Obviously farmers like the president of the American Soybean Association are pleased with the farm bill he claims “ensures the continued success of American agriculture, and encouraged both the House and the Senate to pass it quickly.” Allegedly, the agreement changes farm subsidies by eliminating so-called direct payments that cost taxpayers over $5 billion a year and paid farmers and landowners whether they grew crops or not. However, the $5 billion in savings was shifted to the crop insurance program where the federal government uses taxpayer dollars to cover losses from poor farming practices or declining revenue that a professor of farm economics criticized as “a classic bait-and-switch to protect farm subsidies.” Vincent H. Smith said “They’ve eliminated the politically toxic direct payments program and added the money to a program that will provide farmers with even larger subsidies.” The executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Joel Berg, took umbrage with the farm bill and said, “They are gutting a program to provide food for hungry people to pay for corporate welfare. This vote is a tragic, heartless and economically counterproductive departure from America’s bipartisan history of fighting hunger, members of Congress who voted for this should be ashamed.” Not only are the members who voted for the agreement not ashamed, they are proud of their handiwork.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 04:54:30 +0000
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