|
| |
Farm Bill
Some parts of the Farm Bill are good for ordinary
people. Why do our legislators pass the bad parts of the Farm bill too?
Here are some of the bad parts.
Simpson, Craig, and Crapo should be accountable to us in the federal
government. They all voted for the Farm Bill.
Wood,
Barrett, and Siddoway should be accountable to us
in
Idaho government. They all voted for the business tax
breaks that I describe
here.
While I am worrying about the income, sales, and property tax that
the people in Idaho must pay, the federal government passes the
Farm Bill.
The
Los Angeles Times,
Wall Street Journal, and the
New York Times have called the Farm Bill subsidies to farmers
"the most undeserving welfare recipients in American history". To
qualify for massive government subsidies your income needs to be
less than $750,000. Most government aid will go to the largest
farmers.
This is what a Harvard economist
says about the Farm Bill.
Brian M. Riedl of the
Heritage Foundation
does not like the Farm Bill either.
Mike Crapo voted for the Farm Bill.
Here is what he said. He
does not mention the big business farm lobby, which includes the
sugar lobby. He
does not mention they ignored a solution to world hunger.
American Farmland Trust: The 2008
Farm Bill - Analysis of the Bill
The 2008 Farm Bill—the Food, Conservation and Energy Act
of 2008—marks a historic moment in American agricultural policy. ...
The
Enron Loophole
istockAnalyst.com - Salem,OR,USA
Currently, an attempt to eliminate the “Enron Loophole” has been attached to the
massive farm bill (by
Sen. Carl Levin) that was passed with a veto proof ...
See all stories on this topic
Food Is Gold, and Investors Pour Billions Into Farming
By DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Some private investors are starting to make long-term bets that the world’s need
for food will greatly increase — by buying farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators
and shipping equipment.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on May 19,
2008,
individual income tax rates would have to be raised by about 90
percent to finance the projected increase in spending between 2007
and 2050.
The
Tragedy of the Farm Bill
By Mark(Mark)
The tragedy I speak of is the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill, with
overwhelming support in both the House and the Senate--a $309B monstrosity that
represents everything wrong with Washington. HOW FARM SUBSIDIES WORK
...
Building Peace - http://www.buildingpeace.net/
Tentative Deal Reached in Congress on Farm Bill
4/14/2008In Recession, Modest Help
for Most Americans, But Big ...
Environmental Working Group -
Washington,DC,USA
That’s what could happen if the House version of the 2008 farm bill
becomes law later this week. What’s more, $120000 will just be the first of five
...
See all stories on this topic
Farm Bill stalled by funding
Stockton Record -
Stockton,CA,USA
By Hank Shaw SACRAMENTO - A new Farm Bill is crashing on the rocks of the
Democratic-controlled Congress' vow of fiscal responsibility. ...
See all stories on this topic
Administration Analysis
Details Impact on USDA Programs without a ...
USDA.gov
(press release) -
Washington,DC,USA
... analysis of impacts to current USDA programs - in the absence
of enactment of a new farm bill or an extension of the 2002 farm bill
past March 15, 2008. ...
See all stories on this topic
|
CAVING ON FARM BILL REFORM
Volume
XIII No. 10 - March 6, 2008
Every time
you blink around these parts, there are billions
being added for the yet to be finalized 2007 farm
bill.
At a
time when farm revenue and crop prices are at record
highs, the administration recently sent a
three
page letter (pdf) to farm bill
negotiators agreeing to go along with $10 billion in
additional spending on top of the $597 billion
already in the bill.
While
the administration’s letter provided 13 proposals to
pay for the spending increase, this may be no more
than a face saving move to mask the fact they are
caving to the powerful Agriculture Committee’s
opposition to real farm spending reform. Most of
these proposals stand no real chance in Congress. If
Congress would just cut the farm bill bloat, there
would be no need to jump through budgetary hoops or
look for unrelated offsets to get this legislation
finished.
First,
there is over $5 billion in so called “direct
payments” that go to people regardless of whether
they grow anything or not. Direct payments were
implemented in the 1990s as a way to wean farmers
from more market distorting subsidies. Instead they
both remain.
And
then there’s the crop insurance program. Crop
insurance costs taxpayers $3.31 for each one
dollar a farmer receives, according to this
analysis. Further, a portion of
these subsidies are tied to crop value. So higher
crop prices mean bigger government handouts to
insurance company agents – without them even lifting
a finger. According to Iowa State Professor Bruce
Babcock, there’s $7.3 billion in savings to be found
there – more if we were to make other reforms to the
crop insurance program.
Dollars
and cents aside, there are some reforms in the
administration’s proposal. The so called “beneficial
interest” provision would fix the current system
that allows farmers to game the marketing loan
program for higher profits at the taxpayer’s
expense. The proposed compromise hard cap for
subsidy eligibility, $500,000 in Adjusted Gross
Income, isn’t perfect, but it is a substantial
improvement from the laughable current cap of $2.5
million. And elimination of the proposed sugar to
ethanol program is a no brainer. The U.S. sugar and
ethanol industries don’t need more propping up or
more handouts.
But
this bill needs so much more reform. The Title I
commodity programs are still way too wasteful, and
the crop insurance, dairy, and sugar programs need
significant changes. And there are sections in the
underlying bill that should be deleted or at least
re-visited.
One
area ripe for the picking is the irrational
exuberance for biofuels. Recent studies concluded
that the worldwide plan to chug-a-lug more biofuels
could actually increase
global warming. And consumers
should expect higher and higher food prices as
biofuels put the squeeze on other crops, raising
input costs for thousands of goods. Adding to this,
a controversial amendment made it into the final
version of the farm bill that opens the door for
coal to liquids (CTL) subsidies. Replacing just 10
percent of America’s oil consumption with coal
derived liquid fuels could cost taxpayers $70
billion in construction costs, and according to
Standard & Poor’s, without constant, long-term
taxpayer support, CTL projects “are likely to be
untenable.”
It’s
amazing to think that Congress and the
administration are considering all this added bloat
and controversy while farm revenue and crop prices
are at all time highs. While the economy and the
stock market are flat lining at best, commodities
futures markets seem to post daily new highs. Now
is the time to fix our antiquated farm programs,
eliminate supposed temporary support programs, and
even save taxpayers some money.
For more
information, contact Demian Moore at
(202)-546-8500 ext. 118 or
demian@taxpayer.net |
|
|
Administration
Analysis Details Impact on USDA Programs without a ...
USDA.gov
(press release) -
Washington,DC,USA
... analysis of impacts to current USDA programs - in
the absence of enactment of a new farm bill or an extension
of the 2002 farm bill past March 15, 2008. ...
See all stories on this topic
Farm bill funding stalls as USDA analyzes '49 law
Brownfield - Jefferson
City,MO,USA
At the same time, the Bush administration appeared to attempt to
ratchet up the pressure on Congress over the farm bill by
issuing an analysis Friday of the ...
See all stories on this topic
House, Senate remain
stalled on farm bill budget
The Packer -
Lenexa,KS,USA
29 issued a report providing detailed analysis of what would
happen in the absence of enactment of a new farm bill or an
extension of the 2002 farm bill ...
See all stories on this topic
Google Blogs Alert for: "farm bill" analysis
Administration
Analysis Details Impact on USDA Programs without a ...
At the request of senior House and
Senate agriculture committee staff, the US Department of
Agriculture today provided a detailed...
Agriculture
Observatory - http://www.agobservatory.org
Ag Secretary at
Classic
By Cindy
USDA released a document (Word doc) "developed from Administration
analysis of impacts to current USDA programs - in the absence
of enactment of a new farm bill or an extension of the 2002
farm bill past March 15, 2008." ...
Corn Commentary -
http://corncommentary.com
Secretary Ed
Schafer's Commodity Classic Speech
By Chuck
Schafer talked about the farm bill of course and from the
sound of it we're getting closer to an agreement but I know we keep
hearing that and so far we don't have one. I didn't hear anything
new that we haven't heard before but you are ...
AgWired - http://agwired.com
Google Web Alert for: "farm bill" analysis
Analysis of
Rural Development in the House Farm Bill | Center for ...
on Rural Community Colleges Chews Wise on Farm
Bill Analysis The Rural Blog on EWG Database Statement
Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Influencing the Farm Bill
...
Taxpayer Letter to the President
and Congressional Leadership: Veto an Unreformed Farm Bill
Democrats,
Republicans spar over FISA update
CNN - USA
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Even with Congress out of town for a weeklong break,
Democrats and Republicans traded verbal volleys over the fate of an update to
the ...
See all stories on this topic
Studies Show Farm Bill
Loopholes Still Favor the Wealthy
By Dien Judge
Owens said the Center for Rural Affairs is disappointed with the "false reforms"
in the two versions of the Farm Bill and said that Grassley's analysis is
further proof that nothing has really changed. "Grassley's analysis shows that
in ...
- http://www.iowaindependent.com
OPINION
Fairness on the Farm
(NYT)
The dollar amounts are
too large and the fairness issues too stark for Congressional leaders to stick
with a broken system of farm subsidies.
CFRA: New proposal 'useless'
-
Payment limitation reform, as proposed in the Senate version
of the Farm Bill, would do little in reforming the system, according to a
new report released last week by the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons.
352 Editorials Call
For Farm Bill Reform
Farm bill would allow continued subsidies for millionaires —
Grassley
Statement on the
President's Budget
-
As our
nation's leaders debate ways to stimulate the economy and address the
challenges posed by rising costs for food, energy, and housing, the
proposals announced in the President's budget seek to erode the nation's
commitment to addressing the needs of the 35.5 million Americans struggling
against hunger. The President's budget reduces or eliminates many programs
that help the poorest among us and misses opportunities to shore up the
safety net they need. More detail is
here.
Ag Observatory
on Farm Bill of 2007
-
Farm Bill could Hamstring State Food Safety
-
Over 40 groups, including
IATP, oppose a Farm Bill provision that would wipe out state and local
authority to protect food safety, the environment, and humane animal
treatment
The Senate Farm Bill:
A Missed
Opportunity November 5, 2007
-
With crop
prices soaring, farm incomes setting records, and Congress pledging to
reduce the budget deficit, now is an opportune time to reform the bloated
and outmoded farm subsidy programs. The Senate farm bill fails to seize this
opportunity. It would continue to spend $25 billion annually on many farmers
who do not need subsidies. Senators Lugar, Lautenberg, and Sessions have
offered blueprints for reform. For the sake of taxpayers, consumers, and
small farmers, other reform-minded senators should follow their lead and
work to modernize America's farm programs.
Scrap the
Senate Farm Bill and Start Over December 13, 2007
-
Record farm
incomes provide a welcome opportunity to reform the antiquated,
Depression-era system of expensive farm subsidies. Regrettably, the Senate
farm bill (H.R. 2419) fails to modernize these programs. If the bill is
enacted, Americans will continue paying $25 billion in taxes and another $12
billion in higher food prices annually for a program that distributes most
of its benefits to millionaires. Additionally, these subsidies would
continue to damage the environment (by promoting overproduction), undermine
trade (thereby raising consumer prices and restricting U.S. exports), and
promote poor diets (by subsidizing the sources of sugars and fats rather
than healthier fruits and vegetables).
Farm Bill: House
Committee on Agriculture
|