When the Center for Rural Affairs takes on a tough issue, we set our position based on honest evaluation guided by our values. And then we fight hard. Sometimes that angers friends who hold strong partisan allegiances.

We’ve drawn sharp criticism from some Republican partisans over our support for health reform and climate change legislation. Two years ago, we were under fire from some Democratic partisans over our criticism of congressional Democrats for continuing big payments to mega farms. We expect the heat. And while we don’t like to disappoint friends, we are determined to put principle over party, intellectual honesty over ideology.

In each of these instances, we were guided by our statement of values – values that reflect the best in rural America and the true interest of rural people. We believe strongly that basing policy on these values serves the common good.

These values include fairness – which requires that all who contribute to the nation’s prosperity share in it; genuine opportunity – for people who work hard to build wealth and security wherever they live; and widespread ownership by those who work – because our communities are stronger when assets are held in many hands and those who work enjoy the fruits of their labor.

We value conscience that balances self interest with a commitment to the common good; personal responsibility to conduct our private affairs with integrity; and social responsibility as citizens of our community, nation and mankind. We value stewardship and our responsibility to leave the land to the next generation as well as we received it.

Our moral responsibility to the next generation to leave this earth as well as we received it is why we are working for climate change legislation. The overwhelming majority of the world’s leading climate scientists have concluded that human actions are likely causing climate change, and the potential consequences are catastrophic.

We are working for health reform because 20 percent annual increases in insurance premiums are closing opportunities for small businesses and family farms. Many must choose between being in business and having health insurance.

It’s unfair when folks who’ve paid for insurance for years are suddenly denied coverage because they get too sick or lose their job. It is an affront to our conscience and sense of responsibility to our neighbors when 18,000 Americans die each year, according to the U.S. Institute of Medicine, because they don’t have insurance and wait too long to see a doctor.

Commitment to values must be accompanied by hard-headed analysis of what works. So we do our homework to find practical solutions. We also recognize that reasonable people of conscience can engage in an honest evaluation of issues and reach different conclusions. So we strive to understand the perspectives of those who disagree. We learn from them, and they help us make better decisions.

But we don’t give much weight to party loyalty or rigid ideology.

Agree or disagree? Send your feedback to Chuck Hassebrook, chuckh@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1018. You can view the Center for Rural Affairs’ values at www.cfra.org/about/values_mission.