Congress Fiddles while America Burns

Much virtual ink has spilt in the blogosphere keeping track of the countless political debates over the so-called debt ceiling.

But, while our elected officials engage in endless no-holds-barred political theater on par with the most sensational showdowns that worldwide wrestling has to offer, what's left of the American economy is being lifted up and hauled away, right underneath our very noses.

But this time they're not just taking our economy - they're taking the means for our very existence!

“[Global capital] is looking for investments, and one of the best investments is the agribusiness sector, which is based on food security across the world, first and foremost in Africa and Asia[.]” -- Ukrainain Billionaire, Oleg Bakhmatyuk, Owner of Omtran (North Carolina's Mocksville Chicken plant)

For those of you who thought losing the last vestiges of our manufacturing base was outrageous, hold onto your tummies as American agribusiness is sold off to the highest foreign bidder.

Mocksville chicken plant to close, eliminating 476 jobs; Siler City closing brings total job losses to 1,156

What's the big deal you say? More job losses as usual. Nothing new here. The big three have been shedding jobs like a shetland sheds hair for the past 10 years.

But, Americans can live without domestic made cars.

We can't live without food!

Word had gotten out that Omtron was planning the second restructuring of its North Carolina operations since buying them from a bankrupt Townsends Inc. in February. Employees knew the surging cost of corn was slamming poultry operators small and large...

With one crucial difference - small farmers live here and have a vital stake in ensuring a community's ability to feed itself.

Billionaire foreigners do not.

Not only is Congress fiddling dixie while we burn, they're dancing fever on our graves...

Omtron is a U.S. corporation created by Oleg Bakhmatyuk, a billionaire Ukrainian businessman who owns food, transportation, real estate and financial companies. It was the only bidder — at $24.9 million — for the North Carolina operations and Townsends' headquarters in Georgetown, Del.

Omtron officials and management at the Mocksville plant declined to comment.

Why should they? They don't give a chicken's ass about Americans!

"Our Ukrainian owners made the decision to cease operations in North Carolina, and we're proceeding with their wishes for the company, as painful as it is," McGlamery said.

"They told us the business climate was not favorable for them to continue. They just decided to cut their losses and move on."

* * *

Bralley said he understood that one reason Omtron was interested in the North Carolina plants was the ability for the company to import corn from Ukraine, which at one point had been at nearly half the U.S. bushel cost.

McGlamery said Omtron was not able to put that strategy into effect because of regulatory changes in Ukraine served to raise the price of corn there.

"Whatever cost advantage importing the corn had just went away," he said.

Okay, let me get this straight.

Townsend Inc. went out of business because the price of American corn was too high for it to remain profitable, so a Ukranian billionaire steps in based on the premise that he can import Ukrainian corn which was a fraction of the price. But, now that Ukraine has decided that it doesn't want its corn being used abroad on the cheap, American based food manufacturers are just going to have to close??? WTF!!!

Where does that leave Americans who want to eat chicken? Or Americans who need corn products?

And NC aint the only place where chicken manufacturers are closing.

Although Bralley said he was stunned by the suddenness of Omtron's decision, he also understood how financially challenging it is for the poultry industry.

For example, Pilgrim's Pride said Friday it was closing a chicken-processing plant in Dallas by late September, eliminating 1,000 jobs, as it targets more cost cutting.

And who is Pilgrim's Pride?

Pilgrim's Corp., previously Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC), is a former U.S.-owned company with its U.S. headquarters relocated to Greeley, Colorado.[1]

As a subsidiary of the Brazilian food giant, JBS-Friboi, it is the largest chicken producer in the United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest chicken producer in Mexico. It exited bankruptcy in December 2009.

Read it and weep. At this rate, in less than 10 years, Americans will have to import all their chicken products from abroad. But, how will that work when the dollar collapses and Americans have nothing left to trade???

Bombs for burgers? This is insane!

Think about it people - this isn't just politics as usual. International Bankers and our government officials have America slated to become the world's first, first-world-nation turned Somalia.