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Show Page 4 December, Utah Farm Bureau News Respect for law Responsible citizens the concept that ours We must emphasize properly constituted throughout the nation should protect is a government of laws, not of men. adherence to laws and respect for authorities. Lawlessness of many types is prevalent in the United States. Some Supreme Court decisions provide greater protection to the accused than to society. These make the task of law enforcement more difficult. We condemn the acts of those who incite or participate in riots, defile the flag, or burn draft cards. We recognize the right of citizens to dissent, but protests and demonstrations should not interfere with the rights of others and must not be permitted to deteriorate into civil disorder and anarchy. Each individual should be held liable for his acts when participating in or inciting such disorders. We favor stricter enforcement of laws protecting private and public property, both rural and urban, from losses due to riots, vandalism, and looting and urge prosecution of offenders. Our campuses must be returned to their traditional role as centers of reason and intellectual pursuit. Student activists, extremists, and the faculty members who support them in lawlessness or interference with the orderly operation of educational institutions have forfeited any right to remain in the educational community. They should be summarily expelled and dismissed and if necessary put under peace bond not to return. Any who demonstrate in sympathy with those who have been removed should be suspended or expelled depending on their actions. non-stude- nt Loyalty oath GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION We are in favor of retaining the approved USDA concept instead of government reorganization under a different federal scholarships would be required to swear allegiance to the United States and to file affidavits stating that they do not support or belong to any organizations which advocate the overthrow of the government of the United States. We recommend a federal law requiring a loyalty oath for an individual to be eligible for employment in a U.S. defense plant or as a teacher in the public school system or in a state college or university. Patriotism We abhor the continuous deficit spending of the Federal Government and insist that spending be held in line with revenues. We further feel that the President and the Congress be held responsible for such deficits and that programs be regulated to the extent that the budget does in fact become balanced. practicing flag etiquette in the schools. NATIONAL ISSUES RENT SUBSIDIES AND LOW RENT HOUSING We believe payments to offset low rent housing should be carefully reviewed. We are opposed to rent subsidies. Farm Bureau which would allow a deduction from the federal personal income tax liability to be applied to state tax liability. In turn, the states would assume responsibility for state welfare and primary and secondary education. We favor tax credits as proposed by WELFARE PROGRAMS We recommend that the following standard be adopted for welfare programs: 1. That recipients work for benefits where able to do so. 2. Careful review of qualifications of welfare recipients. Those who are physically able to work should be required to participate in rehabilitation programs or face losing their welfare assistance. Reduce the percentage of funds spent for administration. 4. Exploration of the possibility of administering new programs through existing institutions instead of creating 3. That solutions come through private enterprise whenever possible for building individual initiative and into taxpayers. changing 6. Persons unemployed by reason of strikes or whose refusal to accept employment should not be qualified for welfare payments. People who are on strike are not to be included in unemployment statistics. 7. We support the food stamp program as a means of helping those really in need. Tliis program is now administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and should be continued under this Department with emphasis on nutrition. tax-eate- rs procedures for distribution of food stamps. Criteria established for eligibility and right of payment should be manageable and assure that only needy people participate. REVENUE SHARING Congress has passed a revenue sharing bill during 1972 which will distibute large sums of money to all units of local and state government for a period of five years. This was done over the objection of Farm Bureau. We still maintain this to be unwise legislation and will lead to economic dependence of local governments on the defunct federal treasury. We would hope that at the first opportunity we may use our influence to shift this program to a form of tax credits. In the meantime we call on all citizens to see that the money so appropriated to various units of government be wisely used so as to avoid the pyramiding of dependence on federal grants. PAYMENTS IN LIEU OF TAXES a stand to in social the increase security taxes and We recommend that Farm Bureau take discourage benefits, and that medicare and retirement funds be separated in collection, maintenance and disbursement so that the publics social security contributions will be protected. We favor allowing the option of putting the payments equivalent to the social security into approved private retirement programs. SUBSIDIES Be it resolved that the Public should be made aware of all subsidies that are given through government programs, not just subsidies paid to the farmers. FEDERAL AID We board. are in favor located. Extraordinary benefits and burdens should be treated separately and payments made accordingly. cooperatives; providing the producer members with decision making power as to production and marketing needs of individual producers and producer organizations. We favor the principle of land use planning and insist that the use of land be determined on the local level as much as possible. When regulations regarding the use of land are changed or when the usage of any land is changed by administrative officials, sound reasons for the change should be established only after thorough research ami public hearings. We encourage uniformity by all municipalities in a county as regards their long range plans. We oppose the spot zoning of unincorporated areas where it infringes on agricultural pursuits. We also recognize the need for long range planning on a n Federal level, but we are opposed to the of the authority that could be exercised by the Secretary Interior under the Land Use Planning and Assistance Act of 1972. We therefore urge that this act be amended to provide for the appointment of an advisory board made up of individuals selected from regions that may have common interests or problems, and that agriculture be represented on all the advisory boards. The function of this board should be to actually develop the standards and guidelines which should be adopted and administered by the Secretary of the Interior. This would prevent dictatorial decisions from being handed down by one person and would allow for better representation and discussion on the important problem of Federal Land Use Planning. We hold to the basic premise that in all land use decisions, the constitutional rights of private property ownership one-ma- should be held inviolate. WATER POLICY Water being the of the West as well as all other areas makes it necessary to establish sound water policies. We believe that Federal Agencies should abide by state water laws and that Congress should pass legislation requiring such compliance. Such legislation should also require the federal agencies to determine the amount of water that should be reserved to them for use on federal lands and this amount be fixed by statute. Any such reserved water which is not used after a specified date should revert back to the states for development. Compensation should be awarded where federal claims interfere with rights established under state law prior to life-bloo- d 1962. Water rights and canal as regarded property rights. rights-of-wa- y should be WATERWAYS LEGISLATION waterways legislation is being proposed for the state. Such legislation, if not properly drafted, could interfere with and impair the present rights of the water users of this state. Water rights arethe same as property rights. We will oppose any legislation which would prohibit owners from developing waterways, structures, or that would take vested water rights from the owner without his consent and without compensation. CHECK-OFF- S activity for agricultural comare opposed to governmental and modity organizations promotion. We are also opposed to mandatory check-offwhere there is no recourse open to the dona to request a refund of money collected from him. We favor promotion s, FENCE LAW We ask a study be made of the fence law and if applicable, revised to read: Those buying summer homesites in grazing areas should be held responsbile for building and maintaining the fence around that property. are concerned over the present trend to seek and accept federal aid in many of our social and economic functions. We still believe that it is fundamentally sound for local units of government as well as for persons to depend on their own resources to accomplish most worthy activities. Federal aid should be used only when there is no possibility of doing the job with local effort. All information and experience indicates that whenever the federal government has subsidized an activity, it begins to dictate conditions of operation. This is particularly true with respect to aid to our public school program. While we claim that all units of local government should remain free from federal domination we most emphatically defend the right of our schools to be governed by the local We prefer base plans developed by individual dairy So-call- ed of payments in lieu of taxes by the Federal Government for lands owned by it. The payments to states should be conditioned on distribution to those local units of government where the Federal lands are We SOCIAL SECURITY means of obtaining equitable prices for farm produce. LAND USE PLANNING TAX CREDITS We recommend a complete investigation of the present We believe the foundation of a strong, unified America is based on respect, pride, and love of country by its citizens. We encourage a greater effort on the part of adults to set an example which will help instill these qualities in youth. In addition, we favor teaching and We favor marketing and bargaining organizations as a DAIRY BASE PLANS GOVERNMENT SPENDING 5. of the loyalty oath in the National Defense Education Act whereby recipients of MARKETING AND BARGAINING department. new ones. We support 1972 CONSERVATION projects in the State where it will benefit recreation, grazing, game, and improve the water shed on public lands. We support chaining and re-seedi-ng RURAL DEVELOPMENT We recommend that the Farmers Home Administration reverse its encouragement of urban development of rural areas through loaning policies and give priority to preserving the agricultural community. FARM PRODUCT BOYCOTTS We oppose efforts to force farmers to require their employees to join a union by initiating and promoting a boycott of any product in the marketplace. Produce boycotts deny third parties the right to buy and sell. We will assist farmers affected by such boycotts in their efforts to maintain their markets. Boycotts of agricultural products by labor unions effectively foreclose markets for entire commodities whether or not individual producers may be involved in a labor dispute-- or hire any labor at all-a- nd whether or not workers want to join the union. They represent a real threat that only farm produce with union labels will be permitted to move into commerce. Such market pressures can ultimately be directed towards the compulsory organization of farmers. We recognize product boycotts as market seizures that have assumed many of the characteristics of social revolution directed at the destruction of the market system itself. Elements of the boycott leadership have openly called for land reform patterned after the lines of Latin American confiscation of private property. We believe agriculture and the nation must awaken to this peril which begins with an assault on farmers markets and can end in the destruction of our market economy. |