Free Republic

I think we agree in more ways than one, actually. I do believe that any type of welfare creates an immediate dependance by the recipient. I also know that oftentimes these fellows are driving more truck or equipment than they need, or than they can afford. It is a culture of competition for dollars, and we are often told that the newest and most advanced technology makes a difference. With prices so low for the produce, pennies per acre can make a difference.

Cheer for the farmers who can be successful on their own, and hope for a day that they are paid a fair price for their labor.

Texas. Cotton and rice. I don't farm, but my husband and I work for farmers.

I think Congress thinks very diffently about farming. I think that they know exactly where the money goes. There are far too many lobbies stroking them to be unaware in any way.

Fuel, chemicals, seed, and equipment.

Yes, there are a lot of farm families joining together. No, they are not MOST of corporate farming. Perhaps they are in your county.

What about the farming activity concentrated in California, Florida, Texas, etc. It's not even close to being in one place, it's a matter of what is grown where.

I think that what needs to be examined here is why is there a concentration of money in a single (or handful) of districts?

My first guess is going to be a concentration of land ownership by a small group of people/corporations/partnerships. The landowner makes the money, not the farmer.

Take a drive and ask around as to who is buying up the farmland. You'll find a very short distance between the two points of corporate farms and chemical/seed companies.

What do YOU reckon most of that money is going to be spent on?

Hmmm. I am quite curious to know how many farmers that you personally know who are "addicted to their subsidies." The ones I know and work for aren't living high on the hog.

Think a little harder about why so much money would be funneled towards subsidizing. Corporations should come to mind, not my neighbor in the field on his tractor.

A couple of points from an older article you might read:


http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1763.cfm

"Eligibility for farm subsidies is determined by crop, not by income or poverty standards. Growers of corn, wheat, cotton, soybeans, and rice receive more than 90 percent of all farm subsidies: Growers of nearly all of the 400 other domestic crops are completely shut out of farm subsidy programs. Further skewing these awards, the amounts of subsidies increase as a farmer plants more crops.

Thus, large farms and agribusinesses--which not only have the most land, but also are the nation's most profitable farms because of their economies of scale--receive the largest subsidies. Meanwhile, family farmers with few acres receive little or nothing in subsidies. Farm subsidies have evolved from a safety net for poor farmers to America's largest corporate welfare program.""A glance at those who received farm subsidies in 2002 shows that many of them do not need federal dollars. Table 2 shows the 12 Fortune 500 companies that received farm subsidies in 2002. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance's $2.3 million farm subsidy payment was by far the largest among these companies. The farm subsidies granted to these Fortune 500 companies since 1995 are--on average--70 times larger than those granted to the median farmer.""Table 3 lists the nine Members of Congress who received farm subsidies in 2002. Since 1995, these lawmakers have received subsidies averaging 46 times those received by the median farmer. Five of the nine lawmakers also sit on the House or Senate agriculture committees overseeing these programs.""Table 4 details other notable farm subsidy recipients, including:
* David Rockefeller, the former chairman of Chase Manhattan and grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, who received 99 times more subsidies than the median farmer;
* Scottie Pippen, professional basketball star, who received 39 times more subsidies than the median farmer;
* Ted Turner, the 25th wealthiest man in America, who received 38 times more subsidies than the median farmer; and
* Kenneth Lay, the ousted Enron CEO and multi-millionaire, who received 3 times more subsidies than the median farmer."

Well put. I have heard reports from Africa of farm equipment being parked and fields lying fallow. Instead of the charade of assistance, why are we still allowing millions of our tax dollars to be squandered?

The casual references to "hybrids" remind me of a scene in a Disney movie. Many of those test plots are indeed sown with genetically hybridized plants. Don't think that the two species are even related all of the time. Success has been found in splicing cold-resistance genes from deep-sea creatures into the corn that feeds the steer that you ate for supper last night.

The highest conviction rate by far was in the District. But it is not a state and its flood of corruption cases results mainly because it is home to the federal government, which Mr. Mokhiber said accounts for a disproportionate number of convictions — about 453 from 1993 through 2002.
"The vast majority of public corruption convictions ... are done by federal prosecutors," he said, noting more of the cases occur in the District because it is the workplace of so many federal public officials.

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Can ANYBODY tell me WHY we continue to allow this activity? Why do we continue to pay them to do it? At what point do we stop paying the taxes, stop playing the game, and drag them into the street in their nightshirts?

"It disturbs me that so many that consider themselves conservative would be willing to hand any portion of control to the military on our home soil."
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I agree. I question the rationale of those who support it, and wonder whether they will be comfortable when said military is quartered comfortably in their homes.

If quarantine will be such an effective tool against this flu, why aren't they doing it in China? Why would we worry that it would even reach this side of the planet?

Why wouldn't we just close our borders and prevent it from coming in altogether? We would use the military against our own citizens, but not against those who bring the danger...

It has been mentioned more and more over the past few weeks to start giving more power to the military and degenerating Posse Comitatus.

I must say I am shocked by how many of you are responding to this by saying that you don't care. If you allow one invasion of your privacy - you allow it ALL.

Perhaps they should be asked to REMOVE ALL TRACES OF IDIOTS AND INTOLERANCE.

A White House statement on Thursday supported the bill. But it noted that payments to private property owners could have a "significant" impact on the budget.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that those payments would run less than $20 million a year. The bill's opponents predicted a much higher total.
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The White House is worried about $20 million dollars to pay for what it takes from its citizens, but won't bat an eye at the billions of dollars in entitlement handouts given in the wake of the hurricanes, etc.?