Posted on 12/30/2012 12:54:28 PM PST by Hojczyk
House leaders have prepared three bills to deal with the looming "milk cliff" for floor action this week.
The three bills are aimed at preventing a spike in dairy prices looming in the new year.
Because Congress has failed to renew farm programs, an underlying 1949 law is slated to kick in. This would force the government to buy up American milk at inflated prices and the purchases are expected to possibly double the price of milk at the grocery store as supplies dwindle.
Late Saturday night, House Republicans posted the three bills on the House Rules Committee website, setting up possible Monday votes under layover procedures put in place in this Congress.
One bill would extend the expired 2008 farm bill, which expired Sept. 30, for one year. The second would provide for a farm-bill extension through January and a third would just extend dairy programs through January.
"Clearly, it is no longer possible to enact a five-year farm bill in this Congress. Given this reality, the responsible thing to do – and the course of action I have long encouraged if a five-year bill was not possible – is to extend the 2008 legislation for one year. This provides certainty to our producers and critical disaster assistance to those affected by record drought conditions," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) in a Sunday statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
I’ll pay $10/gallon for milk if it stops this subsidy crap.
Pure insanity.
First oil, then coffee, now milk...I’m guessing that the market manipulators will continue to drive up the price of commodities by increasing artificial demand and resource shortages by issuing press releases and multi- colored charts on the Internet with false data to keep their investors and clients happy. Meanwhile the consumers get screwed royally. This is the new world we live in...A liberal world that is so smart they screwed themselves over in the end (just the way they like it)...; )
I can’t pay $10 for milk. That’s 1/2 of my weekly grocery bill.
Even at $5/gallon that’s 1/4 of what you say your grocery bill is. How are you making do now?
watch how fast the GOP works to protect government bloated largesse
kool-aid is cheap
Yeah....I likes Red.....and sometimes Purple....
I like strawberry or cherry actually.
:p
Yep, long past time for the government to get out of the milk/dairy business! Repeal the 1949 law and stop subsidies and milk prices would come down10-20% from current prices...government subsidies keep prices high.
Thanks for that link...I have read that CATO Institute article before, but I lost the bookmark!
I think the problem is that the 1949 law which we will revert to contained a higher subsidy than the current law. Without any subsidy at all the law of supply and demand would take over and the price of milk would drop dramatically. There has not been a free market in the farm industry for years.
Why does the government have to buy milk ?
Wouldn’t an obvious law be one that struck down the 1949 law ?
It’s not gonna be pretty, but I say, bring this on. Let the Republicans get blamed, hell, they’ll be blamed for everything anyway. No great loss.
No, what we need is for the flaming stupidity embodied in the American electorate to begin to understand the effect of all-encompassing government. Will it be $10/gal milk? $8/gal gas? Nobody can predict. And let’s be clear, the reactions to the failures of government programs will inevitably be more government programs. Cloward-Piven might just work both ways.
Oh just let the farm bill expire.
Blame the Democrat-controlled Congress that passed the 1949 law.
Do nothing
A. The price of milk will rise, and the demand will drop
B. The price of milk will drop, and the demand will rise
C. Repeat A & B until market equilibrium
The gov’t like any other customer can buy at any price, but since the gov’t doesn’t consume milk, sell them the spoiled milk, diluted milk, etc. The market will always find away around the gov’t.
Stop farm welfare now
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