[Rhodes22-list] Farming - Not Really, It's Politics

[Brad Haslett]

Rummy,

Put down the crack-pipe and come back to reality.  The Wisconsin of your
youth is a distant memory.  Perhaps very distant in your case.  Look at the
stats. Most of the farm bill money goes to huge agri-businesses.  I grew up
in a farm town and these "I'm here from the gubment and I'm going to help
you" programs put most of the small farmers out of business.  Again, look at
the stats.  We're not talking about your neighbors working their asses off
to make ends meet, we're talking about folks like my nieces husband who is a
mega-wealthy farmer.  He'll do fine without subsidies, but he's also human.
Put a fat tit in his mouth and he'll start sucking harder than the gazillion
pigs he raises. Part of the problem with these farm bills is that everyone
has this image of the money going to Ma and Pa on their forty acres.  That
just ain't the case.  Look at the stats and tell me this isn't corporate
welfare. Put the emotion and the fond memories aside and follow the money!

Brad

On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 11:07 PM, <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:

> Rob and Brad,
>
> Farm subsidies are necessary to provide the whole population with an
> affordable, clean food supply. I'm sorry that you don't like it or
> understand  the
> economics of farming, but be thankful every time you sit down to dinner.
> Without the subsidies, there is no incentive for anyone to work the hours
> and  live
> the lives that our farm families do. Farmers, especially dairy farmers work
> seven days a week and are lucky if they have a neighbor that will milk
> their
> cows so they can take a vacation. I grew up in the dairy state and my wife
> comes  from a farm family. Many summers I spent working on farms doing
> duties such
> as  milking, spreading, haying and everything else they do. I wouldn't
> trade
> the  experiences for anything, but don't kid yourselves, it's not a cushy
> life
> style.  The odors alone are enough to keep most folks away.
>
> Rummy
>
>
> In a message dated 5/21/2008 10:21:49 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>  rlowe at vt.edu writes:
>
> Brad,
> I agree with McCain on his stance and see Bush said he would  veto it.  But
> both the House and Senate passed the original measure  with enough votes to
> override the veto.  Just another example of where  the legislative process
> goes bad.  You still enough earmarks or  subsidies in a bill so that every
> congress person district's get something,  and you can get a bill passed.
> Truly an example of government gone bad. -  rob
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brad Haslett"  <flybrad at gmail.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"  <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:37  PM
> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Farming - Not Really, It's  Politics
>
>
> As most of you know, I have hated farm welfare for  years.  This was
> probably
> not the smartest thing for McCain to say  publicly but he gets kudos for
> saying it when few other politicians will,  especially during an election
> cycle.  McCain is still a turd and I  can't figure out which is the
> cleanest
> end to handle.   Brad
>
> -----------------------
>
> Farming for riches It's time to  wean ourselves from huge crop subsidies
> and
> flawed policies that distort  the markets and artificially raise prices for
> consumers.
>
> By John  McCain
>
> May 20,  2008
>
> <
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>
>
> *I*  may surprise some people by saying what few presidential candidates
> would  ever be willing to say out loud in farm country: I'd veto the farm
> bill—a  bloated expansion in federal spending that will do more harm  than
> good.
>
> When agricultural commodity prices and exports have  reached record highs,
> we
> no longer need government-grown farms and mammoth  government
> bureaucracies.
> As grocery bills soar, food banks go bare and  food rationing occurs on a
> global scale, we must challenge the wisdom of  this bill. We must question
> policies that divert more than 25 percent of  corn out of the food supply
> and
> into subsidized ethanol production. We must  question a supply-control
> sugar
> program that costs Americans $2 billion  annually in higher sugar prices.
>
> Can we honestly demand fair and free  trade from other countries when this
> bill increases trade distorting  payment rates and restores an illegal
> cotton
> program? Sen.  Barack
> Obama<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/>has  raised
> the rhetoric on fair trade and restoring fiscal discipline,  but
> his support for the farm bill betrays the inconsistency of his  position:
> Cry
> foul with our trade partners, but break the rules at  home.
>
> The majority of subsidies in this proposal go to large commercial  farms
> that
> average $200,000 in annual income and $2 million in net worth,  and the
> bill
> allows a single farmer to earn more than $1 million before  cutting
> subsidies. How can we credibly extend this largesse to this  constituency?
> If
> I am elected president, I will seek an end to all farm  subsidies and
> tariffs
> that are not based on clear need.
>
> The farm  bill will cost taxpayers nearly $300 billion, including $5
> billion
> for  direct payments each year to farmers, regardless of whether they  grow
> anything. Growing better crops using less land, water and natural
>  resources
> requires a more robust research approach, but this bill spends  more than
> twice as much on direct payments as it does on agricultural  research.
>
> I am not opposed to providing a reasonable risk management  for farmers.
> When
> farmers suffer from a natural disaster such as droughts  or floods, we
> should
> assist them. But this bill fails to make the reforms  needed to provide
> that
> assistance responsibly.
>
> Such sensible reforms  may be missing, but the pork is not. Congress should
> be ashamed of this  mockery of its promise to rein in waste and earmarks.
> Buried within its  hundreds of pages is $93 million in tax breaks for race
> horses, a $4  billion trust fund for disaster payments on top of subsidized
> crop  insurance that is supposed to take care of such "disasters," and the
> list  goes on. If that wasn't enough, this bill would send $250 million  of
> taxpayers' money to Plum Creek Timber Co. in Montana. Plum Creek,
>  according
> to its Web site, "is the largest and most geographically diverse  private
> land owner in the nation" and paid a healthy dividend to  shareholders last
> quarter.
>
> It is time to wean ourselves from the  huge crop subsidies being paid by
> taxpayers and the flawed policies that  distort the markets, artificially
> raise prices for consumers and pit  producers against consumers.
>
> *John McCain is a U.S. senator from  Arizona and Republican candidate  for
> president.*
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