Ask Me Help Desk - McCain's editorial about the Farm bill

Yesterday John McCain published in the heart of the mid-west an op-ed explaining his opposition to the pandering pork laden farm subsidy bill that was recently passed by our Congress with a veto-proof majority .

Farming for riches -- -- chicagotribune.com

Quote:

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.

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.

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.

This may be seen as either a courageous or a stupid position to take. But it shows real leadership for him to go into farm country and tell them the truth . He's right also . Farm subsidies are simply put tariffs by another name. It makes even less sense when one considers that all prices in the market for commodities are on the rise anyway. Shamefully the bill got it's veto proof status because enough Republicans ;worried about their own prospects in the fall ,voted in favor of the bill.

Actually Obama attempted to have a provision in the bill that was more reasonable to both sides of issue, but that didn't pass. Barack's more moderate on the issue than Hillary, although both ended up supporting the bill with the extra bloated baggage.

Bill includes billions in farm subsidies | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville Citizen-Times

"Obama, hailing from the farm state of Illinois, has said he supports aid to family farms, not wealthy agribusinesses. As the bill was debated, he backed a proposal that would have capped farm payments at $250,000 per year.

But that provision didn't make it. Instead, the bill says that individual farmers who get direct payments cannot earn more than $750,000 and have nonfarm income of more than $500,000. For married couples, those figures double."

Clinton scolds McCain for opposing farm bill - USATODAY.com

Clinton:

""When Bear Stearns needed assistance, we stepped in with a $30 billion package. But when our farmers need help, all they get from Senator McCain and President Bush is a veto threat," Clinton said.""

Obama:

"Obama applauded the bill's passage in a statement released by his campaign, saying the measure was "far from perfect," but "with so much at stake, we cannot make the perfect the enemy of the good."

The Illinois senator also chided McCain and Bush for "saying no to America's farmers and ranchers, no to energy independence, no to the environment, and no to millions of hungry people.""

Yes had the bill been capped it would've been more palatable. But let's face it; in the current market farm subsidies are a massive gvt. Givaway of other people's money . I have always been against them because they distort market conditions. We can't at the same time be for free trade and then give price supports to cartels like sugar growers and corn to ethanol producers.(the last round of DOHA broke down over US and EU price supports)

Even for small farmers the truth is that right now the price they receive on the open market is incentive enough to produce. This is another antiquated New Deal program (originally the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1933 )that has outlived it's usefulness. Back then 20% of the population was family farmers and prices on the market did not provide for the family. Today most of the crops grown is by agri-business and as I said ;commodity prices make their products profitable.
The subsidies on sugar as an example forces us to pay double the world market price . Additionally sugar is a more efficient crop to convert to ethanol .We could be importing cheaper sugar and converting it to ethanol much cheaper than using corn which is less efficient for the conversion. (corns prices are also distorted because of this and it has a ripple effect around the world the size of a tsunami)

The only part of it worth salvaging is the food stamp program.

Well, it was courageous but it will fall on deaf ears. Turns out they'll probably have to have to a new vote because congress left out 34 pages of the bill when sending it to the president.

Quote:

congress left out 34 pages of the bill

Lol your government at work.

Hello tom:

Somewhere, sometime, we've got to close the cash window. We're going broke. I'd just hate to be the next guy in line when they do. If I was, I'd yell that it should be closed JUST after I get mine.

I don't think it can be done piecemeal. It has to be done in consort with all sorts of reverse kind of thinking... that we're not going to do. We're not ready to make those kind of changes. Instead of making ourselves competitive, I think we're going the empire rout...

All this goes to say, that I agree with McCain. But, stopping this farm bill is like farting in a windstorm. You can be sure that nobody'll notice.

excon

Sadly the Republicans again have been given a golden opportunity to make a stand for principle and they appear to be falling short. What makes it even worse is that had they taken a stand even the NY Slimes would've been on their side... Obviously the Slimes was opposed because if the corporate agri-business welfare that McCain pointed out in his op-ed .

Quote:

"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."

If you are going to prop up the family farm the least you should do is ask the farmer to live on the farm and not in one of the cities while they cash in on real estate ventures .

Some of the other nonsense in the bill :
$250 million to the Plum Creek Timber company in Montana ;the "forest fish" provision that would protect fish that live in the forest (like the spotted tree trout I suppose)
$93 million for race horses
And who knows what else in the missing pages .