Book it back to the Senate

The enormous pool of democratic candidates for the office of President of the United States is finally shrinking. The infighting is getting worse, and even the two socialists have thrown down the gauntlet.

The self-proclaimed vegan, Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey, is the latest dropout. 

Booker failed to qualify for the latest democratic debate and said, “there was no longer a path to victory.”

During the climate change democratic town hall in September, Booker heavily criticized livestock production in America, even accusing producers of not being transparent and polluting low-income communities.

This should make voters question if Senator Booker has been to an actual farm in his life.

In December, Booker introduced a bill to prohibit all new concentrated animal feeding operations, as well as close existing CAFOs by January 2040. That’s only twenty years away!

Do you have 700 dairy cows? Sorry, you’re out of business! How about 1,000 head of cattle? Say good-bye to that multi-generation ranch.

Don’t freak out just yet. This bill is going absolutely nowhere in the U.S. Senate. But, it is terrifying to think of someone with this mindset sitting in the Oval Office.

Upon reading Booker’s “Building Wealth and Opportunity in Rural America” plan on his campaign website, I learned he has many bills related to agriculture and rural America already introduced in the Senate. That’s where they should stay, because they are on the verge of crazy and demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of production agriculture.

His rural America plans are heavy on ambitious dreams and short on details.

Aside from performing poorly in the democratic presidential polls, there is no doubt that Senator Booker was chomping at the bit to sit in the Senate chamber for President Trump’s impeachment trial. The Senate portion of impeachment starts the day after Martin Luther King Jr. day.

If the trial models former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, it could last well over a month. At that time, all legislative action in the U.S. Senate comes to a complete standstill.

But, that’s no different than the norm here in Washington.

However, the impeachment trial gives an opportunity for congressional staff to get a lot of work done. Because their bosses are stuck in the Senate chamber all day during the trial, staffers have more time to focus on legislation that has been put on the backburner.

I’m hopeful the silver lining of the impeachment trial will be a flood of legislation passing the Senate after the trial ends.

The impeachment trial will also pull four more senators away from the presidential campaign trail. Senators Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders from Vermont, Michael Bennet from Colorado, and Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota will have to be back in Washington throughout the duration of the trial.

It’ll be interesting to see how their absence from the campaign trail affects the polls.

Editor’s note: Seymour Klierly writes Washington Whispers for the Journal from inside the Beltway.