Government control of the raisin market???
"They had better not bring back Prohibition!"
Posted on 04/22/2015 8:47:43 AM PDT by Baynative
Stealing is illegal, unless the government is the thief. On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear a case on whether the government can seize a chunk of a business’s product to regulate prices. This is a big one.
Like much government mischief, Horne v. USDA has its roots in the Great Depression and federal programs to prop up the price of goods by controlling supply. To create raisin scarcity, the government established a Raisin Administrative Committee that manages the supply of raisins through annual marketing orders. Raisin handlers must set aside a portion of their annual crop, which the feds may then give away, sell on the open market, or send overseas.
Among the targets were Fresno, California raisin farmers Marvin and Laura Horne, who have been in the business for decades. In 2003-2004 the family farm was required to give some 30% of its raisin crop to the government—some 306 tons—without compensation. The previous year they had to hand over 47%, and they were paid less than the raisins cost to produce.
The Hornes refused to participate...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
This is actually an 80 year-old Roosevelt policy. These marketing orders exist for many agriculture commodities.
If Obama’s policies take 80 years to undo, then America is truly screwed.
It’s for your own good.
Here’s my question. What are the plaintiff’s damages? If the market price, at time of consfication, was say, $7/ton, but the Gubmint thought it should be $14 a ton (because that’s what the USDA Chief’s brother wanted for his raisins) how much will the USDA be ordered to pay for the raisins they stole? Any bets? That’s assuming the plaintiffs win the case.
According to Wikipedia:
“The Raisin Administrative Committee is based in Fresno, California and is overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture. Committee members are made up of industry representatives, who then decide what to do with the stockpiled supply. The profits from the raisins, often seized for no payment, are then used to pay the expenses of the committee or pay back farmers for their seized produce. In one recent year, $65,483,211 was made, although it was all spent, with none left over for farmers, according to the review of one recent year.[1]”
Sixty-five million dollars? Wanna know why the program is still in place?
Just sour grapes.
Dang it...
Once again, this shows that I have an older version of the Constitution. Mine doesn’t list raisin control as one of the specific authorities given to the federal government.
Can someone point me to where I can download a latest version of the Constitution?
One that specifically authorizes (enumerates) federal government authority over such things as:
- the amount of water in my toilet bowl
- the type of light bulbs I use
- how fast ketchup should flow out of the bottle
- and also raisin control.
They needed the raisins to give to the jihadis.............
I’d be raisin HELL............
Unconstitutional theft by government.
What else is new?
Government control of the raisin market???
"They had better not bring back Prohibition!"
It never changes - create a useless government bureaucracy and it will grow and grow. It will require more and more money to continue growing and it will make new laws and regulations to justify requiring more growth to justify requiring more money. As it grows in power and becomes entrenched in Washington D.C. it takes on eternal life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickard_v._Filburn
Wickard v. Filburn. The worst trampling of individual rights in the history of the Supreme Court that few people have heard about.
Raisin ping
Ok. Well I don't have a WSJ acct. Can you inform us as to what happened next, and/or why this is a news event now?
One trick is to take the title of the WSJ article and do a google search. The whole article will usually then come up.
This is why the New Deal was a disaster.
There is a case before the supreme Court to hear decide a case about the raisin board. That’s why it’s in the news. I fully expect a lot of weasel words in the eventual opinion, and that ultimately the government will be given the right to plunder at will, yet again.
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