(American Thinker)—Let me just state this right up front. Farmers in America, particularly ones that employ several to more than a hundred workers, are not unsophisticated country bumpkins. There will be no whining in this essay along the lines of “Oh, the poor farmer! He does not know how to fill out online federal forms for income tax withholding, immigration, etc.” That’s farm animal excrement! Farmers EFT their own quarterly income tax payments, so they can certainly make payments for their workers’ withholding.
President Trump has listened to the sad stories of loving employers and their willing wage workers providing our food in harmony for years together. In his desire not to disrupt agricultural commerce, he has listened to descriptions of fields full of rotting produce. But sad stories aside, it’s a bad idea to exempt a small segment of the economy from the rules, and it’s entirely unnecessary. Let’s look at some statistics to see if we can’t acquire a better-informed perspective than random anecdotes have provided.
The latest Census of Agriculture reports that, in 2022, we had 1,900,487 farms in America on 880,100,848 acres producing $543 billion in market value of agricultural products sold. Eighty-five percent were owned by families or individuals, 7% by partnerships, and 7% by corporations. Of this number, only 1.5% of farms—28,464—hired migrant workers. Half of those employing migrants sold $1 million or more (market value) of agricultural products.
There were 3,693,391 farm workers, 41% of them unpaid (i.e., owners and their families). Of the paid farm workers, 32% were native-born Americans, 7% foreign-born US citizens, 19% authorized foreign-born workers (immigrants and temporary nonimmigrants), and 42% (917,487) were illegal aliens. Only 25% of all farm workers are illegal aliens.
What do we know about them? Almost all of them (86%) are from Mexico, so home is close by. California has more of them than any other state. Estimates are that California has between 375,000 and 500,000 undocumented agricultural workers. Florida has about 300,000. That’s almost all the undocumented right there in only two states.
- Read More: americanthinker.com
At Last, a Company With Integrity in the Gold IRA Industry
For several years, I’ve been vetting out precious metals companies in search of the best. I believe in gold and silver but it’s hard to find integrity in the Gold IRA industry. The vast majority operate with shady tactics and gigantic spreads that take advantage of Americans who simply want to protect their life’s savings.
I’ve found a handful that I like and I’ve worked with some of them. By no means would I “unrecommend” them because, again, I vetted them out and found them to be above the fold. Unfortunately, it isn’t hard to be better than the rest when the rest are so darn awful.
After years of searching, I finally found a company that truly operates with integrity. Augusta Precious Metals has three important attributes that set them far above the competition:
- Non-Commissioned Sales Team: I cannot stress how important and unique this is. With just about every other company in the Gold IRA industry, the sales teams make commission from every account they open. This means they steer their clients toward the gold and silver products with the highest commission. With Augusta Precious Metals, the team is solely focused on putting the best gold and silver for their clients into their IRA. They get paid to serve the best interests of the Gold IRA client, NOT their own commission pay.
- Incredibly Low Fees: Most Americans would be shocked if they knew the spread other Gold IRA companies charge. Augusta charges just 5% versus up to 45% elsewhere.
- No Pressure, No Gimmicks: There’s an understanding among most in the Gold IRA industry that fear and pressure is the way to go. Augusta Precious Metals takes a sober approach when working with clients because they hold integrity in the highest possible regard. This is why they don’t offer gimmicks like “free” or “bonus” silver. It’s also why they do not apply pressure tactics to get quick sales. Their educational and transparent approach to doing business is exceedingly rare in the Gold IRA industry.
