Krikorian talks farming
Rural Life Conference meets with Congressional candidate
By BRETT ROLLER
Staff writer
ARNHEIM - Independent Candidate for Congress David Krikorian met with members of the Rural Life Conference of the St. Martin Deanery at St. Mary’s Church in Arnheim Monday, Oct. 16 to discuss issues facing the farmers of Brown County and what Krikorian could do to help those farmers if elected.
Krikorian is the owner of Parody Productions, in Columbia Township (Cincinnati), which makes cards and puzzles and other novelty items. He has great interest in the economy with a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance and a master’s in business administration. He said he has chosen to run for Congress because of his fears about the current economic situation and his frustration with partisan politics.
“I want to see solutions for some of the problems we’re seeing,” Krikorian said. “Our country should be led by people instead of political parties. If I am elected it would send a loud and clear signal to both sides of the aisle that America has had enough.”
Pat Hornschemeier, conference chair, asked Krikorian what his stance on farm bill commodity payments were.
Krikorian said he was not an expert on farming issues and would not try to make up answers, but he would try to use his experience as a small business owner to relate to the farmers gathered. He said the current commodity system was an example of corporate fascism because it is run in such a way that it only benefits a few people, specifically larger and corporate farms.
“I’m not suggesting that corporations are evil,” Krikorian said. “I think we should tilt the playing field back towards small and medium sized farms. I would like to see us return to a balance.”
Krikorian said the biggest issue facing small farms is the value of the dollar. He said that because commodities are priced in U.S. dollars a decline in the value of the dollar will drive up the price of commodities. Krikorian pointed to the “trillions of dollars” of debt the government is incurring as a major cause of inflation.
“That is the single biggest reason oil prices are going up,” Krikorian said. “We can drill all we want and it is not going to effect the price of oil or gas.”
Krikorian said the rise in oil prices was having a huge impact on farmers who are seeing their fuel, fertilizer, and other petroleum input costs out-pacing their earnings from crops. He also spoke out against ethanol subsidies by saying they create an unfair market that artificially inflates the price of corn and deprives people of food.
“There’s got to be something that’s better (for ethanol production) than corn and can be grown in the second district,” Krikorian said.
Krikorian also addressed the issue of the lack of jobs in the area and criticized what Congress is now calling the Rescue Package.
“The bailout bill won’t stop the slide in home prices,” Krikorian said. “The number one issue is jobs. How does the bailout bill create jobs?”
Krikorian proposed that a way to prevent foreclosures and the subsequent devaluation of homes is to create jobs so that Americans have the money to pay their mortgage. Krikorian said an investment in local transportation and energy infrastructure will create those jobs.
“What Congress is not telling you is that this bailout bill is not just helping American banks,” Krikorian said. “We’re taking on all this debt to bailout overseas banks yet we can’t find money for infrastructure. If we focus on energy infrastructure we do some very powerful things. We create jobs, we reduce the need to import energy from overseas.”
One local resident said his son wants to start his own family farm but cannot get a large enough loan to start the operation. The man said his son could only get a loan to cover the purchase of a 98 acre farm. He could not get money to then purchase the cows and feed for the farm.
“Price ceilings and price floors don’t make sense in an open market,” Krikorian said. “What you’re telling me is you just want a level playing field. I would like to see more free market with less government intervention.”
Krikorian said in his opening address that he believes the economy is going to get worse before it gets better.
“We are seeing the start of a lower standard of living,” Krikorian said.
Krikorian said that he could see urban areas struggling with an economic decline more than farmers because they have the land to put out large gardens to provide food for their families.
“I see a very real possibility of a disruption of the food supply,” Krikorian said. “(Local food markets) are absolutely near and dear to my heart. We have to do things to support their growth.”
Krikorian said Congress needs to make it easier for farmers to achieve organic certification and to sell non-pasteurized milk. He said he has talked to several people who complained that they practically have to buy a share of the cow in order to get non-pasteurized milk.
“The government is really over-regulating that industry right now,” Krikorian said.
Krikorian also addressed several social issues presented by Tony Stieritz, of the Archdiocese Catholic Social Action Office. Stieritz, who first met Krikorian while serving the Greater Cincinnati Advocates for Darfur coalition with him, explained that as Catholics the Rural Life Conference was very concerned about Krikorian’s views on issues such as abortion and same sex marriage. Krikorian also explained some of his personal religious background to the audience.
Krikorian said his wife is an Irish Catholic and all of his children have been baptized Catholic and are currently enrolled in private school. He explained that he is of Armenian descent and that Armenia was the first nation in the world to name Christianity as their national religion in A.D. 301. He said because of Armenia’s proximity to several Muslim nations it has been under intense attack over the years, most recently in the genocide brought on by the Ottoman Empire during and immediately following World War I.
“I am the grandson of genocide survivors,” Krikorian said. “My grandparents were just the latest victims in many persecutions.”
“I am against the practice of abortion,” Krikorian said in answer to Stieritz. “I think it’s the mark of a society that’s in decay. I am against embryonic stem cell research. I do think there are things that can be learned from it.”
“I believe marriage is a sacrament, a covenant,” Krikorian said. “I don’t see how two homosexuals or lesbians can get married. Marriage is about children. However, I am not against equal rights. I am glad I wasn’t born that way.”
Krikorian said he was a strict constitutionalist and that he felt Roe v. Wade was unconstitutional. He said he is in favor of individual states making their own decisions on these issues.
If elected Krikorian would be the only Independent in the House of Representatives and several local residents were concerned that he could have trouble making a difference as just one man.
“I can’t change our country as one person,” Krikorian said, “but I submit to you that we have to start somewhere.”
Krikorian said that if he is elected it would send a message across the country that Americans are disenfranchised with the current government and he predicted a significant increase in the number of Independents running in 2010 if that message gets across.
“I do believe both parties will come to me and say ‘caucus with us.’ I will get competing offers,” Krikorian said.
Krikorian said the offers would include committee assignments that he could use to the advantage of the second district. He said that while he is currently focused on getting elected and cannot worry about what he will do once he gets into office, he is in support of several bills. Two bills in particular would force members of Congress to write the bills they introduce instead of allowing special interest groups and others to write them and force them to read every bill before voting on it.
Krikorian said that the worsening economic situation will bring about change in Washington.
“I’ll quote Ronald Regan by saying the seven or eight worst words you can hear are I’m with the government and I’m here to help,” Krikorian said.
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