Posted on 05/15/2008 12:11:48 PM PDT by tobyhill
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a five-year, $307 billion farm bill, sending it to President Bush for what is expected to be his futile veto.
The 81-to-15 Senate vote, like the 318-to-106 House vote on Wednesday, attracted broad bipartisan support and received far more than the two-thirds that would be needed to override Mr. Bush’s veto, should he keep his pledge to wield his pen.
Mr. Bush has said he wants to sharply limit government subsidies to farmers at a time of near-record commodity prices and soaring global demand for grain. Most legislators were not swayed by Mr. Bush’s description of the bill as bloated, expensive and packed with “a variety of gimmicks.”
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, defended the measure as “one of compromise.”
“That’s what legislation is all about,” Mr. Reid said just before the vote.
The bill includes a $10.3 billion increase in spending on nutrition programs, including food stamps, that supporters called “historic,” as well as increases for rural development and land conservation programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Our elected representatives will gladly sell us down the river any time as long as they get a take.
Whatever happened to the “Blue Dog Democrat Conservatives”? They look like whooped puppies to me. They ran on campaigns that any spending would be offset with cuts but there ain’t no cuts in this bloated pork bill.
FARM BILL FULL OF PORK ... SURPRISE, SURPRISE The House is one step closer to passing this $290 billion farm bill. President Bush says he will veto it but Congress thinks it has enough votes to override the veto. Why do I bring this up? Because this farm bill is just loaded with pork and government entitlement program funding. Take this, for example. Two-thirds of the bill (that's about $193 billion) will pay for huge increases in food stamp programs, emergency food assistance for the "needy," and nutrition aid to help people pay for groceries. Another $40 billion will be paid to subsidize US farmers and $30 billion will be paid for farmers to sit on their butts and do absolutely nothing. That's $30 billion NOT to grow crops. This is happening at a time when farm income is way up there. And then there's the pork. State projects including tax breaks for Kentucky racehorse owners and money for salmon fishermen in the Pacific Northwest managed to sneak their way into the bill. Another one gives extra money to "geographically disadvantaged farmers" in Hawaii and Alaska ... it is essentially affirmative action for farmers. Now get this. The legislation also includes a provision that would allow state and local governments to issue bonds to help conservation groups buy private lands. Why do they want to do this? It would give taxpayer money as incentives for these environmentalists to "keep pristine private lands out of the hands of developers." That's according to Montana Democrat Senator Max Baucus. As if that wasn't bad enough, Baucus also added $3.8 billion to pay farmers who lose their crops in weather-related disasters. Republicans are largely in support of this bill ... and they want us to believe that they have changed.
half of the GOP congresscritters voted for this turd as well.
Yes they did. This actually takes crops off the market in place of subsidies and then it decreases the inventory of ethanol which will increase the cost of gas. The Rats won the majority mainly because of gas cost but since they made the promise to lower the cost to get elected, I want to know where the lower fuel cost is and why has oil risen 100%, gas 64%, since they took majority control?
I want the GOP to ask them on the chamber floors and demand an answer. It can’t be the Iraq war since Iraq is producing a half million more barrels a day than they were 18 months ago. It is the FAILED POLICIES of the Democrats!
Whatever happened to the “Blue Dog Democrat Conservatives”? They look like whooped puppies to me. They ran on campaigns that any spending would be offset with cuts...”
That is where you are wrong my friend. They ran on any spending must be offset with tax increases. They never ran on tax cuts. They believe in balanced budgets with tax increases (we must pay for spending).
The line item veto would sure come in hady here
Happen to have a link for furture referece? Thanks!
I wonder if that language to get the subsidy payments made secret ever made it into one of these bills. All the big lib donors from Hollyweird were po’ed that their gubermint handouts were exposed on the Web.
Some of this farm bill includes:
1. Urge the govt to buy surplus sugar and sell it to ethanol producers for use in a mixture with corn. (Why?)
2. Reopen a major discrimination case against the Ag Dept. Thousands of black farmers who missed a deadline would get a chance to file claims alleging they were denied loans or other subsidies. (Whites not allowed.)
3. Pay farmers for weather-related farm losses from a new $3.8 billion disaster relief fund.
4. Provide the first-ever infusion of federal farm dollars more than $400 million to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. (Now what’s this got to do with farming?)
5. The bill also includes a few home-state provisions inserted by lawmakers, including tax breaks for Kentucky racehorse owners and additional aid for salmon fisherman in the Pacific Northwest. (Again, what’s this got to do with farming?)
There are no more democrats, republicans, conservatives or liberals. After 6 months in office they all morph into corrupt pigs that only care about what they can grab.
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