Three Democratic candidates for national and state offices recently had a panel discussion with farmers and other voters at the new Apex Ag Solutions facility near Bay in Craighead County. A myriad of topics were discussed from healthcare to the agriculture economy, and several others.
The Democratic Party of Craighead County hosted the panel.
Hallie Shoffner, who will attempt to unseat U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, said that one issue that doesn’t get discussed enough is healthcare in rural America. There aren’t enough hospitals, doctors, or other healthcare professionals in many parts of the country and in Arkansas, she said. The lack of access is one of the factors leading to the demise of smaller towns.
“These rural communities are going to die,” she said.
Dr. Terri Yarbrough Green, who will seek to unseat U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, in the First Congressional District, said she thinks dark money is one of the main issues that doesn’t get discussed often enough. She said if she was elected she work to fix that system and would also support term limits, and ban stock trading for elected officials.
“Corporations are buying elections,” she said.
Shamal Carter, who is seeking to unseat Johnny Rye, R-Trumann, in State House District 36, agreed with Shoffner about the lack of healthcare in rural communities. He said innovations such as telehealth are helpful, but state and federal governments need to provide infrastructure such as high-speed internet to make these systems work.
Farmers have faced myriad problems in recent years – lower commodity prices, higher input costs, droughts, floods and others. Shoffner said two things that have also hurt farmers are policies by President Donald Trump’s administration.
His tariff policies have closed foreign markets for farmers and the war with Iran has caused fertilizer and fuel prices to skyrocket.
“Blanket tariffs don’t work. Targeted tariffs could work,” she said.
It was noted that the U.S. Congress has not passed a Farm Bill since 2018. Carter said he would support the idea of having a state-level farm bill and several states have done that.
Green said one way to aid farmers and rural Arkansas as a whole would be to revamp and enforce anti-trust laws.
As far as healthcare is concerned, Green said she had several solutions.
“Quit cutting Medicare and Medicaid funding … fund residencies for doctors,” she said. “Reduce the bureaucracy … pay for preventive treatments.”
Carter also had several ideas about how to improve the healthcare system.
“These insurance companies need to pay what they owe,” he said.
Infrastructure improvements are desperately needed in rural Arkansas, Carter said. Throughout the Delta, communities have failing water systems. He noted that in Lepanto a woman told him she can’t take a shower at home because the water comes out brown.
“To me that’s a crisis,” he said.
Green agreed with Carter. She said it was a lifestyle and economic issue.
“No clean water, no businesses,” she said. “We have to invest in the right way. We need to trust and use science to solve problems.”
As she has campaigned around the state, Shoffner said she noticed a lot of dilapidated roads. Water and electrical systems are outdated and need to be replaced.
She said that officials in her own party have not been engaged enough with rural America and its needs. She also noted that the country is $39 trillion in debt, and none of these problems have been fixed even though we’ve racked up this much debt.
“Our infrastructure is 40 plus years old. We need new roads, water lines, and other utilities. These are the kind of investments we need to make. Without them, rural communities will die,” she said. “It never changes. It’s just bad federal policy.”
