(Assemblyman Ed Goedhart) – As I watched Harry Reid’s ad on ‘saving’ Anderson Dairy and the jobs of 130 employees I felt the need to explain the total ramifications of exempting Las Vegas from the federal milk marketing order referenced in the ad.
I manage the Ponderosa Dairy, Nevada’s largest dairy, which milks over 9,000 cows twice a day. We produce 12 semi-tankers of milk each day, or one every two hours, and directly employ 145 employees and indirectly contribute to the employment of over 1,000 Nevadans. Our economic output for Nevada is over $90 million.
When Sen. Reid carved out an exemption for Anderson Dairy – which, by the way, milks NO cows – he allowed cheaper ‘overbase’ milk – drinking milk produced in excess of government caps – to flow into Nevada from California, Arizona and Utah, which allows Anderson Dairy to pad their profit margin.
That’s a great deal for Anderson Dairy; however, Ponderosa Dairy – an actual production dairy, not a processing-only dairy – now has to truck its milk all the way to California in order to get the full “Class 1” allowable price for drinking milk (as opposed to milk used for making cheese and butter). Then some of our same trucks pick up cheap overbase milk from California and bring it to Anderson Dairy in Las Vegas.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Ponderosa Dairy now has to ship its milk to California, while California ships its cheaper overbase milk to Nevada. We call it the ‘Milk Loop’ – and it eats up over a million gallons of diesel fuel, costing us millions of dollars a year in higher trucking costs. The Ponderosa is only 80 miles from Las Vegas, but now we have to ship our milk 280 miles to southern California.
Because of the special deal Sen. Reid cut for Anderson Dairy – the Milk Money Compact – our business is now at a competitive disadvantage with others in the milk producing businesses in our region. As such, we shelved all expansion plans in Nevada and instead invested over $100 million in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas where we now directly employ hundreds of workers and generate much-needed tax revenue and economic activity which otherwise would have benefited Nevada.
When a rock is thrown into a pond, don’t look at just the splash. Also look at the ripples that extend across the entire pond. In this case, the jobs ‘saved’ at Anderson Dairy were at the expense of thousands of other jobs in Nevada.
Government does not “create jobs.” Government jobs are financed by taxes levied on the backs of private citizens and private businesses. And when government, at the behest of elected officials such as Sen. Reid, picks winners by carving out special exemptions in the law for favored businesses, it has a ripple effect that costs all of us in the form of market inefficiencies and reduced competition.
The government can’t give anything to anybody – including Anderson Dairy – it first doesn’t take away from somebody else. For every winner as a result of Harry Reid’s deal-making, there are a lot more losers.
Sen. Reid can claim that no one can do more for Nevada ‘til the cows come home. But the fact is, whether it’s the Louisiana Purchase, the Cornhusker Kickback or the Milk Money Compact, other people continue to pay for what Sen. Reid does for a chosen few. And it stinks worse than anything you’ll ever smell from the back end of one of my cows.
(Assemblyman Goedhart is a Republican representing District 36 in rural Nevada)
Mr Goedhart,
Can this be used by Sharron Angle in a commerical? It should be used completely word for word, but I know that’s impossible. But if you could give her permission, this would sink Harry’s Boat clear to the bottom of Lake Mead. Thank you for sharing.
What ever happened to equal application of the laws? Well, that old fashioned concept is void when a politically favored party can buy a sweetheart deal from Harry Reid. That is the primary function of the Federalies nowadays: selling special favors.
wow….this was SUPER informative and well written!! THANKS
This is a wonderful example of the Broken Window Fallacy.
The people of NV don’t care, they have elected Dingy Harry on many occasions and will do so again. It’s all about what Dingy promises them not what is good for the state or the country.
Crony capitalism at it’s worst. All the corporate welfare Harry Reid has been engaged in to benefit who he wants to benefit has helped destroy Nevada’s economy. Send the disgusting Harry Reid back to Searchlight, and send Sharron Angle to Washington.
The problem is that two MD’s who grew up on dairy farms are now in a documentary (ForksOverKnives.com sign up at the website to keep posted, they had a screening in Las Vegas already) to be released March 11, 2011 are CURING people (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. ) by getting them off of ALL Diary (milk) and meat …
Milk is only good for baby animals … the strongest animals get their strength from grasses …not Milk … so subsidizing milk and dairy, we add to the illnesses that people want others to pay for ….
If you drink milk and eat meat … come March 11, 2011 … you might change your ways … bunches of us don’t want to be taxed, excuse me, have our money stolen to care for your poor choices in food.
As long as harry makes money on a deal, he doesn’t care about nevada ..Just his wallet!!!!! You or the gov’t isn’t gonna tell me what to eat. So you better help get these socailists out of office and the illegals out of town so medical costs will go down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Daniel is totally right, in that humans should not be consuming dairy products period…..but, it WILL add to disease and illness for the Obama Health Care Reform!
The point here is, however, that Scumbag Reid did it again………he makes me physically ill to watch him on TV or hear his voice on the radio, because I KNOW everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie and it is simply to benefit him in whatever way he can—-just like everything he does! Please, God…..he HAS to go!!!
Daniel and AJ: Consider this;
Shortly after WW2 I went to work for my dad in the family dairy. Ate at least a quart of ice cream daily (often times more). Ate a lot of hamburgers at the local restaurants.
I still eat a lot of ice cream, butter and meat. I weigh 165 lbs., do not have diabetes, high blood pressure, don’t take any medications and still work full time. I’m 75 years old!
THANK-YOU for this very informative article! Once again if we can get voters to listen to the FACTS not the spin, the choice is clear- Harry Reid needs to go back to Searchlight. He won’t ever talk about his record, because he CAN’T- that’s what most Nevadans and Americans are furious about. He can only attack Sharron Angle, but Sharron Angle cannot hurt us the way Harry Reid has and continues to. We need to talk to voters and present the facts- the choice is” transparently” clear. Thanks again!
This is typical. Senator Harry Reid does something that benefits his friends in one industry but does not back economic policies that would create economic growth and produce benefits across the board.
This is just like the strings he pulled to keep the City Center project going. It helped his friends but did nothing to help the other strip hotels and casinos. By the way, City Center is losing money.
I do consume dairy products.
I love how if you can’t please all the people all the time those who aren’t pleased use it as an excuse to bash the perceived “offender.” The facts are that NO ONE can benefit unless at someone else’s ultimate expense. You want us to wish you good luck getting that job? You just took it away from a single mother trying to feed her children. You should be ashamed. Make sense? Neither does proselytizing against a candidate for making a decision which happened to negatively affect someone else – I don’t hear any other local dairies up-in-arms about this, and wonder how accurate it is as opposed to simply amounting to political rhetoric.
You say you’d love Harry’s record to examined more closely and for Sharron Angle to be sent to Washington? ‘Cause a great solution is to send someone who, when questioned about their record, simply changes it. That sounds like an awesome plan. Good luck with that. “Oh, you didn’t like my stance on medicare? Hold on, then… what I meant to say was…” “Oh, you didn’t like my stance on scientology? Hold on, then… what I really meant to say was…” “Oh, you didn’t like my stance on unemployment insurance? Hold on, then… what I really meant to say was….” Give me a break.
I am trying to zero in on what the point of the above post is and it is somewhat difficult. The point is that Harry Reid picks winners and losers by doing things that benefit a few but does not back pro growth economic policies that would benefit everyone. In the words of the late Jack Kemp, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Harry Reid’s deals benefits friends of Harry and the fortunate few who work for them but leave the rest of us out. Policies that promote economic growth would help everyone.
At any rate, Reid’s power to do this is going to be diminished after the next election. So why vote him in again just to give him a last hurrah?
Thank you for sharing your experience and your understanding Mr. Goedhart. It is appreciated. We love to see this story go national once fact checks are completed.
Danielle: we appreciate your position that all politicians promote only the good they create not the total impact. The point being missed is that Mr Reid is promoting he, by his actions, by his choice saved 130 jobs. So if he chose to save the jobs he also is responsible for the negative impact. The rest of your comments reflect your concern with rushing to judgements, which is exactly what you did! Now does that make sense? Please remember, Mr. Reid called our President “a looser”!!
PS: There are 3 milk plants and 29 dairy farmers: check NV State Dairy Comm.
Dirty Harry did it again. What gives. This should be published in a TV commercial for Sharon Angel. He is advertising he saved 130 Nevada jobs, but all he is doing is pandering to the people, who obviously funds, to his campaign.
Danielle, the point is that the Reid ad claims he saved jobs by exempting Anderson from the federal milk caps (why the hell does a federal milk cap exist in the first place?). Goedhart’s point is the same as yours…that Reid’s action takes from one hand to give to the other, so he should quit claiming his favoring Anderson Dairy over others created or saved jobs. As you say yourself, it didn’t. So, the criticism of Reid is (1) why do you think you should favor one dairy over another, and (2) why are you claiming you saved jobs with this exemption when all you really did is decide which business could offer the jobs?
It makes you want to find out how much of the USA Dirty Harry had to give up, and/or how much “Harry Reid, INC” profitted by his much publicised “saving of Ciry Center” in Las Vegas.
After hearing this ad supporting Harry Reid, I will no longer purchase Anderson
Milk………
sorry…………I believe it is wise to be careful not to bite the hand that feeds you…….that would be the one who actually keeps business in business……..us, the consumer……
It’s wonderful that Harry helped the Anderson Dairy like this. Too bad the sore losers at Ponderous Dairy hold it against him. Same with the whiners complaining about City Center. Well, can’t please everyone. But Harry has my vote, my family’s vote and my neighbors’ votes. Harry ain’t perfect but Angle is a moron. She wouldn’t have helped any business because that’s “not her job.” Go HARRY!
I am not a psychologist but as an observer of human behavior I honestly believe Reid has some type of personality disorder. I think he grew up poor(no dishonor in that) and has some sort or fixation on making money no matter the means. He does not care if he has to lie, swindle, bribe etc… he never wants to be poor again. It is all about him, not the state or its residents
Nevada voters need to wake up – You have the chance to vote this character out. His dirty backroom deals are appalling and self serving. He hasn’t had the best interest of his constituency or the country since he was elected in 1989. Time for a change. SHARRON ANGLE all the way!!!! MILK THEM DRY with a BOYCOTT. Harry needs to be sent to a farm…the funny farm.
I believe Mr. Goedhart has done more damage to himself in the long run due to being reported to INS for hiring nothing but undocumented workers at the Ponderosa Dairy … he’s been reported 3 times and yet, because of no oversight committee, Mr. Goedhart has not been taken to court for this, or fined … And wasn’t he the Assemblyman that was caught viewing porn on his laptop during a legislature meeting on the Nevada state legislature floor?
Don’t believe anything Mr. Goedhart says in this article. He is lying to you. The Las Vegas Review Journal just did a story about this on Oct. 5 2010, and let’s just say that Mr. Goedharts claims are disingenuous at best.
I would copy and paste that story here but we know how they like to sue people for copyright infringement. So check it out for yourself.
Btw, ask Ed how many undocumented workers are working at the Ponderosa dairy. If you can get a straight answer out of him then you are better than me. Because I asked him and he danced all around it and never gave me a direct answer.