More “bill” than “farm”
December 20, 2012 at 6:00 pm in News by Dustin Siggins 5 Comments
As we watch the fiscal cliff debate continually undercut the American people, let’s not forget about another bad deal snaking its way through Congress: the five-year farm bill.
Earlier this year, Congress seemed about to pass the pork and welfare-filled legislation with little difficulty through both chambers. Fortunately, Tea Party activists and Tea Party-minded House Members were able to shut down passage. Now, it appears supporters are getting desperate to pass the bill before the New Year. Via The Hill:
Lawmakers representing rural areas are making last-ditch efforts to negotiate a House-Senate farm bill compromise, hoping they can get a five-year farm bill attached to a fiscal cliff deal.
“Of course, the next week is pivotal,” one congressional aide said.
Most U.S. farm support programs expired on Oct. 1 and livestock programs lapsed a year earlier. The Senate passed a five-year farm bill, as did the House Agriculture Committee.
Supporters of the respective bills in both chambers are crowing about alleged savings of a few tens of billions over a decade. Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) is one of those supporters, and gave the following statement to Tea Party Patriots when this blog criticized the farm bill in September for its probable lack of constitutionality and its price tag of $100 billion annually for five years:
Ensuring we can produce our own food is a national security issue. That is why the Farm bill is so important. However, nearly 80 percent of the Farm Bill goes to food stamps. This program has exploded in costs, and it needs to be reined in. The bill I support would reform the food stamp program to make it more accountable to taxpayers, repeal or consolidate more than 100 programs, and save more than $35 billion. This bill is by no means perfect, but it promotes agriculture’s role in our national security and provides certainty for farmers and ranchers so they can continue investing and feeding America and the world.
Producing our own food might be a national security issue, but does anyone actually think the 80% of the bill that is food stamps is critical to international relations? Additionally, the farm bill provides corporate welfare for JPMorgan Chase and other chosen companies.
Nobody is denying that many people have been made poorer since the recession started five years ago this month but as the Congressional Budget Office estimates, 57% of the growth in food stamps in the last 12 years is not due to the recent recession and current weak recovery. Additionally, as I pointed out at Breitbart, over the summer, the federal government appears unwilling to limit food stamps to those who may need temporary assistance. This is evidenced by two things: first, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been advertising the food stamp program since 2008. Second, as Heritage Foundation Research Associate Rachel Sheffield notes, the USDA has claimed success in the food stamp program because the program has an increased caseload and costs have quadrupled since 2000. To quote Sheffield, this is the “the federal government…saying that federal dependence translates to poverty relief.”
True to form however, it appears Washington is going to kick the farm bill can down the road instead of making the program better (or, better yet, eliminating it entirely at the federal level). Again, from The Hill:
If a five-year bill does not come together, House leaders may once again try to pass a simple extension of the last farm bill or extend dairy and livestock programs which are seen as especially needed. Most farmers do not truly need the other commodity programs until the spring planting season. [Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie] Stabenow has vowed to fight a limited extension tooth and nail, however.
Notice the key words above – “need” and “especially needed.” Apparently, subsidizing mostly upper-income farmers to the detriment of the taxpayers is necessary, but only when special interest lobbyists are involved.
A five-year bill is like writing five years of checks that you can’t cover. Kicking this down the road is not responsible governance. If we don’t have time to debate this, then let’s extend the farm budget for one year at the most. This will buy time to come to terms with all that is proposed. This is not an unreasonable request.
Eighty percent of the cost of this bill is for food stamps. The government is promoting people goon food stamps, when the government should be promoting people become self-reliant. Because the government is actively creating a welfare state, and this bill is a crucial element of that effort, this bill should be killed.
Real inflation to the citizen consumer is rampant. Food costs are going through the ceiling. Nothing will be done about this as long as half the country is subsidizing the effect of inflation for the other half of the country. People have to have a direct concern, or the ponzi acheme of a government-based economic system will spiral downward into collapse when the universal fact that money doesn’t grow on trees becomes impossible to ignore.
Kill this bill. Take food stamps out of it, and put food stamps where it belongs, in a welfare bill. If people want to be supported by the government, then let them join that group. Let them stand in the same lines shoulder to shoulder with the denizens of the welfare states the government created.
This is just another case where Boehner sold us to the Democrats.
It is critical we remove Boehner from the Speaker’s position.
DBWriter I liked your comment but it was flagged as inapropriate so I thought I’d encourage you personally. Also I read your posts on the wide range of subjects and have come to the conclusion you dont want us to forget what we’re dealing with regaurding your wall picture. Rest assured I wont forget
The farm Bill is “welfare”. Can’t you freakin people see that? The more “welfare” the gov’t pours out the more they own. Which includes your ass (no not your mule) !
The present state of our nations governance is no less than treasonous and communistic in nature. The true Patriots must put a stop to this tyrannical coup. Vote them ALL out. Vote real people (not politicians) into office with term limits to curb corruption, and pay them minimum wage (with meals,lodging and travel included). That’s IT ! They do not deserve anymore than that. AND….then they will move on because they know they will not become rich sucking from the people. Revolution can come in many forms. Revolution is required in order to live free !…..or just Die (as the commies desire anyway).
LIVE FREE OR DIE-
Subsidies are not good in that once the stealing begins through justification it is never ended REC is a famous case in point. WE now have to swing the direction of our spending to common defence and promotion of general welfare, rather than promoting defence and providing for general welfare. We have it backwards. We need an unasailable defence and representatives with real Ideas to put people back to work to support itself (promoting its general welfare) Its like a teeter toter right now that the public employed are on one side and the govvernment and dependent are on the orher.The effect is NO FUN the country sits in the dirt with the bill payers motionless in the air. Notice I didnt pick on Unions because in this illustration they pay taxes too.
It will be painfull for many if we try to wright this ship but far more costly the longer we delay. I am willing to not get what I “deserve”, ” What I’ve earned” “what is available” so that my nieces and nephews have a country with an unasailable defence.I dont need a grant, subsidy, payoff,stimulous, bailout, law that protect my unsustainable benefit, as all this ties us all up with cost and red tape that is killing our economy. What stops me from becoming an employer is the state of maryland when I look at its regulations and costs of compliance and it still is no gaurantee that I would’nt get assaulted by some agency after I started up. All I need is a chance and God will handle the blessing.