Some people(and you know who you are) argue that any government intervention in the free market produces bad results. One place where these people may be right is in the case of farm subsidies.
It may surprise you to learn that the federal government buys up millions of dollars worth of bacon, burgers, and fatty meat and dairy products and dumps them in our schools and food assistance programs. This practice persists, in part, because companies making these unhealthy products give millions of dollars to members of Congress through political action committees. Until these practices end, stopping childhood obesity will remain a difficult challenge.
The sad part about this farm policy is that it seems to turn the “heartland” into a welfare state that depends on government subsidies to survive, while at the same time harming the health of the rest of the country.
See the entire article here
John Rove, you are my hero today!
Subsidies to corporations to grow crops is ridiculous. Subsidies to independent farmers on the other hand, I think are necessary. It is vital that we (as a country) are able to produce a good portion of our own food right here in the USA. Call it planning for a rainy day if you want, but it is smart to ensure that such a vital aspect of sustaining life isn’t suddenly out of our ability to produce on our own if we had to.
In Mexico after the subsidies for corn ethanol were signed into law, the run on corn made a major source of sustenance in that country unfordable. I’m not sure whether or not the region is unable to grow corn in, but the fact that imported corn prices spiked and it led to hunger, is a lesson to take note of.
Once we’re relying on imported staple foods, especially grains and vegetables, we’re not only forced to accept the effects of supply and demand potentially resulting in people going hungry, but with a government controlled by movement conservatives, tainted food could kill you and they wouldn’t give a damn.
That’s what I’m most worried about. When a political party like the one in charge now, believing that regulatory agencies shouldn’t exist, when the country’s food supply is totally reliant on imports, once a crisis hits, these fools not only have less than a clue about what to do, they don’t even consider it a problem.
Think Katrina, only with that scene representing what’s going on with your digestive system.
Price fixing in the commodities market, like we have in place for sugar producers…I think that’s wrong and inhumane in a lot of ways, but keeping farms up and running is a totally different thing altogether. Once the GOP is out of town, the program should be revamped in a way that promotes small independent farms over large corporate ones.
No problem Al.
When food is scarce we always have our dogs and cats to fall back on. Finally our animal shelters will fulfill their destiny…
Here kitty kitty.
I woud suggest letting farmers grow a crop people really want, like hemp or poppies.
There aren’t a lot of good recipes for cats. Plus, they don’t just lie back and take that dip into the boiling pot like lobsters do.
Cleo can sense that I just wrote that, and she’s very disappointed with me right now.
I think Bush believes in regulatory agencies. He keeps appointing candidates, and maybe it’s the Dems in committee who won’t bring them up for an up-or-down vote who are against regulatory agencies. For Schumer to bring up Mukaskey, then have to trash him, then have to distance himself even when voting to approve, c’mon Al, that is as silly as silly gets.
It’s not just agricultural corporations getting fat on the middle class tax dollar, it’s billionaires in Manhattan who own farmland to the west:
http://www.deadissue.com/archives/2007/11/16/welfare-queens-on-tractors/#comment-22524
Forget the hemp. Folks want the sensimilla.