Being as Tuesday is the national election, Pacific Food Distributors brings you a special election break from our normal market news blogging. Today we will look at how each candidate would potentially affect the food industry, as well as a look at who different groups are supporting.
Here are several key food issues and the candidates views on them. These are taken directly from their own campaign websites, JohnMcCain.com and BarackObama.com
On Ethanol and gas prices:
John McCain Believes Alcohol-Based Fuels Hold Great Promise As Both An Alternative To Gasoline And As A Means of Expanding Consumers' Choices. Some choices such as ethanol are on the market right now. The second generation of alcohol-based fuels like cellulosic ethanol, which won't compete with food crops, are showing great potential.
Barack Obama's site does not actually mention ethanol, but here are two of his points on gas prices:
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will close energy industry market loopholes and increase transparency to prevent traders from unfairly lining their pockets, while driving up oil prices at the expense of the American people.
With oil prices doubling in the past year, Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we have an economic emergency that requires a limited, responsible swap of light oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for heavy crude oil to help bring down prices at the pump.
On government intervention and farmers:
John McCain:
Reducing the estate tax rate to 15 percent and permitting a generous $10 million exemption to enable farmers and ranchers to pass along their heritage to the next generation.
- Low individual tax rates
- Access to capital from low tax rates on dividends and capital gains
- Limiting the unnecessary intervention of government regulations that severely alter or limit the ability of the family farm to produce efficiently
- Improved investment and research incentives to ensure that farmers and ranchers have access to the most modern technology
- Bringing the budget to balance, reducing federal borrowing, and controlling spending to reduce the burden on the economy
- Providing a responsible safety net for farmers when they're confronted with natural disasters and inadvertent government policies that adversely affect markets and the farmer's ability to produce
- Strong Safety Net for Family Farmers: Obama and Biden will fight for farm programs that provide family farmers with stability and predictability. They will implement a $250,000 payment limitation so that we help family farmers — not large corporate agribusiness. They will close the loopholes that allow mega farms to get around the limits by subdividing their operations into multiple paper corporations.
- Prevent Anticompetitive Behavior Against Family Farms: Obama is a strong supporter of a packer ban. When meatpackers own livestock they can manipulate prices and discriminate against independent farmers. Obama and Biden will strengthen anti-monopoly laws and strengthen producer protections to ensure independent farmers have fair access to markets, control over their production decisions, and transparency in prices.
Who are people in the food industry supporting?
Newsmeat.com has a breakdown of CEO contributions. Here are some of the top contributors and who they are supporting:
Contributions to John McCain:
John Tyson Tyson Foods chairman, CEO
Steven Reinemund, Pepsico chairman, ceo
David Brandon, Domino's Pizza ceo
Contributors to Barack Obama:
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks
James Sinegal, Costco ceo
Beyond individual campaigns, there are also Political Action Committees where corporations group together and support a common cause. Opensecret.org has a breakdown of agribusiness contributions:
| Total Amount: | $17,861,045 | |
| Total to Democrats: | $8,442,912 | (47%) |
| Total to Republicans: | $9,412,633 | (53%) |
| Number of PACs making contributions: | 260 |
Agricultural Services/Products: $3,650,326  45% to Dems / 55% to Repubs |
| Crop Production & Basic Processing: $5,197,119 62% to Dems / 38% to Repubs |
| Dairy: $1,978,925 46% to Dems / 54% to Repubs |
| Food Processing & Sales: $2,712,028 35% to Dems / 65% to Repubs |
| Forestry & Forest Products: $1,342,359 39% to Dems / 61% to Repubs |
| Livestock: $745,862 48% to Dems / 52% to Repubs |
| Poultry & Eggs: $518,921 51% to Dems / 49% to Repubs |
| Tobacco: $1,715,505 35% to Dems / 65% to Repubs |
You can visit their page and see a further breakdown of where and to who those donations were made.
What food industry issues do you hope the next president will tackle in their administration? Is this election outcome crucial to your long-term business plan? Let us know in the comment section below!
