Blogs at the Washington Post, USA Today and other sources are reporting that Obama's transition team will announce the selection of former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture. The WaPo notes:
Reached at his Iowa law office this afternoon, Vilsack declined to confirm that he had been selected for the job. But a Democratic official said he has been picked to lead the sprawling Department of Agriculture, which develops and executes the nation's policies on farming and food safety.
While some purists who want an immediate end to the production and subsidy f biofuels, GMO crops and conventional farming using agrichemicals may object to the selection of Vilsack, we think he's a good choice who understands Midwestern farming and rural economic development, especially in the renewable energy sector.
According to our friends at the Center for Rural Affairs, Vilsack has favored:
. . .reforming farm programs; especially making farm program payment limits more effective, reducing subsidies to the nation's largest farms and investing the savings in conservation, rural development, nutrition, etc.
while favoring crucial livestock market reforms. We wholeheartedly agree with his policy ideas here. The CFRA article also discusses his support for biotech, troublesome to some activists, though not so much an area of concern for us. Go read the entire piece at CFRA for the details. Overall, we're very pleased with the president-elect's choice.
This should be a good fit for most Southern Minnesotans working in the agricultural sector, though the folks at Wonkette might still be a bit logo-phobic.
Update: Political Base's Mark Nicholas interviewed Vilsack in October and posted the in-depth '10 Questions' With Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. An excellent piece for those who wish to get to know Vilsack.
Obama should get high marks for his choice of Vilsack. Since leaving the IA governship, he has been promoting renewable energy. He understands wind as well as the whole biofuels industry ... plus he has traveled to China ... he even understands the need to improve CAFE standards. I bet that Congressman Walz and Governor Vilsack have had more than a few casual conversations. And being a Governor, he understands the food stamps program and how critical the farm industry is.
IMO, this is Obama's best cabinet selection. I cringed when I read that Obama was considering Rep. JoAnne Emerson (R-MO) for the job ... she admits that she doesn't know anything about farming. You may remember that she was Gutknecht's partner in his efforts to reimport drugs.
Posted by: MinnesotaCentral | December 16, 2008 at 09:55 PM