Why is Trump Picking on Farmers?

You're Probably Getting Screwed

Welcome to You’re Probably Getting Screwed, a weekly newsletter and video series from J.D. Scholten and Justin Stofferahn about the Second Gilded Age and the ways economic concentration is putting politics and profits over working people.

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You don’t have to be a farmer to worry about what the Trump administration is doing to farmers. We all eat.

It's only been a few weeks but the Trump administration has hurt farmers in 3 different ways.

Tariffs - Remember the first Trump administration where we borrowed money from China to pay farmers NOT to sell their products to China?

You might just say “Won’t Trump bail them out again?” Well, A) if the House Republicans get their way, they’re going to restrict the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), which was the fund that paid farmers last time. B) The U.S. has become an unreliable supplier. As a result, countries, like China, are going to South America. Just look at Brazil’s soybean exports since Trump was initially in office.

And oh yeah, a lot of the same multinational corporations that send U.S. grain to China are the same ones that send South American grain to China… There’s no loyalty to the American farmer there.

USAID - With Elon Musk attacking the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and President Trump going along with it, they are putting in danger about $2 billion worth of U.S. commodity purchases annually.

Funding Freezes - Despite assurances from the Trump administration that programs helping farmers would not be affected in the government overhaul, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has frozen some funding for farmers.

A lot of the frozen funding comes from the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump literally signed into law!

Oh by the way, farm subsidies are probably next. You don’t have to take my word for it. It’s all in Project 2025!

But what does all of this mean? Family farms will continue to go under, corporations will take over, which will lead to more expensive and unhealthy food for us all.

YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:

Healthcare

This video of Dr. Marty Makary, President Trump’s pick to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is making the rounds.

https://www.instagram.com/martymakary/reel/DARj5WOy1Wo/

Ok!!!

Elon Musk

Shocking that the “world’s richest man” lacks compassion.

Also Elon Musk

After dismantling USAID, Musk has turned his sights on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency created by Elizabeth Warren following the financial crisis to protect consumers. While Musk and other Big Tech and Big Bank billionaires will claim this move is about corruption or unnecessary bureaucracy, the real reason is much more obvious.

As Matt Stoller wrote in BIG, “...we could see big tech, either Google, Meta, Amazon, or perhaps X, serving as your credit card, payroll provider, and debt collector, all in one.” If you thought Wall Street couldn’t get any worse, wait until Silicon Valley tech bros have the run of the place.

Lack of paid leave

Speaking of compassion…

Data Centers

This headline out of Minnesota perfectly captures the insanity of the tax giveaways Big Tech receives for building data centers. Unfortunately, Minnesota is hardly alone in lighting money on fire to benefit our tech overlords.

Music Monopolies

The Black Keys gave a revealing interview to Rolling Stone where the group discusses the grip Ticketmaster and LiveNation has over live music and the intimidation and fear that comes with that, even for prominent artists.

Big Business

One way to quantify the decline of small businesses is by the shrinking number of people working for them. A majority of Americans used to work for small businesses but today they primarily work at larger firms, helping reveal how big business has profited at the expense of their smaller competitors in recent decades.

SOME GOOD NEWS

Virginia passes PBM reform

The Virginia legislature has passed the Save Local Pharmacies Act, which would bring reform and greater oversight to the pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) that administer prescription drug benefits for Medicaid patients in the state, and are a driving force behind the decline of independent pharmacies.

FTC new merger forms

While it might seem bureaucratic, new merger filing requirements have gone into effect at the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice that will give enforcers a closer look at “roll-up schemes by private equity, stealth acquisitions by big tech firms and financial subsidies from China and certain other countries.

Proposals to cut costs

FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya sent a letter to chair Andrew Ferguson with a list of ideas on how the commission could help the Trump Administration address the cost of living crisis.

BEARS Act

An Illinois state legislator has introduced a bill that would tie stadium subsidies to team performance. While we should just ditch the millions in taxpayer handouts we give billionaire team owners, this is a clever twist on at least creating some greater accountability.

DOJ Blocks Mega Merger

The Department of Justice has filed to block Hewlett Packard’s proposed acquisition of upstart rival Juniper. The DOJ action argues that the combination between the second and third largest wireless network providers in the US would reduce necessary competition, pointing to how Hewlett has been forced to cut prices because of Juniper’s entry into the industry.

BEFORE YOU GO

Before you go, I need two things from you: 1) if you like something, please share it on social media or the next time you have coffee with a friend. 2) Ideas, if you have any ideas for future newsletter content please comment below. Thank you.

Standing Tall for All,

J.D. Scholten