Farm Pork: Should Be Totally Phased Out-Pronto!
 Custom Search UNION LEADER.COM For the farm bill: Defending the indefensible Full article Union Leader Friday, May. 23, 2008 Excerpts: VIRTUALLY everyone who does not directly benefit from the new federal farm bill agrees that it is the worst sort of pork-barrel legislation imaginable. And yet Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter voted for it not once, but twice. The bill is so awful that the liberal New York Times, the moderate Washington Post and the conservative Wall Street Journal agree that it should be killed -- and for the same reason: it is a huge giveaway of taxpayer money to agribusinesses. The Post called it "profoundly wasteful legislation." VISIT Club For Growth Key Vote Alert - Sustain Farm Bill Veto Key Vote Alert KEY VOTE ALERT "NO" on Veto Override of the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) The Club for Growth urges all members of Congress to vote "NO" on the veto override vote for the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419). A vote in both chambers is expected as early as today. This key vote will be part of our 2008 Congressional Scorecard. This bill is a massive spending proposal that would create increased dependency on the government and distort the market for agricultural products. The Farm Bill is an amalgamation of special interest treats, financed with billions in hard-earned tax dollars and budget gimmicks. It would create higher and expanded subsidies and it would stifle global trade negotiations. For all of these reasons, plus the lack of true reform of the farm program, President Bush has rightly vetoed this bill. And we believe it should be vigorously sustained. Our Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to our members and to the public. VISIT Club For Growth Farm Bill Vote vs. Farm Pork Andrew Roth Here's some interesting data for you. Below is a table (below the fold) showing how each House member voted on the Farm Bill. It's sorted by how much each congressional district received in farm subsidies over a 10-year period (subsidy info provided by EWG -- thanks). So who are the members who voted "NO" despite the fact that their districts rank very high on the subsidy list? They are: #1 - Jerry Moran (R-KS-01) #30 - Ron Kind (D-WI-03) #37 - Ron Paul (R-TX-14) #42 - Mike Pence (R-IN-06) #48 - Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) #53 - Todd Tiahrt (R-KS-04) #57 - Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA-03) #60 - Dan Burton (R-IN-05) #63 - Tom Petri (R-WI-06) #68 - Devin Nunes (R-CA-21) Now don't rain praise on them just yet for being fiscal heroes who can withstand political pressure. Moran and Tiahrt voted against the Farm Bill not because it spent too much, but because it didn't spend enough. However, Kind, Paul, Pence, Jordan, Westmoreland, and Petri all voted against it because it was a bad spending bill. The biggest critic of the Farm Bill, Jeff Flake, said it was "bad policy on several fronts." Petri correctly called it a "bloated disaster." Jordan, the only freshman lawmaker on this short list, voted NO because the bill "was going in the opposite direction." He's right. Congrats to all six congressmen. It's unclear why Burton and Nunes voted NO (if you know, send me proof at aroth@clubforgrowth.org). FYI -- There were several congressional districts that weren't ranked by subsidies received, arguably because they didn't get any. Where this is applicable, I put in "N/A" for the dollar amount. If you want to play with the numbers yourself, here's the master spreadsheet (.CSV file). (Thanks to Club intern Jon Gottschalk for helping me put this information together.) UPDATE: According to Andrew House, a spokesman for Nunes, the congressman voted against the Farm Bill because it was stuffed with pork and he took an anti-earmark pledge. He also voted against it because the overall spending in the bill was too much. Congrats to Rep. Nunes for staying strong! Continue reading "Farm Bill Vote vs. Farm Subsidies" EXAMINER.Com Pigs in the trough on Capitol Hill Farm Pork Excerpts: Pathetic. Craven. Irresponsible. Unprincipled. Those and similar adjectives apply to every member of Congress who voted for the bloated, anti-consumer piece of legislative corruption known as the Food and Energy Conservative Act of 2008 a k a as “the farm bill.” President Bush has promised to veto the bill. To put it plainly, everybody in Congress who votes to override the coming Bush veto should be retired come November because they will have voted for a measure that is nothing more -- or less -- than a $300 billion giveaway of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. This is especially true for conservative Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats who brag about their fiscal rectitude. We’ve already editorialized that the bill is a budge buster even without the grab bag of spending gimmicks. We’ve noted that it will continue to give subsidies to millionaires who actually live in Manhattan and who might not even use their “farmland” for food crops. (Those subsidies will come from tax dollars confiscated from millions of working families of four making, say, $35,000. How is that fair?) But we actually understated the expense and duplicity of providing retroactive “disaster relief” for crop losses for which the 2002 farm bill previously covered in advance through federal crop insurance. As it turns out, the bill also keeps the crop insurance going forward, plus provides $3.8 billion in advance for any unforeseen “disasters” that may, uh, crop up. On these pages last Friday, columnist Tim Carney described how the bill increases subsidies for domestic sugar growers that, combined with restrictions on imported sugar, will drive up U.S. food prices substantially -- and, even worse, how it provides for the government to buy “excess” sugar at high prices, then re-sell it to ethanol facilities at as little as one-tenth the price. NATIONALREVIEWONLINE-WEEKEND Farm Pork May 15, 2008 12:50 PM Pork Farm By the Editors Full article NRO Excerpts: The House (318-106) and Senate (81-15) have passed a new $300 billion farm bill by veto-proof margins this week. The bill is worse than the 2002 farm bill, which at the time was considered the most bloated and wasteful in history. President Bush should not only veto it, he should take his time in doing so. We have a feeling that the more time the public has to get to know this bill, the less they will like it. For starters, the bill extends the direct-payment program at a time when farm incomes have reached record highs. Direct payments are government payments intended to supplement farmers’ incomes. Farmers receive these payments whether they grow anything or not. Rep. Ron Kind, a Democrat from Wisconsin, was absolutely right when he said of this provision, “It’s not a safety net — it’s an entitlement program.” Spurred by government-mandated ethanol consumption, net farm income is up 51 percent above its ten-year average, and farm families on average are making around $90,000 a year. In light of such prosperity, the Bush administration asked Congress to cap payments to farmers with adjusted gross incomes of over $200,000 a year. But Congress wouldn’t go any lower than $2.5 million a year (when exceptions for spouses and non-farm income are taken into account). As the leading sponsors of the farm bill admit, this cap will exclude practically no one. Harvest Of Shame INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Full article IBD Excerpts: Agriculture: The subsidy-stuffed farm bill just passed by Congress is a monster that will leave us with less food at higher prices. The president should veto it right away and force this foolish Congress to override him. Congress may think it's doing the "people's work," as they like to say, but the pork-laden, market-distorting farm bill is anything but. In fact, it's an obscene waste of money that will leave us all poorer and hungrier for the effort. As of now, though, it looks like it will become law. The measure passed the House on Wednesday by a veto-proof margin of 318-106. It now goes to the Senate, where it also is expected to pass. ORLANDOSENTINEL.COM Our position: The new farm bill deserves a swift veto by President Bush Full article Orlando Sentinel.Com Excerpts: House and Senate conferees in charge of U.S. farm policy have raised a rotten bill fit for the compost heap. At a time of soaring food prices and farm incomes, it would prolong the unfair and wasteful system that pays billions of dollars a year in unneeded taxpayer subsidies to farmers. Claims from the bill's supporters that it constitutes reform are laughable. Yet because the conferees put together the five-year, $290 billion measure to appeal to as many constituencies as possible, it is poised to win a majority in both chambers. President George W. Bush, who opposes the bill, needs to be thinking ahead to rounding up enough lawmakers to uphold his promised veto. Crop prices and net farm income have more than doubled since Congress passed the last farm bill in 2002. But the latest bill, despite cuts in some farm programs, would increase subsidies overall. It would bust a spending limit set for the bill but uses budget tricks to conceal its full cost. CLUB FOR GROWTH BLOG VISIT Club For Growth May 13, 2008 Farm Pork Old MacCongress Had a Farm Bill Press Release Old MacCongress Had a Farm Bill E-I-E-I-O-NO! Washington – As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on the disastrous Farm Bill this week, all members of Congress should think long and hard before they cast their votes. If ever there was a bill worthy of being soundly defeated, it is the abomination officially known as the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007. “With its subsidies to millionaire farmers; the elimination of key payment limits; dramatic spending increases; direct commodity payments regardless of record-high crop prices; and a new, permanent disaster aid program, the Farm Bill is a slap in the face to American taxpayers,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. A vote in favor of the Farm Bill will be a permanent stain on the lawmaker’s record and on the 110th Congress. The bill’s terrible features include: Subsidies to millionaire farmers without a hard, meaningful cap on a farmer’s qualifying income The elimination of key limits on annual commodity payments Spending gimmicks that disguise over $10 billion in spending increases An increase in subsidy rates despite sky-high crop prices and record farm incomes Farm Pork Direct payments for crops that are not based on a farmer’s income, crop prices, or any standard of need The creation of a new, permanent disaster aid program, creating incentives to grow the wrong crops on bad land in bad weather Tax breaks for special interests like race horse owners and timber companies “Congress has passed a lot of bad bills over the years, but the Farm Bill would really take the cake,” Mr. Toomey continued. “We commend President Bush for vowing to veto the bill and urge Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Roy Blunt to make sure all Republicans uphold the President’s veto should it be necessary. Lest lawmakers think the public isn’t paying attention to the arcane details of this complex bill, let us assure lawmakers that we will work very hard to make sure taxpayers know exactly how Congress is spending their money.” ### Posted at 2:11 PM, May 13, 2008 | Trackback (0) Why Do We Let Farm Pork Continue? Most money dispensed for farm subsidies goes to very wealthy farmers. Now we are seeing a triple whammy. Ethanol production has raised the price of corn so all uses of corn have increased. On top of that food shortages are developing. Both of these actions are causing higher prices and instead of the problems supposedly solved by these actions, they are being made worse. Lose, lose, lose. Except for a limited number of small farmers with limited amounts going to those, in which the country might be served well by such action, we should push the congress hard to end this shameful practice. New farm bill seen adding fodder for trade feud REUTERS Farm Pork By Missy Ryan - Analysis May 11, 2008 Full article Farm Pork Missy Ryan Reuters Excerpts: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The $285 billion farm bill unveiled by Congressional leaders last week after months of negotiations may set the United States up for a hornet's nest of problems at the World Trade Organization. If the plan for a massive new U.S. agriculture law is passed this week as expected, lawmakers face a promised veto from President George W. Bush. The White House says the bill does not sufficiently cut subsidies to wealthy farmers and ignores other reforms proposed by the administration. If Congress can override a veto, administration officials and other critics warn the farm law will inflame relations with trading partners and spark challenges at the world trade court. Farm Pork
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