today on r t if you're annoyed with how long it takes to get our roads for a pair it don't blame the construction company it's all this bipartisan bickering is leading us infrastructure down a road to nowhere so what will it take to bridge the gap between our political parties. my gut feeling. lobbyists you have the white pork industry. anti-gun gun. you name it they always seem to have more money than a. good guy i want to make a decent living for the farmers these pigs are their source are their lives their source of income but the state of michigan they're a hazard that needs to be disposed of well tell you we'll take you to the town of

marion where farmers are being forced to slaughter their own swine. it's thursday may tenth five pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching r t. well it doesn't seem like congress can agree on much these days but when it comes to politically neutral issues like maintaining infrastructure and transportation still lawmakers seem to be blocked this week congress took up a transportation bill but no one seems to be holding their breath that it will get anywhere meanwhile america's infrastructure is crumbling plenty of roads and bridges in desperate need of repair there's a couple of examples the hudson river tunnel the beverly hills subway extension bridge is a big problem here twelve point three percent of washington d.c. is bridges are structurally deficient in maryland at six point nine percent over

nine percent in virginia are bridges that are structurally deficient. national average of eleven per cent so why can't congress build a bridge and get over it to talk more about this is a wilmer leon political science professor at howard university hi wilmer so these are these are a bipartisan issues but still no consensus why not. well i think there are a number of reasons one of course is this ideological debate that we find ourselves locked in you have libertarians and you have conservatives who have taken this we're not going to support any deficit spending approach to this to solving problems that they want to the least amount of government is possible then of course you have individual such as a senate minority leader mitch mcconnell who says under my primary objective is to

see to it that president obama is a one term president. so you have this they are doing everything in their power to see to it that president obama doesn't win reelection even if it means not operating in the best interest of the american people so it sounds well merit laggy you think that will what's driving congress today is politics their decisions are politically motivated their their decisions are nothing but politically motivated of frank luntz the republican pollster along with other individuals after the twenty twenty what twenty ten election and they were crying in their beer about you know what to two thousand and eight about what to do they made the decision that they were going to be as obstructionist as absolutely possible so no matter what the obama administration presents no matter how much sense it makes they are going to do everything in their power to to obstruct it and unfortunately president obama

and his administration aren't using the bully pulpit that they need in order to champion the issues and bring these problems to the forefront and let the american people decide now past presidents have presided over very ambitious projects projects like the transcontinental railroad the marshall plan interstate highway as these are projects that have transformed america as we know it but what is it about this congress this specific congress that can't seem to pass things like infrastructure bells. well when you look at the for example the transcontinental railroad when you look at the marshall plan those those those had very strong very strict or very obvious national security interests and more importantly they had business interests a transcontinental railroad signed into law in one thousand eight hundred sixty two

by president lincoln a year into the civil war about twelve years after the end of the industrial revolution so and what it did it connected opposite ends of the united states as well as took us out of the wagon train process of transporting goods into a much more efficient railroad so you had business interests who were lobbying for the for the passage of the legislation the marshall plan after world war two the united states realized with all that was going on in europe that the european economy needed to be bolstered if it wasn't you were going to wind up with job shortages food shortages you're going to wind up with a environment that would be ripe for the spread of communism and opening up these markets was of primary interest and lowering tariffs was of primary interest to u.s. industry so you had again u.s. industry that was interested in championing this legislation now in two thousand

and twelve businesses are making record profits with less labor so they're not nearly as interested in championing these infrastructure programs as other industries have been in the pets they are saying that business has these days are not defining it and their interest to push for legislation to get things like transportation and infrastructure bills passed. not as nearly as they were again with the transcontinental railroad with the marshall plan and with the interstate highway system all of these types of projects if you will industry industry saw the upside they saw a profit now that you have the american industry with more cash on hand than ever before in recorded history there are not nearly as as as motivated to lobby for the types of legislation and programs that we actually need in this time for

government to invest in to bring because we have eight point two percent unemployment but interestingly enough you have record industry profit so industry isn't looking for the labor because they're making less they're making more with less so they're not as interested in the labor unemployment issue as they wouldn't have been in years fetes ok so you're saying that it's not really in the business as interest but isn't it in the interest of our country of citizens that live here to have roads that are safe and have bridges that are safe to travel on yes it is much is definitely in the interest of the american people to have those things fixed unfortunately people on the conservative side are looking more in terms of their races interests instead of their economic interests and what actually works out with the best interests of the country so they would prefer to

see a president obama crash and burn then crash and burn falling off a bit of a decrepit bridge that that that seems to be where their interest really long. well ultimately how could this affect our country our competitiveness with other countries you know china for example is investing heavily and their infrastructure and we're seeing all of the you know their transportation rapidly improving at how is it going to affect our you know where we stand in comparison to these countries that are investing and infrastructure well. it's going to have a dramatic impact going forward but with american industry exporting jobs with american will now with the advent of the multinational corporation and and with fewer and fewer products being manufactured in the united states. american

industry has less interest in those things because cars are being assembled in mexico washing machines are being assembled in mexico televisions are being assembled in mexico software is being developed in india so the need for the american labor force is not nearly what it was fifty years ago. were saying what the effects of that are well more thank you very much for coming on the show that was welner i've only on a political science professor at howard university. well it's time to check in with our web to see what they're working on our web producer andrew blake is in the newsroom to tell us more about some troubling lessons taught at a u.s. military school and what's that all about we go whole bunch of trouble today liz yes if you were right there is a u.s. department of defense training manuals have come out and it looks like the pentagon was kind of saying that soldiers should. be wage war on the entire your

religion of islam which seems kind of silly but that is what the military was telling them to do it looks like these papers are now out you can read about it on our t. dot com slash usa a couple other stories we're doing today is that the cia is looks like they're now doing an investigation into what role within the agency may have released the crucial information about the recent alleged al qaeda airplane bombing that broke last week this is now. the seventh different whistleblower investigation waged by the obama administration since he took office so we'll give you that and then also just finished up a story out of georgia about a member of the. county police department i believe i'm not sure something like that anyways we got a cop around four months back kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach and in the. dugout and then about because

there's a charge that's the only way that i could think of this in here when it comes to well you can read all about it on our web site r.t. dot com slash usa and that was artsy web producer andrew blake with a preview of what's trending today on our web site thanks andrew thanks was also had on our t. of the difference between fine need and feral pig is all of the behold there at least that's the case in michigan coming up next we'll tell you why the state is raiding farms and massacring swine. you know that's a real headline with none of them are the problem with the mainstream media today is that they're completely disconnected from the viewers and for what actually matters to those viewers and so that's why young people just don't watch t.v. anymore if they want news they go online and read it but we're trying to take those stories that people actually care about and transfer them back to t.v. . what drives the

world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through it's already been made who can you trust no one who is. with the global machinery where we had a state controlled capitalism it's called. when nobody dares to ask we do our t.v. question morning. is the state run english speaking russian channel it's kind of like. russia today has an extremely confrontational stance when it comes to us.

not just burns your eyes right right i mean it's like a derivative of actual pepper it's a food product essentially. this is much stronger than anything it's. thousands of times stronger than any kind of. all imagine being forced to open fire on your own animals some farmers in michigan say they had no choice but to do just that they say the pig carnage in the state was at the demand of the michigan department of natural resources that's all there was to a law that went into effect on april first the laws aimed at getting rid of pigs michigan d.n.r. is now calling an invasive species the government agency says the pigs can become

dangerous carry diseases and cause problems for the environment but farmers are saying that this doesn't describe the pigs that they've been raising for years to find out what's really going on i ventured out to western michigan my investigation took me here to a quaint town of a few hundred people called marriott i also visited other farms and talked to folks that say their whole way of life was shaken by the new law that doesn't make very much sense to them. in the heart of western michigan are picturesque world towns where some wild animals are free to roam. for many folks living here local farms are their livelihood. but serene fields are a backdrop to a raging battle between farmers and the government this is a way people have raised pigs for. birds. mark big or have been raising pigs for fifteen years he and his family live off

their family farm he arrived here at bakers green acres bigger takes pride in letting his pigs and piglets roam free on the farm. the department of natural resources here in michigan has deemed these pigs and basic feces that they have ordered farmers to slaughter every last one of these pigs in piglets and farmers that have been complied are now considered to be felons but baker refuses to mass slaughter his animals but the d.n.r. is going to make me do it they can do it they can pull the trigger themselves others say they had no choice but to pull the trigger on their own animals it's very sad all i see are tracks of animals that used to be here this plot of land i'm dave talks birds farm was once thriving with hundreds of healthy pigs they're all playing around in and it is really. it's

a fun way of of raising animals because you can sit out and watch him and. you can tell that they're happy pig if there is such thing as a happy pig these were really happy pigs but today this pen is empty he says he and his fellow farmers were forced to exterminate their swine before the april first deadline he had to take them out first or do you have to watch your back because he get pretty anger had to. had to shoot her first and then then have to go round up the piglets and shoot them all so they were small pay glitz and they were there was enough meat on him to to doing with some we sold for just pennies on a dollar. a lot of this ows of course had young inside them ready to give birth so they just they of course just got buried some farmers are calling the government mandate pig genocide if you're found with any of these animals these

type of animals on your property and you'd be fined you'd be jailed. and you have a felony as well as they would kill every animal on here that they found. so what's so bad about these pigs for the government to demand they be wiped off the face of the state michigan d.n.r. did not answer repeated interview requests but their web site argues feral swine pose a problem because they host parasites and diseases that they're and humans and animals and can cause extensive damage to the environment farmers say that hogwash hogs were the most healthiest ones in the state because we tested every single one that died every pig that that we harvested i would take a vial of blood and i would send him into the studs and hundreds of these vials into the state of michigan get him tested every year michigan d.n.r. also asserts the pigs can get aggressive and attack humans when cornered or

threatened but according to farmers that raised them not these pigs when they're outside like this they're in their environment you see the tails going back and forth we could we could take a stroll in there and they would want to just come over and maybe sniff you a little bit. so what's really behind the law farmers have their suspicions my gut feeling and you've got a lobbyist you have the white pork industry. anti hunters anti gun. you name it they always seem to have more money than the good guy want to make a decent living around here i think what they're what they're getting at is they want pigs that are raised in confinement in a confinement operation or k. fall. i think that they think that that would be acceptable because they can control as animals operations like this were pigs are mass raised in confinement

the michigan pork producers association stands by the government invasive species order they said quote we must defend an up hold michigan's ban on these destructive disease carrying animals and close the door to all invasive species. pigs the big pork businesses consider a threat local farmers have counted on for years this was actually a very very good income for us so i don't have an answer on how to how to survive. after here i don't know if they've already shut my business down i cannot sell these animals live and this is half of what i do what my income is. it's a fight for their livelihood a way of life beggars now battling to keep in court and michigan liz wahl r.t. . joining me now for more as and that right is he's the director best a geisha for mercy for animals hi matt thanks for coming on the show so so being

out of their initial again and talking to the farmers there you could really tell how this law really personally affected them and also you know this was a good source of income for them and it didn't really make much sense for them to have to shoot their own adult just senseless is how we heard them describe it why would the state an act the law mandating that farmers do this. well it's certainly a misguided and brutal pig pig illing program in michigan and through no fault of their own these pigs have been placed in a lose lose situation and pigs are intelligent and social animals much like our dogs and cats at home and they deserve to be protected from needless cruelty and exploitation unfortunately though domesticated pays the from the factory farming industry don't have any pet or than these feral pigs in michigan more than one hundred million pigs are subjected to lifetimes of abuse and extreme suffering

inside factory farms each year in the united states alone now in terms of these pigs in michigan these pigs that have become outlawed they at least are you know they they can live somewhat of a happy life they can kind of run around on the fields and get their grass fed they're not living in these really confined industrial places and i tried many times to contact the michigan department of natural resources wasn't able to get a response their website states that these pigs they carry diseases they attack humans they can cause damage to the environment but none of these characteristics seem to describe the pigs that i saw on the farm so with so what could be behind that. well you're right i think that the might be behind it is the industrial pork industry i think the government should be focusing on these industrial farms that cram hundreds of thousands of pigs inside tiny metal just asian crates barely larger than the pigs own bodies where piglets are being mutilated without

painkillers in fact investigation by the humane society of the united states just earlier this week that was released showed gruesome abuse and filthy conditions inside a pork factory farm that supplies pigs to tyson one of the largest meat processors in the entire country and mercy for animals own undercover investigations have documented similar types of filthy conditions disease ridden conditions and cruelty to animals pork factory farms nationwide so wouldn't it put it behind the pork industry to be behind this type of misguided legislation to put smaller farmers out of business but the government really should be focusing on these industrialized farms where animals are treated as commodities and are treated cruelly as a matter of standard practice and i think that we do have a clip there of that undercover investigation let's take a look at what does go on and side these farms these industrialized farms.

and the video only gets more shocking obviously just a complete disregard for living things. and here you see things like that and us realized farms across the country at things like that that they're allowed to exist and things like this happen get in michigan where where farmers are trying to at least take care of these animals that's now considered to be illegal so there seems to be a disconnect here. that's right and unfortunately there are no federal laws that protect pigs or other farmed animals during their lives on factory farms and most states specifically exclude pigs and other animals from almost any type of anti-cruelty protection so michigan and other states need to strengthen their anti

cruelty laws and protecting these animals from exploitation and suffering now that people would like to think that the government you know tries to and act laws that are in the best interest of everybody but in michigan i got the feeling that especially from these farmers that they were kind of meddling on their way of life you know and these these papers that they've been raising and counting on for years you know and types of abuses these types of situations come up again and again and i always encourage people to visit our web site mercy for animals dot org get informed about these issues the more informed you are the more you can speak out talk to your legislators and change these policies that make sure that they're passing laws that are and the best interests of animals the best interests of the people are not in the best interests of these giant corporations and their profits well there are some there in michigan that are taking action and are standing up to

the lobbies are behind this they are standing up they're taking this battle to court so am i the pork lobby is involved do you think that these small town farmers stand a chance. well again the people are against cruelty to animals every poll that you see shows that people consider animals to be intelligent social animals worthy of protection in a civilized society and i think that more people become aware these the more people are going to stand up and demand that the governments are taking action to protect animals and their constituents and not the profits of large corporations and though i do want to bring attention to some of the arguments that the michigan department of natural resources is bringing up they wouldn't answer our questions but their website said that the pigs that these farmers were raising are carrying diseases that people bought this type of pig meat in michigan because they are fatter gannicus because they're not confined to these industrial farms this is what one of

the farmers had to say about this they like the taste of them when their grass fed and when you can roam in and eat off the land a little bit they like that the taste of that hog better so a lot of our customers were naturalists that. that would come you know that reason . so you know a lot of these days people are becoming a little bit more conscious they don't want chickens or they don't want pegs or that are raised in cruelty they want to buy more again it but there is this this wave of people that are to some extent more conscious of this and here we are a farm that does raise pigs that are you know in a humane way and grass feeds them but but the government wants them got. but it's certainly true people are speaking out against these industrial factory farms where animals are treated in the most cruel ways that you can even imagine subjected to hellish conditions and these are really breeding grounds for

infectious disease we know that swine flu which this epidemic that swept the nation a couple of years ago was linked to a factory farm an industrial farm where pigs are crowded together by the hundreds of thousands so to safeguard people's health the government really should be focusing on these industrial farms now i went over to michigan how widespread would you say that this problem as the cruelty of animals to this six and a in america well that there's more than one hundred million pigs every year in the united states that are confined to barren metal battery cages mutilated without painkillers and subjected to a number of types of abuses without any type of veterinarian care on industrial farms every single year so it's the the problem is widespread it's epidemic and these factory farming industries are wreaking raw record profits and so the public needs to become aware of these issues they can go to our web site mercy for animals

dot org learn more become an armed with the knowledge to be able to speak out talk to your legislators about these issues and have them vote in favor of your best interests in the interests of animals all right matt thank you very much for coming on the show that was matt rice he is the director of investigation of mercy for animals well that's going to do for now for more on the stories we covered you can head on over to youtube dot com slash r t america you can also check out our web site that is our t.v. dot com slash usa and you can also follow me on twitter at liz wahl the ellen show is coming up in just a half an hour we're going to be right back here at seven. a client of american power continues. things in our country so bad that might actually be time for a revolution. and it turns out that a popular drink of starbucks says it's surprising in radio.

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