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Peggy Korth wrote from Texas about our “questions for candidates,” presented in the May Newsletter. We suggested they be used in seeking commitments from future elected officials to support critical rural policy reforms. She shared the questions with a gubernatorial candidate – except one.

She disagreed with our point on taxing large estates of wealthy people to prevent excessive concentration of land and wealth and to somewhat level the playing field in competition for land and markets between rich heirs and ordinary beginning farmers and business people.

In Peggy’s view, a level playing field is not reality. “What needs to be level is the lack of government intervention or government support. …. Government’s ability to support small business innovation has become distorted to include ‘partners’ and ‘academia.’ The problem is not with the wealthy, it is with government and government being bought out by under-the-table payoffs. Ethics are an issue. Morality is an issue. Wealth is not.

Contact: Chuck Hassebrook, chuckh@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1018.