Posted on 05/06/2011 6:26:32 PM PDT by KantianBurke
WASHINGTON — When it comes to spending cuts, members of Congress like to say that “everything is on the table.” Except, generally, food. But now federal farm subsidies, long decried by policy makers as wasteful and antiquated but protected by powerful political interests, appear to be in serious danger.
This week, Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and the chairman of the House Budget Committee, told reporters, “We shouldn’t be giving corporate farms, these large agribusiness companies, subsidies. I strongly believe that.”
His budget proposal would take $30 billion out of the farm program over the next decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Actually, it is more likely that some particular Arkansas rice farmers haul in more.
Yup, and I explained then that Ryan was most likely setting a precedent by eliminating the oil subsidies. Now with his proposing elimination of farm subsidies, it appears he's being consistent.
Ryan isn't stupid, and he, along with a handful of others are going after the low hanging fruit and trying to chop down the spending tree, one whack at a time. He sure as hell would like to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency, Dept. of Energy, Department of Education, Health and Human Services. The reality is he has to change the mindset and hopefully create a fervor for cutting/eliminating federal programs.
Assholes like Eric Cantor and John Boehner just collect paychecks reaching across the aisle, watching our country being destroyed. By their inaction, the lying bastards are complicit in bankrupting America. Personally, I'd fire both of them immediately.
Ryan, Bachmann, DeMint, Palin (yeah, she only has one vote as a civilian) and a few others are earning their pay. The rest of the gutless weasels can go to hell.
“There are times when “government payments” have helped keep entire communities from folding”
You’re essentially arguing that US taxpayers should subsidize the lifestyles of others. Now how the hell is THAT constitutional, moral or fiscally fair???
With a hat tip to another Freeper - governments don’t subsidize oil companies, oil companies subsidize governments.
If you take that position, it’s hard to argue against the bailout of the auto companies, or any other bailout for that matter.
That wasn’t my point. Instead of doing $30 bil over a decade why not do it all now?
They are gonna nit pick this thing to death.
Because farming is the riskiest business on the planet for one thing. How does one mitigate that risk from one year to year or decade to deace? Or do you relish the idea of entire communities, schools, business and jobs being destroyed? Do you enjoy boarded up ghost towns?
I don’t expect to change anybody’s mind here, there are too many who simply refuse to acknowlege that there are interests to the country and people’s bellies in keeping agriculture going. Even if it means helping them through the rough times...of which there are generally plenty.
See post 28 which is my last response on this thread. No point wasting band-width it seems.
should have read “decade to decade”
Good. Let the price of food reflect the actual cost of production. Then maybe the Dhim constituency will appreciate how much “the rich” have subsidized their food all these years.
Why are farmers being targeted? Answer, they are small and nonunion. Farmers get $16 billion, TARP gets $750 billion. Every major business with more than 50 employees gets subsidized, but not the lowly raisers of food—the nations #1 export and made in the USA. I am not opposed to cutting subsidies, but the selective targeting of non-union groups like Ag is par for the course. I say cuts across the board for all subsidies, and even deeper cuts for those that do no work for their subsidies—cut all gov’t workers by the same %, cut medicare by more, cut SS by more, cut medicaid, cut em all. This selective targeting of the nations #1 industry, #1 export industry, and people who work 16 hour days when planting and harvest comes around. Why kill the nation’s most successful industry and spare the rest?
I’m not saying that the programs don’t need to be scrutinized and reviewed, but I have personal experience with the payments along with crop insurance being the difference between scraping by and quite possibly losing the place when there were poor crops for several years in a row. Huge areas of the countryside were in the exact same boat. There are appropriate applications for government farm assistance.””
You are wasting your time on the urbanites. Higher prices they will understand. Besides most of them eat way more than their share of food and higher prices will probably benefit their health. A 30 day hold on delivery of farm commodities could get their attention.
“Answer, they are small and nonunion.”
Incorrect answer. Corporations recieve the vast majority of the free govt bennies. Cut them off.
“Because farming is the riskiest business on the planet for one thing.”
If they do not have the accumen to succeed in such a business then they do not belong in it. Nor is it moral for them to steal taxpayer money to compensate for their shortcomings. GM anyone? As it is, your points are silly. Its mostly well connected agri corporations who steal the taxpayer’s money.
Or maybe having their population sharply decrease because food is so high that having a second or even a first child is cost prohibitive.
Oh wait... that is happening already.
That’s not because the price of food is high! Everything’s high. Rent is the main thing.
They’ve got the same problem as Americans and Europeans. They’d rather have two cars and a plasma screen television and free time than another child.
You contradict yourself with that statement. And when you restrict the amount of land available for building homes because you want rice paddies and slap tariffs on building material what do you think happens to the price of housing?
They’d rather have two cars and a plasma screen television and free time than another child.
Most people in Tokyo don't have cars. Especially the ones of child bearing age. Plasma screens are cheap. But area to raise a child? Food to feed that child? Out of sight expensive.
The government there has been meddling and like most government meddling it has unintended consequences. In 100 years they will have lots of nice farm land but no one to farm. Even now the population of rural Japan is over 60. The farmers are dying and there are no children to replace them. You can only do so much with robotics.
So ban the pill. Back in realistic times, when something was posing a danger to all society, people would do something about it.
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