

“Why? Because in states where the social structure is better, you don’t need as much government interference. There’s less regulation, more freedom, and lower taxes in places like Tennessee (No. 13). But companies like AllianceBernstein can’t have it both ways.

“Too many of these corporate refugees are relocating and trying to impose their extreme politics on their new homes. If conservative states want to keep their economies competitive, they need to make it clear: Businesses can either embrace the social structure that leads to growth and opportunity, or they can do what most Americans would prefer—and stay out of politics all together.

If CEOs don’t like those options, tell them to go back to the high-regulation, high-tax states from which they come.”

A really bad prediction

Early in May when area grain fields began to change color from green to gold, we wrote in this space that a month from that time there would be few unharvested fields left a month from that time.

Were we ever wrong.

Due to continued heavy rains, the harvest start was delayed.

While it is under way now, a number of county fields still have standing water.

Farmers are hoping for some sun and dry weather to salvage their year’s work. Some have gone from seeing a promise of a good crop to hoping they can harvest a crop at all.

It is ridiculous to make any prediction where weather plays a part in the outcome.

We remember the words of a wise man in Harmon County, M.B. Dixon, who commented that wheat can promise more and give less and promise less and give more than any other crop.

That surely seems to be the case this year.

Harvesters may be putting “rice tires” on their combines to get across soggy fields as they did during a similar harvest season several years ago. We were told last week that was in 2007. Doesn’t seem possible it could have been that long ago.

Farmers have to be a tough breed to face all the challenges they face year after year – another way of saying “farming ain’t for sissies.”

If they didn’t love it, they couldn’t stand it.

Early harvest reports indicate a bountiful crop of quality grain.

Our best wishes go out to them as they slog through another challenging harvest season.