Latest news with #ChuckBell
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Today, farmers planting corn and soybean are using less acreage and seeing higher yields
For the last month and a half, tractors have been pulling fertilizer carts, tillage equipment and planters on our roads and in the fields as planting season begins. Corn and soybeans are the primary focus of spring planting in Muskingum County. Based on the latest completed statistics from 2023, some 24,000 acres of corn and 20,000 acres of soybeans will be planted. In line with these statistics, more than 10% of Muskingum County's 424,960 acres will be used for growing these two crops this summer. During the past more than 80 years, significant changes in crop production have taken place in the ever changing farming industry. In 1950, Muskingum County had approximately 26,000 acres in corn, just a little more than the 24,000 current acres. But a big change has taken place in county wheat production, which declined from the14,000 acres reported in 1950 to 680 acres reported in 2023. In 1950, soybeans were pretty much an afterthought in agriculture production with fewer than 600 acres planted. In fact, soybeans did not even show up in the county agricultural report until 1940 when 100 acres were planted. As soybean profits increased in the 1970s and 1980s to the present, so has the acreage planted, seemingly replacing wheat acreage on county farms. The decreased wheat acreage has had several side effects including a decrease in the supply of straw for livestock bedding, making the straw more valuable than in the past. Total crop acreage in Muskingum County seems to have remained fairly consistent over the last 75 years, even though the crops planted have changed. An additional factor that has changed is the yield per acre. The 26,000 acres of corn planted in 1950 produced only an average of 50 bushels per acre, or about 650,000 bushels total, while the 24,000 acres of corn planted in 2023 had an estimated average of 175 bushels an acre for a total of 4.2 million total bushels. The soybeans of 1950 produced only 20 bushels per acre. Soybeans in 2023 were reported to be averaging 50 bushels per acre. Going back to the Civil War era, corn is reported to have averaged 33 bushels per acre and wheat only 10 bushels per acre. Some sources say that during the Civil War more than 80,000 acres, almost twice the current crop acreage, were in production growing additional crops such as rye, buckwheat, oats and barley. I have trouble even thinking about feeding the armies, let alone the family members at home on crop yields of 33 and 10 bushels per acre. Agriculture is always changing. What you saw yesterday growing, planting and harvesting in the fields may not be what you see tomorrow. Exciting changes have taken place and more are just around the corner as our farmers continue to produce more on less land than ever before. Chuck Bell is a former 4-H educator for Muskingum County. This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Farmers see higher yields for corn and soybean planted on less acreage
CNN
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump keeps dropping lawsuits against companies Biden said were cheating Americans
The Trump administration is giving businesses a free pass from a wide variety of enforcement actions. Boeing, Capital One, Southwest Airlines and Coinbase all faced legal action from the Biden administration, which accused the companies of cheating their customers, the government or otherwise acting improperly. But multiple federal agencies under President Donald Trump have dropped those suits. Consumer advocates say the dropping of those legal actions removes protections that consumers can't replace on their own – giving businesses the green light to take advantage of customers without fear of penalty. 'They're basically trying to take consumer financial protection down to zero and not defend people at all when they've been ripped off by banks and other financial services companies,' said Chuck Bell, financial policy advocate of Consumer Reports. 'They've never seen a business practice they didn't approve of.' The White House, and most of the agencies, did not respond to a request for comment. Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration for its role in two fatal 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people. But now, the attorneys for families of those crash victims say the Justice Department has notified them it's prepared to drop that case. Boeing declined to comment on reports its criminal case will be dropped, but the attorneys for the crash victims called the decision 'morally repugnant.' 'Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its callous lies,' said Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families, in a statement last Friday. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission also dropped a case it had previously brought in 2023 against Coinbase, America's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC accused the company of unlawfully making billions of dollars by acting as an exchange, broker and clearing agency 'without having registered any of those functions with the Commission as required by law.' Coinbase, which had challenged the assertion and argued the SEC overreached, praised the decision to drop that case. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Capital One during the final days of the Biden administration, accusing the company of 'cheating millions of consumers' by not paying more than $2 billion in interest to holders of its high-interest savings accounts. Now that case, like many others brought by the CFPB, was dropped after the agency's director was dismissed and its funding was slashed. No new director has been named. The Department of Transportation sued Southwest Airlines in January under former President Joe Biden, seeking 'maximum civil penalties' for operating two 'chronically delayed flights' in 2022 that resulted in 180 flight disruptions. The Justice Department dropped that case quietly on Friday afternoon, with little comment. The Department of Transportation defended the decision in a statement. 'This was a lawsuit that should have never been brought forward,' the department said in a statement to CNN. 'Southwest has remedied the underlying issues and USDOT will work with them fairly, not sue them for political gain.' Both Capital One and Southwest said they appreciate the cases being dropped, arguing that the suits should never have been brought in the first place. 'We welcome the CFPB's decision to dismiss this action, which we strongly disputed,' said Capital One. 'We appreciate the DOT's decision to abandon its lawsuit against Southwest, which we believe is the correct result in this case,' said Southwest. 'The two flights at issue occurred years ago when the industry faced unprecedented challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic and were delayed due to issues outside of Southwest's control in numerous cases.' The most recent relief for a business came Thursday from the Federal Trade Commission. It dropped a case brought in January by the Biden administration against PepsiCo that had accused the company of 'unfair pricing advantages' with a large retailer. The retailer's name was redacted in the initial statement, but a source familiar with the case told CNN at the time that it was Walmart. FTC chair Andrew Ferguson in a statement called the Biden administration suit a 'nakedly political effort to commit this administration to pursuing little more than a hunch that Pepsi had violated the law.' PepsiCo thanked the FTC for its action. 'PepsiCo is pleased with the FTC's further consideration and withdrawal of this matter,' said the company in a statement. 'PepsiCo has always and will continue to provide all customers with fair, competitive, and non-discriminatory pricing, discounts and promotional value.' Walmart did not immediate respond to a request for comment. But Walmart at the time told CNN it did not have a comment on the lawsuit. Trump has made clear he believes American businesses need to be freed from what he sees as unfair and undue enforcement actions. But it's not just less enforcement – the Trump administration also wants to make it easier for companies to move ahead with mergers, particularly in financial services. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a regulator that is part of the Treasury Department, announced new rules this month to make it easier to grant approvals of deals, including Capital One's effort to buy Discover. 'Making it easier for well-managed and well-capitalized banks to merge promotes competition and facilitates economic growth and innovation,' said a statement from Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood. Consumer advocates are bringing legal challenges to combat the Trump administration's actions. But they say there is little hope they can entirely stop the gutting of consumer protection cases over the next three and a half years of Trump's term. 'I think much of what the Trump administration has done is go after the very foundation of consumer protection,' said John Breyault, vice president of public policy for the National Consumers League. 'It's not a surprise they would de-prioritize it. But they're seeking to make these agencies non-functional. That should worry all consumers.'
CNN
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump keeps dropping lawsuits against companies Biden said were cheating Americans
The Trump administration is giving businesses a free pass from a wide variety of enforcement actions. Boeing, Capital One, Southwest Airlines and Coinbase all faced legal action from the Biden administration, which accused the companies of cheating their customers, the government or otherwise acting improperly. But multiple federal agencies under President Donald Trump have dropped those suits. Consumer advocates say the dropping of those legal actions removes protections that consumers can't replace on their own – giving businesses the green light to take advantage of customers without fear of penalty. 'They're basically trying to take consumer financial protection down to zero and not defend people at all when they've been ripped off by banks and other financial services companies,' said Chuck Bell, financial policy advocate of Consumer Reports. 'They've never seen a business practice they didn't approve of.' The White House, and most of the agencies, did not respond to a request for comment. Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration for its role in two fatal 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people. But now, the attorneys for families of those crash victims say the Justice Department has notified them it's prepared to drop that case. Boeing declined to comment on reports its criminal case will be dropped, but the attorneys for the crash victims called the decision 'morally repugnant.' 'Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its callous lies,' said Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families, in a statement last Friday. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission also dropped a case it had previously brought in 2023 against Coinbase, America's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC accused the company of unlawfully making billions of dollars by acting as an exchange, broker and clearing agency 'without having registered any of those functions with the Commission as required by law.' Coinbase, which had challenged the assertion and argued the SEC overreached, praised the decision to drop that case. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Capital One during the final days of the Biden administration, accusing the company of 'cheating millions of consumers' by not paying more than $2 billion in interest to holders of its high-interest savings accounts. Now that case, like many others brought by the CFPB, was dropped after the agency's director was dismissed and its funding was slashed. No new director has been named. The Department of Transportation sued Southwest Airlines in January under former President Joe Biden, seeking 'maximum civil penalties' for operating two 'chronically delayed flights' in 2022 that resulted in 180 flight disruptions. The Justice Department dropped that case quietly on Friday afternoon, with little comment. The Department of Transportation defended the decision in a statement. 'This was a lawsuit that should have never been brought forward,' the department said in a statement to CNN. 'Southwest has remedied the underlying issues and USDOT will work with them fairly, not sue them for political gain.' Both Capital One and Southwest said they appreciate the cases being dropped, arguing that the suits should never have been brought in the first place. 'We welcome the CFPB's decision to dismiss this action, which we strongly disputed,' said Capital One. 'We appreciate the DOT's decision to abandon its lawsuit against Southwest, which we believe is the correct result in this case,' said Southwest. 'The two flights at issue occurred years ago when the industry faced unprecedented challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic and were delayed due to issues outside of Southwest's control in numerous cases.' The most recent relief for a business came Thursday from the Federal Trade Commission. It dropped a case brought in January by the Biden administration against PepsiCo that had accused the company of 'unfair pricing advantages' with a large retailer. The retailer's name was redacted in the initial statement, but a source familiar with the case told CNN at the time that it was Walmart. FTC chair Andrew Ferguson in a statement called the Biden administration suit a 'nakedly political effort to commit this administration to pursuing little more than a hunch that Pepsi had violated the law.' PepsiCo thanked the FTC for its action. 'PepsiCo is pleased with the FTC's further consideration and withdrawal of this matter,' said the company in a statement. 'PepsiCo has always and will continue to provide all customers with fair, competitive, and non-discriminatory pricing, discounts and promotional value.' Walmart did not immediate respond to a request for comment. But Walmart at the time told CNN it did not have a comment on the lawsuit. Trump has made clear he believes American businesses need to be freed from what he sees as unfair and undue enforcement actions. But it's not just less enforcement – the Trump administration also wants to make it easier for companies to move ahead with mergers, particularly in financial services. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a regulator that is part of the Treasury Department, announced new rules this month to make it easier to grant approvals of deals, including Capital One's effort to buy Discover. 'Making it easier for well-managed and well-capitalized banks to merge promotes competition and facilitates economic growth and innovation,' said a statement from Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood. Consumer advocates are bringing legal challenges to combat the Trump administration's actions. But they say there is little hope they can entirely stop the gutting of consumer protection cases over the next three and a half years of Trump's term. 'I think much of what the Trump administration has done is go after the very foundation of consumer protection,' said John Breyault, vice president of public policy for the National Consumers League. 'It's not a surprise they would de-prioritize it. But they're seeking to make these agencies non-functional. That should worry all consumers.'
CNN
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump keeps dropping lawsuits against companies Biden said were cheating Americans
The Trump administration is giving businesses a free pass from a wide variety of enforcement actions. Boeing, Capital One, Southwest Airlines and Coinbase all faced legal action from the Biden administration, which accused the companies of cheating their customers, the government or otherwise acting improperly. But multiple federal agencies under President Donald Trump have dropped those suits. Consumer advocates say the dropping of those legal actions removes protections that consumers can't replace on their own – giving businesses the green light to take advantage of customers without fear of penalty. 'They're basically trying to take consumer financial protection down to zero and not defend people at all when they've been ripped off by banks and other financial services companies,' said Chuck Bell, financial policy advocate of Consumer Reports. 'They've never seen a business practice they didn't approve of.' The White House, and most of the agencies, did not respond to a request for comment. Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration for its role in two fatal 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people. But now, the attorneys for families of those crash victims say the Justice Department has notified them it's prepared to drop that case. Boeing declined to comment on reports its criminal case will be dropped, but the attorneys for the crash victims called the decision 'morally repugnant.' 'Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims who Boeing killed through its callous lies,' said Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families, in a statement last Friday. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission also dropped a case it had previously brought in 2023 against Coinbase, America's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC accused the company of unlawfully making billions of dollars by acting as an exchange, broker and clearing agency 'without having registered any of those functions with the Commission as required by law.' Coinbase, which had challenged the assertion and argued the SEC overreached, praised the decision to drop that case. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Capital One during the final days of the Biden administration, accusing the company of 'cheating millions of consumers' by not paying more than $2 billion in interest to holders of its high-interest savings accounts. Now that case, like many others brought by the CFPB, was dropped after the agency's director was dismissed and its funding was slashed. No new director has been named. The Department of Transportation sued Southwest Airlines in January under former President Joe Biden, seeking 'maximum civil penalties' for operating two 'chronically delayed flights' in 2022 that resulted in 180 flight disruptions. The Justice Department dropped that case quietly on Friday afternoon, with little comment. The Department of Transportation defended the decision in a statement. 'This was a lawsuit that should have never been brought forward,' the department said in a statement to CNN. 'Southwest has remedied the underlying issues and USDOT will work with them fairly, not sue them for political gain.' Both Capital One and Southwest said they appreciate the cases being dropped, arguing that the suits should never have been brought in the first place. 'We welcome the CFPB's decision to dismiss this action, which we strongly disputed,' said Capital One. 'We appreciate the DOT's decision to abandon its lawsuit against Southwest, which we believe is the correct result in this case,' said Southwest. 'The two flights at issue occurred years ago when the industry faced unprecedented challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic and were delayed due to issues outside of Southwest's control in numerous cases.' The most recent relief for a business came Thursday from the Federal Trade Commission. It dropped a case brought in January by the Biden administration against PepsiCo that had accused the company of 'unfair pricing advantages' with a large retailer. The retailer's name was redacted in the initial statement, but a source familiar with the case told CNN at the time that it was Walmart. FTC chair Andrew Ferguson in a statement called the Biden administration suit a 'nakedly political effort to commit this administration to pursuing little more than a hunch that Pepsi had violated the law.' PepsiCo thanked the FTC for its action. 'PepsiCo is pleased with the FTC's further consideration and withdrawal of this matter,' said the company in a statement. 'PepsiCo has always and will continue to provide all customers with fair, competitive, and non-discriminatory pricing, discounts and promotional value.' Walmart did not immediate respond to a request for comment. But Walmart at the time told CNN it did not have a comment on the lawsuit. Trump has made clear he believes American businesses need to be freed from what he sees as unfair and undue enforcement actions. But it's not just less enforcement – the Trump administration also wants to make it easier for companies to move ahead with mergers, particularly in financial services. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a regulator that is part of the Treasury Department, announced new rules this month to make it easier to grant approvals of deals, including Capital One's effort to buy Discover. 'Making it easier for well-managed and well-capitalized banks to merge promotes competition and facilitates economic growth and innovation,' said a statement from Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood. Consumer advocates are bringing legal challenges to combat the Trump administration's actions. But they say there is little hope they can entirely stop the gutting of consumer protection cases over the next three and a half years of Trump's term. 'I think much of what the Trump administration has done is go after the very foundation of consumer protection,' said John Breyault, vice president of public policy for the National Consumers League. 'It's not a surprise they would de-prioritize it. But they're seeking to make these agencies non-functional. That should worry all consumers.'
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republicans Just Made It Easier for Banks to Screw People Over
Senate Republicans voted Thursday to overturn a $5 cap on bank overdraft fees, leaving working class people vulnerable to exploitation from financial institutions. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adopted the cap late last year. It was scheduled to take effect later in 2025. The rule was meant to protect consumers from unreasonable fees levied by banks and credit unions, saving consumers an estimated $5 billion per year total. Chuck Bell, the advocacy program director at Consumer Reports, warned that repealing the fee limits 'will hurt working families who are already struggling with high prices and inflation.' While Donald Trump has made plenty of promises to make the cost of living more affordable, he has functionally rubber-stamped the efforts of Republicans to undermine that very promise. The resolution to repeal the rule was introduced by Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and done through the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to undo recently adopted regulations through a simple majority vote. The resolution passed in the Senate on a nearly party-line vote of 52-48. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley was the only Republican to oppose the measure. 'Why would we help the big banks at the expense of working people?' Hawley said after the vote. 'I just don't understand it.' Every Senate Democrat voted against the measure. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee who helped establish the CFPB, slammed her Republican colleagues for undermining the consumer to help big banks. 'Senate Republicans would rather you didn't find out they just voted to give the biggest banks billions in profits from overdraft fees that kick working people when they're down. Disgraceful,' she wrote on X Thursday. The resolution is now expected to move to the House. Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg urged voters Thursday to contact their representatives to 'ask how they'll vote.' 'Moment of clarity today in the Senate where Republicans sided with big banks & against customers. Higher fees, lower transparency,' Buttigieg wrote on X. The CPFB's rule previously faced a legal challenge from the American Bankers Association, which claimed that the agency had overstepped its authority to impose the rule, which would ultimately hurt consumers. Rob Nichols, the trade group's chief executive, issued a statement applauding the resolution's passage in the Senate. 'If implemented, the C.F.P.B.'s 11th-hour rule imposing government price controls would force many banks to limit or eliminate overdraft protection as we know it,' Nichols said. 'Many Americans would be driven to less regulated and higher risk non-bank lenders to cover unexpected or emergency expenses.' The Trump administration seems interested in eliminating the CFPB altogether. 'CFPB RIP 🪦,' Elon Musk wrote on X in February.
