Rural America is being ignored, again

It has been remarkable how quickly the “buzz” about rural voters and their electoral impact has faded. Many Main Street advocates, myself included, predicted the super-majority of rural voters who carried Donald Trump to victory would prompt a policy spotlight that would shine brightly on small towns and rural spaces. After all, without rural voters there would be no President Donald Trump.Then, the incoming administration waited until the day before the inauguration to announce an Agriculture secretary-nominee. Earlier, a biofuels skeptic was nominated to run the EPA, which oversees the Renewable Fuel Standard.Now, to add insult to injury, Trump has proposed $29 billion in cuts to crop insurance that create a yuge (huge) hole in the producer safety net! This will leave farmers without options in bad crop years caused by changing weather. All the while, eliminating locally led conservation efforts on farms and ranches and limiting programs that provide hunting and fishing opportunities on private lands.Trump Republican cuts to agriculture and rural economic development programs will eliminate rural business programs that have supported more than 800,000 jobs in the last eight years. He proposes ending rural energy programs that help small businesses on Main Street save on energy costs — and that’s before the proposed cuts to Medicaid under Trumpcare-AHCA.