Germany’s farm fury, the truth about New Hampshire and other commentary

Green desk: Germany’s Farm Fury

Spiked’s Tom Slater asks: What’s driving the mass demonstrations by farmers that “reminded the German political class why it’s best not to get on the wrong side of people who operate large machinery”? “Berlin and Brussels elites” high on environmentalism. “Regulations on pesticides and fertilisers have become ever tighter, slashing crop yields in the process. Meanwhile, huge swathes of agricultural land have been put aside for solar.” “The farmers’ revolt is resonating”: “A recent survey carried out by the Berliner Zeitung newspaper found that 65 per cent of respondents back the protests.” “Those who have long been ignored and demonised, and told to make do with less for the sake of the planet, are parking their tractors and trucks on the elite’s lawn. Long may it continue.”

Conservative: The Truth About New Hampshire

Trump fans arguing that Nikki Haley’s support in New Hampshire “is driven by crossover votes from Democrats” get it wrong, though “she is likely attracting the support of independents and unaffiliated voters,” explains National Review’s Jim Geraghty. “Any registered Democrats who wanted to vote in the Republican presidential primary had to change their party registration before October 6, 2023.” In fact, “it’s actually easier to vote in the other party’s contest in Iowa than in New Hampshire; in Iowa, voters could change their party registration up to the day of the caucus.”

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From the right: The Danger of Lame-Duck Joe

“Lame-duck presidencies,” warns Victor Davis Hanson at American Greatness, “are especially dangerous when a perceived weak or appeasing lame-duck president is likely to be replaced by a strong deterrent successor that will likely serve as a corrective to his disastrous policies.” We’re now “entering one of these dangerous moments, compounded by a weakening of the armed forces.” “Both enemies and neutrals have accordingly drawn a number of self-interested conclusions about the waning Biden administration.” They see that President “Biden, to their apparent delight, has in the last three years reversed the Trump deterrence policies and thus has green-lit their aggressions” and “that Donald Trump may well return to office.” “All our enemies are right now calculating how best to use their gift of the next 12 months from a non-compos-mentis president.”

Eye on Albany: Hochul’s Uneven Medicaid Truths

“The biggest Medicaid news in Governor Hochul’s budget presentation” was that “the state-run health plan is running substantially over budget,” applauds the Empire Center’s Bill Hammond. “Hochul revealed that state Medicaid spending is exceeding projections by $1.5 billion.” Unlike her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, “Hochul did her duty by disclosing the problem sooner rather than later” — long-term Medicaid costs are “tracking upward at worrying rates.” Yet it was “confusing and misleading” for Hochul to cite Department of Health Medicaid spending “that’s ballooning by 11 percent when her budget anticipates the overall program will shrink 3.5 percent.” Hochul’s Budget Division should “provide enough of the underlying facts for policymakers or average citizens to track what’s happening” if she wants to make good on her pledge to deliver “straight talk” on Medicaid.

Culture critic: Pop Goes the DEI Bubble

“The unraveling of ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ initiatives had already begun—five states banning DEI programs; Google, Facebook and others cutting DEI staff; Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard—well before Harvard President Claudine Gay was demoted,” cheers The Wall Street Journal’s Andy Kessler. The “uniformity of thought” that “meant all oppressed people must support all others who are oppressed” collapsed “Oct. 7 when Hamas raped, murdered and kidnapped Israelis. Many liberals, especially Jewish ones, couldn’t support genocidal ‘colonized’ terrorists.” “DEI’s devious underlying agenda” of “reshaping the world into a collective utopia” relied on ideas that “history shows” never work “because power corrupts. Diversity meant ideological conformity. Equity meant discrimination. Inclusion meant blurring the sexes.” “Somewhere George Orwell is rolling on the floor laughing.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board